Five on Friday- Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Ever since I was little, one of my favorite parts about Christmas morning was emptying my stocking. Even though everything in my stocking was always little and not expensive by any means, it was just so fun! I thought I could list a variety of  ideas that you could use for stocking stuffers. I know some people do stockings differently and put more expensive things in there, but we have always done just fun, knick knack type items.

1. For women, I think the most fun things are nail polish, cute socks, lip balm/lipstick, hand cream, candy and/or breath mints and maybe even some fun personalized stationery!

2. For men, you could put socks, fishing lures, hunting accessories, golf balls/tees (depending on their hobbies), candy and/or breath mints as well, chap stick, a new tie and fun cuff links!

3. For Harper, I'm thinking of adding on to her Little People Princess Castle collection with some additional princesses :) Other good ideas for toddler boys and girls are bath crayons/tablets, play doh, crayons, bubbles, fruit snacks, board books, stickers, bath toys, toothbrush/toothpaste, underwear for potty training time and eating utensils.

4. Some people are totally against gift cards, but I think they are great gifts and can be great stocking stuffers! The trick is that you need to make sure to get a gift card to somewhere that the person already likes to shop or shops often. When you get a random one, the gift cards either don't end up being used, or the person has to spend more out of their pocket to find something that they really want. I think great choices would be for Amazon.com (because they have everything) or restaurants/fast food places where the person likes to eat.

5. You could also just stick some money in there too :)

Have a great weekend!

Recipe- Red Velvet Gooey Butter Cookies

I saw this recipe on Pinterest the other day, and it looks divine! I haven't tried it yet, but I couldn't pass up sharing it with everyone because I'm sure these cookies would be delicious :)

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (18 ounce) box red velvet cake mix

1 cup white chocolate chips

Powdered sugar, for rolling and dusting 

Directions:

Cream the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the cake mix and beat until incorporated. Fold in white chocolate chips.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up, so that you can roll the dough into balls.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Add powdered sugar to a shallow bowl. Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a 1 1/2 inch ball, roll the ball in the powdered sugar and place in on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remianing dough, spacing the balls about 2 inches apart. Bake until set, about 11-12 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Five on Friday

1. Does anyone else feel like the past few months and the holiday season in general has just flown by? I don't know if it's because I have been so busy at work the past couple of months or just life in general, but I feel like it's not lasting long enough! Let's all remember the real reason for the Christmas holiday though during this busy and hectic time :)

2. I don't know how some of you live in those areas of the United States that get a lot of snow, ice and winter weather in general! As I said before, we got some wintry weather last Friday, and it's still sticking around! I'm so ready for the ice/snow to melt off the roads and ground and for everything to dry up. I'm down for it snowing, lasting a day or two, then magically disappearing :)

P.S. This is not a picture of Arkansas- just a pretty picture of some winter weather!

3. My department at work is going to one of those "paint your own picture" studios today for our Christmas get-together. I have never done this before, but I know several people who have and they say it's so much fun! I'm really excited, and I have a few places in mind to put this in my house :) Let's hope it turns out ok!

4. So, I started my Christmas shopping early and was done by the first of November. However, I keep seeing these cute and fun toys to buy Harper. I have no clue where we are going to put all of the toys she gets for Christmas, but I couldn't resist this Little People Princess Palace yesterday! We really need to be putting money in a bank account instead....................

5. Only one more week of work and I'm off for awhile! I'm so excited to be off the whole week of Christmas and a few days the following week. It will be a much needed break from work and the commute and great time to spend with family relaxing, visiting and eating!

Happy Friday!

Christmas Pajama Party Link Up!

I shared this picture of Harper in her Christmas PJs yesterday, but I decided to link up today and post it again! I mean, I don't think anyone could ever get enough of those beautiful, blue eyes!! I know I know, I'm a little biased :)

An Icy Weekend

Happy Monday to everyone! We had a round of winter weather come through our parts on Thursday night, so we have pretty much been in the house since then! My office closed down on Friday, so I got to stay home and enjoy the time with Clint and Harper. We didn't do anything at all besides just hang around the house, and it was so nice. By Saturday, I had cabin fever though, so Clint's parents came and picked up Harper and I (Clint was at work), and we headed out to lunch. Yesterday, we just sat around the house some more and just enjoyed the nice, relaxing day. 

Here are some pictures from our weekend!

We got so bored we had to open a Christmas present! This tea set is so cute, and Harper has thoroughly enjoyed playing with it.

Christmas PJs!

Our Thanksgiving Break

Happy Monday! I was so not ready to come back to work. That 4 day weekend/break was much needed, although now I wish I had a few more days of it!

Clint worked on Thanksgiving, so Harper and I ventured to Heber Springs to have Thanksgiving at my mom's house, and then to visit a few other relatives while we were there. I ate a lot and was exhausted by the end of the day. Harper and I made it back home around 5:00 pm and just rested for the remainder of the night.

On Saturday morning, she and I went out to Kohl's because I had a $10 gift card that was only good until 1:00 pm. I got her a puzzle and a new book. Even though it was crazy busy out there, the lines went really fast and we were headed back home in no time! Clint had went fishing that morning, so when he got home I went out shopping with his aunt and cousin (who was in town from Denver). We went downtown to a few of the little boutique stores and browsed.

On Saturday, we just lounged around the house, ran a few errands, cleaned house, etc- nothing too major. Clint worked again yesterday, and Harper and I went to Church and hung around the house some more!

As I've said before, I'm horrible at taking pictures, but I did capture a few this weekend. Harper's hair is getting so long, and it's finally long enough for some pigtails!

She LOVES drinking from my water cup!

Only a few more weeks until Christmas break- yay!