“Ma was busy all day long cooking good things for Christmas. She baked bread and apple pies, and filled the big jar with cookies, Laura and Mary got to lick the spoon.”

~Laura Ingalls Wilder~ Christmas in the Big Woods.

The kitchen at Christmastime holds fond memories for me.  I remember as a little girl spending hours in the kitchen with my own momma at Christmas as she baked for family celebrations and church parties.  She would roll out her homemade sugar cookie dough, we would dip the cookie cutters in flour before cutting out the Santa Claus, mittens, and trees, then carefully place M&M’s to make the ornaments or faces.  Sprinkles on cookies were always fun too, but a wee bit messier.  My sister and I would fight to lick the beater, steal a bite of cookie dough, or be the first to “accidentally” break a cookie so that we got to eat one as soon as they were removed from the oven.

 

It’s those moments I tried to carry-on with my own girls as they grew up hoping they would treasure the memories. Not only did they learn (and love) their Nana’s sugar cookie recipe, we added a few things of our own:  homemade peanut butter cups. truffles, and peppermint bark.

 

I don’t usually decorate much in the kitchen as it is a busy place in our home.  I value my counter space way too much to give it up!

But, with the empty nest on the horizon I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately and decided the kitchen was the perfect place to keep those Christmas memories fresh.

Since I actually have space on the top of my cabinets, it gave me plenty of area to decorate!

 

Thinking of so many beautiful Christmases with my children, I used peppermint garland, lollipops,  whimsical Mark Roberts fairies and cute little signs to help set a fun mood in the kitchen.

Not only did decorating the top of the cabinets leave valuable counter-space open, it draws your eyes up so that the sink full of dirty dishes is not the first thing you see when you enter the room!

{HA!}

Wreaths on the pantry door and windows completed the scene I wanted to set.

With Madeline home from college from Christmas break I have plenty of reasons to set a pretty table for dinner.

Don’t you just LOVE these dishes with a vintage flair?

These were found at Kroger and I adored them the moment I saw them down an aisle!

With Christmas Eve upon us, we have so much going on and the kitchen will be buzzing with activity this weekend!

Thank you for stopping by and we wish you a most blessed Christmas Eve!