A Cuisinique Christmas
Hello Cuisinique Cuties,
A capital C, stands for courageous, crafty and caring…words I would easily attribute to each one of you…my readers. Thank you!
I hope your holiday season is off to a slow and conscious start, mine sure is.
Let me tell you a little bit about my priorities this year! Why? Because this year I’m giving myself and my family the gift of an unstressed mom who enjoyed the holiday process and is wholly present!
Holidays. Holi-daze? Hectic. Heck-of-a-lot of fun and food? All of the above for me. Going in to this year I made a list of LIFE priorities - I didn’t want to lose myself in the holiday hectics as we so often do. This is only my list and yours might look different and that’s okay!
Health. So far, my family has been hit with more viruses and health scares than ever before. We had no choice but to slow down these past 4 weeks. For a food writer, I dare say there were not many extravagant meals happening at my house. Mostly saltines and applesauce, a smoothie or two. That’s real life, and I’m grateful to say that everyone is back to a clean bill of health. It’s so important to take the time to care for your body and wellness. Health before all else. After all, my health allows me to be fully present for #2 on my list of life priories.
Family/Relationships. This one speaks for itself because my son, role as mother and my close family and dear friends will always be most important to me.
It’s worth noting that this is not in the same category as family/relationship gifts. I’ve often fused both relationships and gift giving as co-existant. That is, seeing the gift as a reflection of the relationship. But the relationship is sustained over time, with energy and effort. This distinction is what allowed me to relax on the gift giving stress this year - more on that later.
Pets. They are living, breathing beings, bring us love and teach us so much - I love my pets and they are an extension of family.
Business. Such pivoting has happened as I approach my first year as a part-time freelancer. I hope to have even more time to allocate to Cuisinique come the spring. Some days my home takes priority, some days it’s the business, the juggle is real!
Home. Cooking, cleaning, maintenance, decorating, it’s part of the jig of life. I’m lucky to have this as #5 because my partner is an equal parts contributor to our home. Home care still takes up a lot of time and we do what we can, and if for instance the recycling doesn’t get done the second it starts to bother me - I try not to fret about it, because guess what! There is no rush - it will be there later! Trust me. It’s just not that important.
Holiday/Gifts. After all I’ve just listed - there’s more to do! This is why the holidays takes us over the edge. Our lives are full and here we are, having to do more! My motto this year, like most, was to SIMPLIFY.
daily DIY advent calendar: hubby and I trade off writing sweet love or activity notes and leaving treats like candy, play dough or trinkets. Simple and heartfelt. So lucky to have had my mom make this for our little guy!
No homemade cards this year. Making 30 cards by hand was fun before I had a child, now I collect my Christmas cards throughout the year when I go thrifting. It is so inexpensive and so fun to shop for! I love curating each card for the person receiving it.
Gifts: The ones we buy are thought out, sentimental and useful. For smaller gifts, you’ll see what I have planned below!
Hobbies. I don’t have time for my furniture flipping hobby right now. Luckily crafts are fun for me so I’ve incorporated this into my gift giving plan. Christmas is my hobby right now. And Christmas movies - here are our family favourites!
This may have been a tad longer than anticipated but I wanted to share the importance of priorities and how these have actually helped me keep a positive head space and balance of what’s truly important - holidays or not! I hope it can provide some perspective if you or someone you know needs it.
Now for the fun Christmas decor and gift ideas!
Foraged Christmas Decor
Planters are fun to create! This one is my first ever and I know it isn’t perfect and that’s okay. If you’re trying for perfection you’re missing the point! Mine contains the following:
Black spruce branches: hung for two weeks, then soaked in vegetable glycerin and water to preserve them.
Parsons Juniper.
Dried oranges and twine.
Dried Curry plant from this summers garden (I wish I had more of this).
Birch logs and cedar slab.
A few sprigs of non-foraged decorative items like faux pine cones, metal berry adorned branches and Christmas ornaments.
Here is what the inside of my planter looks like - I used recycling to fill it and a jug as a stand for the bigger branches.
These are almost all the branches I used for the planter pot. I hung them upside down for about two weeks - this helps them dry out enough to absorb the water and glycerin. Before I submerged the ends in the mixture, I took a hammer to smash the ends, this is meant to again, help absorb the preserving agent.
Here are a few more examples of planter pots made by some of of our own cuties!
I want to also show off this little arrangement I made for indoors it doesn’t contain water therefore i’m hoping the juniper dries nicely or at least holds up until Christmas. This one brings me immense joy!
This arrangement contains fresh juniper, dried pearly everlasting and another dried floral from the summer. Dried citrus and a little Santa decoration!
Crafts and DIY Gift Ideas
Paper bag Nordic Stars - When I first read this about this craft I said, what?! NINE paper bags for one star. How wasteful! Well I tried one, and guess who’s adding paper bags to her dollar tree run list?! These are incredible, miraculous, stunning, grandiose, showstopping DIY goodness. Hurry, make one, hang it in your house (or gift it! They’re great shippables!!!) I hope that’s a word. So so so stunning!
All you need is 9 paper bags, a glue gun and scissors.
DIY Doorstops - ok you caught me, I didn’t actually finish this project - YET. I plan on finishing them when my mom gets here next week. Here is the link of the pattern I used, they are really cute and useful!
https://hereinthemidst.com/2020/06/24/diy-sew-doorstop/
Sweet & Spicy Butter Candied Nuts
Never discount the joy a handmade food item gift can bring. We have a friend who has shipped her nuts and bolts to us every year for probably the last 7 years and we love and look forward to receiving them every year.
Next week, i’ll be sharing this recipe that makes a perfect gift and delicious snack for all your holiday parties!
To conclude the year, my recipe post next week will be a Christmas trio of this sweet & spicy butter candied nut recipe; an easy sweet and savoury breakfast casserole and a holiday mocktail!
Happy holidays! Stay warm, stay healthy and stay happy my cuties!