Blogger Progressive Dinner: Holiday Edition

My holiday decorating is finally done and I’ve bought most of my Christmas presents (woo hoo!) so now it’s time to dial back the pace a few notches and start enjoying the season! And what better way to do just that than to go on a virtual progressive holiday dinner with four of my blogging friends – we’re visiting five bloggers’ homes for five different courses, sharing favorite recipes and our holiday decorations along the way. 

You may be starting out the Progressive Dinner here or hopping over from Randi Garrett’s beautiful home where she hosted dessert – either way, welcome! Randi always sets the most beautiful table and she bakes some seriously killer desserts so I have no doubt that those of you coming over from Randi’s enjoyed yourselves. I’m hosting after-dinner drinks in front of our living room fireplace as the last stop for our Progressive Dinner. Come on in!

There’s a full source list for our living room at the end of this post (some affiliate links included – see my full disclosure statement {here})

My love for chocolate runs deep so deciding what to make for you all was pretty easy – take a seat on the couch, kick back, and grab a mug of piping hot peppermint hot chocolate!

Quick and easy recipes are my favorite and my go-to hot chocolate recipe is no exception – it has only four ingredients (five if you want to do the adult version with peppermint schnapps!). Putting the hot chocolate in {these Irish coffee glasses} instead of typical mugs is the perfect way to dress it up.

Once you’ve poured yourself some of this delicious hot chocolate, adding whipped cream on top is a total must! And if you want to up your game from traditional candy canes for stir sticks, I’ve gotten {these candy cane spoons} the past few years and my girls love them. Once you make this hot chocolate and add in the goodies, you’ll never go back to those store-bought packets!  

While you’re hanging out sipping your hot chocolate, I’ll show you around our living room decorated for the holidays!

I swapped out my usual coffee table books on the ottomans for a few wrapped presents and added some small silver and gold ornaments to my brass turtle dish – do you remember this guy from my One Room Challenge family room reveal? He was holding paperclips on our desk but since the desk went bye-bye to make room for the Christmas tree, he was looking for a job for the next few weeks:

I didn’t buy any new Christmas pillows this year but instead kept {my owl pillows} out and paired them with plain white linen pillows that I simply wrapped with black and white checked wire ribbon (found at HomeGoods) tied in a bow. Such a simple way to dress up a pillow without spending hardly any money:

Across from the sofa and ottoman is our fireplace that’s decorated with twin lanterns and beautiful new layered artwork c/o Minted that I just love:

My new art pieces include Birch Woods in Winter by Four Wet Feet Studio, Deer Two by XL (no longer available), and Most Wonderful Time foil-pressed print by Alethea and Ruth. They were all beautifully framed and matted by Minted so when they arrived at my door all I had to do was unpack them and place them on the mantel. I chose three different frame types (matte brass, whitewashed herringbone, and reclaimed barnwood) for a casual, eclectic feel:

On both sides of my art pieces are lanterns that I found at HomeGoods. Do you want to know the best part about them? They were in the gift section filled with an assortment of Ghirardelli chocolates. I mean, eating all of that chocolate is one of those sacrifices a girl just has to make in order to score the perfect mantel lanterns, right?!

I also set up a little hot chocolate station at the far end of the room so there’s plenty more for any of you who want seconds! You can keep hot chocolate (or any other hot drinks) warm for hours in one of these insulated carafes – I’ve had mine since we were married and use it all of the time – {this one} is similar.

Along with extra whole and crushed candy canes, there’s a jar full of mini marshmallows if you want to throw a few of those in your mug too!

The chalkboard print is {this one} that I’ve had for a few years now and use every winter when we set up our hot chocolate bar!

When you’re standing over by the bar cart, the smell of evergreens is amazing because of this wreath hanging from the china cabinet next to it. Can you believe I picked up this live beauty for under $25 at Stop & Shop??

Thank you guys so much for coming over and hanging out and chatting over hot chocolate!

If you didn’t see the rest of our Holiday Progressive Dinner, it’s time to play catch up and head on over to these houses:

Soup- Dear Lillie

Entrée- Kelley Nan

Dessert- Randi Garrett Design

After Dinner Drinks – me!

Enjoy your dinner!!