Friday, December 21, 2012

Merry Christmas!

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Year!

Thank you all for following me since I started Keep it Beautiful in May. It has been a pleasure writing this blog and I'm looking forward to continuing to write in the New Year. I have lots of ideas and a few exciting things coming up to share with you.

I'll be taking a rest with my family over the holidays but back at it in January.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

This is our little babe last Christmas. He was our little Christmas package :)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Wednesday Yummies: Dad's Cheese Bread

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Our Ugly Christmas Party was a success on Saturday night :) The sweaters were fantastic, the food and drinks were a flowin' and my head hit the pillow at 3am. Goodtimes!

Are you on the home stretch in your Christmas planning and shopping? Do you have teachers to buy for? Between our two kids and two different schools, we have 6 teachers to give to. As a child, I remember my dad making cheese loaves at Christmas time. We would give one to our school bus driver, the mailman etc. So, on Sunday night I pulled out the yummy recipe and baked 8 loaves (I knew that Mr. Fix-it was hoping I would make extra).

So, each teacher will be receiving a loaf and a Starbucks gift card from my kiddies this year. Here's the recipe...it's easy, super tasty (especially if you toast the slices) and they freeze really well!

Dad's Cheese Bread

Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp of dry mustard
- 1 tsp onion salt
- 1/2 tsp of ground or dried oregano
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 egg
- 2 tbs melted butter
- 1 1/4 cups of shredded chedder cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together
3. Mix all wet ingredients together (add the cheese last)
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once and stir just until combined
5. Add dough to a greased loaf pan
6. Bake for 40 - 45 mins (I baked mine for 40 mins)

Makes 1 loaf.

Once they were cooled, I wrapped them twice in saran wrap and then foil. To make it pretty, I tied a piece of red yarn around the loaf, attached a gift tag to it and froze them. All they need is the gift card stuck on top and VOILA...a fresh.fabulous.sophisicated (and yummy) present for your child's teacher, your boss, your friends or the bus driver.

Keep it Beautiful.



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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Our Home is Ready for Christmas

Are you ready for Christmas yet? One thing that IS done in our house is the decorating. Phew!! Now it's onward and upward to making lists, checking it twice, shopping, wrapping etc. Less than two weeks left! No wonder people drink alot at Christmas time!

Here is what our home is looking like this Christmas...

The mantel
I guess this is also our big mantel reveal since our DIY a few weeks ago.

Your fireplace is often the showpiece of your room so let it shine at Christmas. With the Christmas tree right beside the mantel, I chose to keep it simple with a few candles and a wreath. I just couldn't cover up all Mr. Fix-it's hard work on the new mantel.

We started with this when we bought the house:
Which then became this when we moved in:
And here it is now:

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...
Getting the lights on...

silver and gold, silver and gold (and maybe a few hits of green)...

A little mistletoe...

Even the "whipped" walls going down to the basement needed a little Christmas love. This was my Nana's wreath.

Going UP...

And UP again...
A little linen closet glam...

Don't forget to give the kitchen Christmas love too...
This wreath and candles are from Ikea

This year we bought the kids a little 4ft tree. It is decorated with ornaments from when Mr. Fix-it and I were kids, as well as any ornaments the kids make and receive. It was a real hit this year with our big guy and it allowed me to have my pretty matchy tree in the living room. Score!

I love these globes from Pottery Barn. Aren't they gorg at night?

This Santa painting hung up in my parent's house every Christmas. It now hangs in our living room each year. Mr. Fix-it sprayed the frame silver (it was originally gold). If you look carefully, you can see little children in his beard.

A touch of outside...

So...all you need are lights, greenery, ornaments and a few ideas to make your home fresh.fabulous.sophisticated for the holidays.

Keep it Beautiful.



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mop it up mondays
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