It’s Elf on the Shelf season! I have a soft spot in my heart for the little guy and get a kick out of thinking up silly scenarios for him. Last year I snapped pictures of all of best elf-antics and have over 20 Elf on the Shelf ideas to share to keep you inspired. My best advice for doing the Elf on the Shelf is to start small – the first year I only did it for two weeks before Christmas, not the whole month – and have fun with it. Sometimes the simplest set-ups have been the ones that garnered the best reactions! 
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I have gotten really into making shrubs for my cocktail recipes over the past few months – I love that they can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for a long time! With the holiday season in full swing, I knew a cranberry-infused shrub was next on my experiment list. It’s as easy as combining the cranberries with equal parts water, apple cider vinegar and sugar in a jar and letting it all hang out in the fridge for a few days. When you’re ready to make your drink, add a splash of your infusion to a glass of chilled Prosecco and top it off with fresh rosemary sprigs and more festive red cranberries (frozen ones will keep your drink extra cold!). Get the full recipe below, and PS: These monogramed cocktail glasses are from my limited-edition collection with Wren Home! Shop the collection on wrenhome.com
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My ideal December weekend activity: Christmas carols on the stereo, a crackling fire in the fireplace, and festive cocktail in hand while I hang out with family and friends. This holly jolly gin punch fits the bill for festive cocktails, combining gin (I like Barr Hill), cranberry juice and ginger beer and fragrant, juicy orange slices. You can make the cocktail as an individual serving, or multiply the measurements by the number of guests and mix it in a pitcher for a party-size batch! Scroll down the easy recipe (and PS: my festive shirt is on major sale here!)
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I am SO excited to announce the launch of my new *exclusive* monogram collection with WREN home! We partnered on 5 new monogram designs that can be used on a hand-picked selection of cheese boards, cutting boards, glassware, and travel mugs! You can see all of the pieces from the collection below, and shop the entire Domestikatedlife x WREN Collection on their website!
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It’s that time of year again, my annual Thanksgiving recipe round up! I’ve got over 40 recipes from my archives with all of the tasty inspiration you need to get from cocktail hour to dessert. The best side dishes, from timeless classics to unique varieties, and tips for how to make every part of your meal come out delicious. Get inspired and build your Thanksgiving menu! 
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My friends at Christmas Tree Shops recently invited me into their store to check out some of their holiday new arrivals, and it got me SO excited for the season of holiday entertaining ahead. I found so many great entertaining staples – from chargers to glassware – that I got inspired to style a seasonal table that can transition across the holidays. The basics of the table design remain the same, but a few festive accents and changes to the centerpiece make it a versatile, multi-celebration setting.
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If I could only pick one thing to be on my Thanksgiving Table, I think stuffing would be at the top of my list. I get to eat it once a year (maybe twice if there’s a Friendsgiving on the calendar) and I make it count but loading it full of savory flavors. I love it so much that sometimes I even make two varieties – a traditional recipe and a wildcard stuffing. I’m sharing tons of ideas for making a unique Thanksgiving stuffing with different flavor combinations and mix-ins that you can choose to make it a dish of your own. 
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Give me a side dish that combines sweet and savory, and I’m a happy girl! This Thanksgiving side dish does just that – sweet potatoes get baked and then scooped out and mixed with butter, candied pecans and browned and crumbled chorizo sausage before getting placed back into the potato skins and baked for a second time. The dish only has 5 ingredients, and yet the combination of flavors packs a punch! Ditch the old school marshmallow covered sweet potatoes and give them a fresh upgrade with this chorizo and pecan topping – get the full recipe below:
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Green bean casserole is one of my sneaky favorites at Thanksgiving, partially because it’s a dish I really only eat at the holiday so each bite has nostalgic flavors. I’ve made a few riffs on Thanksgiving green bean recipes over the years and had an idea to dress up those crunchy veggies with the savory, rich flavors of French onion soup. The recipe starts with caramelizing the onions, which takes quite a bit of time! The good news is you can prep the onions in advance, get them caramelized the day before, deglaze the pan and add in the green beans, and then store the dish covered in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it. On Thanksgiving Day, just add the cheese on top and bake it in the oven – it may need 5 extra minutes of cooking time to get the onions and green beans bubbling hot again. I like to make this in a dish that can go from oven to stove to table, it’s one less dish to worry about when hosting (I use this stainless steel pan). The onion flavor is sweet and savory from the caramelization, and the melted cheese on top gives the dish a salty balance – it’ll make you want an extra helping of green beans on your Thanksgiving plate! Get the full recipe below:
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It’s hard to improve mashed potatoes, I mean they’re carbs mixed with butter, so basically perfection in a side dish! I love to experiment with little tweaks to my favorite Thanksgiving dishes and had the zany idea to give my classic mashed potato recipe a Cacio e Pepe twist! I started with peeled russet potatoes and cooked them until they’re tender, while reserving a bit of the starchy potato water. When you make cacio e pepe, the starchy pasta water is key to a silky sauce! In a pan of melted butter and lots of cracked black pepper, I whisked in fresh parmesan cheese with the starchy potato water and a tiny bit of heavy cream to create a gooey, nutty, cheesy sauce that gets poured over the hot potatoes and mashed together. Mashing the potatoes by hand is KEY to getting them light and fluffy (I use this masher). In a recipe like this where the ingredients are so simple, quality makes a big difference – spring for good parmesan cheese and a high-quality butter (I like Kerrygold!), they’ll add so much flavor to the dish! Get the full recipe below:
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