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This is a thing I have never thought of while I was younger and kid free. Did not make any sense for me to get random things in case I would forget about an ocassion I needed a little gift or I´d have no time left to get anything. Now many years and three kids later this makes a hundred percent sense to me. There are tons of tiny ocassions you need to have a little something at home like….

– when a tooth fell out and the tooth fairy comes the same night

– when you need a little bribery (for family photos or things like this)

– a birthday party that was sneaking up on you cause your kid forgot the invitation 

– when you didn´t count twice and only had 21 things for your kids advent calendar 🙂

– when you suddenly realized the dinner invitation was today and you have no minute left to leave the house and get a thing

What kind of gifts to keep in your Gift Closet 

For the kids:

– I do like to keep little LOL dolls, little Barbie dolls, Schleich animals or little surprise boxes for my girls

– Small games, coloring or scratch books, trendy items like unicorn, mermaid or Gabby´s Dollhouse pieces

For the grown-ups:

– gift cards, cholcolates a nice bottle of wine (we can drink it ourselves if we don´t end up using it)

What kind of gift wrapping makes sense to keep in your Gift Closet

– Cards

– Wrapping Paper

– Gift Bags

– Bows and gift ribbon

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Happy 1rst of December, the holiday countdown has finally started and also our two elves have moved back in, temporarily of course. Not only do they keep an eye on the girl´s behaviour, they also can be found in a new spot every day and make quite the shenannigans themselves. 

I know that having 24 ideas all by yourself is hard. We had days we jumped out of the bed in the morning cause we forgot to change the elves´spot and I try to avoid these stressful mornings now and plan ahead. 

Today I am sharing our last 23 ideas what to do with your elf/elves so you can start joyfully into your day by children 01who are looking for the elves everywhere with great anticipation what the naughty ones might have done. 

Elf on the Shelf Ideas

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I love the Christmas Vacation movie – it is the best Christmas movie ever. It is festive, funny, traditional and the characters act great together. Two of them alyways remind me of family members. I can laugh so much over and over. 

Clark Griswold wants to have the perfect Christmas festivity but however you will call it life comes in his way. This many people in one house during the holidays and chaos is going to happen. 

Nevertheless I think the decor trends have all come back the last two years under the nostalgia theme. 

How to decorate your home like the Griswolds did for Family Christmas…

– lots of lights outside plus the Santa and Reindeer figurines on the lawn

– a nostalgic advent calendar filled with pictures

– wodden pyramid

– authentic elk eggnog mugs

– Christmas tree decor – Popcorn garlands and muliticolor stringlights and lots of tinsel, few nonmatching ornaments like gingerbread men and snowflakes and DIY ornaments

– lots of real poinsettias throughout the whole home (be cautious cause they are poisonous for children and pets)

– needlepoint stockings and a garland above the fire place

– bottle brush trees

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I just love a charcuterie board. It is like a huge board full of girl dinner options and who wouldn´t want that. Lots of different foods to try and then move on straight to the next. The size of the board I made here served 4 adults and 2 toddler easily. We also had leftovers for the next day. It would also make a great board as a starter if you are serving a big group or even a main course for like a girl´s night in. 

How to make a Charcuterie Board

A good charcuterie board is like a great layered outfit. It is perfect when every component fits together nicely. I always start with a centerpiece like the camembert here and work my way around. Big and heavy things like the wine leaves filled with rice go on the edge cause they won´t slip from your board as well as any kind of cheese / rolls and bread or sausage like the peperoni flowers (super easy to make with a champagne glass) I made. Little bowls for super round or tiny ingredients as well as dips are also always welcome. Place them on the edges and if you are unsure use a power strip (my solution for almost anything that should not move).

Foods to add to your Charcuterie Board

Meats and Sausages

Anything smoked works great like peperoni or parma ham. You can put up some roast beef if you like or some pulled meat. I have found those cute heart shaped (also available in pretzel shape) peperoni which were a total hit. As for sausage I´d say maybe some little party sausages, nothing to big. 

Cheese

Cheese in my opinion is definitely mandatory but you can choose whatever you like. Sliced cheese may not be your best option here cause you can´t position it nicely but anything else will work just fine. A big piece of camembert as center piece and I have also found these flower like shape tete-des-moins pieces at our local supermarket.

Dips

Dips are really optional, I did a tomato-mozzarella dip here but I´d always go with some mustard that fits very well with the cheese and sausage and also a small jam. Cherry works great with cheese and meat/sausage. The mustard I have here is paired with fig and radish. A little sweet and a little hot.

Vegetables

When I am talking about vegetables for a charcuterie board I am not talking about cucumbers or brokkoli. I am talking about cream cheese filled peppers or dried tomatoes or some little cherry tomatoes. You also can´t go wrong with filled mushrooms. One vegetable I will always rely on filled or not are olives. Olives are the MVP in my kitchen. Fit in salads, fit in pasta sauces and are also delicious with only a slice of bread. Go for the Italian antipasti vegetable kind here. But check that there are not to oily or the other foods around your vegetable will get soggy too. 

Fruit

Not every fruit works great here. It should be something with a citurs flavor or a zesty taste to balance out the sausage and the cheese. Also don´t use fruit that´s super moist like watermelon or pears. Eventually your whole board gets soggy. 

Raspberry, blackberry, currant or blueberry is a great filler cause it fits flawlessly in any kind of gap you have left on your board and they are complementing the other foods very well plus they are dry fruits. 

Any kind of dried fruits work great as well and I also often use Physalis or pommegranate seeds.

Misc

Something crunchy of course like crackers. Nuts also always work as a filler. I added pistachios but you could also use a trail mix or a different kind of nut. Bread or little rolls are also great to put onto the edges of your board or you serve them seperately in a basket or on a cake stand like I did.