‪‎Holiday Hodgepodge‬ (‪‎Vlogmas‬) Day 3: ‪‎Christmas‬ ‪‎Decorating‬

Welcome to Day 3 of Holiday Hodgepodge!!!

Today we decorate my church for Christmas. We had a lot of fun and even had a mini disaster when one of the kids accidentally broke one of the glass candle holders. If you look REALLY closely you can see it in the stop motion section. =)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RdZFmNWpZo

Do you like decorating for the holidays?

Holiday Hodgepodge Day 1! Thanksgiving Traditions!

Welcome to Day 1 of Holiday Hodgepodge! 

In today's video we will be taking a look at what I did for Thanksgiving!

What did you do?

Holiday Hodgepodge 2014

I’m doing Holiday Hodgepodge again!! It’s my version of Vlogmas. I created it last year because I wanted to do Vlogmas but I’m not a vlogger and I felt like posting a video everyday would be too much for me. I had successfully done Makeup MAYhem before where you post a video every other day in the month of May. I thought, “Hey! Why not combine the two?” And thus, Holiday Hodgepodge was born!

The way it work is that I post a holiday related video every other day starting December 1st and ending on Christmas day. The videos range from makeup tutorials, DIYs, recipes, gift guides, tags, and some vlogs. 

Here is the playlist from last year. Starting December 1st I will be adding new videos to it. I will also be posting video lists for that week on here. 

I hope you’re as excited as I am!!

Oops!

OMG! Have I really not posted since the end of July? I'm so sorry! I seriously did not realize it had been that long. 

I am a horrible blogger. I have every intention of posting and then somehow it gets pushed aside. I will try harder! 

So, I guess we have a lot to catch up on. I will make separate post for the videos that have been posted over the next week or so. I guess I'll do them by month. 

It's the start of the busy holiday season and I have lots of fun things planned. I hope you'll enjoy them! 

What fun things do you have planned?

Holiday VoxBox: Goody Hairbrush Review

I love the idea of this hairbrush. It is suppose to help dry your hair faster. It says that it can be used with or without a blow dryer.

I don't blow dry my hair so I was excited to try this. It doesn't really work all that well without a blow dryer. it does dry some of your hair but once the microfibers become went they are useless. They need the hot air to dry them as you are using it.

I ended up giving it to my sister and she told me it works much better with a blow dryer.

Grade without a blow dryer: C

Grade with a blow dryer: A

*This was sent to me for free by Influenster. All opinions are my own.

HBCooks: Green Bean Casserole

In this recipe I take the standard green bean casserole recipe and add some fresh ingredients to make it even better! This is enough to to serve about 5-10 people.

Ingredients:

2lbs. Fresh Green Beans
2 cans of Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 regular size can of French Fried Onions
1 1/2 cups of Milk
1-2 cups of Shredded Cheese
1-2 cups Fresh Mushrooms diced
1 cup Onion (any color) diced
5-7 strips of Bacon cooked and diced
Salt and Pepper

Watch the video below to see how it's cooked

Variation:

If you like your green beans less crunching blanch them before adding them to the casserole. (Blanching is cooking the beans and then cooling them off fast with really cold water.)


Let me know what you think and if you try this recipe tweet me a picture!

Holiday Traditions: Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve my family gets together for dinner at my grandma's house. We have always gotten together on Christmas Eve because it was also his birthday, and even though he has passed away we still get together. This year we are having ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (I will be filming a video about that), brussel sprouts, rolls, cupcakes, apple pie, and I'm sure more. ;-) I will be posting pictures tomorrow so make sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

After dinner we will exchange gifts and enjoy each others company. Then I will go to church at 11pm. It is my favorite service of the year. It's the candlelight service and we sing lots of Christmas carols. It really gets you into the spirit of things. Plus, it's usually actually Christmas Day when you walk out of the church and it just seems like the most fitting place to be. =)

What are your traditions on Christmas Eve?

*Star picture from here.

Holidays: Giving Back

I think it is important to give back all year round but I feel like it is especially important to remember those in need during the holidays. I donate all my old clothes to the Salvation Army year round because when my grandfather was a little boy they use to help out his family. 

Since I was a little girl I have always donated toys (new and used) to the needy kids during Christmas time. My parents would tell me that if I wanted Santa to bring me new toys that I would have to help out other children too. We would go through my toys and donate them to the Salvation Army and then we would go to the toy store and pick out a new toy for a boy and a girl. (These would go to Toys for Tots.) 

As an adult I still do this. I feel it is really important to give to children because they do not understand why their parents may not be able to buy something. They are innocent and it literally brings me to tears thinking about a child with nothing to open on Christmas day.

I usually give to Toys for Tots but the last couple of years my church has teamed up with a local group, the Sandpipers. They collect toys for children in foster care. Children in foster care are not allowed to keep anything that their foster parents may give them. Everything a foster care child gets is through social services, including presents. What the Sandpipers do is collect toys for each child. The child makes a decoration and puts what they want for Christmas on the back. Then they set up a tree and decorate it with the ornaments. You get to choose which child you are going to buy for and you get to keep the ornament as a memory. I really like this because it feels more personal than just dropping a toy in a box.

This year I choose a 1 year old girl who wanted Disney Princess dolls.

 I bought her a couple of the dolls and decided that they needed a house to play in too, so I bought one of those too. ;-) I just wish I could see her face when she opens it. 

How do you give back?

My 100th Video: Holiday Glam

Check out my latest tutorial that'll help you get all glammed up for the holidays. It includes a hair and makeup tutorial. =) I hope you like it! Tweet me pictures of your holiday looks!

Having a Healthy Holiday Season

As you guys know the Fall and Winter are a busy time of year for me and many others too. With the busyness comes laziness. Especially, when it comes to eating and working out. I have not been to the gym in 6 weeks. It's horrible and I am really mad at myself. Luckily though I haven't gained any weight. Instead of waiting to gain weight or until the holidays are over I am going to challenge myself to get back into the habit of working out and you are going to help me stay accountable! Starting today I am going to head back to the gym! My goal this week is to go at least 4 times this week and spend at least 30 minutes doing cardio. (I want to ease myself back into my 3 times a week for an hour.) Once a week I'll write about how successful I have been, and I hope that you'll help me with words of encouragement. =)

I am also challenging you to be healthier this Holiday season! I know you can do it! I'd love to hear your plan.