don't miss out!

All the festive updates are happening over at 

SO-FESTIVE.COM now. 

Don't forget to update your subscription so you won't miss out! 

New Website!

Don't forget. So Festive! has moved to a new site. You can find all of the festive happenings over at
SO-FESTIVE.COM.

You will be automatically be redirected to So-Festive.com in just a few seconds.

something very exciting: it's moving day!

So, I have been so excited for this day for a long time! It's moving day for us at So Festive.

It's been a long time coming, but all the finishing touches have been made on our NEW website.

Head over to   SO-FESTIVE.COM

for a new look and lots of improved features.

I know it's a pain to change your reader and RSS feeds, but make sure you update your subscriptions so you can stay in the So Festive loop. Not to mention, there might just be a giveaway this week (wink wink) to kick-off the new site. 

Thank you so much for all of your support, festive ideas, and making it fun to keep this blog going.

*Starting Wednesday, if you come to this site, you will automatically be redirected to the new one. However,   don't forget to update your Google Reader, RSS, and other feeds so you can stay in the So Festive loop.

See you at the new site!! 

the great soup search recipe #5

Technically, this soup wasn't an official entry into the Great Soup Search, but we hosted a Fall Soup dinner and this was one of the soups our friends brought. When the night was over, my husband said, "You have to get that recipe." That is saying a lot for my husband to be asking for a soup recipe. So, I got the recipe (thanks Kenzi!) and added it to our favorites list. I like this recipe because although it's not a crockpot soup, it is still relatively quick to make. And most of the ingredients were things we usually have in the house. However, it is different enough from any other soups we have that it adds a nice variety to our meal rotation.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients
1 Tb oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved and chopped
1/2 t. tumeric
1/4 t. cayenne
1/2 c. grated creamed coconut (we used 1 can coconut milk)
3 3/4 chicken stock (hot)
2 Tb lemon/lime juice
2 Tb crunchy peanut butter
1 c. thread egg noodles (thin spaghetti) broken into small pieces
1 Tb chopped scallions
1 Tb chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
salt and pepper, shredded coconut, and  finely chopped fresh red chili to garnish

Directions
 Fry garlic in oil 1 min. Add chicken and spices. Stir fry 3-4 min. Slowly pour creamed coconut (or coconut milk) into hot stock until dissolves. Pour over chicken. Add lemon, peanut butter and noodles. Cover and simmer 15 min. Add scallions and cilantro, season to taste. Simmer 5 minutes more.

 For garnish: in small, dry skillet, heat coconut and chili 2-3 min. Stir often, until coconut is light brown. Sprinkle over soup individually.

Incredible Indoor S'mores [Recipe]

Dreams of summer and camping have been prevalent around here during this extremely cold winter. To crave our appetite for the great outdoors, we made some Indoor S'mores--a favorite treat from my childhood. And we've both concurred that we like these WAY better than actual s'mores.

Indoor S'mores

Ingredients

8 cups Golden Grahams cereal

5 cups mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup light corn syrup

5 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

Grease a 9x13 pan (if you do bars) or line a cookie sheet with wax paper (if you want individual servings). Put marshmallows, chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter in a large microwaveable dish. Melt on high for 2 minutes. Stir well. Then microwave in additional 30 second increments until mixture is completely smooth. (Or, you can melt everything in a medium sauce pan on the stove.) Then add vanilla. Pour over cereal and mix well. Stir in additional cup of marshmallows. Pour in pan or scoop individual servings. Let cool 20 minutes before eating. 

homemade glitter glue

Remember how we were the 3 Amigos for Halloween?

I never did get around to sharing how we made our costumes for under $25.
But now that the holidays are over and we'll be keeping ourselves busy with indoor crafts, now is the perfect time to let you know my little secret. I used what clothes we already had first and then picked up the rest of the pieces at a thrift store.The real key to making them so cheaply was by making my own glitter glue.

Seriously, who wants to spend $4 for a tiny tube of glitter glue? 

I knew I would use a ton and I wasn't about to fork out a fortune for glitter glue.

So I made my own. It was really easy and super cheap.

All you need is: Elmer's glue and glitter.

Mix the glitter and glue together in a bowl until it reaches your preferable consistency.

Scoop it into a bag and then snip off a corner of it to apply.
Or you can really splurge and buy a frosting applicator in the cake section.

Apply it to fabric*, paper, or anything else!
Plan ahead because it will take overnight to completely dry.
This is how our costumes turned out with our Homemade Glitter Glue.

* I wouldn't recommend machine washing any fabrics that have homemade glitter glue on them.
Spot wash by hand only. 

the great soup search recipe #4

We received a few different Taco Soup recipes, but our favorite one was a simple 5-ingredient, 15-minute recipe. It was easy to make and all of the ingredients were things we had on hand. It seems like it would be hard to mess this soup up. Although I've given you the recipe below, you can add in other things according to your specific preferences. 

15-Minute Taco Soup

Ingredients

1 lb. browned and seasoned hamburger*

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained**

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup frozen corn or 1 can corn

1/4 cup Taco Seasoning

Water

Directions

Brown hamburger and season with taco seasoning and onion if desired. Meanwhile, throw everything else into a pot. Add hamburger once it has cooked. For thick soup, add 1 cup water. For thinner, add 2 cups water. Add more taco seasoning if desired. This makes a great crockpot meal. 

*We used 1/4 lb. hamburger because we don't like a lot of meat and it was still great! 

**You could also use kidney beans or 1 can of each. 

The Great Soup Search Recipe #3

Now that the holidays are over, I'm resuming the Great Soup Search. Another one has made the cut. In fact, it is so much a new favorite, that we have already made it a few times. The thing I love about this recipe is that I can throw everything into the crockpot and come dinner time, we have a nice warm meal. It is delicious with corn bread, but I'll share that recipe another day.

No-Fuss Crockpot Chicken Chili 

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
3 cans Northern white beans, drained*
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1, 4 oz can diced green chilis
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream **

Directions
Throw everything into the crockpot, except sour cream and whipping cream. Cook on high heat for 4 hours. 15 minutes before serving, remove the chicken, shred, and return to crockpot. Add in sour cream and cream and heat thoroughly.

*Variation: Use 1 lb dry white beans. Rinse beans well before adding to slow cooker. Increase broth to 5 cups and cook on low 7-10 hours.
** For healthier option, use milk.

recipe originally via

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope you had a safe and happy new year! 

2013 is going to be an exciting year here on So Festive. 

There will be a few changes, but I promise they will be good changes.

I'm really excited about them, but you are going to have to wait just a little longer to find out what they are. 

You can also expect: 

>> A wrap up of The Great Soup Search

>> More So Festive in the City Posts

>> And themed weeks

If you have any requests of what you'd like to see this year, let me know! 

As a recap from 2012, here are some of the most popular posts:

Carmelitas

Raspberry Brownie Tarts



Chalkboard Signs

Ready To Pop [Themed Baby Shower]

Monster Bash Birthday Party 

Nautical Themed Baby Shower

Flag Waffles

Thank you always for making it fun to be festive! 
It's going to be a great year!

new year's slideshow [tradition]

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

We are still savoring the Christmas spirit around here, but I just wanted to share one new New Year's tradition with you. I heard this idea from a friend in my neighborhood. Each year, she puts together a slideshow of pictures from the year. Her family watches it on New Year's Eve as a way to relive the memories from the previous year before the new one starts. What a fun way to bring in the new year!

I love this idea because if you are like me, we hardly ever sit down and look at our digital pictures from the year.  There is still plenty of time to put together a quick and simple slideshow of  your pictures from 2012.

Here is a preview of ours:

 If you are looking for some other ways to celebrate the New Year, check out these posts. 

merry christmas!

Wishing you the Merriest Christmas!

simple celebrations: december 24-31

This week's simple celebrations:
24-Christmas Eve
25-Christmas
26-Boxing Day
27-Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day
28-Card Playing Day
29-Get rid of something Day
30-Baking Soda Day
31-New Year's Eve

I hope you have had as much fun as we have simply celebrating in 2012! I would love to know what some of your favorite simple celebrations were...

neighbor gifts 2012 [gift idea]

Our gifts have been delivered, so I can finally share what we gave our neighbors and friends this year. I knew with an active 10-month old crawling around, whipping up homemade goodies for everyone on our list wasn't going to be an option this year. Plus, we had so many compliments on our Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancake Mix gift last year, that I wanted to do another mix of some kind. That way, people aren't overloaded with sugar and because the holidays are so busy anyway, they can have a quick breakfast or save it for another time. 

This year, we gave muffin mix with a tag that said

"You're getting muffin for Christmas" with some cupcake papers attached.

If you would like a printable of the tags, leave a comment. I'd be happy to share!

Can you believe Christmas is just around the corner?

Thank you for sharing this Christmas season with me here! 

brown paper packages...

Sometimes I like just clean and simple Christmas gift wrap.

Here is a little twist on brown paper packages tied up with string.

I feel a song coming on...

Oh how I love wrapping gifts. 

When do you do your wrapping? 

simple celebrations: december 17-23

This week's simple celebrations, however if you are like me, I'm going to do Christmasy things instead :)
17-National Maple Syrup Day
18-Christmas Caroling Day
19-Oatmeal Muffin Day
20-Games Day
21-National Flashlight Day
22-National Date Nut Bread Day
23-Christmas Adam (because Adam came before Eve :) --Sleep out by the Christmas tree!

ogden's christmas village [activity]

If you find yourself in the Ogden, Utah area this Christmas season,

be sure to check out the Christmas Village in the Municipal Park downtown.

It is a charming display of lights and cottages modeled after Santa's village at the North Pole.

Unique displays in each window take you back to the magic of Christmas as a child. 

Click here for more information. 

clothesline christmas card holder [DIY]

One of my most favorite things about this time of year is receiving Christmas cards in the mail.

I love opening up the envelope to see what picture people chose and also love reading the updates. 

And then I love displaying them all month long and being reminded of family and friends who we love so much. 

This year, I wanted a different way to display them. Not that taping them on the fridge isn't good enough, but I wanted something more visible. I had some leftover clothesline from the Clothesline Advent Calendar I made, so it seemed fitting to use it and some of the remaining clothespins to hang our Christmas cards. Please tell me you love using up things you already have, too?

I picked up the clothesline from Dollar Tree. Aren't dollar stores awesome? I especially loved that it was green and white. And clothespins there are steal! The same package at Wal-Mart is 3x the price!

As soon as we get cards in the mail, we hang them on the clothesline that is hung between our kitchen and living room. Oh, it just makes me so happy every time I walk under them.  

How do you display your Christmas cards?

{P.S. As soon as I know our cards have been mailed, I'll be sure to share our Christmas card we sent out this year.} 

12-12-12! And 12 days of CHRISTMAS ideas

Happy 12-12-12! 
Do something simple to make it memorable.
----------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of 12's, tomorrow starts the 12 days of Christmas.
Unintentionally, I have done some sort of 12 days of Christmas for the past few years. 

I thought I'd compile some of the things I have done, in addition to some other 12 days ideas that I love.

#1- Sweet & Simple 12 Days of Christmas
I already posted this one here, but if you need a quick go-to idea, this  is it!

#2- 12 Dates of Christmas

Before we had a baby, I planned 12 Christmas dates for my husband and I for the month of December.

Some were simple and free, and a few cost money and were more elaborate. It was so much fun!
These were the dates we did:
1. Visit the Old World Christmas Market at the Gateway
2. First Day of December Candlelight Dinner
3. Open "It's a Wonderful Life" and watch it by the fire
4. Go to the Festival of Trees
5.  Went on a World Nativity tour
6. Saw Tangled at the expensive theater- we never do that!
7. Went doll shopping for a Secret Santa project
8. Went to the David Archuleta Christmas Concert
9. Go to the Wasatch Lawn Christmas Luminary Display
10. Went to the Christmas Utah light display
11. Visited Temple Square
12. Read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' and exchanged a simple gift.

#3-12 Acts of Service 

I like the idea of doing 12 random acts of service.

#4- 12 Days of Christmas Stories 
Originally, I got this idea from my friend Andrea (who contributes to this blog). She wraps up 25 stories and reads them each day with her children as a countdown. Unfortunately, my Christmas story collection isn't that big, so we will be doing 12 days of stories. This would be a fun gift for someone as well!

#5-12 Days of Nativity Scriptures 
I received a 12-piece nativity set from a friend a few years ago. I've always just set it out as part of my decorations, but this year, we'll be adding one piece to the nativity each night after we read a scripture telling us about that certain piece.

#6- 12 Days of Christm"US"
One year, I gave my husband 12 gifts that were pertinent to just "US" since it was our last Christmas before our first child was born. A lot of them were inexpensive, but had a funny memory or inside joke related to each one. 

Have fun! 

soap-carving nativities [activity]

A few years ago, my husband planned a really fun Christmas date for us. 

He picked up a few bars of Ivory soap and we carved a nativity together.

We are definitely not sculptors by trade, but we had a blast!

For a fun family activity, assign every one a few nativity characters and create a masterpiece together! 

simple celebrations: december 10-16

This week's simple celebrations:
10-Human Rights Day
11-International Children's Day
12-Poinsetta day and 12-12-12! 
13-Violin Day
14-Wrap a gift day
15-Bill of Rights Day
16-Chocolate Covered Anything Day