Posts By Skye McLain

Happy Holidays

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Happy Holidays friends! It’s so hard to believe that another year has blown by and 2015 is right around the corner. We hope you are all finding time to enjoy the little blessings this holiday season.

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7 Healthy Holiday Treats

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They say people gain 5-10lbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas, yikes!! This holiday season you can have your holiday treats and avoid the weight gain! Our bloggers have a created a ton of good for you recipes that incorporate holiday flavors like peppermint and gingerbread.  Thanks to Aloha Premium Protein Powder these treats are tasty and good for you!

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Family Holiday Traditions + A Cinnamon Roll Recipe

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Today we have a treat for our readers, Summer, our Innovation Strategist & Project Manager is sharing some of her favorite family holiday traditions.
 
Christmas is such a special time for our family, much like it is for most I’m sure. There is something about the quality time that is spent together during the month of December that creates a unique kind of happiness that I look forward to all year. There is so much joy in the little details of the days that go over looked in any other month.
There are several traditions that we do as a family and today I am sharing just a few.
I am a sucker for matching Christmas jammies. My kids would wear “pajammies” all day err-day if I let them so they are extra excited about getting their jammies on Christmas Eve. My brother and I were always way too excited to wait till morning to open presents so we would beg and beg and hound and nag our Mom till she let us open just one on Christmas Eve. We still did it well into our adulthood and I carry on the tradition with my kids by letting them open their Christmas jammies that night.
My favorite family tradition that Lennie and I started together is picking out a new clay ornament every year. Our very first one is a bride and goom with a big red heart and as the years pass we have gone from furry babies to human babies so it’s fun to look back each year and remember what life was like as we added each family member. What a great reminder each year of how much we have grown as a family!
Of course what is a Holiday without something yummy and delicious?! Our tastiest tradition is making my sister in laws cinnamon roll recipe for Christmas morning. They are to die for and since you all are some of my favorite peeps I thought I would share the recipe with you all. Trust me that you are going to want to pin this sucker for your next brunch, shower or Sunday morning. Heck! Feel free to start a Christmas tradition of your very own!
This recipe is super quick and easy and great for bakers from beginning to advanced. I have no idea how to use yeast and I have yet to screw it up. The rolls always turn out golden and flaky on the outside and soft, chewy and just the right amount of gooey on the inside. It’s spiral perfection.
Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls
Adapted from All Recipes.com
Ingredients:
Dough: 1 cup warm milk 2 eggs, room temperature ½ c margarine, melted 4 ½ c bread flour 1 t salt ½ c white sugar 2 ½ t bread machine yeast
Filling: 1 c brown sugar 1 ½ T ground cinnamon 1/3 c butter, softened

Frosting: 1-3 oz package of cream cheese ¼ c butter 1 ½ c confectioners’ sugar ½ t vanilla 1/8 t salt

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5 Holiday Party Dresses

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The holiday season means holiday parties! I love being able to get dressed up for an evening of fun with friends.  When the budget allows for it I delight in heading to the mall to find the perfect holiday party dress.  Today we’re sharing 5 dresses we love for the holidays.  If you don’t plan to buy a new dress this year these looks could also inspire you to see a dress you already own in a new way.

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21 Holiday Gift Ideas for Family and Friends

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Hello December! We can’t believe there are only 24 days left until Christmas.  We love everything about the holiday season.  Gingerbread house decorating, hot cocoa with marshmallows, putting up decorations, holiday parties with friends and wrapping up presents.  What we don’t always love is trying to find the perfect gift for friends and family.  Enter our ultimate holiday gift guide! We have 21 gift ideas for your bestie, mom, dad, husband, kids and a few gifts that are perfect for almost anyone and under $15!

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Toddler Styling Tips for Family Photos

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Tis the season for the last minute family portrait scramble. Now is the time to get organized so that you don’t miss out on all the great Christmas card sales happening. Who wants to pay rush shipping on those suckers?! Not us! Summer, our Innovation Strategist & Project Manager put together some tips for styling your little ones for portraits. We hop this makes the task of selecting wTohat to wear a little easier.

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8 Tips & Tricks to Pinterest

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Social media can be overwhelming. Trying to manage each platform takes almost as much time as it does to write a blog post!  We’ve made a list of 8 things you can do to best utilize Pinterest.  For many of our Pollinate bloggers Pinterest is one of their top referral sites!  Give yourself a few hours over the next few weeks to implement these tips and see what happens!

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5 Photo Apps to Download Today

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Smartphones have changed the game when it comes to taking pictures.  You can snap a high quality picture any time, any place! We asked our bloggers what photo apps they can’t live without and these 5 apps topped their list!  

1. Afterlight:  We’ve shared our love for Afterlight before, you can read more about it here. This photo editing app is a go-to for much of our team as well as many of our bloggers, including She’s Kinda Crafty, Let’s Eat Grandpa, Snap Creativity, Lauren McBride, The Samantha Show, and Nellie Bellie. {available for both iphone and android}

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