Dear Mama

Last year was a rough one for you, but you're so strong and brave. We love you to infinity.

Happy Birthday!

Coming up for air

The holidays were seriously a whirlwind for me this year. They always go by in a flash, but having a seasonal job in retail made it extra difficult to stop and smell the Christmas tree. (Only two more shifts, and I'm so ready to get back to normal!)

And please tell me how going from one Christmas tree to two exponentially increases the amount of time and storage needed. I took down the trees and most of the other decorations last night, and I have to say, I'm re-thinking my idea to have a tree in every room. It took FOREVER and I was so overwhelmed by the chaos at one point that I debated just throwing it all in garbage bags rather than spend one more second figuring out the best way to organize it for next year. Ten points if you can spot Bean in this picture...

Despite all that, there were many great times. Christmas day...

A weekend visit from our friends Jackie and Scott who moved to Seattle earlier this year...

And a New Year's Eve that went better than planned, because our friends Vic and Kerri had their sweet baby girl a few days early. They were supposed to come to our house for NYE festivities, but we came to them in the hospital first, then back to our house with the rest of the gang. We all took turns holding her. Even Mark, who thinks babies are made of glass, or dynamite. I took about a thousand pictures of it just to prove it happened.

The only bad thing was that their hospital is in Pasadena, and you cannot imagine the hoards of people there for the Rose Parade. We managed to avoid them on the way there, but by the time we left, they had shut down the nearest freeway entrance to hold all the horses that were going to be in the parade overnight, so we had to drive right through the mania. I wish I had taken a picture. But look at this face...totally worth it...

Happy New Year, everyone!

Is it 2010 yet?

I'm so behind. I have so much to post, but I've been so busy and exhausted and just barely keeping a cold at bay. Today is my last shift at my seasonal job for this week, then we're having friends over tomorrow night for New Year's Eve, so I'll be back with new posts either Friday or Monday. But, I've been enjoying reading all your blogs!

I'm looking forward to a very quiet, empty-scheduled start to the new year.

We have a winner...

Once again, I used my very scientific method of choosing a winner by writing everyone's name on a scrap of paper (Followers got two), folding and shaking them up, and picking one. I don't generate the number of entries that would require me to use Random.org yet, so my Stone Age method works.

And the winner is...

Kim from NewlyWoodwards! And I swear to Baby Jesus it's not because she highlighted me on her blog today, but she did, so check it out! It was purely a coinkydink, and just meant to be.

So Kim, email me a mailing address and I'll get your votives out asap!

And thank you everyone who entered! There will be more.

The trees and other decor

I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to posting our holiday decor, considering half of it was up long before Thanksgiving, but here goes the tour...

I kept it simplish this year, because we are still so disorganized from our move in October. I can't even find one whole Christmas bin.

Here's our artificial 6ft. tree. I decided to keep it decorated in colors that match our living room, so blues, brown, cream, white, silver.



I did buy some new ornaments this year, since I didn't have enough in that color scheme to cover this tree. This is one of my favorite new ones:



And we were given some beautiful bird ornaments by our friends Karin and Sam that went perfectly on this tree. I think someday I'll do an entire tree of bird ornaments.



Under this tree is where you'll find Bean hanging out and causing trouble. The tree skirt is just a tablecloth wrapped around the bottom, cause I can't even thread a needle let alone sew anything.

Our advent calendar hanging on the entry closet door:

Entry table decor:

Balls, balls everywhere...

Also on the dining table:

Mini tree on the makeshift dining room sideboard:

Part of the mantle:

Pretty beaded garland on the bookshelves:

The main tree, where we put our ornaments that we've collected over the years. Some have been given to us, some we've picked up on our travels, and we also collect Hallmark ornaments...

First married Christmas ornament from last year:

And this is my all-time favorite ornament. I don't know why, it just is. I can't wait to dig this one out every year when we're decorating my parents' tree, and this year my mom insisted I take it home. My little walnut boy...

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed it. I haven't been able to get enough of seeing everyone's tours. I'm linking to

and

And if you haven't entered my giveaway from yesterday, why the heck not? Click here to enter. Winner will be chosen on Friday morning and posted Friday.

My second ever giveaway!

So after several days of rain, we had a clear beautiful day, and Mark and I headed out to do a little Christmas shopping. We went to the big outdoor mall where I have my seasonal job at Crate and Barrel (gotta use that employee discount!).

This is why I haven't made any money at that job:

I'm in Crate all day, and then I come out to have Anthro staring me in the face. I never had a chance.

While the incessant rain lately has made it difficult to get things done, it has brought snow to the local mountains, which is pretty.

We had fun shopping. Maybe too much fun, as we bought more for ourselves than others :/ One of the things we bought for ourselves is a pair of these pretty white stone votive holders from West Elm.

I loved them so much I bought a second pair to share with one of you!

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. Followers get an extra entry! I will choose a winner randomly on Friday. Happy holidays!

Dare to Deck the Halls!

I can't believe it's the second to last week of the Dare to DIY blog party already! For this week, we were to make something decorative for the holidays.

Ripped straight from the pages of the now defunct and sorely missed Domino magazine, I made a card tree thingy. I searched and searched for the inspiration picture online and in my files where I keep magazine tear sheets, but I couldn't find it. If someone knows what I'm talking about, please send me a link. The Domino version was pink, white and black. Anyway, here's mine:


I used a piece of plywood, which we always have laying around from various projects and improvements. It's about 4 feet tall. Stapled on batting and an old linen table cloth that had a few yellow stains on it, which were going to be covered by the cards. Then Mark and I started nailing on holiday cards in a tree shape. Some were cards from this year, some were saved from years passed (past?) because I liked the front of it or it had special messages written inside.

Add a little garland and some small balls at the end, and voila! Christmas card tree that can be brought out year after year and added to. I think I may do something similar with all the photo Christmas cards we get, since I don't usually throw them away, but never know what to do with them after Christmas. I'll incorporate them into the yearly decor!

I also made a few little vintage card ornaments. I printed some images I found online, taped them to cardstock, added glitter (GLITTER!), and hung 'em on the tree. Couldn't be easier.

Cost for both projects: $0. Gotta love that. Now stop by NewlyWoodwards to be inspired by other homemade holiday decor!

Also linking to Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts

and The DIY Show Off

The weekend was...

Decorating the house...

our Christmas party (so fun!)...

freezing rain...


and a cozy fire...

I love this time of year.

Dare to Make Homemade Gifts

After completely missing Week 3 of the DIY challenge because I suck at time management, I'm back for Week 4 which is to make a gift for the holidays.

I chose something I had made over a year ago after seeing them on various blogs and Etsy, so again, this is not a new idea, but still adorable. Then I just made a few more for the challenge. It's cakestands!

Go to thrift stores or yard sales and buy (extremely cheaply) candlesticks or vases or egg cups or anything you think is pretty and would make a suitable base, and glue (I find Gorilla Glue works best) a plate on top. Easy squeasy.

It would be cute to give to someone with an actual cake on it, or cookies, or little soaps or anything the recipient might like. Or just as is.

I also made ornaments inspired by (or completely ripped off from) one from Target this year. I bought a set of 9 clear glass ball ornaments from Target, dropped in a sprig of faux greenery and some white iridescent glitter, and tied a little ribbon knot for hanging.

Cute to tie onto packages. I always like including a little extra something on the outside of a gift.

Don't forget to go to NewlyWoodwards and see what all the other ladies have made!