This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com but all words, photos and opinions are 100% mine.
I love the holidays and I love the details the most! Whether it’s party planning, little gifts or family traditions, the Christmas details are key!
I couldn’t have asked for a better morning. I’ve got the fire place roaring, the Christmas tree is shinning bright, my little boy is snuggled up in his fleece blanket beside me and there is snow falling outside our window.
I started decorating the house for the Holidays the day after Thanksgiving and I had 90% of my presents wrapped and under the tree by the first of December! Who am I, y’all? Normally I’m running around like mad at the last minute trying to get everything done. Not this year though. I’m trying to stay on top of things and I’m working on having a great time but keeping it simple so that we can have a wonderful first Christmas with our little guy.
This month BabbleBox sent me a beautiful Holiday themed gift box and I just can’t wait to show you everything that’s inside! It’s even got something special for us to use for Jackson’s first Christmas!!
Let’s dive in, y’all!
Holiday Parties and Cheeseboards: Castello Cheese
I know y’all have heard me talk about cheese boards before and how much I love to make them. Not only will I make them to set out for parties but I also love to make them at home for lunch and dinner. YES! Lunch and Dinner! During the summer I’ll make myself little cheeseboards with cheese and fruits for lunch but in the winter I’m setting them up with cheese, jams, mixed nuts and crackers!
Now a cheese board of this size is probably something I’d sit out if my family was coming over for dinner. It’s just a little something for everyone to nibble on while I finish up dinner.
For this cheeseboard that I put together for us the other night I used a few tasty items I had at home plus the wonderful cheeses that Castello sent in the BabbleBox this month! Oh my gosh y’all, the Castello Aged Havarti is amazing!
So on this cheese board we’ve got:
- Castello Traditional Danish Blue
- Castello Aged Havarti
- Castello Gouda
- Mixed Nuts
- 2 types of crackers
- Orange Marmalade
- Grape Jelly
- Fresh Rosemary for decoration
Here are a few little tips for the cheeseboard:
- Cut the food items into bite size pieces
- Have tiny serving spoons for jellys and jams
- Set out a small spreader for blue cheeses
- Add crackers and mixed nuts to fill in empty places
- If you’re not 100% sure that everyone at the party can have nuts, leave them off or make a separate tray (first) without nuts
- Sit out toothpicks or fancy picks for people to use to grab bites for their plate
- Add fresh rosemary to decorate the cheese board – this is a great little detail that really makes a cheeseboard look festive
These little snowflake picks that Cracker Barrel sent in the box are perfect for upcoming parties!
Looking for some more ideas for your holiday cheeseboards? Castello Cheese also has a fun custom cheese board builder on their site! Just answer a few little questions and they’ll give you some great ideas for your next Holiday cheese board!
They also have an option for you to print off a grocery list with everything to make the cheese board! How neat is that!
PAM: Cooking Spray
Speaking of Holiday parties and get together events, you know what else is great for parties? Easy to grab and munch snacks like homemade Cinnamon Caramel Nut Crunch are great during the holidays!
Not only is homemade Cinnamon Caramel Nut Crunch a wonderful snack for parties but it’s also an awesome gift from the kitchen!
This homemade Cinnamon Caramel Nut Crunch recipe can be found here under the PAM section! Just follow the easy recipe using Pam Cooking sprays, package it up in a clear treat bag, add a ribbon and you’ve got a great gift for a neighbor or a co-worker!
I love that the new PAM cooking sprays are Non Aerosol and have no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives! I used the Canola Oil PAM cooking spray to make the Cinnamon Caramel Nut Crunch this week and it worked out beautifully!
Ps. If you Download the ibotta app and earn cash back on your purchase of PAM Spray Pump (I LOVE that app!)
Wellness: CORE Natural Pet Food
Of course we can’t leave our other babies out of the Holiday celebrating!
Wellness sent Jasper and Bella a bag of CORE Natural Pet Food!
We haven’t changed up the pups food in a while but we were actually getting ready to! You see, our pups are picky animals haha. They love their food and then a few months will go by and they’re ready for a change. They’ll start picking at their food like a toddler and that’s when we know it’s time to change up their food.
However in the same breath we have to worry about what types of dog foods we buy as well. It’s got to be tiny for them and to be honest, they’re so picky that sometimes we’ll buy them a new food and they won’t even touch it.
So I poured the Core dog food into their little bowls and held my breath!
They loved it! They acted like I had given them a whole bowl of treats to eat for dinner haha.
I told Thomas that we need to check some of our local stores to see if we can find it around here because I want to keep getting this for them! CORE Natural Pet Food is high protein and it’s 100% Grain Free freeze dried raw bites!
I think we’ll get them some for Christmas! 😉
WHIMZEES: Daily Dental Chews
Jasper and Bella also got a bag of WHIMZEES: Daily Dental Chews in this month’s BabbleBox!
Just like the food though, they’re picky about their treats! Sometimes we’ll offer them a treat that we think they’ll love and they’ll turn their nose us at it and walk away!
However, one treat that they’ve always loved is Dental Chews! So I knew they’d love these.
Jasper couldn’t wait for me to give the treat to him and Bella grabbed hers and ran off as I was taking Jasper’s photo! Later I found her in the baby’s nursery with her treat licking her lips haha. The pups loved these WHIMZEES treats! If you have dogs and want to keep their teeth clean, I recommend these!
These are also great for keeping pups busy while you’re entertaining this holiday! I know our pups get overwhelmed when we have a lot of people over, so these are great for distracting them!
Hello Puppy Stocking Stuffers!!
Cracker Barrel: Reindeer Glass Milk Bottle, Santa Glass Milk Bottle, Snowflake Hors D’oeuvres Picks
So one of my favorite things about Holiday Entertaining and Serving Holiday dinners are the details! I love details y’all.
Sure you can just throw some things out there and call it a day but why not make it super special this holiday season!
I showed you a little glance at the Snowflake picks that Cracker Barrel sent us in this months BabbleBox up there with the cheeseboard but let’s take a closer look.
Now only are these adorable for your Holiday parties but how cute would these be a hostess gift! You could wrap these up with a few little recipes cards and give it to the hostess at your next party!
Buy them here!
Since we’re talking about recipes that would be great with these little picks, guess which one is my favorite for picks like this?
Our Favorite Slow Cooker BBQ Meatballs!
Yep! We love making these tasty meatballs for all types of Holiday parties!
(You can grab the recipe here)
Don’t those sweet little snowflake picks look awesome! (I think they’re perfect, especially since I’m sitting here talking about them while big fluffy snowflakes are falling outside my window!)
Oh my gosh, y’all! Guess what else Cracker Barrel sent us!
Aren’t these just the cutest milk bottles ever!!
This one here says “North Pole Farm – Reindeer’s Favorite”
Oh my and this one is my favorite!! It a milk bottle for Santa!!! This is the first year that we get to have Santa in our house and I’m so excited. YES, I know my son is going to only be 3 months old when Christmas gets here. NO, I don’t care that he doesn’t know the difference in Christmas and Tuesday.
I’m leaving cookies and milk for Santa with this Santa milk bottle.
I’m pretty sure that Santa requested snicker doodles this year. 🙂
It’s just so precious!
Do y’all leave out cookies and milk for Santa?
We did when we were little! My husband use to leave out carrots and celery for the reindeer too! We didn’t go that when we were little but I think that we might start doing that tradition with Jackson.
If you’re looking for some cookie ideas for Santa, I’ve got a few on the blog that y’all might love! I know that these Hot Chocolate Cookies and Oreo Cookie Wreaths have been popular with Santa at other houses!
If you want to grab your own Christmas milk bottles for Santa to have at your house, you can get 30% off site-wide with code SHOP30
You can buy them here
Christmas Central: Holiday Decorations
Last but not least, lets chat real quick about Holiday Decorations!
If you’re looking for some cute Christmas decorations, Christmas Central is your one stop shop!
They have some super cute Holiday decor items, wreaths and Artificial Christmas trees!
When I’m decorating for the Holidays, I always start with the Christmas Tree. We have a 12 foot tree with clear lights right now and if we end up buying a house soon, we plan to buy a second tree for next year!
I also love to decorate my tree with a red and white peppermint theme. Red and White on a green Christmas tree just screams Christmas to me! I don’t only put peppermint ornaments on the tree though, I have all kinds! I just decorate with a lot of red and white ones! However, we have all kinds of Ornaments on our tree.
Here are some ornaments that I love from Christmas Central :
After the tree has been decorated, I move onto decorating the rest of the house and put candles in the windows.
The last thing I do it place a wreath on the front door and I’m done!
Do you decorate for the holidays? Do you have a plan when you start or do you just start decorating and decorate until you’re done?
I hope every single one of y’all have an amazing Christmas this year!!
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