The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
~Burton Hillis
So I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit...I finally got my decorating done, started playing the Christmas music last night while we finished up the tree. Now that my daughter is home from college, it's finally feeling like the holidays. Every year I go on the annual Christmas Home Tour in our town, it's a tradition for me and my best friends, sometimes it's the only chance we have to get together all year.
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| I love these pictures my friend and co-worker took for me. |
Last week I made some Chocolate and Peppermint cupcakes for work and that started getting thinking about the baking I will soon be doing for friends and family. Over the years, I have cut back on the gift-giving, so that now I only exchange with my immediate family. Most of the gifts are bought for the 4 girls in my life, my two daughters and two sweet little nieces. I package up little boxes and plates of cookies a few days before Christmas and deliver those to my neighbors and friends and we snack on the rest throughout Christmas Eve and after. My cookie baking has become a tradition in our home, and my girls look forward to it, wondering what favorites I will bake each year. Baked goods and handmade gifts are such a special, inexpensive way to show someone you are thinking of them.
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| Photos by Meric Velasco, cupcakes by Me! |
The past few years, especially since my girls are older and my budget smaller, I have tried to focus on feeling of Christmas spirit over the amount of gifts that are purchased. Spending time with family, baking cookies, decorating, watching the Christmas classics, and listening to Christmas music by the fire are the things I really look forward to during my time off at the holidays.
Family traditions are so important, even if they have to change a little as time goes on and the family dynamics change, it's important we hold on to the little things that mean so much.
What are your family traditions?
Wishing you Happy Thoughts and the magic of Christmas,
Lisa
Your cupcakes look amazing! I am not a very good cake/cupcake decorator, but I wish I was. :) How did you get the swirls in the frosting?
ReplyDeleteI was a single mom to 3 boys for years so I'm used to being on a tight budget at Christmas. It doesn't dampen the holidays for me at all, I love them:)
ReplyDeleteYour cupcakes look amazing!!!!
Ah, Lisa, you hit the nail on the head. We are going through a difficult financial time right now too...and while I do like to see the eyes light up of my littlest family members, food is a great gift. It's always made with love. Not so much when it's an iTunes gift card...
ReplyDeleteYUM!!!
ReplyDeleteThose cupcakes looks so yummy:)
The cupcakes look wonderful! In Portugal we only have cupcakes a few time ago, but we have a tipical cake for this season - "Bolo Rei" -, which means "King´s Cake". It´s a cake with fruits, hazelnuts, etc.
ReplyDeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog and love it! Those cupcakes look Fab! I really like the quote about Ginger Rogers! I am your newest follower and will be checking back often! Would love for you to visit me at walnutandvine.blogspot.com.
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Rebecca