christmas – Styling Sunshine

My Favorite Holiday Tradition

One of my ALL time favorite holiday traditions is to make a pallet, grab some popcorn, and watch christmas movies! For those who did not grow up making pallets, it is basically just a giant stack of blankets and pillows, aka the best way to watch a movie! We recently added something new to our tradition; Popcornopolis! A LA based gourmet popcorn company that just launched their Organic Nearly Naked Popcorn bag in select Costco locations for a limited time!

Popcornopolis has been dubbed the World’s Best Gourmet Popcorn and is farm-fresh, lightly-tossed in coconut oil, certified gluten free, whole-grain, and only 38 calories per cup!! No holiday snacking guilt happening here!!!

Jackson and I were blown away by the giant bags that are big enough for the entire family! He would have ate the entire bag if I would have let him, haha! We watched one of my all time favorite holiday movies, Home Alone, snuggled with our pups, and ate popcorn surrounded by lights. It was absolutely perfect!! I highly suggest running to your nearest Costco grabbing a bag of Popcornopolis, making a pallet with your family, and put on your favorite holiday movie. I promise you will thank me later!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! ❤

Christmas is Best with a Drink & Dessert

∇ Healthy Cinnamon Eggnog ∇

The holidays are the perfect time to break out the eggnog. But if you’re like me, and have never been a huge fan, you might be a little on the hesitant side. This slimmed-down/cinnamon version turned me into an eggnog fan. Skipping the heavy creme, using fewer yolks, and low fat milk makes this recipe somewhat more on the healthy side! 🙂

WHAT YOU NEED:

3 Large eggs

3 Large egg whites

51/2 Cups low-fat milk

1/2 Cup organic sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 Cup pure cane sugar

Red color dye

1/3 Cup dark Jamaican rum (optional)

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STEP 1: Mix in a bowl with a whisk eggs and egg whites; set aside. In a large saucepan, with heat-safe spatula, mix 4 cups milk with sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Cook on medium-high until mixture boils and thickens a little bit, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute and then remove saucepan from heat.

STEP 2: Gradually mix 1/2 cup simmering milk mixture into eggs; pour egg mixture back into milk in saucepan, mixing constantly, to make custard.

STEP 3: Pour custard into large bowl; stir in vanilla, nutmeg, rum, if using, and remaining 1 1/2 cups milk. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours or up to 2 days. Mix sugar and a few drops of color dye in a bowl, then transfer to plate. Get the rim of your glass wet and dip class into sugar. Sprinkle finished product with cinnamon. Makes about 7 cups.

*I got the glass I used at the dollar store and they had tons of other cute holiday glasses*

∇ Strawberry Christmas Trees ∇

This dessert is so so yummy and super easy to make. There are so many versions you can make by using the many options Oreo sells. We used the ‘mint’ flavored ones (warning: highly addictive) but you can pick which ever flavor you like. I wish I would have used a little darker icing but they still turned out pretty cute. This is a fun dessert to make with children as well!

WHAT YOU NEED:

Strawberries (tops cut off)

Oreo’s

White icing

Green icing

Sprinkles

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STEP 1: Place Oreo’s on serving plate and add a layer of white icing on top (snow). Cut off tops of strawberries.

STEP 2: Ice each strawberry with green icing and then add the sprinkles. After each strawberry is iced, place it on top of the Oreo.

STEP 3: Put serving plate in fridge for at least 30 minutes, serve and enjoy! 🙂

Christmas Decor Inspiration

There are so many different ways to show your holiday spirit this season. I love having our home looking like a winter wonderland. I want to share a few simple cost friendly decorating ideas to help you gear up for the big day! (9 days away)

JOY CANDLE STICKS

WHAT YOU NEED:

Burlap

3 Wood blocks

White paint

Black paint

Hot glue gun

Candle sticks (got mine from the dollar store)

Wooden candle stick toppers

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STEP 1: Paint all candle stick parts black (I did 2 coats). As that dries sand down the 3 wooden blocks and cut burlap to fit each block.

STEP 2: Paint each block on the burlap letters to spell out the word ‘JOY’ (I did 3 coats). Once dried, glue each block to the glass candle sticks.

STEP 3: Glue on the candle stick tops to the wooden blocks.

LET IT SNOW SIGN

WHAT YOU NEED:

Large wood plank (or plank you used for ‘give thanks’ project)

White paint

Blue paint

Silver paint pen

Stencil

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STEP 1: Sand board to liking and paint blue. I used the other side of my ‘Give Thanks’ board I made for Thanksgiving. I mixed the blue and white paint to get the exact color I wanted it. (2 coats)

STEP 2: Use stencils to paint ‘let is snow’. Once dried, use small brush to touch up and add 2nd coat.

STEP 3: Paint on snow flakes. I used a small brush and silver paint pen to do this.

XMAS CENTER PIECE

This is seriously SO easy and will cost you less than $5! I bought everything I used at the dollar store. All you need is a glass container of your choice, ornaments of your choice, and individual fake plants. The dollar store has plenty of options for all three of these things! Just fill the glass container with ornaments and then stick in 2-3 plants of your liking.

ALL FLAKES WELCOME SIGN

This is another really easy craft to add to your home this season! I used a piece of scrap wood and painted it green first, then added the white ‘humps’ at the bottom (3 coats). Once they dried I added the eyes, noses, and flakes. Lastly, I painted out ‘ALL FLAKES WELCOME’ with a fine brush. This was my first time not using stencils and I’m actually happy with the outcome. You can hang this on your front door, in your home, or place it on a shelf.

WINE GLASS CANDLE STICKS

Who would have thought I could find another use for wine glasses besides filling them to the rim with wine lol. I got these from the Dollar Store and they are actually pretty great quality. The candles and ornaments are from the Dollar Store as well, so this project cost me less than $5! Just fill the glasses with ornaments, flip them upside down and put a candle on top. TA-DA! 🙂

Feel free to email me if you have any questions at all and thank you for reading! Happy Holidays 🙂

Shelbysoileau@yahoo.com