Enjoying the Simple Things…
My favourite time of the year is finally here! It’s December, Friends! At this time of year I’m all about embracing the festive feelings of the season in whatever simple ways I can – a pine scented candle, a simple wreath on the door, a cinnamon stick in my morning tea, or a bowl of pinecones on my desk. If I am being totally honest with you, I am actually not a huge home decorator when it comes to the holidays. I know this may come as a surprise for some because of what I do, but in my own home I actually tend to be a bit of a minimalist. Perhaps this will change when Dan and I own a home with a bit more space, but for now, I LOVE decorating other people’s houses and just really enjoying the simple pleasures of the season. Last month Yves Rocher shared with me their Christmas line and the package arrived just as the festive feelings were kicking in! Switching out my usual body wash and hand soap for more Christmass-y scented ones is just the sort of simple seasonal treat I am talking about that I love so much!
The Christmas Collection
Yves Rocher has two main scent collections this season – Golden Tea and Red Apple, both of which fill your bathroom with warm scents of vanilla and spice (MY FAVE!). Within each scent line there is a hand cream, a body lotion, a shower gel, a liquid hand soap, a lip balm, and even a candle (which I have been loving having on my desk!). These products can be purchased separately or together in various sets on the Yves Rocher website or in store. Yves Rocher always has lovely gift options around the holidays and in addition to these full sets they have sooo many lovely gift sets on their website – take a look HERE.
Self Care Gifts – The Best Kind
The more I talk with my friends, the more I realize that so many of us are exhausted and lacking time for ourselves. There is just a lot going on and everyone seems to be on the go these days, don’t you find? Especially at this time of year, so many people are working extra hard to complete deadlines before the holidays; attend and host family and work get togethers; and maybe even working overtime to make extra money to cover holiday expenses. While the holidays are a magical time they can also be really stressful. I love gifting people things to help them take care of themselves. Something like a set of bath and shower products that will give them a half an hour of relaxation time, or even a new lip balm or nail polish that will make them feel fresh when they put it on. These are little treats that we may not think to buy ourself but, there is no denying that using a new product makes us feel a bit brighter and refreshed.
A body care set like these would make a great gift – I left the basket of Red Apple products under my sister’s tree when I was there last week to share the Christmassy joy. The wonderful thing is that these products are also so affordable. Yves Rocher does such lovely gift packages at this time of year varying from small ones such as their Holiday Ornament Kit which includes 2 mini products – a shower gel and a moisturizer, as well as a festive nail polish, all packaged within an ornament for the tree (for only $12.95!). To larger bundles like the entire Red Apple Kit or Golden Tea Kit like I have shown here for only $29.95 which even comes with a bath sponge and a makeup bag. These are my favourite kind of gifts to give because I know they will be appreciated and make the person receiving them feel pampered which I think is the most important thing at this time of year.
Inspired by the winter flavours and scents of these Christmas products, I wanted to share some of my favourite warm water infusion recipes – another way that I like to embrace the festive season. As soon as the temperature drops I crave a warm drink in hand almost constantly. As much as I love fun seasonal drinks, when I am looking for a drink to have more often throughout the day, I need something without sugar and without caffeine – that’s why I turn to hot water infusions. To be very honest, these drinks are not a substitute for a sugary hot drink but if you take them for what they are – elevated water, they will be your favourite thing – like they are mine now :). For some reason, adding fruits and herbs to hot water makes me enjoy it that much more and anything that helps me consume more water in a day is a wonderful practice in my book!
Hot Water Infusion Drinks for The Winter
These 3 hot water infusion recipes are a great way to drink more water in a day and, if you are anything like me, you will enjoy having these warm drinks at all times of day!
1. Lemon Ginger Zinger
- 1 large cup of boiled water
- the juice from half a lemon
- 5 small slices of ginger
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- a sprinkle of cayenne pepper if you want an extra kick!
2. Cranberry Mint
- 1 large cup of boiled water
- 5-10 fresh cranberries
- the juice from half a lime
- a few sprigs of fresh mint
3. Cinnamon Apple
- 1 large cup of boiled water
- 1/4 of an apple sliced
- 1 drop of vanilla
- cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Thank you to Yves Rocher for partnering on this post!
The post It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas… appeared first on Threads & Blooms.