Christmas 2013: "Favorite Things"

I have been wanting to post about this for a few weeks now, but I knew that my cousin and sister read my blog, which meant if I posted about it before Christmas I would spoil their gifts!

Me, Mal, and Em on Christmas Day

Last year, the three of us started a tradition of giving each other things that we had tried and fell in love with throughout the year. Think Oprah's Favorite Things...just not to the extremes of us buying each other cars...

Anyway, I thought I would share with you what we gave each other, and maybe you would like to start this tradition next year with your sisters, cousins, family, or friends!

First off, Mallory (for those who don't know, she's my sister) and I opened Emily's bag of goodies, and here's what we found:

I ordered a devotional from Amazon that has questions you answer to go with each day, so I think I'm going to use the journal Emily got me for that. I'm looking forward to trying the Spark, and I tried the protein bar today. It was really good!

Next up was Mallory's box of treats:

I love the owl page markers, and I could always use more Baby Lips (bonus that I don't have the peppermint flavor already!) Also, aren't the little birdies on the mug so cute? I think it's funny we all gave each other mugs.

Last, but not least, Mallory and Emily opened their boxes from me. Here's what I gave them:

Pretty self-explanatory...That raisin nut bread from Braum's is so yummy! It's what I ate for breakfast most days throughout the year along with a cup of coffee. 

We all started Breaking Bad this year, so I knew I had to include it somehow. I got the Merry Christmas photo and the 'blue meth' candy from a store on Etsy called Breaking Rad. Lindsey, the shop owner, provides amazing customer service if you ever need something for the Breaking Bad fan in your life!

I also made both of them a gratitude box for 2014. Each day in 2014, they will think of something that made them happy, that they were thankful for, etc., write it down on a slip of paper, and put it in their box. On December 31, they will open their box and read all the things they were thankful for in 2014.

I covered the box in brown paper and left the bottom of it uncovered, so when they read them in December, they can open the bottom of the box and start with the beginning of the year. I painted a monogram for each of them, stuck some gemstones on the monogram, and hot glued it to the box. I also included a chevron burlap ribbon along the bottom of the front of the box.

I cut a small hole in the back of the box to put their paper in each day and hot glued an envelope to the back of the box. The envelope holds the blank strips of paper.

I really hope they use these throughout the year and take a few minutes at the end of the day to think of at least one positive thing that happened. 

So, I'm sure we all have our favorite Christmas traditions that we do with our families each year. This is one I'm hoping sticks around for a long time.