Preparing for Christmas
Resources to help you have a merrier Christmas season!
Christmas is coming! And I have all kinds of resources to help you prepare. If Christmas is a big part of your life — as it is mine — I have all kinds of projects, giving guides, and so much more to help you have a happier, more beautiful Advent and Christmas season.
Most exciting: the new update Decorating the Greenhouse for Christmas! We just finished putting the finishing touches on The Greenhouse, and I wanted to decorate it for the holidays. I was inspired by my own Scandinavian traditions, bringing touches from my own Norwegian traditions as well as incorporating what was already in my garden into the festive scheme.
I’ve included the three links below for your reference! The Christmas link includes a variety of content including projects like embroidered Christmas stockings, recipes, and more. The Giving Guide includes budget-friendly gift suggestions for all kinds of people on your list.
Budget-friendly gift suggestions for everyone on your list! Lists include:
My Favorite Gifts | Gifts Under $15 | Gifts for Mid Modern Lovers | Gifts for Children | Books to Give Gifts to Make | Wines to Give | Bubbles for the New Year
And don’t forget to order your copy of the new and improved edition of The Nice List! It’s available in my store below, and I’m so excited about this redesigned resource. It isn’t too late to use it and allow it to help reduce your stress level this season.
Merry Christmas, friends! I’m so thankful for your love and support all year.
Love,
Angela
Make Your Holidays Merrier!
The all-new version of The Nice List is here!
The All-New Nice List is here!
Introducing The Nice List All Year and The Nice List Christmas Workbook!
THE NICE LIST: PAPER EDITIONS
The Nice List includes two separate notebooks:
The Nice List All Year: a gift-giving tracker to last for years to come
The Nice List Christmas Workbook: a planner for the entire Christmas season to keep you organized and help bring a little sanity to your holiday season
Both are available individually or together as a bundle and are designed to be used in a traveler’s notebook or independently.
FREE GIFT WITH PURCHASE:
The Nice List books are designed so that they can be used in a traveler’s notebook -- a simple way to keep them together. For a limited time we will include a FREE handmade, upcycled traveler’s notebook with each purchase of The Nice List Bundle (while supplies last).
THE NICE LIST CHRISTMAS WORKBOOK INCLUDES:
How to Use The Nice List
How to Use The Christmas Workbook
November Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
December Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
Weekly To Do Lists for November and December (undated)
What Sparks Joy for You? Setting priorities for the holiday season
Budgeting worksheets: to establish a budget for your Christmas season — and for each gift, too
Coupons & Codes: tracker for holiday sales and discount codes
Giving Lists: to help you prioritize where you spend your money and on whom
Thoughts on Thoughtful Giving: ideas for gift giving and reducing the stress of the holidays
Thank You Note Tracker
Holiday Card Tracker
Menu Planners
Baking Planners
Shopping Lists
Blank pages for notes and planning
With a little planning and some careful thought before a gift is ever purchased, The Nice List can help you keep Christmas from spinning out of control and help you find the perspective you need. The Nice List helps you set deadlines to avoid high shipping charges and has a tool for tracking all of those promo codes and sale codes that start to flood your email inbox, too.
The Nice List All Year gives you a place to track all of the gifts you give the loved ones in your life -- not just at Christmas time. It is designed to be used for multiple years and can be purchased separately if you have more than 15 people in your life to track.
THE NICE LIST ALL YEAR INCLUDES:
How to use The Nice List
How to use The Nice List All Year
Giving Records for 15 people covering multiple years
The Nice List All Year is also designed to be used by anyone -- not just people who celebrate Christmas. From Hanukkah to Lunar New Year, Kwanzaa to Eid, and birthdays, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and more -- record every gift you give and make notes for coming occasions, too.
Plus, when you use The Nice List All Year year after year, you develop a record of your gift-giving, so you never give the same gift twice!
A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS PLANNER
Not only is The Nice List a beautiful planner, but it also comes with online tools including an extensive giving guide with gift suggestions in every budget for every person on your list — parents, inlaws, kids, friends, teachers. We have suggestions for them all and exclusive discount codes as well.
I love the Christmas season so much I have written what my husband described as my “love letter to Christmas” — The Nice List!
Order your copy of The Nice List today, and give yourself the gift of a very organized and holiday season!
Chocolate Snowball Cookies
an easy and delicious Christmas cookie with just the right amount of chocolate
I love a good Christmas cookie exchange! TCHO Chocolate sent me some of their delicious chocolate yesterday, so here's my contribution to the #TCHOCookieExchange -- a virtual celebration of the taste of the season! Just don’t eat these powdered sugar confections while wearing black!
This is my own chocolatey version of a Snowball, but instead of a chocolate surprise in the center, the whole cookie is chocolately-delicious. We jokingly called them "Dirty Snowballs" today while we sampled them -- but the name might stick!
𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀
Makes 36 cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. flour
2 c. chopped pecans
1/4 c. TCHO unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. TCHO drinking chocolate crumbles
1/2 t. salt
Powdered sugar
1. Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl until it is well-mixed. Cover tightly and chill for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 325° F.
2. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
3. Remove dough from the refrigerator. Roll dough into uniform balls of about 1 tablespoon full each. I use a 1 T. measuring spoon to make the balls even. Place balls on prepared cookie sheets evenly spaced apart — about 2 inches.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Immediately transfer balls to cooling racks.
5. When cooled, fill a small bowl with powdered sugar. Roll each ball in the sugar to coat. You could mix in a few tablespoons full of cocoa powder for even more chocolate deliciousness!
Enjoy these with a little TCHO Drinking Chocolate — they are perfect dipped into the thick chocolate drink!
TCHO Drinking Chocolate
(much like a thick Mexican hot chocolate)
6 tablespoons boiling water
6 tablespoons TCHO Drinking Chocolate Crumbles
Boil the water in a small pan on the stove. When it is boiling, slowly add the TCHO Drinking Chocolate Crumbles while whisking swiftly with a small whisk or a handheld milk frother (my favorite). The boiling water melts the chocolate perfectly!
Serve in espresso cups.
The Nice List 2020: Three Ways to Plan!
This year we have three ways to use The Nice List and get organized for Christmas — plus stickers!
three ways to plan your holiday season this year!
Plus stickers!
So many of you have bought The Nice List over the years, and for that I am so very thankful! I hope The Nice List has become part of your holiday season -- bringing a little order and sanity to a crazy time.
I have been sitting on so many fun secrets this fall, and it is finally time to reveal it all! With the COVID-19 pandemic and all of the challenges of 2020, there have been some changes to The Nice List, but I think these changes will make planning for the holidays even more fun, creative, and simple.
The biggest secret of the year: there are THREE ways to use The Nice List this year! And everything is for sale NOW!
Three Christmas Planners for 2020
Announcing The Nice List Digital Planner!
Holly Kennedy, my graphic design partner-in-crime (@messymamaholly), and I are so excited to announce The Nice List Digital Planner -- a whole new way to make a list and check it twice! The Nice List Digital Planner works on your tablet or computer and is designed to be used with GoodNotes or Noteshelf. Equipped with all of the goodness of the paper version of The Nice List, The Nice List Digital Planner includes pages which can be duplicated and rearranged making the planner customizable and very easy to use.
Available in two different color schemes, the design is clean and cheerful with plenty of room for digital stickers, notes, photographs, and anything else you may want to add. Oh, and we also have digital sticker sets -- read on!
The Nice List PDF: A Christmas Printable Planner
As we have in the past, we are also offering The Nice List 2020 in a printable PDF format. This option is great for those of you who already have a planner system you love or who prefer using a binder. Perhaps you need larger print? Or you really like to customize your planning? Well, this is the version for you!
Both the Digital and Printable PDF versions are updated with some pandemic-specific ideas and tools as well as room for individualizing and personalizing your planning which makes it all even more fun!
The Nice List: the Original Christmas Planner
Maybe you are a paper planner person and love the paper version. Fear not! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were not able to source the paper versions of The Nice List this year, but we have a limited supply of 2018 and 2019 books which we are selling at a deep discount just for the paper enthusiasts. Adjust the dates on the calendar pages, and you’ll be ready to go. Choose from a red cover or green cover.
But wait! There’s more!
Christmas Planner Stickers
Announcing The Nice List Sticker Shop!
We can’t introduce a digital planner without digital stickers! So we are launching two amazing sets of digital stickers with artwork by Holly Kennedy and Jone Hallmark to make your digital planning all the more festive. If you haven’t used digital stickers before, they are super easy and fun as you plan in GoodNotes or Noteshelf. Using these stickers, you can decorate any page as you like and use the reminder stickers and planning stickers to make your pages even more functional as well as festive. Each sticker set includes three pages of stickers which can be used over and over again in any digital planner -- not just The Nice List.
Coming soon: printed planning stickers & vinyl stickers!
In just a few weeks we will have planner stickers and vinyl stickers available for purchase as well. Stickers for everyone! Stay tuned for that fun announcement, too!
So no matter how you decide to plan this holiday season, we have you covered!
Additionally, the 2020 Nice List Thoughtful Giving Guide will be coming soon with gift suggestions for everyone on your list -- and a whole list of pandemic-specific ideas for making your holidays even better during this strange time.
Questions? Just ask!
Until then, be safe, and wear a mask!
XO
Angela
Pin it!
Non-Alcoholic Cocktails and More!
A new addition to the Giving Guide: a great list of ingredients for non-alcoholic cocktails. Stock your bar or give as gifts!
The stockings are hung. The tree is up. And this weekend we will celebrate Sankta Lucia day — the best combination of our Scandinavian and Italian heritage! The Christmas season is in full swing at our house! And I am nearly done with my Christmas shopping, too. Phew! I have lots to ship off across the country this year, so last minute shopping simply won’t work!
I have a few lists that may be helpful as we wind into these most festive weeks. No matter what you are celebrating this year, it’s always nice to have some guidance in the beverage department, and my dear friend, Aaron Sherman, is on hand to help! Aaron is a sommelier, and he has pulled together three fantastic guides with drink suggestions that will fit any dinner, party, or giving needs you may have this season. His wine list is delicious, and I toast the New Year with him annually, so I can tell you those champagne and sparkling wine choices are superb. New this year: a list of non-alcoholic options including fancy drink syrups and bitters which will impress even the fussiest of guests.
A lovely bottle of wine or bubbles makes a great host or hostess gift, and if you are entertaining make sure you have options on hand for friends who aren’t imbibing, too. Aaron has great suggestions for every scenario!
Another consideration: giving consumables like food and beverages — especially if they are in glass bottles that can be recycled — is a green gift option. There are several other greener options on the Thoughtful Giving Guide as well. If you are still shopping, be sure to check it out!
Budget-friendly gift suggestions for everyone on your list! Lists include:
My Favorite Gifts | Gifts Under $15 | Gifts for Mid Modern Lovers | Gifts for Children | Books to Give Gifts to Make | Wines to Give | Bubbles for the New Year
Wishing you all a great week ahead!
Cheers!
Angela
And the illustrator is...
Announcing Jone Hallmark, the illustrator for the 2019 edition of The Nice List! Pre-orders are now open!
I am delighted to announce that Holly Kennedy, my graphic designer, and I are working with the ever-so-talented Jone Hallmark on the 2019 edition of The Nice List. Jone’s gorgeous, hand-drawn illustrations lend both an elegance and a simplicity to The Nice List — and they are exclusive for us! I can’t wait to show you the finished book, which will be coming soon, but for now, just know that it is magical!
Pre-orders for The Nice List are open! If you are new to The Nice List it is sold by pre-order in July and August. Prices include shipping, and orders are delivered by the end of October.
The Nice List is part-planner and part-journal — and it will help you bring sanity and thoughtfulness to the frantic pace of the Christmas season. Keep you shopping organized. Set a budget and stick to it! Plan the cooking and baking you want to do. And keep track of everything you give and receive — as well as those thank you notes you write!
For a flip-through of the 2018 edition of The Nice List and lots of other how-to information, visit the link below. And if you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask!
Only 152 days until Christmas! It is coming sooner than you think!
XOXO
Angela
Happy Santa Lucia Day!
Today is the Feast of Santa Lucia — an Italian saint who over the centuries became very important in Scandinavian countries. Santa Lucia Day is a day celebrating light in the darkest days of the year, and sharing with your neighbors. It is one of my favorite parts of the Advent season!
Tonight we will be having a Scandinavian smorgasbord including Swedish meatballs, homemade lefse, and krumkake — all traditional Scandinavian foods. My family roots run to Norway and Denmark. My husband is Italian. So Santa Lucia is the perfect holiday for our family!
I’ve written quite a bit in the last few weeks about our Scandinavian traditions, Santa Lucia Day, and the books in our library that connect us to our heritage through the Christmas holidays. I hope you’ll take a look!
God Jul!
Angela
And the stockings were hung...
Our Christmas stockings are done, but it took almost six years for them to be completed. That is today’s story…
I finally finished them! A few days ago on Instagram I posted this…
I figured if I declared it publicly, then I really would finish those stockings. And I did. It has taken me six years to get them done, though. Bambino’s stocking was done right away. Don’t worry! That child has not been deprived in any way! But when I started this project, I actually prepared for five stockings. Infertility has its way of making even the simplest projects a little more painful at times.
I made Bambino’s stocking for his second Christmas when he was 18 months old. But I was working at a church when I started this project, so getting one stocking done that Christmas season was an accomplishment.
Every year since then I have had a reminder set on my calendar: “October 15 — finish the Christmas stockings.” And every year I snoozed and then rescheduled that reminder. It made me angry. It made me anxious. And it made me sad.
You see, these Christmas stockings became so much more than decorations for me. Sitting together in a drawer in my office were the embroidered pieces for stockings that are not to be. When I made Bambino’s stocking, I embroidered a few extra pieces in hopes that perhaps lightning would strike twice, and we would have a second miracle baby.
But a few weeks before Bambino’s third Christmas, the doctors told us definitively that it just wouldn’t happen. We were a one-and-done family. That Christmas was one of quiet grief. We clutched Bambino closer, treasured his chatter and his joy all the more, and contemplated a change in our life’s storyline.
The next Christmas we were packing to move across the Bay. The following Christmas we moved across the country. And the next we moved back to California. Each year I snoozed that reminder and reset it for the coming year, hoping that it would be a little less busy, a little less agonizing to finish those stockings.
I’m not sure how it happened, but here we are with three finished stockings — Mama, Daddy, and Bambino — hanging on the mantle. It is done. The other bits of embroidery are tucked away — they won’t ever be stockings, but perhaps some sweet pillows for the window seat.
And my heart is full.
To read a bit about how I created these Christmas stockings, click the link below!
More Christmas links…
Budget-friendly gift suggestions for everyone on your list! Lists include:
My Favorite Gifts | Gifts Under $15 | Gifts for Mid Modern Lovers | Gifts for Children | Books to Give Gifts to Make | Wines to Give | Bubbles for the New Year
