Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Blog World!

I will be logging off for a few days to enjoy Christmas and time with family. I hope everyone enjoys time with their family and friends! Remember the reason for the season! 

Merry Christmas to all from My Doyle Life!

Santa Hats

Who loves a good Christmas recipe? I love holiday cooking and baking! This sweet treat is super easy and super yummy! I grew up making these every year and still love them just as much now as I did when I was younger. Does anyone else make Santa Hats? 

Here's what you will need...

Santa's Hats

from My Doyle Life

2 scoops (or as many as you would like or your glass will handle) cherry vanilla ice cream

Ginger Ale

Whipped cream

Sprinkles (optional)

You could also use pistachio or peppermint ice cream or really any flavor you like, but I've found these three are festive and the best for Santa's Hats. Otherwise, you'd just have a regular ice cream float, which I'm good with, just not so Christmas-y.

You could also get crazy and top it with a cherry...or two. :)

They are so pretty! Don't you think? What are your favorite holiday recipes? Give these Santa Hats a try, you won't be disappointed! 

I'm sharing this recipe over at Schue Love as part of the Christmas Cheer Link Party. Head on over and check out all the great recipes!

The Doyles

O Christmas Tree

Today I'd like to share with you the Doyle 2012 Christmas tree. We put up the tree a few weekends ago and have been thoroughly enjoying it!

We went to a tree lot that has trees from Big Meadow Mountain in North Carolina. I absolutely love the process of picking out our tree each year! I used to do this with my dad growing up which was so special! It's been fun to do this with my honey for the past couple of years for our own home!

I really like white lights on our tree with lots of colorful ornaments. We've been accumulating ornaments over the years and have some really special ones. 

 

This one is from my grandparents first Christmas they were married which was over 65 years ago, so this was is extra special!

 So there you have it, the Doyle Christmas tree for 2012. Has anyone else put up their tree? Do you do it super early like me or wait until closer to Christmas? I'd love to hear everyone's Christmas traditions!

I'm also sharing our tree over at Honey We're Home as part of the Christmas Cheer Link Party. Be sure to head on over and check out all the tree ideas! You can also see schedule for the link party days and the hosts below.

Christmas Mantel - Christmas Cheer Link Party

Today I am over at Ten June sharing my Christmas Mantle for the Christmas Cheer Link Party. Head on over and check out all the great mantels decorated for Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas Mantel

Happy Tuesday everyone! Can you believe it's December 4th already? We are in full swing Christmas mode at the Doyle house! Today, I'd like to share my Christmas mantel with you. It was the first thing I worked on this year and I love it!

I attended a Decorating a Mantel session at a design store holiday open house which is where I got my inspiration for this years mantel. The focus of the session was Ribbon, Ribbon, Ribbon. Their tip was to choose a ribbon that you love first, then work from there to add additional elements. 

So here it is, the moment you have all been waiting for...my Christmas mantel!

I have a gold color scheme going with red and green accents, so I first chose a gold ribbon that I really liked. I also wanted to add some natural elements with some berries and the gold artichoke. The trees and the candle sticks on either side add nice height to the mantle.

The wreath with red berries ties in more red and green and adds to the natural elements. I used a command strip hanger to attach the wreath to the mirror, so its not actually hanging by the gold ribbon around the top of the mirror. Nifty trick, huh?

So there you have it, my 2012 Christmas mantel. I am really happy with it. It looks great with the tree in the living room. Has anyone decorated their mantel for Christmas?

The Doyles

Christmas Crafts - Holiday Link Party

Today, I'm sharing a few Christmas crafts, my Christmas Candles Craft and DIY Holiday Jars over at Hi Sugarplum and Newly Woodwards. Some lovely blog ladies, are hosting a Christmas Cheer Holiday Link Party and a Dare to Do-It-Yourself Link Party for the next couple of weeks. I will be participating and sharing my Christmas crafts, mantel, tree, recipes and apparel. Be sure to head on over at check it out! Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Decor - DIY Holiday Jars

I have officially gone Christmas decorating crazy! There is no mistaking the holiday at the Doyle house.

The mantle is done, tree is up - just needs a few finishing touches, dining room table is decked out with the Christmas china, AND I made DIY Pinterest inspired holiday jars! I love Christmas! The idea came from Better Homes and Gardens decorating with kitchen items. This decor is really simply, really inexpensive and really pretty!

You will need a few mason jars (as many as you want to up out), a bag of fresh cranberries, some greenery (I used sprigs from the bottom limbs of the tree that were trimmed off) and some tea lights. Since I already had everything but the cranberries, this was a fun and inexpensive way to add some holiday touches to my home!

Place the greenery in the bottom of the mason jars. Add in the cranberries, then fill with water to the top. The cranberries will float. Top with a tea candle and you are done! 

Pretty right? And super pretty lit!

Has anyone tried any Christmas crafts/decor from Pinterest? Don't you just LOVE this time of year!

The Doyles

DIY Christmas Candles

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful holiday with family this past week! 

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I am ready to get my Christmas decorating on! Okay, so I actually did this Christmas craft before Thanksgiving, oops. I guess its safe to say I've been more than ready to pull out the garland and tinsel this year! At least I showed Thanksgiving a little respect and blogged about it after, right?

I've been seeing a lot of glittery Christmas candles in home decor stores recently, some to the tune of $20 bucks a pop. Yikes! This got me inspired. I decided I could make the same pretty glittery candles for much cheaper and could satisfy my DIY bug at the same time. A win, win!

Let's start with the guests to this DIY glitter candles party. I got a pack of 3 candles for $2.89 at Garden Ridge. Has anyone been there before? It's one of those big you-can-find-just-about-anything warehouse-y kind of places with really good prices. I got the glitter and the spray adhesive at Michaels. The glitter was about $3.00 total for regular gold glitter and some Martha Stewart tinsel glitter that was on clearance. The adhesive was about $6 but can be used again for many more projects. So the whole project was under $12 for 3 candles which is a whole lot better than $20 for one!

From there, the project is pretty straight forward. Spray the candles with the adhesive. I wrapped the wick in tape so it wouldn't get glue and glitter on it. The rolled each candle in the glitter. 

The end result?

Pretty right? Just let it try for a few hours and shake off the excess glitter. 

Here they are in my living room. Gives this table a little more pizzazz and Christmas cheer than the plain white ones that are housed there the rest of the year, don't ya think?

So there you have it, my first but definitely not my last Christmas craft for 2012. Has anyone else done any Christmas crafts yet? Feel free to share if you have!

The Doyles

Christmas Cheer Link Party

Well, the Christmas bug has bitten me early this year. Is anyone else in the mood to decorate for Christmas? Some ladies over at a few of my favorite blogs are hosting a Christmas Cheer Link Party December 4th - 20th. I participated in a Fall Decor link party in October and it was a blast! 

I'll be sharing a Christmas craft, mantel, tree, recipe, and attire here on the blog so be sure to come and check it out! Isn't this fun! :)

I'm already getting down those red and green storage boxes and sorting through my Christmas decorations, while of course playing some Christmas music throughout the house! 

It's the most wonderful time of the year!