Hot Chocolate or Hot Cocoa?

Is there a difference?

Well, if you Google it, there is a difference and for chocolate connoisseurs it is a big deal (apparently!) I'm basically in it for warmth and whipped cream so what do I know?

If you want to know more about the differences (and similarities) then this article can clear things up for you!

Whichever you prefer, this warm chocolate-y drink is a holiday favorite.

And the part I'm up to speed on is all the "stuff" you can add to a big steamy mug!

I love to set up a Hot Chocolate Bar for Christmas parties at home and at church and we keep a small Hot Chocolate "corner" (it's not a full blown Hot Chocolate bar!) ready and waiting at home through the cold months!

There are a lot of delicious hot chocolate recipes all over Pinterest and recipe sites.

I have made hot chocolate from scratch but my "secret weapon" for large groups is this...

I buy already made chocolate milk in the gallon jug (cold) from the grocery store.

 It's yummy and creamy and for a big group of people it just works!

I put it in crock pots with plenty of time to warm up slowly and then when its warm I pour in a can of Sweetened Condensed Milk and mix it in well. It's outrageous!
For individual servings at home we use our Keurig and K-cups.

That's it. But the "extras" are where you can have fun
 and impress visitors to your Hot Chocolate Bar. 

Whipped Cream!! No. 1 item hands down. And in the cans with a nozzle, please! If you are having an event then fill a bowl or champagne bucket with ice and put the cans in it to stay cold. Easy.

Peppermint Syrup with a pump nozzle is a nice touch. 
If peppermint isn't your fave then there are a ton of flavored syrups available - salted caramel, vanilla, raspberry! You name it.

Then gather some small bowls or other cute serving containers and add chocolate chips.  marshmallows (which come in a zillion flavors and shapes!), sprinkles, crushed peppermints, candy canes, m and m's and even cinnamon sticks! Get creative. 

Add some spoons and cute napkins and it's a party!

Such a fun way to celebrate the season! 

You say Hot Cocoa, I say Hot Chocolate 
but as long as we all get a warm cup with whipped cream 
then everyone is right in my book!

We will keep this little corner stocked through January and February so stay tuned over on IG to see how I change it up once I put away the Christmas decor!

A Little Nativity for Everyone.

This year I made a little tiny, portable Nativity for every family at church - plus extras!

I gave out 1 piece of the Nativity each week of Advent. 

We jokingly called it the "Happy Meal Nativity" - a new prize each week :)

In all seriousness I designed it to motivate each of us to think about each "major" player in the Nativity story in a special way. 

We tend to put our Nativity out and think, 

"OK. That part of my decorations is finished and not think about it in detail." 

Maybe you are more intentional than I am but the busyness of the season distracts me! Easily.

My components were Joseph, Mary, The Manger with a star above it and Baby Jesus, of course!

It all fits in a sandwich size baggie with a sticker on the front with a verse from Luke.

They were very popular and people were excited to get each piece. People put them on their desks at work (there's on in high finance and another at the Space Center in Huntsville!), gave them to grandchildren, friends, shut-ins, family at nursing homes and more.

 (That's where the extras went.)

They put them on the dash of their cars and mini vans, carried them in their backpacks and shared the story of each piece with people they showed it to. 

A  church visitor on this past Sunday was so intrigued she took pictures and asked for details so she can take the idea back to her church in North Carolina.

These little Nativities really got around!

Merry Christmas!

I Started A New (to Us) Christmas Tradition...

Lat year I came across the tradition called Jolabokaflod, from Iceland. 

It is the tradition of giving books and chocolate on Christmas Eve.

As soon as I read about it I knew it was for us!!

Christmas in the Library - you can see why getting and giving books is for us!

It is a fabulous tradition to start anytime but since Mollie is an adult

 and we don't have small children around

 some of our past traditions that focus on Santa and reindeer have fallen away. 
There's some spare time now after Christmas Eve service!

Books and chocolate!? Yes!

 New tradition for us!

Here are some of my favorite titles from previous gift giving.  Mr. Monkey holds a few chocolate treats!

Even if you have some family members who aren't "big readers" like we are there are plenty of books you can still give. I would count comics. Or photo books you create online of trips you have taken, all the grandkids through the year, or the year in review. And coffee table books exist in almost every genre and most people love to learn the history behind what they collect or their hobby. (Tennis player who doesn't read much? - find a picture heavy book about Wimbledon. Start a collection of a series for younger children - you might just create a reader! And you know what to give them for the next holiday- the next book in the series.)

You can get very personal and creative with your book shopping. 

All of our books for Christmas Eve giving are wrapped and ready.

The tradition began in Iceland during WWII.
 Paper was readily available when almost everything else was scarce. 
Icelanders gave each other books as gifts and to this day they are a country of readers!

Jolabokaflod roughly translates to "flood of books" which I love.

Blue and white chinioserie teapots for serving hot chocolate.

So start looking for that perfect book for everyone to open on Christmas Eve, find a fabulous hot chocolate recipe (or keep it simple and buy a gallon of chocolate milk from the grocery  and put it in the crock pot!)

Then every one can cozy up with a mug of cocoa or a gourmet chocolate bar (if you prefer) and their fabulous new book.

PS. Don't leave yourself out - I order myself a fabulous design book so that I can cozy up with a book and cocoa too!

Christmas Tour 2019 - Part 1. Outside, the Entry and the Library.

Our sweet Greeter Guy (as I call him) greets everyone with a shy smile

 and a big shell full of chippy Christmas ornaments in every color. 

Rain or shine he's cozy in his plaid scarf.

In December there's a second greeter at our house.

 The big gold Santa (Mollie's fave) is on the front porch. He was a Goodwill find

 (in the middle of the Summer) and people looked at me like I was crazy for hauling a 5 foot tall, pretty ugly Santa out of the store in 90 degree heat!!

See his before here.

Our garland is a faux base with lots of fresh greenery wired in! 

You can barely see the "faux" underneath.

It's such an easy way to create full, manageable garlands.

We are using this gorgeous, blue plaid ribbon again this year.

We love it so much.

No filter needed - those are the true colors!

The swag on the back gate got the same gorgeous ribbon. 

In the entryway we have a small champagne colored tinsel tree

 with some little Chinoiserie ornaments I made last year.

 All the details and how-to's are here.

I just noticed one of the green Chinoiserie lamps got turned around while we were dusting -oops!

 I added in a little Audubon.
 I think Chinoiserie and Audubon birds are perfect companions!

Just a little touch of palms and palmetto fronds (lowcountry gal here)

 complete the decorations in the foyer.

I have had the nativity on the bamboo table for about 30 years.

 It goes in our entryway every year. 

Our cozy Library (or Snug as the British say) is home to the blue and white Chinoiserie Tree.

(This is also where several porch plants are spending the Winter)

There are a few more touches - magnolia, palmetto fronds and ornaments 

tucked in here and there.

This is one of my favorite spots during the holidays!

Hopefully I will have a few more cheery spots to share before the big day is here!!

UPDATE: Christmas Tour Part 2 did not happen due to a family medical emergency.
 I didn't even take any pictures to show later :( 

Here's to 2020 and blogging more regularly!

A Spot of Christmas Green

I have a new little spot in my garden area. 

I started this project a few months ago but it's just now all coming together

 so I gave it a little Christmas touch!

I had a bunch of bricks that I saved from a patio demo 

when we installed The Bucket this Summer.

The hutch is one that had been shuffled into the back of a storage area. 

I thought a coat of SW Lounge Green (which is the same color our porch floors are)

 would liven things up!

 No playing favorites here - we use ALL the plaid ribbons!

The twinkle lights are staying up year round (duh!)

 I look forward to how handy it will be this Spring.

But for now it has a holiday feel. 

Bottle Brush Trees

There is a bit of a bottle brush tree obsession going on at our house. 

Mollie was inspired last year by our friend Paige Knudsen's mantel

 and her quest began- filling the mantel with a forest of bottle brush trees. 

Every size and color!

This is our mantel from last year. 

This year the forest is full and colorful! 

(Although she is on the hunt for 1 more tall gold bottle brush tree for the left side !!)

Look at these colors!!

They are a lot of fun because they come in every color imaginable and are fun to group all together or tuck in here and there. Here are a couple we added to our powder room shelf.

I made a much smaller scale bottle brush display :)

 I "planted" mine in vintage blue and white tea cups and bowls. This one is on a brass bamboo tray that corrals our hot chocolate corner in the kitchen.

Bottle Brush trees have an unusual name but they are exactly what it sounds like!

This is what Google had to say:

In the 1930s, Addis Brush Company, an American manufacturer of toilet bowl brushes, began dyeing bristles green and assembling them into artificial Christmas trees. These new artificial trees were especially popular in Britain, which had lost many of its trees during WWI.

And now, they are very popular again. 

You can find them anywhere that sells Christmas decorations!

ORC Fall 2019 - The Kitchen (yep, again)

This is Thursday #6 and for many of the ORCers it's the BIG REVEAL.

I'm very excited to check out everyone's amazing "new" spaces. 

Our kitchen is looking better and better but as I stated in the first post - I have a lot of extenuating circumstances, I'm not expecting to have a BIG REVEAL this week and I'm happy for any progress I have made. I'm in VA again this week with my parents and I've had a lot going on (more than normal everyday crazy life) BUT progress has been made and I should tie up the loose ends before Thanksgiving so that is pretty exciting.
Maybe you'll check back in a couple of weeks.
I'm excited about some of the accessories I've thrifted for my "reveal" and my new island countertop is so bright and pretty!

Most of my pictures on IG have had a big ladder, paint cans, and general messiness in them.
That's still the status :) but I am sooooo close to wrapping that up
and doing fun things like putting up curtains and hanging art.

Somehow, right now, all I have is one late night blurry photo of the fabulousness that is the island painted SW naval and sporting its new marble top.

Here is "the List" from week 1. I'm going to share what has been done and where I am on the rest.

So here's the "Dream List" and I'll cross off as many as possible
 and get to the rest when I can!

1. Paint cabinets and walls white again. It's been a few years and it just needs fresh paint.
Still painting but what has been finished looks so fresh and nice!
2. Use the coral leopard print fabric to make curtains I bought last attempt...
Haven't pulled this fabric out yet - still too much wet paint around!

  And use Ballard bamboo curtain hardware I bought on deep sale but give it a coat of white paint.
The bamboo curtain hardware has been sprayed white. I love it.
3. Take down dated wood valance over sink. Adjust glass shelf over sink.
Nothing has happened here - yet. Still hoping!
4. Replace fluorescent over sink light with a recessed light.
Again, still hoping!
5.Paint dining nook ceiling pale blue.
Check!
6. Change island top. Paint island.(This one is a stretch)
This one WAS a stretch but it happened. I talked about the marble tile I found last week and the island just needs one more coat of Sherwin Williams Color of the Year, Naval. What a major improvement in the looks of our kitchen.

7.Put bamboo shades at windows.
I think just the one over the sink once the dated wooden valance comes down.
I'll make a final decision once the coral leopard curtains are hung.
8. Paint back door? Amazingly Sherwin Williams Color of the Year 2020 was already in the running before they announced! I'm feeling rather on top of that :)
We are scraping the window panes. This looks soooo good. Naval is an incredible color!!

9.Paint ceiling fans navy blue.
Nothing on this yet...
10. Runner in front of sink?
I have two options but, again, this must wait until painting is over.
11. Clean floors and use a wood restorer. I cannot take on refinishing floors right now. And remember 80 lb puppy is in a hard cast. 
This will happen in the clean up phase. And Cooper only has another week before he sees the vet again!!
13. Re-fit cookbook book shelves and move microwave from counter to new shelf. 
Completed!! I love it. More counterspace is always a good thing. And purging cookbooks we hadn't opened in years was good too. 
14. Cover lampshade on light over kitchen table. 
I actually bought a lampshade at World Market as a little splurge but it's going back. I just didn't love it in the space. So now I'm back to thinking about covering the existing white shade with fabric I have. I'm waiting until the curtains go up.

So that's where I am in this whole process. I'm still moving forward and I'm thankful for what has been completed to this point. 
See you in a couple of weeks - let's meet back here and see my "finished" kitchen.
Meanwhile I'm off to look at every single room and cheer for everyone's exciting new spaces!
Thank you to Linda for organizing this season after season - no matter how much I have left to do at the end of the challenge my spaces are always improved and I'm always glad I gave it a whirl!

Blue and White Chinoiserie Christmas Preview

I did wait until after Halloween to post what I've been making lately.

(And I have been eating Halloween candy while doing it!!)

The biggest project has been this blue and white plate wreath that was inspired by @tortoiseandharevintage on IG. She installs a plate wall wreath in her shop! 

A lot of people have asked "how?" on my IG feed 

and on my @elizabethandpayne IG account.

It's pretty easy - just takes a little time.

That is a faux pine wreath. I bought it at a wholesale florist and it truly looks real but there are faux wreaths for sale everywhere right now.

I gathered an assortment of thrifted blue and white plates  

then laid them out on the wreath to get an idea of placement. 

Next I adhered these amazing plate hangers to the back of my plates.

They dry over night and then I added my plates to the wreath and tied a big plaid bow for the top center!

I did the same thing for this smaller wreath 

and just used a single plate to fill the center opening. 

I forgot to take a better picture :( and sorry about the price tag but I didn't have a spare moment to take a cute, styled blogger appropriate pic before it went to the booth.

And then I've created some little Winter Wonderlands 

in blue and white teacups and bowls. 

They will be great as hostess gifts and to just add a touch of Christmas to places like a powder room where there isn't a lot of room for more decorations.

This one is so small and cute. The tallest tree is only about 2 1/2 inches tall!

And lots of people are creating these Chinoiserie blue and white ornaments. 

Just hit up Pinterest if you need tips on how-to!

These are good sellers for us and I enjoy drawing them.

I made my first one a few years ago for this little tree and I haven't stopped yet!

There's definitely more Chinoiserie Christmas to come but that's a little sneak peak for now!