Ungrateful Wretch, I know...

Surprise!

I really was surprised when these were delivered last week! The Man had acted like he forgot about Valentine's Day the night before, so I was stunned.

Also, My new office doesn't have a physical address.  No, really - I've asked people who have worked here for 30 years, and they all tell me that if there is a physical address, it's top secret.  It's just known as 'Building 83.'  Because of that, I figured that nothing would ever find it's way to me.

I love getting flowers, and I really, really, really appreciated getting these roses!

And, the internet is a wonderful tool....

But... I think sites like proflowers have sucked all of the "special" out of getting flowers.

At the risk of sounding like an ungrateful wretch, I must admit that DIY flowers are not really my favorite.  I'm not very good at flower arranging, so it just doesn't seem as special to me when the flowers come in a box and I have to figure out how to make them pretty.  I just prefer getting a beautiful arrangement put pre-assembled by a local florist.

However, in this case, I think that proflowers actually worked in my favor.  Because they were sent through the mail, and had my mail stop in the address, they made it to me.  YEA! Love them - very pretty (even with my sub-par arranging talents).

Valentine's Day Garland

This is crazy, but I wanted, needed, had to have my sewing machine!  I don't really know how to sew, but out of all my crafting supplies, that is what I missed most.  So, when I went home last weekend, that was the first thing I packed in my car!  Love, love, love having it here, and not only that, but I have actually used it in the last few days.

I whipped up a couple of Valentine's Day garlands. Who doesn't love a garland?!  So festive!

All it took was some scrap paper, the sewing machine, and a few punches.  Quick and easy!

And so colorful! LOVE! The trickiest part of the project was keeping them untangled (see below). I had to cut a couple of them apart and resew them because they got all knotted up. 

And then there was figuring out where to put the darn things in this tiny hotel room.  This is the best I came up with...

Just doin' what I can to try to make it home-y and festive.

Wrappin' Up Christmas

One more day, are you ready??

I'm done!  I've done all the damage I can do - all the shopping and wrapping and baking and crafting - it's all done!  Woooo hooo!

This year's wrapping colors are red, gold, orange and purple.  Yummy!

I did throw a bit of silver in here and there, too.

I love that HUGE bow in the front!  That ribbon made really, really good bows - it was really easy to work with, but that bow was the last of the roll. 

These little ones I put on a tray that sits on a side table so they wouldn't get lost under the tree. 

I love it when I'm finished with all the prep and can sit back and enjoy the day! 

I probably won't be posting for a few days, so I wish everyone the happiest of holidays, and I hope that 2012 brings you everything you're wishing for and more!


25 Days of Christmas

24.  Do you leave cookies and milk for Santa?

We did when Chicken Little was younger, but now, Santa is on a perpetual diet!

25.  What's your favorite Christmas memory?

I don't think I have a favorite, but I always remember Christmas Eve at my Granny's house and how much I loved the tree, and the treats, and Santa, and the presents, and the excitement, and family being together.  That was my favorite!

Craftin - Part 4 - More Bracelets

I was cleaning out my tivo a couple of days ago and during a Martha marathon, I saw this wonderful craft.  Check it out on The Craft Department blog.  I L.O.V.E. these, and decided that I needed to make some asap!

I've made several - in several lengths:  7 inches just wraps once, 14 inches wraps twice, and 21 inches wraps three times.  I wouldn't go much longer than that because they start to get tight as they go further up your arm. 

Anyway, the tutorial on the Martha site is great, so I'm not going to do that here.  I will give you a couple of lessons learned...

1.  Old belts won't work - the leather is too stiff and too thick. After trying it on several different belts, I eventually went to Michael's and got a 1 pound bag of leather scraps ($5.99 before my 40% off coupon), and that worked perfectly!

2. Waxed linen thread or silk thread works best because they fit through most of the holes on the beads. Anything thicker and you won't be able to string the beads. Also, it's critical that it be waxed or else it will not be stiff enough or strong enough.

3.    Make sure you cut the thread several inches longer than the bracelet.  I was being a bit stingy with it at first, and ended up having to restring a couple because I ran out of thread before I ran out of bracelet. (The instructions say this, but I learned the hard way that the meant it!)

Once I got the hang of it, they were quick and easy to whip out.  I did it assembly line style - cut the strips, measured and punched holes, then strung the beads.  LOVE it and soooo cute!! 

Linking up here, here and here. 

25 Days of Christmas

I missed yesterday, so I'm catching up...

22.  What's the most important thing you must do each Christmas season?
I think the most important thing is being able to spend the holiday with my family.  All the rest of it is just icing on the cake. 

23.  Do you bake Christmas cookies?

Oh yeah...  There have been years when I made 6 or 7 different kinds, but this year I cut back.  I only made peanut butter cookies (I posted the recipe here) and oatmeal scotchies (I use the recipe on the butterscotch chips pkg - but I double the cinnamon - YUM!).  I guess I also made the date nut balls, but those are candy, so they don't count.  :-)

25 Days of Christmas

21.  Do you have a family get-together during the holidays with extended family?

Yes, this is pretty much the only time we see our extended family.  So, on Christmas Eve we gather with my mother's family, and then on Christmas Day with my dad's.  Every other year, we try to get to Ohio to visit Joe's family also.  Occasionally, we decide we want to spend time at home so we'll host a brunch on Christmas morning and invite everyone over to our house.  It's kind of crazy sometimes - like that movie Four Christmases!  :-)

Chicken Little's Christmas Tree

Chicken Little has had a Christmas tree in her room since she was very young.  For years, she had a pitiful, old pre-lit tree that didn't light up.  She would have to add lights to it every year, and each year it was a bit more ragged.  Finally, last year we finally just threw it away. 
This Fall she got busy on ebay looking for a replacement.  Here's what showed up mid-November...

It's really cute!  She was so excited because I let her use my Granny's old tree skirt.  I figured they were probably the same vintage.

Every year, I've given her a couple of ornaments for Christmas, so she has amassed quite the collection of fancies. 

Do your kids decorate their rooms for the holidays? 


25 Days of Christmas

20.  Do you remember a favorite gift?

Oh my, I've been lucky to have sooooo many wonderful gifts.  Of course, there are all of the handmade gifts from my artsy CL.  But, after those, most recently, I have to say that last year I got a pair of Ugg boots.  I've always thought they were really, really ugly, and never would have asked for them.  They were truly a gift that I didn't know I wanted.  But now, I wear them almost EVERY day.  My feet are always cold, and they keep me all snug and toasty.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!! 

Craftin' - Part 3 - Brave Girl Charming

This summer I had Brave Girl "mini-camps" where several of my friends/family came over and we worked on our Soul Restoration 1 projects.  I did a couple of posts about it in April.  Here's one of the first ones. 

I was also lucky enough this summer to go back to the real Brave Girl Camp as part of the staff. Going back to serve a new group of girls was an amazing blessing.  I learned so much more and made so many new friends!  It was awesome!

Look at how sparkly they all are in this picture!!  That is exactly how this July camp felt - wonderful to spend time with all these bright, shiny, amazing women!

Anyway, over the last couple of months, I've been gathering vintage beads and charms, and I've managed to cobble together enough to create several "Brave Girl" charm bracelets for a few of these special girls.

 
As you can tell, they are all different metal tones, and beads with lots of color. That means they go with EVERYTHING, right?!

Every bracelet is different, but they all have several of the Brave Girl symbols: soul houses, truth tellers, brave girl boots and hats, and lots of heart(s)!

I've never made jewelry before, so this was a bit intimidating, but after the first one, I got the hang of it, and I was able to put all these together over just a couple of evenings.    

Of course, I made one for myself, too!  It will be fun to wear when I need a little bravery!

Linking up here, here and here.

25 Days of Christmas

19.  Snow? Love it? Dread it? Tolerate it?

In Texas, we get it so rarely that I like it.  When we get it, the city shuts down (so I get to "work from home"), but then it's gone within 2 - 3 days.  Also, it makes everything look so clean and pretty.  All that being said, I think that if I had to live with it and drive in it and actually continue normal activity in it for months at a time, I would probably be leaning more towards the DREAD end of the spectrum.  Since I'm off to Wisconsin in a few weeks, we will see pretty soon how I like it.  :-)

Craftin' - Part 2 - Art Journals

I'm letting the cat out of the bag a bit early because I'm giving these away as gifts this year.  I've been binding art journals.

I don't know why I decided that I knew how to bind a book, but I did, and I'm hoping they stay bound. 

I've used covers from old books that I got at the thrift store.  I cut out the guts so that I could replace them with 140 lb. watercolor/mixed media paper.  I've also thrown in a few various bits and pieces of other papers, bags and envelopes just to make things interesting. 

Once that's done, I stitch and glue it all together and WA - LA! 



Oh yeah, I add either sticky back canvas or this product called fabRips to the outside of the spine to reinforce it.  One a few of them, I also added a button and a ribbon so that they could be secured closed. 

After the first few experiments, I really tried to find some hard back books with pretty covers.  I have to say that it will be really hard to give these away.  LOVE!

Linking up here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

25 Days of Christmas

18.  How do you decorate your tree? 

I should have read all of these questions in advance and rearranged them to go with the appropriate posts because I keep repeating myself!  So, for the answer to this one, check out this post from last week!  And, I'm STILL lovin' my tree!

Craftin' - Part 1 - Christmas Pillows

I've been busy, busy, busy! 
This sounds absolutely INSANE, but I'm gonna tell you anyway.  I had a dream about these pillows, and when I woke up I HAD to make them!  Seriously - a dream - about pillows?!  YES, and aren't they cute?!

I went right out and bought some white and off-white lace and trim.  Then, I just used various fabric scraps (felt, canvas, burlap, linen, an old sweater) that I already had for the rest of it.

First, I cut out the triangles/trees.  I stamped dots or music notes on some of them with permanent ink.  Then, I sewed the trim on them - no rhyme or reason to the placement - just stitched it on.

I sewed the burlap to a piece of cotton canvas to give it a little more strength, then I added the trees. Once again, no plan - just pinned 'em down and zig-zag stitched around 'em - unfinished edges because I think that's cuter. 

I had two 14 x 14 pillow forms, so I used those for two of the pillows.  I don't even know the measurements of the third one - the plaid fabric scrap was a rectangle, and I just made the front to fit it and stuffed it with polyfill. 

The backs (obviously) - the plaid fabric is an old shirt, the floral is just a remnant I picked up somewhere, and the tan one is from an old sweater.  Look at me upcycling - I'm so trendy.  LOL!

So, so, so cute - even if I do say so myself!  LOVE!!

Linking up here, here, here, here, here and here.


25 Days of Christmas

16.  Is your big meal on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, or Christmas afternoon?

We have several big meals:  Christmas Eve with my mom and family, at some point on Christmas day with my dad and family, and either later Christmas day or the next day with Joe's family.  It's really gluttonous - but it's only once (for three times) a year.  :-)

Book Page Garland

I have stopped spending hours and hours and hours a day blog hopping, but I just happened to be cruising the web the other day and landed at one of my favorite spots, The Nester, and saw this GORGEOUS book page garland.  LOVE IT!!! 

I thought I would make one of my own, but I just don't have time this year.  Maybe next year.... 

25 Days of Christmas

15.  Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Heck yes!  We open almost all of them on Christmas Eve.  I mentioned in a previous post that Santa actually shows up WHEN. WE. ARE. AWAKE. and passes out presents on Christmas Eve.  After he leaves, mayhem ensues.  It's awesome!  So much fun!  Then on Christmas Day, we can comfortably spend time with the extended family.

Ornament Wreath

These wreaths were all over the web last year, and I bought all of the stuff, but didn't get my wreath made in time for Christmas.  So, I threw away my tired old wreaths last year, which forced me to actually complete the project this year. 

All of these ornaments are plastic and I bought them all at the dollar store or in the $1 section at Target, so this was cheap, cheap, cheap - except for the $100 worth of hot glue sticks it took (maybe a slight exaggeration). 

I used copper, gold and silver  - some glittered and some not.  They really pop against the black door and look great with the spot light on them at night.  Soooo festive!

Linking up here and here.



25 Days of Christmas

14.  Is there a special ornament or Christmas decoration that you wouldn't feel like Christmas without?

All of them!  I think I already answered this question with my post about our tree and how much I love my ornaments!

Christmas Kitchen & Dining Room

I know, I already posted the house tour, but I thought I'd add a couple of detail pictures from the kitchen and dining room this year.  For the last few years, I've put up little trees in each of these rooms, but I just didn't want the fuss this year.  Still, I think it's quite festive and pretty.

I really think I like the dining room this way - can I just leave it like this all year?!

In the kitchen, I just decorated the welsh cupboard and the table. 

The cabinet is a bit of a hodge podge, but when I tried to do with less, it looked nekkid. :-)

I think that's it.  I've shared all of the decorating I've done.  I've been making a couple of things that I'll share over the next few days.  I'm almost done wrapping presents, and after that, I plan to craft, craft, craft for the next couple of weeks.  YEE-HAW!

Linking up here, and here.

25 Days of Christmas

13.  When did you learn the truth about the "magic" of Christmas?

Am I missing something about this question?  Is it implying that Christmas isn't magical?  If it is, then I still haven't learned that lesson.  I cannot think of a time when I didn't feel the magic and wonder that are a part of this season.  I think the "magic" is the TRUTH of Christmas!