Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Welp, this Christmas was pretty eventful. I managed to catch my oven on fire while cooking my turkey.

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Luckily, Jason put it out before things got out of hand.
The good news is my dad was already planning on cooking his own turkey, so it only turned out to be a small road bump and a great story to tell the grandkids. Bad news is that I am now scared out of my mind to use the oven again.

I'm SO happy to announce that my sister-in-law is pregnant with her second baby!! WOOHOOO!! They have an adorable family and I wish them the best through this pregnancy.

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We had family over on Christmas Eve night. We watched all the classic Christmas movies while we pigged out on turkey, ham and stuffing. My dad and I drank a little bit too much eggnog and began talking about music. Here are some pictures from that night.






Once everyone left, we got Kimber ready for bed. We set out a cupcake and milk for Santa Claus and I read her Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer story before bed.

She was really excited that Santa was coming to bring her toys.


The next morning:



Kimber was blessed with a LOT of toys this year. All together, she got 24 presents. This was a great Christmas, but I'm sure glad it's over.

These Are Trying Times.

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I usually don't like to get too personal on my blog, but I feel like if I can type it out, it will make me feel better...and I appreciate my small group of readers. I feel like you guys will listen. Our family is currently struggling financially and Christmas isn't going to be like I imagined. :( I took one look at our bank account yesterday morning and my heart sank. I cried for half of the morning and I would burst out in tears throughout the day...ALL day until I fell asleep.



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Good news. Today is a new day and I'm keeping myself busy with work and trying to finish my handmade Christmas presents. I feel stronger today. Crying isn't going to get me anywhere. Somehow, I'm going to make Christmas great this year. It's time for me to pull up my big girl britches. Money doesn't buy happiness and I will make this Christmas the best Christmas yet. I ask that you keep my family and myself in your thoughts this holiday season. It's going to be hard, but we can do it.

D.I.Y Monday! Embroidered Christmas Cards.

Supplies:
-Note card with envelopes. I bought a 50 pack from Hobby Lobby.

-Thumb Tack.

-Embroidery floss in the colors of your choice.

-Embroidery needle.

-Tape.

-Patience.


Step One:

Print off the PDF file found here

Step Two:
Cut out the pattern in the dotted lines on the 2nd page and place it on the front of the card. Tape the pattern down. *Don't tape it down hard or it will tear the card once you remove the pattern!

Step Three:
With the tumb tack, punch holes into dots of the pattern.

Step Four:
CAREFULLY remove the taped on pattern from your card. If you are doing more than one, set the pattern aside to re-use it.

Step Five:
Following the direction on the PDF file that you printed off, embroider the card with your choice of embroidery floss. Don't worry about seeing the work on the other side. It just makes it that more special that your family and friends know that it is TRUELY handmade by you.

Step Six:
Personalize it with a thoughtful message and TA DA! You're done!!

Happy crafting!! I've got to do about 30 more of these...back to work!!

This Week in Pictures.

Christmas decorating.





Birthday Festivities.




Pythian Home Christmas.
Our family been sponsoring the Pythian home since 1997 and working together with Toys for Tots to help these kids have a better Christmas. I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday than with these adorable kids.
Find out more about the Pythian Home here

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.

I had a FANTASTIC weekend. I hope you did too. I'm currently working on making a granny square Christmas stocking for myself and Kimber. I might have to post this as tomorrow's D.I.Y. It's really cute. The Christmas decor around the house is coming together nicely. The only thing we have left to do is some wall art and Jason is supposed to put the Christmas lights on the house.



OH! And I have awesome news. We just ordered my birthday/Christmas present.

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I don't have to annoy you guys with anymore stupid mobile pictures!!! It's so pretty. I can't wait to hold it. I'm already thinking about doing a 365 project. Remember to enter my giveaway!

D.I.Y. Monday! Crochet Gingerbread House.

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm doing a lot of catching up on my handmade Christmas gifts, so here is a tutorial I found on lionbrand.com that is now on my list of things I need to crochet before Christmas...along with 4 blankets, a tree skirt, garland and I haven't finished ONE of them yet. EEK! I'll be crocheting a blanket ALL day today until I run out of yarn. NOTE TO SELF: Buy A LOT more yarn this week.



tutorial found here

TIP: This OH so cute gingerbread house can be made into a really cute holiday garland or hang it on your tree as an ornament.

D.I.Y. Magazine Christmas Trees.

This D.I.Y will save you money and help save paper. :)

MAGAZINE CHRISTMAS TREE:


These Christmas Trees made from magazines are great for a Christmas Dinner centerpiece or fantastic on a fireplace mantle. All you need for this is one old magazine (doesn't matter what size) and your hands. The more pages the magazine has the fuller the tree will look. You can also spray paint them and decorate them however you want. I'm going to be spray painting mine silver once I get home from work tonight.

Step One:
Break the magazine binding by bending it back and forth.


Step Two:
Starting with the front cover, fold the right corner of the page to the center (as shown in picture). Repeat process on every single page of the magazine.


Step Three:
Starting with the front cover again, fold in half from right to left. The fold will look kind of like a tie. Repeat process on every page until the end.


Step Four:
Starting with the front cover, yet again, fold the point of the "tie" and tuck inside. Repeat this process on every page until the end.


Step Five:(optional)
Spray paint any color you want. Make sure you're in a well ventilated area. After the spray paint dries you could spray it with adhesive and cover it in glitter, glue on cute buttons, felt balls, the options are endless. GO CRAZY!!

10 Things I Love Sunday!

Hey guys! It's been a while. I actually had a long time off this week, so I decided to spend it with my family, but I'm back with this week's "10 Things I Love Sunday! Enjoy!

1.) Our Christmas tree. :) I'm pretty proud of our Christmas set up so far.


2.) Tiny Gingerbread Houses. How-to found here


3.) I'm pretty obsessed with this song this week.


4.) I love that Conan is back!!

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5.)I love Mad Men.

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6.) These cute Christmas embroidery patterns from the Wild Olive. I bought some earlier today. I can't wait to work on them! They will go perfect on the wall next to our Christmas Tree.


7.) My dad's Creme Brulee.

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8.) I lovey, LOVE this DIY Emroidery Holiday Deer Card Kit.



9.)This adorable Mini Goals Chalkboard


10.) Lune's Gypsy Crown Tutorial. SO CUTE!