It’s after Thanksgiving so all bets are off on decorations. I have been cutting, trimming, hanging, and dreaming up decorations all week long. This year I have the joy of having my Arizona family all here for Christmas so not only am busy making my decorating-dreams a reality, but I’m also busy dreaming up meal plans for a week of festivities and fun. I’m looking forward to spending this month sharing with you my holiday meal plans, but for today, how about something light and refreshing after all of last week’s feasting? These spring rolls only ever make us feel oh so good. They are jam-packed with flavor, yet light and cool and crisp. Absolutely delicious and no doubt what we need before all the Christmas cookies, roasted meat, and cheesy-great carbs coming our way.

Post-Feast Cool & Refreshing Spring Rolls

Read more about this recipe HERE. And don’t forget the takeaway: Every ingredient in this recipe serves a textural and flavorful purpose, so don’t skip any of them! You will love this one. And can’t find those chewy and delicious rice wrappers? No fear, this makes a great pasta salad—just dice up those julienned veggies and toss them in the noodles with that creamy peanut curry sauce. Yum, yum YUM.

Time for all the Christmas-y Things!

Every year, this is my favorite seat in the house. The warm-feeling hearth, the glow of the Christmas tree, and the sunlight through the windows. What’s not to love. I do love handmade Christmas decorations, so bust out the scissors for some homemade snowflakes, preheat the oven for a dreamy citrus garland, and pop that popcorn (a day ahead of time so it can get stale—that’s the key to stringing it).

Dried Orange Garland

I have this orange garland everywhere at Christmas. Here’s a quick little photo-how-to. The details: slice any citrus you want (I like navel oranges, but grapefruit, lemons, blook oranges, anything works! They’ll all be a slightly different hue when dried, but all are magical), then bake flat on parchment at 200F for 6 hours (you’ll know they’re done when they’re crispy:). Then string ‘em. I used an embroidery needle with kitchen twine.

And guess what? They’re sure to be non-toxic if you have toddlers or curious kids like I do, lol.

Next up, Snowflakes!

Channel all your Buddy the Elf enthusiasm for these babies. It’s about to look like Gimbels the morning Santa (I know him!) is coming to town. I’ve been making paper snowflakes, every year since my second-grade teacher showed me how. My mind was blown then, and every year it still is. I love them.

The key to these little beauties is simple printer paper. The thinner, the better. Don’t even think about fancy paper like cardstock or contruction paper. The cheapest, lightest paper you can find is the ticket! Note: After you fold them up as pictured below, be sure that you don’t cut off the entire edge of any folded edge. If you do that, they’ll fall apart. Feel free to cut as much as you want on the “raw” edge, where there aren’t any folds. But the other two edges, keep parts of them intact to hold the snowflake together. It’s like a little festive surprise every time you open one!