Our favorite holiday tradition: our felt stocking Christmas calendar

Today, I want to share something our family does every year during the holidays: a felt stocking Christmas calendar. This was all inspired by a photo a few years ago in Real Simple magazine, created by A Beautiful Mess. Now it’s one of our favorite traditions! 

I made our felt stocking calendar in 2020.  That was the year that everything shut down and we all readjusted our priorities and dug deep into new & old hobbies.  I sewed each stocking and embroidered little details onto them to make each one unique.  I felt like I was tapping into my childhood years of sewing projects for this one, and I spent many November nights at the dining room table working on these little stockings so that we would have them ready in time for December that year.  Making these was very fulfilling and I loved knowing that this was going to become a core childhood memory and a magical holiday tradition for our family.

Starting on December 1, each stocking holds a little treat, trinket, or note with an activity on it.  We do one stocking each day from December 1 through December 24.  I don’t fill them all up at once because I have a four year old who would peek ahead and spoil the surprise, but I do keep a list of what I want to put in them so that I know and can do it quickly without too much effort.  Most of what we do are little holiday activities that do not take much prep or time, and every now and then I will include a treat or a toy.  Tossing in a chocolate or two is a super easy one if I do not have time for an activity that day!  If the items do not fit inside the stockings, I use a clothespin to pin them to the back side of the stocking.

I do this instead of Elf on the Shelf because I wanted to start a tradition that was extra special to our family, and one that would let me make lots of fun holiday memories with our little ones.  Also because the idea of moving an elf into different spots and creating scenes for him every single night for 10-15 years is completely overwhelming to me, but sprinkling fun and traditional holiday activities and joy throughout the month of December is much more fulfilling to me.

Because of this, my four-year old LOVES “Christmastime” and he understands that there is a difference between Christmas Day and Christmastime.  He spends all year looking back through our photo albums and flipping through the pages filled with activities from previous Decembers, and as winter approaches he asks me what I think we’ll find in the stockings this year.  He knows that “Mama does the little stockings but Santa does the big stockings”, and I love that I am able to pass my love of the holiday season on to him – and eventually on to our daughter when she is old enough to understand, too!

‌Here are some of my favorite items and activities that we’ve included in stockings for our countdown to Christmas.

‌Trinkets/Treats:

●      Wooden Christmas cars

●      New hat & mittens

●      Silly holiday glasses from the dollar store

●      Candy cane

●      Hershey kisses

●      Andes mints

●      Tiny snow globe

●      Decorated holiday cookie

Activities:

●      Visit the Christmas tree farm

●      Go watch the holiday trains at Sunnyside Gardens

●      Go to the Victoria Streetwalk

●      Bake Christmas cookies

●      Bring Christmas cookies to a neighbor/friend

●      Make a gingerbread house

●      Go see Christmas lights

●      Have a picnic in front of the Christmas tree

●      Drink hot cocoa in front of the fireplace

●      Hang twinkle lights in their bedroom

●      Make Christmas pancakes

●      Wrap presents

●      Pick out a gift for someone special

●      Visit the library to pick out holiday books

●      Do a Christmas craft/painting

●      Mail holiday cards

●      Have a holiday music dance party

●      Walk through the Christmas aisles at Target

●      Write/Mail a letter to Santa

●      Visit with Santa

●      Paint a holiday project at the ceramics shop in town

●      FaceTime a friend and sing Christmas carols together

●      Make a Christmas ornament and hang it on the tree

●      Watch a Christmas movie together‌

I hope that no matter what your traditions are that you have a beautiful holiday season with your loved ones!! 

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2018 Holiday Sessions

It’s my favorite time of year! The studio has been filled with twinkly lights, Christmas trees, and plaid accents for weeks now, and holiday music has been playing nonstop on the Alexa. Santa gets mentioned at least once every session, a couple of jingle bells have been my go-to trick to get little ones to look at the camera.

That can only mean one thing…

It’s time to share a peek into our 2018 HOLIDAY SESSIONS!

We did sessions in both the Saratoga Springs & Attleboro studios, and so many families joined us for lots of festive portraits. As the years go by I tend to favor simpler backdrops that keep the focus on the family with just a touch of festive cheer. This year we had a bit of a farmhouse touch to our holiday backdrops inspired by some Joanna Gaines decor — boxwood wreaths, plaid throws, a rustic hand painted sign, and a wooden ladder, yes please!

All of the families brought their A-game in CUTENESS! So many Christmas cuddles and lots of adorable smiles!

December Photo Challenge

One of the coolest things I have discovered since beginning this amazing journey into photography has been the amazing and inspirational world of photographers out there, all coming together to share their ideas and their artwork with each other and with the world.  One of the first websites that I came across was "I Heart Faces," which brings together people of all skill levels but who just love photography in these monthly contests. Every December they host a photo-a-day contest where each day's theme is holiday related.

Me?  I get starry-eyed just looking at lights, I dance around my kitchen baking Christmas cookies, and just the scent of cinnamon pinecones in the supermarket is like a drug to me.  Yeah, I love December.  The festive feeling, the cheer, the traditions, everyone coming together in their warm and cozy homes, the lights... It doesn't get any better than that.  So this year I decided to go for the challenge again (I attempted it last year, and only made it halfway through).  I nearly made it to the end this time in my efforts to capture that feeling of December.

(Sorry for the formatting here -- the vertical photos come out HUGE while the horizontals seem tiny in comparison.  It's to keep them all the same width for the blog, but it still looks kind of funny...)

Day 4  {9 o'clock}     When you're sending gifts overseas, you have to get them out early!  This package made it to Sicily on time, and we had a lovely skype date on Christmas Eve opening presents together.  :o)

Day 5   {Elves}    I loved this window display in a Saratoga Springs toy shop showcasing the characters in a new Swedish Christmas tale.  This store (G. Williker's) always has the most beautiful whimsical window displays.  I you know how much I love whimsy!

Day 6   {Fun}    This December Baby, Stevie, is having a blast at his cake smash!  Check out more of his cake smash photos here, and his newborn shoot here.  

Day 8   {Out and About}    Another Saratoga Springs storefront with a beautiful winter display.  This olive oil shop is one of my favorite shops in town -- we like to go in to test out the new flavors and for a midday snack sometimes.  ;)

Day 9   {Wish List}   My wish is to simply enjoy the little moments more... like a warm mug and shimmering lights in a room that smells like cinnamon pinecones.   

Day 11   {On the Tree}   A new ornament for our tree this year!  NY state.

Day 12  {Twinkling}    A favorite twinkly photo from last year:  little Genevieve looking in wonder at those lights.  She's got the holiday spirit!

Day 14   {Surprise}   Yes, I actually had to write this on a box to make sure this gift would stay a surprise until I could get around to wrapping it.   ;)

Day 16   {Warmth}   We got three snowstorms in a week, and when I left work I looked out over this pond and saw the moon floating over the town's rooftops.  I love all the sights I get to see over this pond each day, and I just had to stop and catch that little bit of warmth fading from the sky as the sun went down and the moon came out.

Day 17  {Tradition}   I've made my grandma's cookie recipe every year for as long as I can remember.  Rolling the dough out, using the same tin cookie cutters I always loved as a kid... it's not Christmas until we make these cookies.

Day 18   {Something Shiny}    City reflections in a glass bulb on a tree in downtown Saratoga.

Day 19   {Festive}    Ooooooooh, bokeh.  

Day 21   {Under}    A new take on "under the tree".  Commonwealth Avenue in Boston with sparkling ice puddles under the illuminated trees.

Day 23   {Red}   Another holiday baby, Camilo is rocking his sweet little Santa suit.

Day 24   {Merry}   Hosting Christmas Eve tonight, and finishing it off with this wintry forest cake.

Day 28   {Words}    Buon Natale!  A new ornament that I brought back from Sicily last summer.  I love the idea of having ornaments on my tree from all the places I've visited.

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What about days 29, 30, and 31?  Well, that's where I didn't quite finish it out.  But the first 28 are up and made for a festive month of photos!

Happy New Year!  

I hope you all enjoyed a beautiful holiday season with your families.

'Tis the Season

Fa la la la la la la la la. Awhile back I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with Noah and Ravi and their moms, two teachers from the school I work at.  The playdate buddies were such hams for the camera.  The second I had the backdrop and lights set up, Ravi walked right over there and plopped himself in the middle, intent on showing off for the camera.

Tis the season...

.... for shiny gift boxes to be used as toys.

.... for sparkly holiday lights and wooden trains.

.... for The Polar Express.

.... for December clementines... and one-year olds realizing that the skin doesn't taste so good!

.... for adorable little boys dressed up in bowties.

.... for childhood wonder and magic.

.... for cute footsie PJs.  And for tackling your friends to get closer to the book!  (Noah is practically reading on his own anyways, so it's no surprise here he's clearing the pathway to the story!)

Hope you're all enjoying this merry season and all that it has to offer!

Happy Holidays!

{1 Photo: 32 Days} Part 1

I feel like I need to preface this post with a disclaimer.  I love December.  Everything about it.  What's not to love?  Twinkling lights, pine garlands, sparkling Christmas trees, candles in the windows, nightly baking traditions, lots of holiday gatherings, old fashioned B&W Christmas movies, a nonstop Christmas playlist on Pandora, and an abundance of cheer.  Yes, people may be stressed and frazzled, pulled in too many directions, but there is so much GOOD in the month that it's easy to get a little dazed and distracted by it all and allow yourself to just soak it up and enjoy the merry and bright month that only comes once a year. The Danish people have a word that embodies the concept of all things warm, fuzzy, and comforting:  hygge.  It's a light-hearted concept that they take very seriously, striking the perfect balance between satisfaction and feeling self-satisfied, finding hygge while sitting beside a fireplace in a warm, wooly sweater and sipping on some delicious Danish drink while surrounded by friends and good conversation.  Can you tell now why Denmark is on my bucket list for stamps in my passport?  Basically, the Danes embrace my high-on-December attitude year-round, which is something I think we should all aspire to do.

On that note, here's a creative way I've found to approach the contented state of hygge this season...

There is this amazing website for photographers (professionals, amateurs, shutter clickers, and everyone in between!) called I Heart Faces.  I discovered the site a couple of years ago for their weekly and monthly photo challenges.  This December they posted a photo-a-day challenge with the idea that participants will post one photo each day related to a specific daily theme.  Me being me (the one who is filled with Christmas cheer, dazed by twinkling lights, and all around cheery throughout the month of December).... well, let's just say I was ALL OVER this challenge when I read about it.

It hasn't been easy finding the time to take and submit a photo every day, but I've managed to make it halfway through the 32 day challenge so far.  I'm quite pleased!  You should check out the other submissions on their I Heart Faces Facebook page for a bit of holiday inspiration.

So here you go, my month in photos.

{Day 1: me}

{Day 2: elf}

{Day 3: what you're reading}  This is one of my all-time favorite and most inspiring quotes from Mary Oliver: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

{Day 4: shadow play}  Okay, so maybe I cheated here and found an older photo.  This was taken last February on my birthday, an unseasonably warm day that I decided to get in my car and head to the beach.  Beachy, wintry shadows?  I'll take it!

{Day 5: someone I love}   Another old photo, this one of my best friend's son, Zachary.  Check out her blog here.

{Day 6: burst of red}  I couldn't decide and I had two entries for this one.  The first is from Provincetown.  The second is from Saratoga on a nighttime adventure in search of a burst of red in their quaint little city.

{Day 7: the view from here}  And this show why I find Saratoga so quaint and beautiful!  I literally stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of the road, mesmerized by the lights.  It's like stepping onto the set of It's a Wonderful Life.  That little house up there?  That's Santa's house.  No, seriously, that's where the kids go to sit on Santa's lap and write him cute little letters.  So sweet.  Every town should have one of those.

{Day 8: shopping}

{Day 9: decorated}

{Day 10: stripes}  Wrap me up in Christmas lights and call it a night!

{Day 11: on the shelf}

{Day 12: sweet}  Wednesday night baking adventures commence!

{Day 13: 'tis the season}  Shaped bokeh.  Again, I am ALL OVER that!!!  No house in my neighborhood is safe from my camera. If you put lights up, they are just begging to be photographed!

{Day 14: B&W}  Sweet little Genevieve, a beautiful little snow angel.

{Day 15: something yum}

So there you be.  That's my December, so far.

And if you want to read another post that made me burst out laughing time and time again, check out Kelle Hampton's post about her cup o' cheer holiday season.  The part about the Christmas village and 50 shades of good stuff happening up in that little village inn?  Yeah, she embraces the hygge, too.

Merry & Bright

'Tis the season to be merry, bright, and glistening with all of those gorgeous twinkling lights! One of my favorite things about this season is the lights.  I love the way they look and the magical whimsy that they lend to the night.  If I had my way, every inch of the town would be covered in beautiful white lights and draped in pine garlands... and not just in December!  Nearly everyone that knows me knows that I have a (minor?) obsession with holiday lights and I love photographing them and finding ways to incorporate them into my every day life.  Just a touch of Christmas year-round?  But of course!

(Advertisements seem to be making their way into the links in this paragraph... please ignore until I can correct this issue!  The only link I've added is og Genevieve's newborn session in the fourth sentence.)  So of course I jumped at the chance to do some holiday photo shoots.  This is the first of many.  I was thrilled to travel to six-month old Genevieve's house early on a Saturday morning to play with holiday lights, Santa hats, and a red tutu.  Genevieve was the first newborn that I photographed last spring, so this was an especially sweet photo shoot and I loved getting to capture her as she grows.  Looking back through the photos I found a few cute little facial expressions that she had made six months ago, too!

And now, let's let the lights speak for themselves...

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One of my absolute favorites from the shoot?  This black and white one with the lights shining just so and illuminating beautiful Genevieve's wonderstruck expression.  As a photographer, I draw inspiration from so many places.  Lately I've been admiring the gorgeous B&W photos of the talented Kate T. Parker Photography.  After I processed this photo, which just BEGGED to be in B&W, I took one look at it and saw the inspiration connection.  Love it!  Right now it's topping the charts as my current fave, though that is always changing with each new shoot that I go on  ;o)

As we enter the most wonderful time of the year, remember to pause and appreciate the joy and the wonder of the season.  Stop on a street corner and just soak up the twinkling lights for a few extra seconds.  Breathe in the scents of the pine boughs and the peppermint candles at the supermarket, and appreciate the warm and cozy atmosphere in the kitchen.  Come together and create new traditions, celebrate old traditions, and SOAK IT UP.  Suck the marrow out of life.  Enjoy it.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived...  I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”  ~Thoreau