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Lynsey Lou's

Enjoying Life One Bite at a Time!

Christmas

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Can you believe we’re T-minus 20 days to Christmas? Wow!

Christmas tree made from mutlicolored tape
Image courtesy of Julep

So are you in the Christmas spirit yet?  Are your trees up, halls decked and presents wrapped?  Or are you still looking for decoration inspiration and fun activities and projects to get you in the Christmas spirit?  If you’re looking for fun, yet simple ideas that can be done on a budget and involve the entire family head on over to Julep, to get some inspiration.  Julep is a DIY/craft blog that is associated with Minted.com. Minted is a one-stop-shop for all your paper good needs.  They specialize in high quality paper products ranging from party supplies, invitations, calendars, greeting cards and much more.  They’ve now expanded their brand by not only making customized paper goods, but sharing how you can make fun, creative and personalized goods right in your own home!          

DIY Cardboard Christmas Tree
Image courtesy of Julep
Having a party?  Make these fun, giant paper party balls.  They are a fun and simple way to add a festive pop of color to any room and all events. 
DIY Paper Party Balls
Image courtesy of  Julep
If you’re anything like me, I’m always searching for creative and easy activities to do with my family during the holiday season and Julep is filled with a variety of ideas that’s ideal for all ages.  The Julep blog is loaded with tons of creative ideas that range from homemade decorations to hang on your tree, to place cards, to fun crafts to do with your whole family. 
 
 How fun are these scratch off advent cards?  Customized and filled with activities for you and your family to enjoy throughout the entire Christmas season.  This is a craft that you can get your entire family involved in; get them to throw out their favorite Christmas movie, tradition, activity and so on and put them on the different cards.  Each day, scratch off a new card and find out what activity your family will enjoy.      
Scratch Off Advent Cards
Image courtesy of Julep

What about Christmas cards?  Have you given any thought to those cards that instantly brighten your day and everybody else’s day that receives them?  If you’re still looking for ideas and inspiration then head on over Minted, they have tons of card styles available and would be more than happy to fulfill your Christmas card order this year.  You can choose from a variety of predesigned cards; available with or without photos, but if you have a customized design in mind they would be more than happy to bring that design to life with a card that customized by you, for you.  Whatever you’re trying to accomplish this holiday season, allow Minted and Julep help bring that dream to reality!

Full disclaimer– I was contacted by Minted.com to do a review of their site as well as help introduce their new blog in exchange for a credit to Minted.com.  All thoughts and opinions expressed are 100% my own.    

Cinnamon Hard Cider

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Crisp, cool air, pumpkins, apples and apple cider are synonymous with this time of year.  Once I get the first hint of cool air my brain instantly starts to think about warm, cozy, comfort foods.  And one of the first flavor combinations that comes to mind is apples and cinnamon.  Any time I get a hint of the combination of sweet, crisp apples and warm cinnamon it just makes me feel all warm and cozy.

I love anything involving apples, so needless to say hard cider is one of my favorite drinks and has been for quite some time.  This first time I tried hard cider I tried the Woodchuck brand and I’ve been stuck on that until this year.  When I went to the store recently to pick up some cider they were out of my “go to” brand so I decided to branch out and try a new brand.  After I browsed through the ciders I finally decided to go with Angry Orchard.  And let me tell you, it was a decision that was well made.  I believe I may have found my new “brand of choice”. 

While I enjoy the the flavor of the hard cider by itself, there are some times where I like to add a little something to it to change it up a big.  The other night was one of those times.  So I started playing around with different ingredients and options until I finally came up with this cinnamon hard cider cocktail.

This cocktail combines a mixture of apple cider, hard cider, whisky, honey, and maple syrup.  All of  that is combined and poured over ice and thinly sliced pieces of a tart Granny Smith apple.  Then topped with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon and garnished with a cinnamon stick. 

With each sip of this cocktail you taste the cinnamon, the crisp cider, get a hint of the warm whiskey, and it’s all balanced out with the natural sweetness of the honey and maple syrup.  Oh, and once you’ve enjoyed the entire glass you’re not through.  Oh no.  You’ve got the crispy apples to enjoy.  The apples that have been soaking in the spiked cider mixture, and yes you can taste the drink with each bite of crisp apples. 

This is the perfect type of drink to enjoy on the cool, crisp nights we’re all experiencing right now.  It would also be ideal at your Thanksgiving gathering or upcoming Christmas parties.  This is a low-key, no fuss cocktail that’s big on the tastes of the season.

Cinnamon Cider


Ingredients:

1 (12oz) Bottle hard cider
1 1/4 Cup apple cider
3 Oz whiskey
1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 Tsp honey
1 Apple
Cinnamon stick
Ground cinnamon

Directions:

Combine hard cider, apple cider, whiskey, maple syrup, and honey in a pitcher and gently stir to combine.

Thinly slice the apple.

Place apple slices in two glasses, fill glasses with ice and pour cider mixture over the ice and apples.  Garnish with a cinnamon stick, ground cinnamon and an apple slice.

Recipe source: A Lynsey Original

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