Christmas

Celebrating Big On A Budget :: Tips From A Mom Of Four I’m a mom of four. That means four birthdays, four times the Christmas gifts, four times the Easter basket stuffers, etc. You get where I’m going with this? It’s A LOT. If I were to have my way, I’d be super extravagant and holidays would be filled to the brim with every gift and experience imaginable but alas, in today’s economy expenses add up really fast and no matter how you look at it, four kids is EXPENSIVE. So in the spirit of keeping up with a somewhat manageable budget, here are some of my tips and tricks to keep cost at a minimum while still holding onto that...

Warm coffee, eggnog coffee cake? Yes, please! I found this recipe on Pinterest a while back from Two Peas and Their Pod, and I have since made it into my own. Enjoy :) Ingredients For the Streusel: 1/2 cup all-purpose l flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 5 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces For the muffins: 2 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 cup chopped pecans 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup eggnog 1 large egg 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled 1 teaspoon vanilla extract For the eggnog glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar 3 tablespoons eggnog 1 tablespoon of honey Pinch of nutmeg Instructions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with cooking spray. The recipe makes 10 muffins. Set aside. First make the streusel...

We've all been there- scrolling through our social media feeds after posting our Christmas morning photos and feeling like the photos of our own morning look like absolute crap. I'm going to tell you a secret-my secrets, the secrets of a semi-professional occasional photographer who thrives on lifestyle and editorial imagery- on how to achieve a picture perfect holiday to make your friends and followers wonder if you have a pro on retainer for the holiday. Here's the secret: Most of those pictures are staged. Yep. Totally fake. Curated. But you can still make magic on a more realistic scale. But first, a teeny tiny, itty bitty disclaimer: I do not subscribe to the idea of presenting a false narrative of...

There is just something about the sound of classic Christmas carols and sipping on hot cocoa while strolling under twinkling lights that really gets the warm, magical holiday spirits going. We invite you to pause with us and take part in this magic as we have compiled a list of some of Baton Rouge’s most amazing twinkling light displays. We might not have a speckle of snow in sight, but who needs snow when this light displays light up our southern skies? If you are looking for great holiday events in Baton Rouge, we have you covered. And if you would like to cut down your own Christmas tree in Louisiana, we have you covered there, too. If you’re feeling...

Lasting Gifts for Kids When it comes to having kids you have to adjust to having stuff. Holidays, birthdays, special occasions, school parties all of these events inevitably lead to more things coming into your home. As someone who has struggled with letting go of stuff, adding more things to the heap can be overwhelming. In the time that I've been a parent, I've learned to let go of a lot of stuff and I'm finding that we're loving gifts that we can use for years. Of course, experience gifts are a great way to have less stuff, and we do love and appreciate those, but there are times when family members want to gift something physical. Here is a list...