merry Christmas – The Writer of Letters

Mug review and my favorite hot cocoa recipe! cue the Christmas tunes and posts

Hello! How are you doing today? I hope your doing amazing, and guys: guess what?! It’s officially socially acceptable to start celebrating Christmas!! I may or may not have been celebrating Christmas since the beginning of November, I’ll let you decide what to believe 😉 In my opinion, Christmas only comes once a year and its the best holiday so why not go all out?

Today I’m back with a super fun and exciting post, and it’s also special because its my first Christmas post of 2020! I know your reader is probably full of Christmas posts so if you’re reading this, thank you very much, I appreciate it ❤

The wonderful Shellea from shelleaandscout over on Etsy kindly agreed to send me a mug in exchange for a blog post and man am I excited for this post! I chose a Christmas mug with this post in mind and the mug Shellea sent me was PERFECT! She sent me the Merry Christmas mug, which is one of my favorites from her shop. Check it out here!

The mug is the perfect size in my opinion and is so fun to drink hot cocoa out of. It’s this really festive red color and says Merry Christmas with some cute little stars around it. The design is made of permanent vinyl so it is completely dishwasher safe although Shellea recommends hand washing so it holds up longer. My mug was put in the dishwasher (unknown to me) on the top rack and held up wonderfully, without any of the vinyl starting to peel or anything!

Next, let’s move on to the cocoa recipe! This cocoa recipe is my family favorite, with it being passed around from one of my cousins and now its a family tradition to make for Christmas movie nights! This recipe originally comes from a Taste of Home magazine, published in 2008 but it’s been altered a little by my family and cousins 🙂

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
4 cups milk
1/3 cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract
12 tsp almond extract
marshmallows and whipped cream (optional)

The recipe:

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
4 cups milk
1/3 cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
marshmallows and whipped cream (optional)

Heat milk, water, and vanilla and almond extracts in a medium sized pot. Add in other ingredients, mix it up, and let warm until your desired heat! Top with whipped cream and marshmallows and enjoy!

Next, I poured my hot cocoa into my lovely mug and I took some adorable Christmas photos that I’m quite happy with 🥰 Here are my favorites!

*These photos are edited with a filter so this is not the true color of the mug, the actual color is brighter. You can see the true color in Shelleas picture on her shop.

Ahhh I love those photos! So Christmas-y and they definitely help me get into the spirit ❤ Overall, I give this mug a 10/10. I don’t have any complaints and I adore it for drinking my cocoa out of! It also works really well for taking super cute Christmas photos! A huge thank you to Shellea for sending me this mug, I appreciate it so much! Make sure to check out her shop, her mugs are priced super reasonably and I highly recommend.

Thats all for today! I hope you enjoyed this post, I sure enjoyed writing it for y’all! How are you preparing for Christmas if you celebrate it? If you don’t celebrate Christmas what are some fun things happening in your life soon? Do you call it hot cocoa or hot chocolate? Do you have a Christmas mug? I recommend buying one from Shellea if you don’t 😉

xx, Jasmin

The real reason for Christmas

Hey dudes! CHRISTMAS IS IN LESS THAN TWO DAYS. I can not believe it!!!

Today my post is about the REAL REASON for CHRISTmas. Everyone (including myself) gets really caught up in the holiday bustle and cheer and giving and recieving gifts and many people don’t really remember why we celebrate Christmas.

We celebrate Christmas because God sent His one and only son, Jesus, to be our savior. God sent Jesus to save us from our sins because He loves us. Imagine giving up your so for everyone in the world. Jesus didn’t want to be hung on the cross but he did just for us. So we could be saved. Anyways 😉 I’m getting a little of topic.

God sent His one and only son Jesus to be our savior. Joseph and Mary were ‘espoused’ when they found out the virgin Mary was great with child.

Luke 1:30-35:

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Meanwhile, A decree from Caesar Augustus went out that the whole world should be taxed. So since Joseph came from the house and lineage of David, Him and Mary went to the city of David. It was a journey to David and they had to go slower because Mary was pregnant and so with time it became time for Mary to give birth.

Luke 2:1-6

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem and they stopped for the night, as Mary was about to have Jesus and They went from inn to inn looking for room. But alas, all the inns were full and there was no where to stay. So Joseph and Mary went into a stable and there Mary birthed the Savior. They named him Jesus.

Luke 2:7:

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And God sent angels to the Shepards that were out in the fields tending their sheep to tell of the saviors birth and he put a star in the sky to lead the wise men to Jesus.

Luke 2:8-20

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

And the wonderful story continues in the Bible but that’s all for my post today :)) Hope u enjoyed and have a wonderful Christmas! Don’t forget why we celebrate it though 🙂

Xx, Jasmin

Making a gingerbread house yummmmmm

Hey dudes/dudettes! Last night my friends came over and we did our secret Santa gift exchange and we made gingerbread houses! Instead of gingerbread we used graham crackers because then we didn’t have to bake them and it’s just overall easier 😁 So my sister and I had two friends over and we decided to have a gingerbread house contest! We split up into teams of one friend/one sister, made some rules (you can’t use the internet to come up with ideas, no leaving the kitchen, no peeking at the other team etc.) and we gave ourselves around 3 hours. Yᴇs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪs ᴀɴ VERY ʟᴏɴɢ ᴛɪᴍe ʙᴜᴛ ᴡᴇ ɴᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇ ᴏᴜʀ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀᴘɪᴇᴄᴇs sᴏ ɪᴛ’s ᴏᴋᴀʏ. Anywhoooo we set up our counter and whipped up some icing/edible glue to create our buildings with!

We had lots of candy and a good amount of it got used up! We kinda ate just as much as we put on our houses but it’s okay 😂

We used a random recipe for the glue/icing and it was cream of tarter, egg whites and powdered sugar. It was really nice glue and it really stuck/ is sticking everything together!

We went for the slanted roof look and it was an actual struggle but we did it by stuffing paper towels into the building to support the roof! Also we cut the graham crackers with some knives and that was hard but we managed 😀

This was my sister/friend’s teams creation! It’s actually really cool and super creative! My favorite things about it are the little tower thing on top, that’s supported by Charleston chews (idk what it’s called 😂) and I like the little Christmas tree they made in front! It’s cute and cozy and Christmas-y!

Here is mine and my friends!! Taaaa daaaa! I’m quite proud of ourselves, I feel like a proud parent 😂 my favorite part about it is probably the ocean with the little dudes surfing in their tubes (otherwise known as peach rings) and I also really like the roof and the door! We could have added more candy but we ran out of icing/glue and our feet were tired (ik, ik, we’re getting old welp) but overall I really like it!

We also decorated the back but we didn’t spend much time on it! I LOVE the m&ms on the roofline, they give a Christmas light look and it’s great!! Also both the houses tasted amazing 😂

So that is all for this post! Hope u enjoyed! I can not believe 2020 is in like 10 days and Christmas is in 4!!! I’m so excited!

Comment which building is ur favourite! Have you ever made a gingerbread/ graham cracker house? What’s ur favourite candy?

Xx, Jasmin 💕

Random Christmas tag sips hot chocolate

Hey dudes! So recently I was tagged by the lovely Lilly ( go check out her blog, its pretty cool :)) to do this tag! Side note: I have been struggling with knowing what to post so when I seen Lilly had tagged me for this I was super excited! Okay, so on with the tag:

The Rules:

– Post the picture above at the beginning of your post or post some other random Christmas picture.
– Copy and paste the rules.
– Answer all the five questions.
– Tag at least five people.
– Thank the person who tagged you.
– Have fun and have a very Merry Christmas!

OKAYYYYYY: Onto the questions!

Question 1. What is your favorite B&W Christmas movie?

Ummm hmmm ok this is slightly embarrassing for me *covers face* ɪ’ᴠᴇ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴀ ʙ&ᴡ ᴄʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ, ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ʜᴀᴛᴇ ᴍᴇ. Pʟᴇᴀsᴇ. I don’t watch a lot of movies like maybe one or two a month? And usually their color movies? To make up for my super lame answer my favorite “colored” Christmas movie is ‘how the grinch stole Christmas’ and elf is a close second!

Question 2. What is your favorite Hallmark Christmas movie?

Hmmmmmm…. probably ‘Christmas under wraps’.I remember watching it with my gramma and it’s pretty good. I love hallmark Christmas movies (except for the part that they’re literally the most predictable movies EVER) but they’re interesting, clean and Christmas-y!

Question 3. What is your favorite hot drink during Christmas time?

Definitely hot chocolate. I LOVE (and I mean LOVE) hot drinks! Hot cocoa, hot cider, coffee, they’re all so good! Hot cocoa/ chocolate is just so festive and delicious and yeah, I really like it ;)) I’ve been trying to drink more tea but I’m just not a big fan 😦 Any recommendations for teas to try?

Question 4. What is your favorite Christmas song?

It changes every year but as of right now it is probably ‘it’s Christmas time again’ by the Backstreet Boys! I found it this winter and I really like it! But I also really like God rest Ye merry gentlemen, what child is this, and carol of the bells!

Question 5. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

All our Christmas Day traditions. We don’t get cereal in our house often and if we get it it’s the healthy kind that’s not that good so for Christmas morning we get to pick any type of cereal to get and usually it’s fruit loops xD it’s so good! After breakfast, we open presents and Then we go to church and when we get home we have a Christmas wi Th my moms family and we get pizza usually. It’s so fun! Ahhhh I just love Christmas so so SO much!

I tag:

–Maggie

–Bethany

–Cassidy

–Beth

–Lizzy

-and anyone else who wants to do this tag!

What is the best black and white Christmas movie? Maybe I’ll watch it!! I can NOT believe Christmas is in 8 days?!? and 2019 is almost over? It’s so crazy!! that is all for today! hope u enjoyed and I’ll try and post soon!

xx, Jasmin