Homegrown Holidays 2015

December can be such a hectic month.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the rush of the Christmas season.  

There are gifts to buy, parties to attend, Christmas photos to take….the list goes on.

So this year we decided to slow down, enjoy our family time & not get too bent out of shape about everything else.  

So today I’m sharing with you our idea of a Homegrown Holiday.

We kicked off December by decorating our home.

Then we had our annual Christmas trip with Dustin’s side of the family.  This year it was my turn to plan & we spent the weekend in Maggie Valley.  

 

The house was beautiful & we had the best time relaxing & spending time with our family.

One night Dustin & I hosted a tacky Christmas sweater party & game night.

Dustin found the game & it was a big hit.  We stocked up on snacks, goodies, & plastic wrap, then wound them all together in a layered ball which was passed around the circle.  One person tried to unwrap as quickly as they could while the person to their right tried to roll doubles on the die (die? dice?) in order for the goody ball to be passed to them, & whatever they unwrapped was theirs to keep.

While we were at the store picking out all of the little things we wanted to add to the game, Dustin came to me so excited because he had found a selfie stick for only $5.  I wasn’t that into it, but he convinced me that it was “a heck of a deal”, so it went in the basket.  Later on at home, after we had all of the goodies wrapped into the big plastic ball, I noticed that the selfie stick was still laying on our bed.  When I pointed out that we had forgotten to wrap it, Dustin said “Oh no that’s for me.  I need it for taking fishing pictures when I’m by myself.  No catch left undocumented.”

Never a dull moment with him.

It actually turned out to be a great idea for documenting all of our Christmas party shenanigans. 

We made each family an ornament to commemorate our vacation.

After our big trip, we have spent our free time watching Christmas movies, looking at local lights, & crafting up a storm.

We usually try to give handmade gifts because it saves money & gives us extra family time.  We put together baskets with homegrown goodies & crafts from our farm.  

Dustin used reclaimed barn wood to make trays for everyone on our list.  

This year my brother made some really neat rustic twig ornaments & painted these snowflake signs.  We plan on adding them to our gift baskets & you can do the same!  We are now offering the trays & ornaments for sale in our Etsy shop.

 

How did you celebrate the holiday season?

Share in the comments section below!