Project Christmas Decor: Nearly Complete

That is, until I find something else to do...

My favorite Christmas decor project is always my mantle. I put my little trees and my village on it, garland, stockings...its crafting happy land!

My mantle has been the same for the past 4 years so I decided to change up my mantle garland. I was going to do a fun felt garland running through it, but I had a crafting epiphany while being bummed about my burlap wreath.

The wreath did NOT come out as planned...so now I have a bunch of burlap rosettes...so BINGO! I thought "Hey, those would look neat on my garland!" I glued the clips I use for hairbows to the back and just clipped them here and there and VOILA!
I'm totally digging the slightly rustic, maybe a little country (?) look I have going on. We got new stockings last year and they really go great with the new look.

I found this totally cute and simple project while browsing the web today. I really need to use up this burlap! Here is my take on the project.
I put it on the colored yarn because our walls are a really neutral color and I needed a little pop. We STILL haven't put up the majority of our photos after resurfacing and painting the walls and this space has been so blank. I might put a couple more here and there using other Christmas-y words. I do plan on using the little clothespins, but a trip to Michaels is in order for that :)

I am sure there will be more Christmas decor posts to come!

It's Christmas Time!!!!!

I can't believe it is already Christmas time! We have pulled down the Christmas stuff and decorating is in full swing. The tree is up and decorated, stockings are up...and that's about as far as I've gotten. I have totally lost momentum ALREADY! My small Christmas village is still in boxes and I need to figure out my approach for the mantle garland. I do know that it will include this amazing felt garland wrapped around my Christmas tree garland and I cannot wait to get started on that project.

We had fun today staying in our jammies till almost noon putting up decorations. Lenny has actually gotten the concept that the ornaments go ON the tree...but it doesn't mean he hasn't stopped taking them off, Bela of course thinks they do not belong on the tree, so thus another year of finding ornaments all over the house and re-decorating the tree everyday, Oh well!

Another thing I am looking forward to is all the wonderful Christmas crafts and projects that will soon be on everyone's blogs!

I still can't get any good photos of my tree!!! My camera stinks!

This is a Waterford crystal nutcracker ornament that hubby got me in KC, tiny extravagances make me happy :)

Can you tell I like nutcrackers?

L

Thanksgiving Crafting

Even though it was a crazy day I managed to sit down and make a few Christmas ornaments with my stepdaughter. It's sort of a tradition and we are really in need of some NON-breakable ornaments...Here are mine.So tragedy struck on Wednesday and almost ruined my week...I was using my zipper foot on my sewing machine and I am guessing one of the kids got a hold of my regular presser foot and it has vanished. Thus, a frantic run to Joann only to find that they don't sell them for my machine...it was amazing husband to the rescue who remembered my distraught when he went to Walmart on Thanksgiving day for an emergency ingredient run, and checked in their craft department, he bought me a quilting foot and a clear plastic presser foot to tide me over. I'm actually digging the quilting foot and the clear presser foot works just fine...so anyways back to the crafting...

I remembered to grab some heavy-weight needles for my sewing machine during my frantic Joann trip and today I did this project which I saw when I first got my machine and have been saving this jacket I've never been too fond of for it. One broken needle and several hours later...my bag!

I had to make a couple changes because the sweater I was using was not working for the straps, a cotton worked much better. I love the two pockets in front and I am glad to get some use out of this jacket that I have had for several years but only worn twice...

Make sure you check out the link and the rest of her blog. She is really a hoot!

Thanksgiving 2010!

Wow! What an amazing year! The year is coming to a close and we get an entire day to just reflect on the amazing blessings we have in our lives. I think it has been a tough year for us, but we have three awesome, healthy kids and I still love my hubby! So far, so good! We made a lot of progress with our house remodel (even though there is lots more to do) and it was my first year as a stay-at-home-mom.

For me, this was my first Thanksgiving with just my husband and kids. I have NEVER made a turkey or been involved in the process so I may have had a couple freak-outs, but the turkey was good and dinner was wonderful, and it was wonderful again today!

Crescent rolls are Lenny's new favorite food...

A rare picture of moi!

Our awesome spread! (Check out my yellow and green dishes that I got for $6 each at Ross, SCORE!)

Jeremiah ruined all the dinner pics...not a single good one...grrr....

Lenny wearing my apron, yep, it was almost 80 degrees on Thanksgiving so my kids were running around topless...

All in all it was a great day, I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and didn't get into any fights during the Black Friday sales today!

What's for Dinner Wednesday?

Since it is Thanksgiving Eve, I am going for an EASY dinner tonight! This will be my first Thanksgiving doing all the cooking and I am making a pie, some cookies and probably fresh cranberry sauce tonight, soooo super easy dinner it is.
Tonight is TACO NIGHT! Everyone loves a taco (right?). Kids love it because they can put whatever they want on it and feel like they are making their own meal. All it requires is whipping up some taco meat and all the fixings!

There really aren't any instructions, but here are some ideas for what you can put on your taco.

Shredded lettuce
Chopping tomatoes
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Salsa
Refried beans
Black beans and rice (make a burrito!)
Corn
Soft tacos
Crunchy tacos
Tortilla chips (make nachos!)

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and eats lots of wonderful food!

Harvest Linens & Napkin Rings

Since this is my first Thanksgiving at my house with just us, I have been having fun with fall decor. I found this fun project for decorating a plain table runner and napkins here. I didn't have any plain table linens on hand so I found regular tablecloth at the thrift store for $4 and made my own runner and napkins out of it. It turned out really cute for the bit off extra work. It was fun to make and I even had my stepdaughter help out with some of the stamping.

I was on Prudent Baby the other day and found a tutorial for really cute reversible napkin holders. I couldn't get a link for it, but it is on the main page. It was my first time ever making button holes so they aren't perfectly centered and my first attempt went horribly wrong (uh yeah, practice on scraps first...) so I actually have to redo one of the napkins holders...but anyways, I am liking how our Thanksgiving table is shaping up and can't wait to take pics the day of!




Anyways, I know everyone has been working on tons of cute fall projects so I am really looking forward to seeing everyone's pretty Thanksgiving spreads!

DIY Babylegs

I was browsing Make it and Love it, which has an incredible archive of tutorials, and came across this tutorial for Babylegs that you make out of women's knee high socks. I was totally stoked because I have never bought a pair because even at Target they are $10 a pair...and I'm super cheap, haha! I was at Target and they had a whole rack of knee socks for $2 each! I bought a simple white pair so they would go with everything. You don't need anything but a sewing machine and some socks making this project SUPER cheap and it is so easy you will kick yourself for spending $10-$12 on Babylegs.

Mine came out so awesome and I stuck them on Bela right after I got her out of her highchair after dinner so you will have to excuse my dirty baby, haha! Babylegs are SUPER cute with cloth diapers :)


I plan on making a couple more pairs with a few pairs that I have that I don't wear anymore :) It is total crafting mayhem over here but I LOVE IT!