Choosing to not find out the gender of our baby until delivery was one of the most fun decisions we made in our pregnancy. It is something we will probably continue to do as we grow our family. This choice reflected our design ideas for the nursery, too! A big reason we wanted to wait to find out was the force of keeping things neutral. This way, if we are able to continue to have children, the things we have & the room would match any of our babies with a few added touches here & there. We are still adding things to this space, but here are the details & intentions we put into this dream room.

Tradition. Something I think about a lot as a sentimental & emotional being. We have dreamt up our growing family for 6 years now. That is 6 years of ideas & habits & hobbies that we began all with the hopes & dreams of our kids being apart of this one day. Things like camping trips, what our Sundays will look like, daily routines, you name it. Tradition is even more heavy during the holidays. This is just one reason why the holidays have been hard from infertility & loss. You always think that will be the year you get to experience these growing tradition in the eyes of littles ones. Christmas Eve is one of those holidays & these are the traditions I hope we can continue, begin & strengthen in the coming years.

I am so into mushrooms right now. The decorative kind, I should add. They are for sure coming into style — which I am equally stoked about as I am bummed. I liked having a quirky little interest. Honestly though, they are a special little accent that I have dreamed up for a special little room we will have in the future. If you know what I mean. Mushrooms are such a cute, natural decor piece that could be both sophisticated & fun. This Egg Carton Mushroom DIY would be so fun to do with kids or yourself for multiple reasons!

Another neighborly gift in the books! I am being really challenged since moving here. We have the sweetest baker of a neighbor & I just cannot keep up with how giving she is. We had so much fun bringing them our Stovetop Holiday Potpourri, but she has upped the game with a box of homemade Christmas cookies. Time for a little Christmas gift drop off! With a little idea guidance from my sister in law, the gift of hot chocolate it is! I needed some help coming up with some non-oven related gifts to give. Her idea of a hot chocolate kit & the left over clear ornaments I had at home made the perfect answer to this gift.

These sweet, sweet wreaths are near & dear to my heart. They were a random creation a few years back for a market I signed up for. I knew I wanted to make wreaths, but I didn’t know exactly how I would. As I was prepping the greenery for the hoops, I set one down for the glue to dry. Well, I had some torn out pages from a hymnal on the ground & was not paying attention as I set the decorated hoop right on top of it. It was meant to be! I have been making these now for loved ones to hold memories, favorite songs, family recipes, anything that can be printed on paper, basically. Now I share with you exactly how I make them so that you can make them too!

This one is not Christmas related but something that I have been wanting to try for so long! There are a lot of ways the internet says you can do this, but in true Aby fashion, I am going to wing it. I thought that Christmas would be a good time to share this since it could be a great gift idea. Whether something for your in laws or a stocking stuffer, we love our beeswax wraps. They are a product most people know about but might not try them out for themselves. Well, now they get to!

I love all the fun gift ideas when it comes to spoiling your mail carrier & amazon driver. The treats at the front door during the holidays is such a special way to make them feel as such. They spoil you with service all year long, why not spoil them back. Christmas, however, brings pressure & long, long lists so overwhelm can hit quick. In this blog post I wrote about this overwhelm, my heart for Christmas & what I would like it to look like. In addition I included 5 simple gift ideas so that you can lend a present to more people that have impacted you this year without adding to the craze.

Nothing puts you more in the mood for movies than the month of December. While we are finishing up some tv show series that we have been watching, I am having a hard time find new shows that are actually fulfilling. We all know that no a days entertainment is polluted. Although this doesn’t matter for some & I will say it hasn’t really bothered me until recently, I would personally like to start watching more wholesome content when watching tv. Here is our solution & why it qualifies for a Christmas DIY series like this!

A Christmas project that is good for all ages. With so much room for creative movement, these Salt Dough Ornaments are meant to be a holiday tradition. Here I share exactly what I used & did for these cute, imperfectly perfect decorations. I share different things you can do to make them special & just how to make them last for years to come. This is going on the tradition list for sure!