Cozy Cottage Christmas Tour Part One

You will love this cozy cottage Christmas tour, probably the cutest Christmas home ever! I want to give you a tour of my friend Shelly's cozy Christmas home. I just look forward to seeing her home every year all dressed for the holiday. Her vintage Christmas style is amazing.

I know it is after Christmas but you will love her Cozy Cottage Christmas Tour 2014.

Today is just the kitchen. I took so many pictures that I will break this up into a couple posts. It was dark and rainy too that day so hopefully the photos do her home justice. She set the table with the cutest Christmas candle vignette.

Just her Christmas cookie canisters and tins are amazing. 

I loved this little display with the red vintage salt and pepper shakers.

Shelly's dining area is so adorable. She layers her displays like no one else. I asked her how long it takes to get all of her decor out and she said about five eight hour days. But honestly, she loves it and it is a pleasure for her to decorate with Christmas past and present. Each year it is different and honestly I look forward to seeing it every Christmas. I hope she never stops inviting me. Thank you so much Shelly for letting me share your home on the blog and letting everyone else see your beautiful home.

You can see past visits to Shelly's sharing  a previous Christmas tour and a cottage decorated with fall decor.

Sunny Simple Life Christmas 2014

Well we have celebrated, ate and enjoyed good company. Christmas 2014 is in the books as they say.

I had a wonderful week of gatherings leading up to Christmas and one highlight was an annual trip to see my friend Shelly's house all decked out in the cutest vintage Christmas decor you have EVER seen. I wanted to do an entire post on the pictures I took. Do you think it is too late to share them now that Christmas has passed?

We baked and baked and then baked some more. Tins and bags of goodies left the house faster than I could bake. These peppermint kiss cookies were my new recipe this year. Just the cute colorful look of these cookies will keep them on our yearly list. I will share the recipe because they are so easy and look so fun.

On the 20th I had my group of friends through blogging over for a brunch. We had the best time and I am so lucky to have met such wonderful friends through this blog. I cherish these gals. I set the table simply but it is fun to get my Santa plates out each year.

                             
 Every year we gather at our friends house for their annual Christmas Eve party. We have known each other since childhood and grew up on the same street. They are like family to us.

Finally, at home, everyone tucked in bed, and lo and behold Santa came. This was the kids' tree this year.

One particular kiddo was very excited this year. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and now onto New Years. Most of our decor came down today. We left a couple trees that will stay until New Year's day but it feels good to have the house restored to order.

Simple Christmas Pleasures

We have several trees in our house but the real tree is our REAL Christmas tree. It is a simple country tree set in an galvanized tub.

I

Another simple tradition that I love is to visit the live Nativity our church sponsors. This year it was made all the more special as our daughter played the roll of Mary. To just gather and stand around the manger, everyone drawn to celebrate the birth of Christ. No flashy show, no live music, just a beautiful celebration of Christmas. 

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and one full of simple pleasures.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Some friends hosted an ugly Christmas sweater party this past weekend. Now I don't buy that many new clothes so I thought why waste money on an ugly sweater so I found this sort of gaudy Snoopy sweater and added some dollar tree embellishments. Figured, hey, I like Snoopy so I can maybe wear this again. It was fun and lots of folks had sweaters with Christmas lights.

Here we are heading out the door. Frankly I have to admit, I used to love all those sweaters, now considered ugly, with the knit embellishments and Christmas decor. Yep, I had me a few of those.

 The hostess had a daughter who is a pastry chef so her cookies were of course perfection. Ugly sweater cut out cookies. They were so cute I hated to eat them but I did, I ate several of them.

Christmas Kitchen Tour 2014 - Christmas Home Tour Part Two

Welcome to my Christmas Kitchen Tour for 2014. We like to change things up a bit each year and I think this year turned out to be on of my favorites. So come on in, grab a mug of something yummy and let's visit in my vintage kitchen.

Each year a hot chocolate station is a must. This year I used a small snowman cookie jar to hold our marshmallows for all the hot cocoa that we will enjoy.

Even the old '58 Western Holly oven gets dressed with a holiday towel.

I love gingerbread so it has been a theme in the kitchen for years.

Soon we will fire up the mixer and start our flurry of Christmas baking. My mom's best easy roll sugar cookie cutouts are so good. If you need a good cut out recipe, this is the one.

My gingerbread shelf decor is always a bit different. I can't help but add something new to the collection. And as always I have to give my hubby credit cause he does most of the decorating.

This year, one new addition is the vintage kitchen Christmas tree. It is my favorite tree this year, full of so many memories. You can read the story of it in my Christmas home tour part one.

Thanks so much friends for coming by for a visit to my Sunny Simple Life kitchen tour and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.

Kitchen Quick Tip - How to Make Your Faucet Sparkle

How to make your faucet sparkle and shine.

At the end of the day, or even after a meal and clean up in the kitchen, there is nothing like leaving your kitchen clean and your chrome faucet shiny and spot free. Here is how to clean your chrome faucet and remove water spots.

I learned from the neatest house keeper I know, my husband's aunt, to always clean your chrome faucet after each use. She always sprayed hers down after dinner dishes when we would visit with Windex. I asked her why she did this and she said because it keeps hard water spots from developing on the chrome on your faucet.

I started doing this, but am much more conscious of putting chemicals on the sink than I used to be when I was young. Now I use a mix of vinegar and water and often the Method cleaners from Target. I love with glass and surface one that smells like mint.

So whenever you do dishes, to prevent water stains on your faucet, spray, wipe and shine. It is so nice to walk into your kitchen with the faucet sparkling.

Now if you have hard water build up here is a post on how to remove hard water stains from chrome and glass. This and other tips in the quick tip series.

Vintage Kitchen Christmas Tree - Christmas Home Tour Part One

This year I gathered the box of my mother's vintage ornaments in bright reds and greens and added them to my vintage kitchen Christmas tree. I think this is my favorite tree in the house this year. Many ornaments were given to me as a child so this has been dubbed Grandma's tree.

I have to give the usual props to my hubby because I told him what I envisioned for this little tree and he made it happen. He put the tree in one of my old crocks and placed all my red rolling pins around the base of the tree.

I placed all my candy cane decor above the tree to tie in the candy cookie theme.

The vintage Santa face was my mother's as well and I think it is my favorite of all the decor I have of hers.

I hope you enjoyed the first tree in my annual home tour for Christmas. Next up is my real tree for the year in a snowman theme.

A look at my Christmas kitchen from 2013 and 2012.

Super Simple Chocolate Fudge Pie

If you are looking for a super yummy, but easy dessert, this is the one for you. Super simple chocolate fudge pie is to die for and is so easy and quick to make. You can make this super duper easy by using a store bought refrigerated or graham cracker pie crust (which I do) and by using store bought pre-made whipped cream topping. I usually make my own whipped cream if I have time.

Super Simple Chocolate Fudge Pie

Recipe by Sunny Simple Life

Ingredients

• 5.9 ounce Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding Mix
• 4 ounce Softened Cream Cheese
• 1 2/3 cup Milk
• 1 Baked Pie Crust
• 1 Cup Chopped Chocolate Candy Bar or Oreo Cookies
• Whipped Cream Topping

Cooking Directions

1. Beat in a room temperature bowl the very softened cream cheese, adding one cup of the milk very slowly. Mix until totally whipped together. Keep the other 2/3 cup of milk chilled. Then add the other 2/3 cup of milk and the pudding mix and beat until thickened and mixed completely. Spread into the baked and cooled pie shell. Top with real whipped cream or a Cool Whip type of whipped cream. Sprinkle generously with your chopped candy bars or cookies of choice and refrigerate a few hours. Enjoy!

Check out our recipe page for even more yumminess.