Kelle, Author at Enjoying the Small Things

Easiest, Inexpensive Gift with Meaning: Personalized Coffee To-Go Cups

December 4, 2017 By Kelle

Happy Monday–the first Monday in December which makes the edge of not-everyone’s-favorite day softened just a bit, right?

I have a quick and easy D.I.Y. post to start the week today. My love of doodling–on scrap paper, the back of bills, restaurant napkins, etc.–triggered an idea for an easy, inexpensive gift this year. Why not doodle on to-go coffee cups and package them up with a bag of french roast for coffee-loving friends who take their morning cup out the door?

I ordered this 50-pack white hot drink cups with lids and heat sleeves which has enough cups to make personalized coffee packs for several friends. Lainey wants to make some for her teacher now with compliments and the things she loves most about her written all over them.

All you need is cups and Sharpie markers. Doodle away…

…and add a bag of coffee.

We found the perfect coffee cup ornament at Target to tie on the outside of the package.

Wrap up with some cellophane, tie your ornament to the outside, and there you have it…a merry little Christmas for coffee-loving friends.

I love any opportunity to turn little ones’ artwork into gifts, so this works great for little preschool doodles too. Also…coffee. Coffee always wins.

Happy Monday!

The Nutcracker

November 30, 2017 By Kelle

It was the land of the Sugar Plum Fairies last night, a Christmas tradition we’ve now held for five years, I believe, but it goes back even further if you count all the times I went as a teenager.

The girls’ dresses Trish Scully, hair clips Giddy Up and Grow

We begin our tradition at the Ritz Carlton where we eat fancy desserts in the lobby, ooh and ahh over the giant gingerbread house and twirl through the hallways as we peruse every decorated corner–the garlands, the lights, the wreaths.

If you are ever in Naples near Christmas, you have to visit the Ritz. Come at tea hour if you can–for the sugar cubes–but definitely come to see the gingerbread house–like, a real gingerbread house. The Ritz chefs spend over 1,000 hours constructing it from 1,200 gingerbread bricks and–get this–60,000 pieces of candy.

It’s a little Christmas miracle.

Lainey’s buddy Maggie–a.k.a. my fourth child–came with us again this year, and I loved watching the two of them giggling throughout the night.

We normally have Miami City Ballet perform the Nutcracker in Naples–which is beautiful, by the way–but this year it was Moscow Ballet, and it was truly spectacular. The set and costumes were exquisite, and I always add extra points for a Nutcracker performance when the Arabian coffee dancers get all Cirque du Soleil. Lord have mercy, the ab work they did on stage last night–so many clapping interruptions. At one point, they were bent all cockeyed and blowing so many minds with their poses, I heard the older gentleman in a suit behind me say “Holy Shit.”

Mostly, I’m grateful for the memory, for the opportunity to drink up these little things I love so much. Nella was lying in my arms–awake, but slumped in all comfy–during the Pas de Deux, my favorite part of the entire performance when I feel like Tchaikovsky is strumming the damn strings of my soul. And watching the ballet with that music, my girl’s cheek pressed against my chest and growing legs dangling further past my knees this year–it was this intense fusion of Motherhood and Art, two of my greatest loves–loves that are both so big, my receptors can barely handle such intense recognition of them together like that. The result feels like ectasy. But then again, I feel things too much.

Our Christmas Bucket List gets another check, and my heart grows a little more to contain it.

xo grateful. and I mean that in the least hashtag-blessed kind of way, truly.

4 Ideas for Incorporating Photos into your Holiday

November 28, 2017 By Kelle

Scene: 1953, my grandma’s living room, annual Christmas card photo shoot. Four boys huddle around the fireplace, the littlest three smiling and holding their stockings up to hang while the oldest holds a prop camera–the kind with the big round flash, now vintage–and pretends to take a photo of them. The mantle looks a lot like mine does now–bottle brush trees neatly arranged across the top and evergreen garland draped festively in front. The boys’ fresh haircuts are combed perfectly to the side, and every outfit is ironed and neatly tucked for the picturesque portrayal of that 50’s Cleaver perfection. How do I know this? Because I have the photograph framed with three other of my grandparents’ Christmas cards and displayed in my hallway. And even though they have long been gone, I can feel my grandparents in the photograph–my grandpa’s attention to detail in the orchestration of the shot and the way he added a chair for my uncle to stand on to evenly space the boys’ heights, my grandma’s impeccable housekeeping and her dedication to the things that were of utmost importance in motherhood then–ironed clothes, fresh haircuts, clean faces, the deep roots of a loving home.

The love of photos runs in my blood–on both sides of my family, actually (throw in Brett’s–the deck is stacked)–and every time I walk past those old Christmas cards and see my grandma’s family, a lot like mine, I feel so appreciative for the way photographs rekindle our memories, connect us to a time, place and people we love, and make us feel loved and inspired. And because I speak fluent photo love, I’ve taken it upon myself to wrangle together four ways you can incorporate your favorite photos into your holiday this year, all of which bring a little happiness and sense of home. My friends at Artifact Uprising have hopped in to offer a giveaway at the end of the post, so make sure you check it out because their photo books are simply delicious.

1. Make a Book of Christmas Past for the Coffee Table

Collect all your holiday memories in one place so you can look back at how the kids have outgrown their Christmas footie pajamas and how your kids have matured in the annual photo with Santa from screaming-on-his-lap to happily standing next to him. We used Artifact Uprising’s Hardcover Photo Book for ours. To keep it easy, I arranged photos randomly (rather than chronologically) and included the year on each spread by inserting a text box in simple white text (all easy to create and manipulate on Artifact Uprising’s site).

My favorite thing about our book is how much the kids love to look at it and talk about the photos.

When the season’s over, we’ll pack up our book with our decorations to be tucked away until next holiday.

2. Transform the Photos You’ve Taken This Year into Gift Tags

I love the art of wrapping and the challenge of using simple things to make packages look beautiful, and photos are the perfect way to personalize a gift and add a unique little “garnish,” not to mention pull up some great memories you’ve made over the year.

Artifact Uprising’s 3.25 x 3.25 Everyday Square Print Set are perfectly sized to work as gift tags or to accompany them to make a gift stand out.

The hard part–choosing which memories to include!

3. Print Old Holiday Photos to Display in Your Home

This is one of my favorite ways to decorate for the holidays, and it’s super easy. Simply collect holiday or wintery scene photos from over the years, print them and display around the house during the holidays. I switch out our framed art in our living room with holiday photos (I store them taped behind the other prints, so it’s easy to make the switch) as well as add some to the kids’ bedrooms. I love Artifact Uprising’s Wooden Photo Ledge (made of real walnut wood and handcrafted in the U.S.–ours is the 18″ one) because it’s made to hold photos without frames, so it’s easy to switch out prints throughout the year.

We keep a stack of prints in a drawer near our ledge so we can switch out prints whenever we want to freshen things up.

4. Create Meaningful Gifts with Your Photos

The best gifts are always the ones with meaning and memory, so you can never go wrong with a photo gift. And for grandparents? Photo gifts are always the way to go. We’ve done photo books and framed photos and, while I love them, I’m always looking for a little more out-of-the-box way to present and gift photos. I love these two:

This Brass Easel & Print Set that comes with twelve 5 x 7 prints of your choosing.

It’s beautifully packaged, and its sleek design fits in with any decor.

And this Handcrafted Wood Clipboard Calendar (has a magnet on the back) that doesn’t take up a lot of room (I love a good calendar but can never find the wall space to display them) and combines your favorite photos with a simple calendar design for a sweet little display.

Our kind friends at Artifact Uprising are giving away a Hardcover Photo Book like ours. All you have to do is enter your e-mail below for a chance to win.

I’ll share a few tips in December on taking pictures through the holiday, how to capture the best moments and how to balance “capturing” with the moment itself.