Merry Christmas!

Hope your day is filled with lots of holiday cheer!

A little reindeer food for Santa's crew...

We had a little cookie exchange and holiday party this morning with some mommy friends and their kiddos. I had big plans for the kids to make snow globes out of glass jars but had issues finding the little plastic figures to put inside. Not sure why, because if I go to the store now I'll see tons. The back-up plan...reindeer food! The kids had fun filling their bags with some oats, cereal, raisins and glitter. GQ even made a few extra bags to pass out to his friends in the neighborhood. We'll have fun Christmas Eve sprinkling our reindeer food on the front lawn so Santa can find us!

Time for the thank-you cards...

The Christmas tree is down, the garbage and recycle trucks have taken shredded wrapping paper and the ridiculous amounts of toy packaging away. Now it's time to write the thank-you notes! This is my favorite part because I get to make them before I write them.

I wasn't feeling it when I sat down to make the cards this afternoon. I grabbed my color wheel and used it as my color inspiration. It chose the light blues, yellows and pink for me. (not sure why my yellow paper is looking so goldish in the picture, its really much softer and closer to being pastel) I decided to continue with the penguin theme I started using with the gift tags to make the thank-you notes. Mr. Penguin is so cute and I just love paper piecing his scarf and hat to give it a little pop and texture. It also gives me a reason to use my liquid applique to make his hat poofy.

All that's left to do is wait for my picture order of GQ with his new gifts to toss in the cards. All our family is out of town, this gives them a chance to see GQ open their gift even though they weren't here with us.

"I'm so happy Santa came to our house, mommy!"

That's what GQ has told me more than a few times yesterday. It was the last thing he said to me last night when I kissed him goodnight and we said our I love yous. Then this morning he said it again. I'm so happy that GQ enjoyed Christmas as much as we did. It was so fun to really have him enjoy this season between Santa, sending and receiving holiday cards in the mail, wrapping gifts (and keeping the secret of what's inside!) and unwrapping gifts.

We had some great moments this holiday season that helped teach some good lessons...patience in waiting for Santa to come, charity in donating new toys to organizations or dropping coins in a red kettle, and kindness in handing a few extra dollars to a less fortunate person that was in search of a meal and a little help. It's such a neat thing to see these little things sink in to his brain and watch him process it and understand it.

Wanted to share a few pictures of our Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after.... This is GQ after he prepared a plate of cookies and milk for Santa:


Here he is opening a gift from Santa and later commented on how much tape Santa used :D



And playing with his new Air Hog from his great grandparents. He was thrilled when he opened this because I had been telling him that he was too young for it. His flight skills are proving me wrong.



Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I'll hopefully have some crafty cards and projects to post soon. I need to get working on Thank-you notes, so I'll at least have those to post, but I have other things in my head that I'd like to commit to paper, just haven't had the time, but soon!

Merry Christmas...

It's getting close to bed time for our little guy. Soon we'll be spreading the reindeer food and setting cookies and milk out for Santa, then it's off to bed... I wanted to wish everybody that celebrates a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to those that may celebrate other holidays this time of year.

The picture is a shot of our front door, the back side, it's where we've been hanging all the wonderful holiday cards and pictures from family and friends...we're so lucky to have such great people in our lives!

Reindeer food...

When I was a kid we always put a carrot out for Santa's reindeer. We might have put carrots out for Santa, too. Poor Santa didn't get any goodies from us. ;) Since GQ has been setting goodies out for Santa I don't believe we've left anything for the reindeer. The other day I told GQ that we'd have to leave some cookies for the reindeer and he told me that "Santa's reindeer don't like cookies." Ok, we'll just leave cookies for Santa. That's easy!

Then I read something my friend Kim posted on MBI about her son making reindeer food at school and the little poem that went along with it. I thought it was a great idea (and I happened to have all the ingredients for it in my pantry!) And I try not to pass up an opportunity to make something with paper, glue and ribbon!

I used an old spaghetti sauce jar (I save them for projects and organization) to hold the food. It's just a mixture of rolled oats, raisins, Honey Nut Cheerios, Kix and some glitter. You can use anything edible that you have in your pantry really. The recipe Kim listed was the oats, raisins and glitter but I had some cereal that was on the last leg of freshness so we tossed it in.

To decorate my jar I used scraps of paper and ribbon so it'd look pretty sitting on the counter until Christmas Eve, when we'll toss some out in the backyard for the reindeer to snack on while Santa makes a stop at our house. And whatever the reindeer don't eat I'm sure the birds, squirrels and occasional roaming cat will eat.

The little poem on the jar reads:

Sprinkle on the lawn at night.
The moon will make it sparkle bright.
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home.

Coffee and art...

GQ and I got out for some much needed social time friends. The mommies had coffee and the kiddos went to Noah's Art for a fun winter art class. It was only an hour long but they got quite a few projects done in that time. These are three ornaments GQ made for me; he presented them in a sweet gift bag he decorated with stickers! He also made mommy and daddy each a picture with construction paper stars and some paint.

During art class three mommies got to have coffee and conversation with out being interrupted. It was soooooooooo nice! You don't quite understand what I mean by coversation with out being interrupted until you spend all day with GQ as he fires away constant questions...right now he's been asking lots about dinosaurs, extinction, death, cemetaries and pretty much any and all random thoughts that pop into his brain. I'm so glad he is inquisitive and eager to learn, but it's exhausting! Sometimes I need a few moments to process the deepness of a question he just asked, but by the time I've done that he's moved on to something else...I'm telling you, it's exhausting!

Anyway, I can't wait to do it again!

A sweet holiday ornament...

Growing up my mom bought my sister, brother and me an ornament for the Christmas tree every year until we were 18...maybe a year or two after. When we moved out and had our own Christmas tree she gave us those ornaments to place on our own trees. I love this and still love to unwrap my ornaments every year and put them on the tree.

I've continued this tradition with GQ. And this year GQ picked out his ornament from Cole's Creations. Nicole has some adorable little stuffed felt ornaments to pick from. GQ picked out the doggy and Nicole was sweet enough to add the year to the ornament for me. Her embroidery looks 200% better than my permanent marker on the back ever would. Be sure to check out Cole's Creations if you're looking for a cute and original ornaments or some cute hair bows.

A Crafters Christmas Poem...

My VERY crafty friend Karie sent this poem to me...thought it was pretty cute and sometimes fitting when I open a drawer and discover something that I didn't realize I had.

Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree.

I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me.

Could it be cardstock or chipboard or lace?

Or a Cuttlebug, I said, with a smile on my face.

And that's when I heard him,

"Hi Santa, " I said

"You know....good little girls

Should be in their beds."

"I know I should Santa,

And now I've been caught.

But I was just so excited

To see what you brought."

"Well, let's take a look

In this room where you work.

He shook his head quickly,

And left with a jerk.

I heard him exclaim

As he put it in gear.

"You've got enough crap,

I'll see you next year!"

Our holiday card...

Using my new PSE skills I designed our 2008 holiday card. You can see we're a bit on the non-traditional side...

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Gift Bag

We have a holiday party this weekend and I felt our hostess gift was lacking a little something presentation wise. I happened to have scraps of the Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding collection, which is the paper Paula used on the coaster set gift we're taking. So I quickly added the little penguin panel. It's made completely from scraps of paper, ribbon and a lonely metal tag I've had laying around for a couple years. It's not too easy to tell from the pictures, but the penguin was colored with Copic Spica pens for a bit of sparkle, his hat and scarf are paper pieced, and the hat has a little bit of white flocking on the ball and brim. Just a few touches to give it a little something extra.

Thanks for looking!

Cookie Swap Recipe Card

Tonight I'm off with some mommy friends to swap holiday cookie recipes. Should be lots of fun chatting and tasting sweet treats. I don't think I'm going to eat dinner so I have lots of room for cookies!

Part of the cookie swap is to bring copies of your recipe to share. I have a hard time just printing a recipe on white paper to hand out, I had to find a way to pretty it up. As I was browsing the gallery at Splitcoaststampers I came across this adorable recipe card by SAMMYSUE1975 and had to CASE it. (I hope she doesn't mind...) I didn't have a holiday sentiment that would fit on apron pockets so I added apron strings instead.

One last note...I am still trying very hard to use scraps and embellishments I have on hand to do my paper crafts. So far so good...it's one resolution I've managed to keep all year ;) I made all six of these recipe cards with scraps. yay!

Off to taste some cookies!

Dear Santa, Define good...

Now do you think Santa could resist this little guy? Isn't he just the cutest? I am a bit biased, but I certainly think he is!

My friend Chris was so proud of me for finally taking GQ and having his picture taken with Santa. She's given me heck every year for not doing it. GQ's first two holidays he was so tiny and we were too selfish to spend an hour waiting in line for a $15 picture with a creepy Santa. Then when he was old enough to talk to Santa he wasn't interested. Finally last year he sat on Santa's lap but it was just long enough to tell him "I want an alien watch," then he was off. This year, while daddy and I were checking out picture prices and not even in line he walked up to Santa and hopped right up. They sat and chatted for a few minutes and when the picture lady asked for a smile he gave her a good one. We couldn't resist forking out the $15 for an OK quality 5x7 picture.

We asked GQ what he told Santa he'd like for Christmas and he said that I told him "mommy has it taken care of." I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I'm guessing he's talking about the running list I have saved on the computer. I'm sure Santa played along, knowing what he meant, with some little story or questions. This afternoon GQ questioned how Santa could be up in the North Pole feeding his reindeer getting them big and strong and ready for the long flight on Christmas Eve and be in the mall taking pictures. Smart kid! He just might figure out the whole Santa thing before I want him to know...

a couple more cards I made this afternoon...

I had a lonely little butterfly sitting on my desk that needed a home, so I glittered it up and put it on a card along w/a glitter trail. I think she's awfully pretty!

I also had some of my pretty preppy striped ribbon that I wanted to use and made a few holiday cards. I used a very similar design to the 3-D design challenge box last week. Loving this ribbon! (can you tell I'm also loving the kraft cardstock; it's all I've been using lately?)

The holidays are quickly approaching...

so I had to get moving on the holiday cards I make for my mom to send out! I had a few done but I try to make 50 for her and had only done 10. But I am pleased to say that I am done with her cards!

Now I have to work on my own...

12 Days of Christmas - Make a Card

We've entered the 12 Days of Christmas phase at MBI's Christmas in July celebration. Today is my turn to showcase an easy holiday card that can be made in 5 steps or less. I tried to put together a card that can be easily put together, so making your own cards for the holiday mail out list doesn't seem so daunting! You can do it!

1. cut 8.5x11 card stock in half and then fold those halves in half...you now have two card bases.
2. cut patterned paper 4x5.25 and adhere to card base.
3. stamp sentiment on card and image onto white card stock. color image.
4. punch out stamped image and image mat, then layer w/adhesive.
5. adhere finished stamped image to card base. use dimensional adhesive for a cool 3-d effect.

My patterned paper is from the MBI store,it's Daisy D's Magic Stripe. Check out that paper and all the other holiday Daisy D's stuff. Anything that's red and green and Christmasy is currently 30% off! Daisy D's has paper that can work for both fun cards and very traditional holiday cards.

Have a great weekend!

Do you believe in Santa?

We're celebrating Christmas in July at Memory Book Inspirations. Last week a gift tag project was posted by Aleta. It's darling, you should check it out, it's a perfect way to recycle your soda-can tabs.

It's my turn to post a Christmas in July project and I'm using Aleta's tag idea and sticking it on a card. It's such a fun idea and it's an easy one to do with the kiddos. GQ helped me add the flocking to the bottom of Santa's coat. He lost interest after that, but the older ones would probably have the attention span for the entire project. And I'm sure your family and friends would be thrilled to get a holiday card in the mail that was handmade by you and/or your little ones.

If you're looking for some early holiday inspiration you should stop on over to MBI and check out their Christmas in July calendar of events. They're also hosting a Christmas in July Cyber Crop this weekend that will be full of games and challenges. The cyber crop will be then lead into our 12 Days of Christmas, there are some nice prizes involved here, so check it out. And while you're checking out all the Christmas in July festivities be sure to stop by the MBI Store, they have over 30 products on sale...anything red and green and Christmas themed is 30% off until July 31st!

Have a good one!

Christmas in July

Want to get a jump start on your Christmas cards this year? Or do you have pictures lying around from Christmas(s) past that your really want to get scrapped? It's Christmas in July at Memory Book Inspirations this month and they have a calendar of events planned to help inspire you to be creative each day.

Yesterday's Christmas in July challenge was to make a Christmas/Holiday card using non-traditional colors. The card I made also happened to fit a challenge that my friend, Karie, created for her Stamping and More board. It sort of killed two birds with one stone for me. I used a very easy design on this card so it could easily be done assembly-line style. And used minimal embellishments to avoid and additional postage charge. The ribbon is organdy and is perfect for cards that are going into the mail because they don't get bulky when you tie knots and poke out of the envelope. The buttons I used are flat backed so they adhered down nicely and shouldn't add to postage either.

Have a wonderful week!

Do you know who's coming to our house very soon?

Santa is! And Gavin is so excited! He sat on his lap yesterday and told him what he wanted under the Christmas tree. He was very specific, like we told him he needed to be. I explained to him that Santa is simply taking orders right now and letting his elves know what they need to get made and packed up for Santa to deliver. It takes being a good little boy to make sure that present is delivered.

Anyway...I wanted to post some of the Christmas cards that I made to send out this year. I didn't have a lot of time to get them done because we had a lot going on this season w/the move to SC. My favorite is my sledding penguin. I like all of them, but he's my favorite.

I'll try to post details about them in a bit, but right now I'm being summoned by my little boss. If I don't talk to you before then...Happy Holidays!

Here is a Christmas card I made

for a family member. The pretty blue cardstock and ink color don't come through very well in the picture, but they are very vibrant. And it has a 3-d look w/the image on pop-dots, but that's hard to see in the picture too.

I really like the stamp set, it's from CTMH.