This is indeed one of my favorite times of year. I love decorating for the holidays, baking sweet treats, hosting festive parties & enjoying holiday traditions with family. Having my sweet nephew close by makes it even more special!
When our nephew, Oliver, first moved to town, Luke & I decided to gift him experiences rather than stuff. Sure, we buy him little things here & there, but we knew gifting him a date to the movies & a visit to the bakery would be much more valuable than a plastic toy. Thus our weekly date was born!
Every Wednesday afternoon, I pick up Oliver from school & take him on a little adventure. Every Wednesday, he asks, “Aunt Natalie what’s the fun plan for the day?!” Sometimes we go to the museum. Other afternoons we spend at the library or the park!
This Christmas season, we decided to treat Oliver to his very own Christmas tree at Uncle Luke & Aunt Natalie’s home! We went to the tree farm & Oliver picked out his very own, just-his-size tree! We brought it home & have slowly been decorating the tree each Wednesday afternoon.
We have made a variety of ornaments & decorations together this season. We made colorful paper chains as garland & these cinnamon dough ornaments to hang!
I rolled out the dough & Oliver picked the cookie cutters – pig, snowflake & tree – to make his ornaments. You can find the recipe right HERE for the cinnamon ornaments. They’ll make your house smell amazing & are very easy to make!
We also made orange slice ornaments together! We sliced the oranges in circles & dried them on a baking sheet in the oven at 200 degrees for 10-12 hours (keep an eye on them so they don’t burn!). I then threaded each ornament & Oliver hung them on the tree.
Each week that Oliver comes over during Christmas, I have been placing a “special treasure” underneath the Christmas tree for him. It’s oftentimes a book & his finished ornaments in a small basket. I can’t wait for him to find his soft little fox slippers under the tree this week!
It has been such a gift to share these little dates with Oliver each week. One day, when Oliver is grown up, I hope he knows he can come to Uncle Luke & me with anything at all. You are so loved, sweet Ollie Pop!
What Christmas traditions do you keep with your favorite littles? I’d love to read your wonderful ideas – please share in the comments!
love,
Natalie
Friends, it is my favorite time of year! Christmas card time!
Can you hear my squeals from where you are? Eeeep!
I love sending cards to friends & family near & far. It’s always so fun to open our mailbox to find a card or two from our nearest & dearest.
This year I chose a double-sided card from Paperless Post. I fell in love with this card the minute I saw it. Illustrated by Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co. & donning nontraditional (a bit whimsical!) red & green tones.
It matches our autumn photos perfectly & might just be my favorite card to date.
Do you send out Christmas cards? I’d love to know in the comments!
love,
Natalie
Luke & I took a big leap of faith this year & opened up our dream shop, Freckled Hen Farmhouse, an online general store brimming with well-made home provisions & farm supplies. We have a cozy brick & mortar, too!
In honor of the festive holiday season, I thought I’d share a handful of my favorite gift ideas from our shop! These are goods & tools we’ve used within our home for years & absolutely love. Instead of just sharing a big ol’ list with ya, I thought I’d create a gift guide for that specific person you may have in mind.
I hope you enjoy this little guide just as much as I enjoyed pulling it together! Thanks so much for a magical year, friends! Now onto holiday gifting…!!!
This year will surely be marked by many loaves of artisanal bread lovingly baked by my sweet hubby. I am not complaining, y’all!
When you’ve had a little too many carbs, thank goodness for fresh greens from the garden. Our shop is brimming with beautifully crafted hand tools boasting a lifetime warranty & sure to withstand years of hard work.
I’m a homemaker & proud of it. I love to fluff, nest, gather & love on folks within our home. Nothing lights my fire like a dinner party!
Hiking enthusiasts & happy campers, we’ve got the goods for you! When you need to get out of the farmhouse & breathe in some fresh air, we’ve got the enamelware mug to accompany you next to the campfire!
Y’all know I love a good budget spreadsheet. The holidays are no exception!
—-
Happy gifting, dear friends! I’ll be back soon with fun homemaking ideas for the holidays & what we’re cookin’ this time of year!
love,
natalie