Christmas Wrap Up

We had a great Christmas.  As usual, I got so busy with enjoying everything that I kept forgetting to take pictures...

 Adam asked for a guitar for Christmas.  Mark and I decided to get Colton a mini one to hopefully help keep his little hands from destroying Adam's real one.  Colton and Adam were both so excited.

This little block set has been Colton's absolute FAVORITE present for the past 3 days.  The funny thing is that Mark & I got in a slight fight discussion over this little toy.  I sent Mark and Adam in Wal Mart to get a present for Adam to give to Colton and they came out with this block set for babies.  It said 12 months on the package and I proceeded to express my opinon on how this was NOT a good gift for Colton seeing as he is almost 3!  Well low and behold HE LOVED IT and has been playing with it non stop...you can imagine how happy that made Mark!

 We all met at my parents house later in the afternoon.  My food contribution was the Red Velvet Cake.  This thing nearly killed me.  I had to make it 2 times because I messed up the first time (forgot salt & baking soda UGH!)  I may never make this cake again!

 Colton and Levi admiring the Mickey Mouse Bike.

 The big moment of the day was when Adam & Bentley got BB Guns from my parents.  Not just any BB Gun...but a Daisy Red Ryder.  You can see that Adam was in complete shock and SO EXCITED.

We had a very Merry Christmas and have been enjoying a few days of rest and relaxation ever since.

Merry Christmas

2011 Ornament

Every year I make a personalized ornament for each of the boys. Well, yesterday I realized that I had completely forgot this years ornament.  YIKES!  So, 2 days before Christmas I was frantically digging through my craft room (actually it is a craft closet that I pretend is a room) to see what I could come up with.  I also got a lot of inspiration from tons of embroidery hoop ornaments on pinterest.  Here is the last minute 2011 ornament...

I took some of my leftover canvas fabric from the Christmas bags and hooped it on an little embroidery hoop.   

 I ironed heat & bond to some brown dot scrap fabric and cut out the reindeer shapes out on my Cameo.  Iron the cute shapes on the canvas and embellished with ribbon and embroidery thread.  I cut the names and date out with t shirt vinyl, but I plan on going back and embroidering their names when I have more time.  Yeah, lets be honest...that will never happen...

Grady got an ornament too.  I love how it turned out and it looks just like him.

Merry Christmas Adam, Colton & Grady!

Christmas Baking

The boys have been out of school all week so Adam wrote a schedule for the week with a different Christmas activity for each day.  Yesterday was cookie baking and gingerbread house making day.

 I assembled the basic parts of the gingerbread house, but then I stepped back and let the boys do the rest all by themselves.

 Colton was very helpful with eating half the candy and dropping the rest on the floor.  I am surprised there was anything left to decorate with.

 Please ignore the cans of beans holding up the roof...

Please also ignore the fact that Colton was still in his PJ's...

 

When this beauty was finished, we got dressed for the day and moved on to making Candy Cane Cookies.  Colton loved rolling the dough.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning all the messes and I am still finding little candies all over the floor, but it was s fun day full of good memories.  The boys were so proud of their gingerbread house and I have caught Colton trying to eat it several times already.  Not sure it will make it through Christmas.

Christmas Lights PARTAY!

 It is a family tradition to go see the lights at the Elks Home in Bedford each year.  We typically all go out to eat before, but this year I decided to invite everyone over to our house.  I also referred to this party as my "pinterest party" because all my food and decorations were from ideas I have been "pinning"


I made Potato Soup, 7 up biscuits & Jalapeño Poppers all recipes from Pinterest that were very yummy.  Especially the biscuits.

Adam helped me make simmering scent jars as party favors.  The "Christmas Smellers" label is a family joke.

I have accumulated a large stock of jars and decided to use them for cups.  I kept the lids on the ones for the kids...no spilling!

 Candle votive holders made the perfect holders for individual veggie cups.

Why do all parties end up with a girls side...

And a boys side...please ignore my brother in the picture below...he thinks he is cool.

Nobody loves a party more than Colton.  He loved walking around and drinking out of everyone's cups...as usual.  He must have had 8 cake pops and was in a sugar coma by the time the party was over.

 A party is not a party without a cake pop.

After the party we all caravaned to see the lights.   

And I have been making these wood blocks like crazy.  They are my go to Christmas gift this year and I have almost killed my family with the spray paint fumes as I crank these things out from the garage...because it is too cold for me to paint outside.  Nothing says Merry Christmas like paint fumes!

Reusable Christmas Gift Bags

I had bookmarked this idea from Disney Family last year and I knew it would be on my to do list for this Christmas.  I used some leftover canvas curtains I purchased at Ikea to make the bags, but drop cloths from the hardware store would be super cheap too.

…Disclaimer…

I am NOT a seamstress.  I can sew a straight line and that is about it and sometimes I don’t even do that very well.  So these instructions a BASIC.  If you are a seamstress or sew well, you might want to look away.

1.  Cut 2 identical rectangles and turn right sides together.  I made all different sizes ranging from a lunch bag size to pillowcase size so I could accommodate different size gifts.  Sew the fabric on 3 sides. Leaving one of the shorter sides open.

2. Turn down a hem on the side you did not sew…press and stitch down.  You should basically have what looks like a pillowcase.

3.  You can stop at step 2 if you want, your bag will be fine.  But, I decided to do one more step to make my bags more like gift bags with a flat bottom.  Press the side bottom seam to the center bottom of the bag.  You should have 2 triangle bottoms.

4.  Stitch a straight line a few inches up from the tip of the triangle.

5.  Trim off excess and press seams.

6.  Turn right side out and you should have a flat bottom bag!

7.  Iron on Heat & Bond to your fabric and then cut out some letters for each persons initials.  I used my Cameo to cut out the letters.  But you could just as easily trace letters onto the fabric and cut them out.

8.  Press applique letters on each bag.

9.  Depending on what type of heat & bond you use, you may need to stitch over the fabric…I did not do this step because the letters felt like they were stuck pretty well and I don’t plan on washing these bags.

10.  Reusable Christmas Bags DONE!  Just inset gift and tie with a cute ribbon.

I even made one for the dog…

So excited to have these bags as our new family tradition and it makes gift wrapping SO EASY!

Mason Jar Snow Globe

I loved making these cheap, easy, cute and fun snow globes with mason jars.  Some are filled with water and some I just made waterless.

What you need – mason jars, trees or figurines & ornaments (the trees are from wal mart 75 cents!), E-6000 glue, glycerin (found in the band aid section of wal mart) & glitter & distilled water.

1.  I got a stash of old mason jars in all different sizes at Good Will.

2.  Spray painted the ugly gold rims and lids with Krylon Hammered Metal Silver spray paint to make them look older and vintage.

3.  glue your trees on the underside of the lid and let dry COMPLETELY.

4.  Add glitter to your jar.  I used about 2 tsp in each jar…but it depends on your jar size

5.  Fill the jar with distilled water and a tablespoon of glycerin.

6.  Make sure the glue is dry before inserting your lid.

7.  Make sure your lid has a tight seal and then screw the tops on.

8.  Turn it upside down and hope you have a good seal…otherwise water will start leaking.

I made some of these without water.  Just added fake snow in the jar.

If you don’t feel up to making these, you can always purchase them from Anthropologie ranging from $25 – $38 dollars.  Crazy because these cost me about $3 each.