🎄 My Christmas Scrapbook ~ 2022 ⭐💚

Let's celebrate this week by celebrating the end of a MERRY season and moving into a HAPPY new year! 💚🎄💓🎉

Last year, I shared some things that made me happy last Christmas (here)! 💓 Looking back, I LOVE that I did that post because it's been a scrapbook of sorts that I got to look back on during this Christmas season as I was making new Christmas memories for this year! 🎄💚

That post was posted EXACTLY a year ago today and I can't wait to share the things that made me HAPPY this Christmas! 💓

The most important thing and number-one thing that made me HAPPY this year and EVERY year is my family! 💓 I LOVE them more than anything in this world and am thankful that I got to make ALL these memories with them that I'll be sharing in this post! 💚💓

I'm not going to share EVERYTHING that happened this December, but there's still PLENTY of CHEER and WARM fuzzy memories in this post! 💓

So, what do you say?!? Should we begin scrapbooking ALL these GREAT pictures and memories? 📸 I was hoping you'd say that! 💓

Let's do this thing! 🎄💚

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This year definitely had it's differences compared to last Christmas, but that's what made this Christmas special in it's own unique way! 💚 One of those differences was our search for our real Christmas tree! 🎄 The tree farm we've been going to for a while now was sold out of trees this year! 😲 So, we tried going to our OG Christmas tree farm that I grew up going to! 🎄 Well... they were also out of trees, except for some REALLY tiny ones that still needed time to grow! 💚 

So, what did we do?!? 🤔 We stopped by a couple gas station tree lots, but ended up getting our tree at The Home Depot, which I think was actually SO much fun! 💚 I hold the record for picking out the most Christmas trees over the years and I am HAPPY to say that I've added another tree to my record this year! 👏 The BIGGEST difference, though, wasn't that the tree wasn't from a tree farm! It's actually that the tree was a different kind than the original type we've ALWAYS gotten! 🌲

Check it out! 🠟 One of our tree's from a previous year is on the left and our NEW tree from this year is on the right! 🎄

Personally, I LOVE any Christmas tree, but I am the ONLY one in my family that LOVES the Fraser Fir that we got this year! 💚 I vote to get another one next Christmas, but I don't think there will be any votes to pair with mine! 😂 Yes, the Fraser Fir sort of looks like a cactus tree... but for some reason I LOVE the change! 🌵🎄

What do you think? 🤔 Which type of tree is your FAVORITE? 🎄💚

As you can see in the photos, we LOVE to decorate our Christmas tree and ALWAYS use colorful and white lights along with red, blue, and silver ornaments! 💓 We lost almost ALL of our childhood ornaments from when we were kids during our parents divorce, but we have A LOT of special ornaments that we've made/collected ever since and those are my FAVORITE ones to put on the tree! 💚🎄

Here's a before and after picture of our cactus tree from this year! 🠟🌵

While we decorate the tree, we HAVE to have Christmas music playing, of course! 💓♪ I've been into some different songs this year versus last Christmas and I've made a FUN little collage video of them with a peaceful fireplace aesthetic that I found on YouTube! 💓♪

Here are snippets of FIVE of my most played Christmas songs this year! 💓💚

Can you guess the song names and singers? 💓♪

Speaking of trees...

Our family tree isn't the ONLY tree in the house! 🎄 I have two small fake Christmas trees in my room that I absolutely LOVE! 💓 One of them is actually a NEW addition this year that I've added to my Christmas decorations collection! 🎄

If you read my post from last year, then you know that I was OBSESSED with anything that had to do with The Grinch! 💚 My obsession continued into this year...

I dedicated one of my floating shelves to ALL things Grinch this year! 💚👏 The lights and book are from last year and I added a cute tree-topper that says "Grinchy" and some decorative blocks! 🎄 I LOVE this shelf and how simple, but CUTE it is! 💚 It will be sad when I have to take it down! 😢

Those weren't the only new Grinchy additions, though... 💚

I found some Grinch sweatshirts!!! 💚💓 If you know me, then you know that I LOVE hoodies and sweatshirts! 💚 I found the lime green one on Forever 21, then found the red one in Walmart for half the price and they're the same brand! Say what?!? 😲 They do have a bit of a different feel to them, though, so I don't mind that I had to pay a little more for the green one because it's my FAVORITE! 💚

Are you team red or team green?!? 💓 or 💚

I got one other little Grinchy thing this year that is kind of scary and cute at the same time... 😂 

Do you spot the semi-scary Grinch?!? 👀💚

The other two photos on either side of the little Grinch fellow are of my NEW pillow that I'm obsessed with along with the CUTEST little Christmas reindeer plush animals that I got last year! 🦌💓 The blanket goes along with the Christmas tradition that I've been doing for FOURTEEN years ever since I was TEN years old, which is getting a NEW Christmas blanket every year! 💓 This year I chose one that is different than ALL the previous years and I LOVE it! 💙 It's from Walmart and that's where I've gotten most of my blankets over the years! 💓

Before we move completely away from the Grinch, I have to say that I did NOT watch the live-action movie this year because I do not support the actor who played the Grinch! ✖ However, I LOVE the original animated episode/movie and even have pictures from the animated one as my laptop's screensaver and home screen! 💓💚

Here is a photo of when my sisters and I watched the animated Grinch together! 💚💚

I LOVE advent calendars and last year I put myself in charge of being SUPER creative and created ALL of these themed advent nights with scavenger hunts and little gifts along the way! 💓 Well, this year was SO crazy that I wasn't able to be as creative as last year! 💚 But, store-bought advent calendars saved the day! 🙌 

I found some sock advent calendars from Five Below that I weren't sure how they'd go over, but it turns out that my sisters and I were SO excited every day to see which Christmas socks we'd get next! 🧦 At first, I only bought ONE box of twelve socks, but we LOVED them so much that I bought another box of twelve a couple days later! 💓

Between the three of us, my sisters and I got eight CUTE pairs of socks each! 💓 

Here are the eight that I got! 🠟💓

Another FUN Christmas activity that my sisters and I got from Five Below were gingerbread houses! 🍪💓 

We each picked out a different one! 💓 My sister Ariel chose an Oreo gingerbread house! 🍪 My sister Alyssa (Back To Disney) chose a traditional gingerbread house! 🍪 And I didn't choose a gingerbread house! 😂 I chose a gingerbread reindeer and sleigh! 🍪🦌

Here is a before and after of mine with some bonus close-up pictures! 🠟💓🍪

Here are my sisters gingerbread houses that are SUPER well-built and CUTE! 💓🍪

Last year, we actually made gingerbread houses with graham crackers and cake icing! 🍪 So, it was A LOT different to use stiffer icing that dried SUPER fast, but it was a challenge that I think we ALL accomplished! 💓 

I do have to toot my own horn, though, because I did WIN the gingerbread house/sleigh competition between me and my sisters (our dad was the judge)! 📯💓

These next images aren't the BEST, but they are the only ones with ALL three gingerbread houses/sleigh in the same pictures! 🍪 Which one is your FAVORITE? 💓 I think they are ALL amazing and represent mine and my sisters personalities well! 🍪💓

Since I decorated a reindeer, I only thought it fitting to share this music video that I saw for the very FIRST time this year! 💓🦌 I didn't know this existed and only found it because I LOVED Destiny Child's version of the Twelve Days of Christmas this year, which they re-named the Eight Days of Christmas! 🎵💓 Enjoy their version of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer! 💓🦌

Another thing my sisters and I started doing last year were decorating our bedroom doors! 💓 My sister Alyssa (Back To Disney) and I share a room and decorate the door together and my sister Ariel decorates her door by herself! 💚 We keep our ideas a secret from each other until they are completely finished! 💓 

This year, I kind of came up with the theme for our door by myself when I was our doing some Christmas shopping, but thankfully my sister got excited about it and added in her own ideas that made my idea even BETTER! 💓 

Our door was Gingerbread themed! 💓🍪 Alyssa and I had SO much FUN painting/decorating foam cutouts of gingerbread men/women as we jammed out to Disney Channel Christmas songs! 🎵💜 We had a couple of bumps in the road with some creative differences, but we moved past them and laughed SO much as we finished up our door by adding a rolling pin, letters, cookies and a note to Santa! 🍪🎅💓

The pictures don't do it justice! 👆 So, here is a FUN little video of a closeup of our design with a song that matches the "Baking Spirits Bright" theme! 🍪💓 

I would LOVE to share images of Ariel's door, but she had some family photos on hers! 💓 However, hers was Frozen themed and said, "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" ⛄ It was ALL white and blue and had CUTE little snowmen with little cutout pictures from the movie! 💙⛄❄ Hers was/is SUPER cute and it's SO interesting how she created her theme before she knew how much she'd LOVE Frozen 2, which she watched for the FIRST time this December! 💙

We had SO much FUN designing our bedroom doors for the Christmas season and are already thinking up ideas for next year! 💓💚💓

As I said above, Alyssa and I jammed out to Disney Channel Christmas songs while designing our door and one of the MOST replayed songs was Hannah Montana's version of "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree." 🎄💚

I actually heard this song in Walmart when Christmas shopping with Ariel and was SO flippin' shocked that Hannah Montana was playing over the speakers in 2022! 😲💓 It was a GREAT experience, seriously, because I felt like I was back in 2006! 💚💓

Here is Hannah Montana singing it in 2006 during the Disney Parks Parade! 🠟💓🎤

I LOVE that performance and actually ranked it last year (here) where it placed in my top FIVE! 💓

Here is Miley Cyrus singing it as herself in 2008 during the Rockefeller tree lighting ceremony! 🠟💓🎤

I LOVE that performance too and my goal next Christmas is to rank my FAVORITE Rockefeller Tree Lighting Ceremony performances just like I ranked my FAVORITE Disney Parks Christmas parade performances last year! 💚🎄

Which performance is your FAVORITE? 💓 The Hannah Montana one is ICONIC, but Miley's vocals live are incredible and she literally sounds almost exactly like the studio version that she sang along to as Hannah! 🎤👏 I LOVE both performance and can't choose because the performances are TWO different vibes and FUN in their own ways! 💓

PAINTING PARTY TIME!! 🎨💚

If there's one thing you'll ALWAYS find in my house it's CRAFTS! 💓 More specifically, unfinished crafts! 🎨 My sisters and I seem to ALWAYS get things to paint, but then never seem to actually paint them... until this Christmas! 💓

This Christmas we gathered ALL the things we had to paint, turned on some Christmas music, and painted to our hearts content! 💓♪🎨 

Here is a before picture of some of the CRAFTS we painted... 🎨💓

Here are some images of some of the things that I LOVED getting to paint... 💓🎨

I've had this truck sitting in our living room for the past couple of Christmas's and FINALLY got around to painting it this year! 💓 The white part is SNOW and it's my FAVORITE thing other than the little wreath that I was SO proud I painted without messing up! 🎨 I LOVE this truck SO much and think it's one of the BEST things I've ever painted! 💓 I've never been much of an artist, but I felt like one when painting this! 💓🎨

This truck actually lights up! 💡💛

When it's lit up you can see some of the "imperfections" in my painting skills, but I still LOVE how I painted it and am proud of myself! 👏💓

My sisters and I ALL painted ornaments together too! 💓 Sadly, I forgot to get pictures of my sisters ornaments, but they painted a dog bone picture frame ornament and a hot cocoa ornament! 🦴🍫 I painted a nativity scene ornament and again, my painting skills were on point for some reason this year because I think I did pretty well on this ornament! 🎨💓 

In my house, we LOVE to turn anything into a FUN competition with my dad being the ultimate judge... even though he doesn't like to judge because well, he's our dad and doesn't like to pick favorites! 😂 However, sometimes he will agree to judge and guess what?!? 👀 My ornament won the competition! 👏🎉 I'm telling you... this Christmas was my year of decorating and painting! 💓 My sisters ornaments look AMAZING, though! 🎨

The last thing I want to share that I painted was actually something I painted for my sister Ariel! 💓 For the past few years, we've been doing Secret Santa and each year we set a budget of either five or ten dollars! 🎅 This year was our first year of doing ten dollars, but that's because we got to get a bit more creative with more money and let's be honest, prices have gone up this year! Even Dollar Tree isn't a dollar anymore! 😳 

The first year we did Secret Santa, I chose Ariel's name and this year I chose her name again! 💓 I went with a snowman theme for her gifts and painted her this little snowman! ⛄

One side is a pink/red candy cane look and the other side is the traditional candy cane look! 💕 The middle is a mix of both sides and is supposed to look like a candy cane melted inside! 💗 I painted and re-painted and re-painted this snowman SO many times and came up with this idea after the THIRD time re-painting it! 😂💓 To me crafts are such sentimental gifts because SO much work goes into painting something for someone and I LOVE giving crafty gifts that are uniquely made for the person I'm giving them to! 💟

Speaking of our Secret Santa tradition... 

My sister Alyssa got me TWO years in a row and I have to say that she outdid herself this year and got me SO many GREAT things! 💓🎁

She wrapped them in CUTE little Lilo & Stitch wrapping paper that I LOVE! 💓💚💓 Look at the CUTE little bear she got me and look! 👀 I see something Grinchy! 💚🍫 I LOVE all the things she chose for me and I can't wait to open even more Christmas socks from the advent box she got me! 💓

THANK YOU Alyssa (Back To Disney) for ALL of my AMAZING gifts, but being your sister is the BEST gift of ALL, as well as being Ariel's sister too and having the BEST dad EVER! 💕💙

Another advent calendar that my sisters and I did was SO much FUN and we looked forward to opening it each day! 💓💚

A DISNEY advent calendar! 💓💗 Here are the CUTE little figurines that I got! 🐻🍯

My sisters were SO nice and traded with me for the Winnie The Pooh and Tigger figurines because Winnie The Pooh was the theme of my bedroom as a baby and it was SO cute getting to collect most of the Christmas characters this year! 💓🎄 My FAVORITE one is the Eeyore figurine that is SO flippin' cute with his little letter to Santa in his mouth! 💙🎅

Speaking of CUTE little Disney animated figures... 💓💙💚

Some of my FAVORITE Christmas episodes and movies that I watched this year were animated! 💓 I'm not much of a cartoon/animation watcher, but I DO love to watch certain animated series/movies that are nostalgic and calming to watch! 💗

One of those series is Sofia The First, which I haven't seen ALL of the seasons of, but I've LOVED watching the holiday episodes SO much! 👑💜

My FAVORITE Christmas episode from the series was season two's episode that gave me some Narnia vibes! 💙 The snow in this episode was SO festive and gave the episode the PERFECT winter vibe! ⛄❆

Here is a sweet song from that episode! 🠟🎵💜

Because I watched Sofia The First, I knew Elena of Avalor was a semi-connecting series that was featured in the last season of Sofia The First, so I watched Elena of Avalor for the FIRST time this Christmas and LOVED it! 💓 The holiday episodes made me want to watch more of the series, which I might end up doing this year! 🎸💓

If you know me, then you know that I LOVE international series, especially Latin American ones! 💓 The Elena of Avalor episodes gave me SO many AMAZING Latin vibes and just like with Sofia The First, the second season's holiday episode was my FAVORITE! 💓♪

Here is a FESTIVE song from that episode that I LOVE so much! 🠟♪💓

Which song was your FAVORITE? 💓🎵 I LOVE both of them SO much and can't choose because they each give off their own unique vibes and messages! 💓💜

Speaking of how much I LOVED the snow scenery in that Sofia The First episode... 💙❆

This year a cold front hit where I lived and the weather hit the coldest temperature it's ever been since before I was born! 😲

Do you see the "feels like" temperature?!? NEGATIVE five degrees!!! 😱💙 That's crazy! How cold did it get where you live? ⛄💙

I LOVE cold weather, but I do find it pointless that it was negative five, but it didn't snow! 😂💙

One of our Christmas Eve traditions that we've been doing since I was VERY VERY little is making Christmas sugar cookies! 🍪💛 

I will admit that this year wasn't my BEST cookie decorating year, but I did create some COOL cookie designs without using the cookie cutters! 💓🍪

Here is a before picture with the cookies I did use cookie cutters for and the cookie designs I free-handed... 🍪💛

Before I show you the after photos, I have to share a music video that I think about EVERY.SINGLE.TIME I decorate cookies on Christmas Eve! 💓♪🍪

That song is SO flippin' nostalgic! 💓

Here are the after photos of my Christmas cookies... 🠟🍪💚

Yes. Yes that is a McDonalds happy meal shaped cookie. No. No I do NOT eat McDonalds (only because I eat organic and don't eat out). Yes. Yes I did eat happy meals as a kid. Yes. Yes I LOVED them and randomly designed a cookie representing them! 😂🍪 The cookie below it is a Hannah Montana inspired star-shaped cookie! 💛💓 The top right corner cookie was my try at doing Minnie Mouse ears! 💟 The three-hearts-in-one cookie is a Grinchy cookie that is actually THREE separate hearts stacked onto each other to represent how the Grinch's heart grew three sizes! 💚💓

One of my FAVORITE cookies that I made was my snow globe cookie that did get a little messed up, but the snowman is still cute in the center and I LOVE the blue and white theme! 💙⛄

Another one of my FAVORITE cookies I made was my Eloise "gingerbread" house that has a Christmas tree cookie inside of the "house" along with a music note! 💓💟💗 I LOVE the movie Eloise At Christmastime! 💕🍪

Which messy cookie that I made and decorated is your FAVORITE?!? 💓🍪💚

That is our Christmas Eve tradition of making desserts, but one of our Christmas Day traditions is making a yummy and delicious dinner with ALL the trimmings! 💓🦃  

Here was our Christmas dinner table set-up for this year! 🠟💓

I only eat TWO things during our Thanksgiving and Christmas meals! 💓🍠

The pictures don't do the yummy food justice, but I LOVE green bean casserole and homemade dressing! Mmmm! 💓 

What is your FAVORITE thing to eat during the holidays? 💓

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Christmas didn't end with our dinner, though, and neither does this post! 💓

The LAST thing we did on Christmas night was watch a Christmas movie together as a family! 💓📺

We chose to watch Jingle All The Way, which I hadn't seen in YEARS and laughed SO much throughout it! 💓 I used to watch that movie SO much as a kid, so it brought back A LOT of nostalgia! 💓📺 IT'S TURBO TIME!!! 💓💝💖

Here are some honorable mentions of Christmas movies and episodes that I enjoyed watching this season! 💓🠟

⭐ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)

⭐ Barbie In The Nutcracker (2001) 

I watched all THREE of the Barbie holiday movies this December and LOVED all of them! 💖 You might or might not be hearing more about this one soon... 😉💟

⭐ Jingle It Up (Shake It Up - S2E11)

I HAVE to mention Shake It Up because it's not only one of my FAVORITE series of all time, but season two's Christmas episode was one of my FAVORITE holiday episodes I watched this year! 💓🎄

⭐ Home For Christmas (Saved By The Bell - S3E24/25)

This 90s Christmas episode is SO flippin' nostalgic and it got me SO excited to re-watch this series next year, which I'll be doing for the FIRST time in years and sharing ALL my feelings about it in a future post once I've completed the series! 💓📸

⭐ Eloise At Christmastime (2003)

⭐ Home Alone (1990)

Because my year and December kind of went like this... 

I wasn't able to watch Home Alone this Christmas! 😢 But, I am excited to watch it next year, as well as the second movie! 💓💚💓

I did get to watch another SUPER nostalgic movie, though! 💓

⭐ Prancer (1989) 

One of my earliest Christmas memories is when my first grade teacher played this for my class on the last day before Christmas break and gave us gingerbread houses to decorate as we watched it! 💓🦌 I got checked out before I could finish the movie and my gingerbread house and it was one of the ONLY times I wanted to stay at school! 😂 This movie is SO nostalgic and literally makes me cry EVERY.SINGLE.TIME! 😢 The casting was AMAZING for this movie! 👏💓

I was feeling creative the night after I watched this movie and made a random edit of some of my FAVORITE moments! 💓

Here it is! 🠟💛

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I had SO much FUN creating this "scrapbook" to remember ALL of these AMAZING Christmas memories from this year! 💓💚💓

It's CRAZY to think that next year I'll be looking back at this post and seeing these memories as I make new ones for 2023! 💓 

ALL of these memories and the ones I didn't share are so SPECIAL not because of the stuff I got or made, but because of getting to spend time with my dad and sisters! 💚💓 My family means EVERYTHING to me and I'm thankful I got to spend another holiday season with them! 💓🎄

This Christmas definitely had it's ups and downs, but each Christmas is different and I still got to make some INCREDIBLE memories this year! 💛⭐

I hope you ALL had a Merry Christmas and I'll see you in one more post before the new year! 💓 Ahhh!!! I can't believe the year is almost over! 💚🎉

Signing off... 

Until next time... 

Don't forget to celebrate each day because each day is a memory in the making! 💓

 

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