christmasellaneous // a general summary of my december so far

overview // the wreath wars

Today I want to share with you what December looks like in my household. (Let's be real, decorations have been up since the start of November, but we've definitely upped our game since the start of the month). There's a lot of eating, drinking, and general merriment, as well as an ambitiously long list of movies to watch and a friendly wreath war competition between us and the neighbours. (The neighbours aren't aware of this, but they should have known that when they put a kick-ass wreath on their door halfway through November, they were asking for it). Their Christmas spirit has been matched, and, if I do say so myself, conquered. Threat neutralized. We have won Christmas.

So today I'm going to share my December endeavours. We've got lots of Christmas activities, decorations, and arts and crafts going on. This is by far my favourite time of year - it means so much to be able to express how much you love the people around you in so many different ways. In no particular order, here's what I'm feeling enthusiastic about this season!

the soundtrack

You can't truly get in the holiday mood if your activities aren't set to the right playlist. If you're in need of some Christmas playlists, you can check out my Spotify, where you will find gateway Christmas music (for when you're not quite ready to be all-in on the holiday spirit), hardcore Christmas music (for when you are), a holiday yoga playlist, a poppy Christmas party playlist, and lastly but maybe most importantly, instrumental Christmas music for the spirited study session.

twinkle light game on point

Next: decorations. I have a newfound love for battery operated lights this Christmas. How on earth are you ever supposed to have the appropriate amount of twinkle lights in all the appropriate places when you're constrained by the location of your outlets?!?! These are the recent additions: the little globe lights along the curtain rod are actually from when Mitchell proposed, and they're from Michaels. The waterfall lights are from Amazon and I love them an unreasonable amount. I also bought a 6-pack of copper string lights that are basically wrapped around everything that wasn't already lit up, and a few things that were.

ultimate christmas movie extravaganza

You'll be happy to know that my roommates and I are diligently working away at creating the ultimate Christmas movie list. You'll be the first to know when we reach our conclusions, but bear in mind that we are researchers, and as such, we must be detail-oriented and thorough. Wouldn't want to let our assumptions get in the way of a bias-free end product. I will keep you posted on our progress, but in terms of preliminary raw data, White Christmas (1954) is my unexpected favourite. We've really been enjoying all of the old ones. We would not recommend Bad Santa in any way whatsoever. UPDATE: you can find our top 20 favourite holiday movies here!

hand-knit blankets

We also have some arts and crafts going on. Justin and I are enthusiastically hand-knitting blankets. My first one was wool (from the Dollar Store if you can believe it) and his was chenille from Michaels. The wool is heavy and it's hot. It's very cozy and I love how it looks - I think it will be a throw, for now on the couch and maybe eventually over a cozy chair. It's very thick so it's nice to sit on but less nice to sit under, unless

you've got the window open in the dead of winter and you're looking for that weighted blanket feel. To make a blanket this size, I used 22 10-metre rolls of super thick yarn (for use with size 11 knitting needles, for reference).

Justin's is taking longer because his yarn is thinner, and also because he's making a three-roommate-sized blanket instead of a throw. It's lighter and the chenille is super soft. That's what I'd recommend going with if you want a blanket for everyday use. In fact, my second trial is a velvetty pink yarn from Michaels, and it's making a much more functional blanket so far. We used a video to teach ourselves how to hand knit. Make sure you keep all of your knots on one side! And it's easy to unwind if you make a mistake or want to change the dimensions of your blanket, so this is a very forgiving art project.

christmas shopping

My holiday shopping is almost complete, and my goal, as in many other instances, has been to leave my apartment as little as humanly possible. Online and incidental shopping it is, then, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Without giving any surprises away, I thought I'd share some of my gifting favourites.

One of my favourite new places to order gifts is Vistaprint. It's super easy to personalize basically anything you want, they ship quickly, and they have great holiday sales. Best of all, no leaving the house.

Along those same lines, I will never stop plugging Etsy. another great place to buy customized gifts. When you shop Etsy, your carbon emissions are offset and you're supporting a small business owner. (My Etsy sales pay for my groceries! What big company can say something that wholesome?). Etsy is my favourite place to buy jewelry and accessories (like this personalized key chain I got for Mitchell a few years ago). And in addition, one of my favourite low-cost, low-effort, and last-minute gifts is buying prints on Etsy. Somebody draws/paints a piece of art, they upload a digital file of it their Etsy shop, and then you pay a small amount of money to download that file instantly, printing it out yourself and framing it at home. I have some of these on my Etsy shop, and lots of others do as well, making for a really wide range of products.

And then there's DIY - I know I'm supposed to be talking about low-effort gifts, but I think buying inexpensive materials and making gifts while you watch movies is a close second to saving time. I buy most of my art supplies from Michaels and Amazon, and I always feel like my DIY gifts have an extra personal touch. In past years, I've etched a monogram flask and wine glasses (this etching pen is great), I've made DIY advent calendars with chocolates, beers, love notes, candy canes, etc. etc., I've put together a seasonal scrapbook, I've made easy and very manly Christmas ornaments (writing with Sharpies on these wooden ornaments), and I've watercoloured so so so many cards.

the wrap-up

Aside from our holiday activities and arts and crafts, we've been eating festive foods (check out my chocolate turtles recipe!) and drinking festive drinks (holiday margaritas - coming soon - and Christmas mimosas!). In addition to the movie list, we've been greatly enjoying Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas on the W channel. We went to the Toronto Christmas Market and the Kitchener Christkindl Market. Mitchell's work hosted a super fancy Christmas party at the Hacienda Sarria in Waterloo and next weekend we'll be having a Christmas PJ party (ugly sweaters are overdone). Basically, we've just been having a grand old time. I hope this post has sparked some holiday spirit and maybe provided some ideas for you to try this December.

Namaste, and happy holidays!