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Celebrations

Whether you’re looking for Holiday DIY projects or recipes for your kids, family or Christmas party, you’ll be able to find something for your celebrations right here. This category features all of our holiday ideas, rolled up into one, easy location. We cover Halloween to Christmas and New Year’s to Super Bowl. Our ideas are budget, family, and living-on-your-own friendly, and easy to follow. We’ve made every craft project and recipe featured here and our posts will let you know how much we liked it. Let’s be honest, we’ve loved pretty much everything. Leave a comment if you have one. If you’re looking for something more specific use our search bar or check out one of our niche categories. Thanks for stopping by, hope to have you back soon!

#LoveSummer/ All Recipes/ Breakfast and Brunch/ Celebrations/ Christmas

Authentic French Toast

December 7, 2022
Authentic French Toast

A previous version of this post for Authentic French Toast was published in May 2013. We updated the recipe with new photos. For Mother’s Day Fatima and I made a delicious breakfast for my mom.  She only had a few requests for the menu, one of them being french toast.  I love french toast.  Rather than making the same egg mixture for her, I wanted to try something new.  Enter Martha…

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Celebrations/ Christmas/ DIY/ Side Dishes

Chalkboard Ornament

December 5, 2022
DIY Chalkboard Ornament

A previous version of this post for DIY Chalkboard Ornament was published in December 2013. We took new photos and updated some of the written content. Here’s a thought, let’s make a chalkboard ornament! Take all that chalkboard paint you bought earlier this year and spray your ornaments. We got these ceramic ornaments from Michaels for about $1. Let them dry and write a message or draw a picture! This…

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Celebrations/ Christmas/ DIY/ Side Dishes

DIY Faux Gingerbread Houses

November 30, 2022
DIY Faux Gingerbread House

A few weeks ago, an Etsy ad jumped into my Pinterest feed pushing a faux gingerbread house to me. These weren’t just any old gingerbread houses. These were dollhouse-sized replicas of historical homes. They were gorgeous and way out of my price range. But they gave me an idea. Can I make these in real life? And then I saw a video of someone making faux gingerbread houses on Pinterest.…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Lunch and Dinner/ Thanksgiving/ Vegetarian

Thanksgiving Baked Ziti

November 20, 2022
Thanksgiving Baked Ziti

What makes this a Thanksgiving baked ziti? I make ziti for Thanksgiving. With a handful of vegetarians in my family, I need to find other mains for the plate that aren’t just vegetables. So we get Thanksgiving baked ziti. What I love most about mid-to-late November is bringing my family together and cooking for them. I enjoy putting together a family dinner. I show you that I love you when…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Lunch and Dinner/ Thanksgiving

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes: Cooking Through Cravings

November 16, 2022
parmesan mashed potatoes

I don’t make mashed potatoes often. I usually make them with a few select meals like parmesan chicken, Thanksgiving dinner, and as the star in these mashed potato bowls. When we bought Chrissy Teigen’s latest cookbook, these parmesan mashed potatoes were one of the first things we tried. We made these for the first time on Thanksgiving last year! Did we take these photos almost a year ago? Yes. This…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Comfort Food/ Thanksgiving

Sheet Pan Cornbread

November 10, 2022
cornbread

Brian bakes his cookies, and I bake cornbread. It is a staple side at our Thanksgiving. However, I don’t limit it to November. I bake cornbread all year. I make muffins and sheet pan cornbread. While I love making muffins, and those are easier for Liam to help make, I prefer a sheet. When I start my Thanksgiving shopping, four or six boxes of Jiffy mix are some of the…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Thanksgiving/ Vegetarian

Spicy Honey Butter Glazed Carrots: Cooking Through Cravings

November 8, 2022
glazed carrots

I had to introduce more vegetables to my Thanksgiving spread. We make brussel sprouts way too often, and I needed a vegetable that wasn’t spinach or kale. Carrots were my first thought, but they’re also our least favorite vegetable. So a flip through Cravings, led me to these spicy honey-butter glazed carrots. I did not make nearly as many carrots as the recipe. Like I said, cooked carrots are our least…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Lunch and Dinner/ Thanksgiving/ Vegetarian

Collard Greens

November 4, 2022
collard greens

A few years ago I decided to make collard greens for Thanksgiving. It had been a while since we had greens at our family dinner, and I had never made them before. For my first experience, it was quite the process. Now, I prep and cook those collard greens in no time. There was one year I looked at the Thanksgiving spread and thought, “There is nothing green here. Just…

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Celebrations/ Family Fun/ Halloween/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Halloween Decorations and Costumes 2022

October 31, 2022
Halloween 2022

I cannot believe this is our fifth year celebrating Halloween as a family…and it’s Blair’s first Halloween! We (I) got so many new Halloween decorations to display around the house. This year, Liam was adamant about being Spider-Man. I did not put up a fight because that meant we could reuse his birthday costume. Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of revenue from…

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All Recipes/ Autumn/ Cocktails

Apple Cider Mimosa Cocktail

October 30, 2022
Apple Cider Mimosa

This weekend, we caught up with a close friend over homemade brunch. We had fresh fruit, made sweet potato hash, pumpkin brioche french toast, and enjoyed an apple cider mimosa…or two. We have plenty of apple cider recipes on our blog: sangria, donuts, loaf cake, and margaritas. We might have more apple cider recipes than pumpkin! Surprisingly, we didn’t have one for an apple cider mimosa. Apple Cider Mimosa Let’s…

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Celebrations/ DIY/ Family Fun/ Halloween/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Boo Baskets

October 29, 2022
Boo Baskets

What are Boo Baskets, you ask? They’re like Easter Baskets. Instead of a ‘bunny’ delivering them, a ‘ghost’ delivers these baskets. Boo Baskets are just another excuse to fill something up with candy and goodies to give to kids. This year, I was feeling extra festive and wanted to send my nephews and niece some goodies for Halloween. Target’s Halloween pails were only $1 and we found a lot of…

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DIY/ Family Fun/ Halloween/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Fall Crafts for Kids

October 21, 2022
Fall Crafts for Kids

After the success of our summer crafts for kids, I needed to continue arts and crafts for Liam, but themed for the fall and Halloween. Our son has been loving the arts and crafts sessions we do on weekends, school holidays, and rainy days. We get to practice cutting, gluing, taping, and working our imaginations. But my main goal is for these projects to be fun. Here are some of…

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Halloween/ Side Dishes

Unboxing Halloween

October 14, 2022
Unboxing Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the lead up to Halloween even more. I think it’s just the whole autumn vibe I love about this time of year: the cozy lattes, crisp and cool air, carving pumpkins, leaf colors etc. Oh, and the decorations. On our YouTube channel, we started a new series called Unboxing Halloween! Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Christmas/ Dessert/ Halloween

Ultimate Guide to Cookie Decorating

October 12, 2022
Ultimate Guide to Cookie Decorating

It’s been a few years since I started decorating sugar cookies for fun. From finding the best sugar cookie recipe to the best royal icing coloring gels, all my tips are scattered over a bunch of posts spanning different holidays. I’m always coming back to my own posts for recipes and tips, so I thought, “Why not put this all in one place?” So here’s my ultimate guide to cookie…

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All Recipes/ Celebrations/ Dessert/ Halloween

Halloween Dirt Cups

October 10, 2022
Halloween Dirt Cups

Did you watch Hocus Pocus 2? That weekend it came out was fall perfection, minus the rain. To celebrate the sequel, we went over to our friend’s house for a viewing party. For dessert, we brought cute and spooky Halloween dirt cups. I can’t remember the last time I made Oreo dirt cups. Literal decades. Yes, plural. This was one of my favorite Halloween desserts growing up. You typically layer crushed…

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Birthday/ DIY/ Family Fun/ Parenting/ Side Dishes

Liam’s Fourth Birthday: Spider-Man

June 28, 2022
Spider-Man Birthday

When we asked Liam what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said he wanted to dress up as Spider-Man. Not just any Spider-Man, he wanted to be Miles Morales, aka ‘Spin’ from Spidey and His Amazing Friends. I loved that idea, so Fatima and I dove right into it. Lilies and Loafers has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of revenue from your purchases. Items…

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