I am so excited to be going home for Christmas! I haven't seen my brothers and sister since March!! ...my brother and I were joking the other day, saying that I could of had a baby in that time!! HA ...I can assure you I will be coming home babyless!  :) 

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

A little album I made for a Secret Santa...

We drew names at work for Secret Santa and we decided all gifts had to be handmade. I received a cute little apron with a matching oven mitt. This is how I see it...since I'm such a horrible cook, I expect this apron to be magical as if it were the missing piece to the reason I fail horribly in the cooking department. I expect it to influence me to get my butt in the kitchen and more importantly transform me into a chef when I put it on and cook fabulous meals every time...I will keep you posted.

The great thing about the album I made, is that it came together so quickly and the tree chipboard was only $1.00!   add some paper...some buttons...a little bling...and voila!  a mini Christmas album.

 

Taking a little break...

I haven't posted in awhile, because I've been spending every extra moment making Christmas gifts. Which I absolutely LOVE doing, but I'm starting to get worried that I have taken on too much this time. I have so many projects going on that not only does my craft room look like a tornado hit it, the crafts are overspilling into our dining room and our living room, and our... Our apartment it starting to look like Santa's workshop. I plan on updating soon, with pictures of Christmas decor, Christmas Tradition and possibly some Christmas Crafts.

PS: Don't you just adore my new T@B glass that I got in the mail the other day. My sister sent me an early Christmas present. Thank you Felicia! And I love the Christmas CD you put together! ...So crafty :)

So here's the story behind the silver Christmas tree...

When my Mom was in town we came across a ViNtaGe silver Christmas tree -in its original box, each branch in its original protective sleeve, and also with its original spinning light "projector" used to light the tree. And it's not like I've always wanted a retro shiny silver tree, but it was Very ViNtaGe and perfect for my collection of ViNtaGe Christmas ornaments. The price was a steal and after some persuasion from my Mom, I made the purchase.

The story starts here. I was so nervous to tell Joe I bought a Christmas tree, a silver one at that, that I hid it in the back of my car...   FOR  A  VERY  LONG  TIME.  And when I say hid, I guess I didn't really hide it per say, I just kept it in my car for TWO months. I can't begin to tell you how many times Joe opened the back to put something in or take something out, and each time he was oblivious of the big box, marked "Christmas Tree".

Now, I don't like keeping things from Joe. I love keeping secrets, but I don't know that this falls into that category. I was eventually going to have to tell him. I couldn't hide a 6 1/2 foot silver Christmas tree forever. And let me tell you, I have never been more nervous the day I told Joe about my purchase. Of course now I laugh about it, but I was nervous! When I told him that I had bought a Christmas tree while my Mom was in town, he asked, "when do we pick it up?" LOL! Um, that's when I told him it was in the back of my car (this whole time!) If you guys only knew how many times he went back there!

The rest went well and Joe was surprisingly ok with the fact that we now owned a shiny ViNtaGe silver Christmas tree... that was until I told him that it is was going to be our "secondary" tree. Yes, I'm one of those people that love decorating and would have a tree in every room if I could. Joe is more practical and doesn't really understand the need for more than one tree, and I understand that, but sometimes the more the merrier :)

SNOW much fun!

For those of you far far away, here's a little update on the weather we've been having here in Spokane... lots and lots of S N O W! We just set a new record for the most SNOWfall in November, with a total of 25.9 inches. And supposedly more snow is coming. I think it's so pretty. It always helps to get into the Christmas spirit when there's a blanket of snow on the ground!

Joe & I have been wanting to go SNOWshoeing.
We couldn't have picked a better day!

it was my first time ~ I had a blast!

I couldn't stop laughing.

I'm not going to lie, when we got to Sports Authority to rent our snow shoes (side note: Sports Authority rents them for $10/day or $25/week...REI charges $25/day) ...well, I expected to rent "SnowShoes". You know, the big wooden things that look like tennis rackets. Well, who woulda known, those are V.I.N.T.A.G.E !!   lol. Instead we were given these plastic things with metal teeth on the bottom for gripping (above).

Joe's New Winter Boots. Quite honestly, I'm jealous.

It just wouldn't stop S N O W I N G ...

 

Bowl  &  Pitcher

B R R R R R R !   After we left the Bowl & Pitcher, we decided to stop at Joe's Mom & Dad's to say hi. They ended up not being home, but we left them a little suprise in their backyard...

 

Frosty & his friend, Leo the Cat.

 

Yes I know, Leo looks more like a dog, but we were in a hurry.

It's probably a good thing we don't have a yard, b/c I would have a family of SNOWmen... I love making them!

'Tis the season for... UgLY Christmas Sweaters!

Rachel rocks her sweater ~turtleneck and all!

Starbucks crew at our Holiday Meeting

You know how you walk into some Starbucks and they have every one's picture hanging up with their name and sometimes a question. Well I'm in charge of that at our store. And let me tell you, gathering 14 pictures and 14 answers sounds easy, but it's like pulling teeth. This month we wrote what we're thankful for. Next month, I thought it would be fun for everyone to hold a letter, so that when all the pictures are lined up, it would spell out a message. Hence the "Happy Holidays!" :)

Thanksgiving Day

So, I sent my family a Thanksgiving package on Monday hoping it would get there by today. I normally send packages via post office using flat rate priority mail. It's suppose to take 3 days, but it always makes it home in two. And since I'm being frugal with my money, I was trying to avoid paying an extra $25 to make sure it got there by Wednesday. Well, as you have probably guessed, it didn't get there in time.  Sad. 

To my family. I'm sorry we can't share the same table this year.

The plan was for everyone to open the package together.

Who doesn't love opening up a package full of goodies!?

...some Thanksgiving Blend coffee... a little pumpkin...

...a pumpkin scented candle...

...a turkey center piece (you know you want one!!)...

...and lots of nuts.

(and cute little pumpkin "fillers" I found at the dollar store!)

hmmm...possible more coffee?

and then the most important part! 

(this is why I'm sad it didn't make it in time)

inside the envelope was:

YES! my head on a stick!

LOL the plan was for me to make it home for Thanksgiving :)

And, well, my head couldn't even do that!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!! I am so thankful for you guys and thank you for being so supportive. Maybe everyone can gather together at mom's for leftovers tomorrow and you can all open the package then?

xoxo

Baby Reegan Rian

Tara and Jeff (Joe's twin) just gave birth on Sunday to a beautiful baby girl. This post seems a little incomplete without a picture of the little one, but she is a doll! I thought I would include some of the items I made for sweet Reegan.

I was really egg-cited to make this creation, until the time came to fill it! I had all these great ideas to fill it with onesies, leggings, pretty hair accessories, socks, hand mitts... twelve tiny treats. That was until I realized how small one little egg holder really is. Perfect for a pair of socks, but I didn't want to fill it with 12 pairs of socks. I was determined to make the really cute onesies that I found fit ...after rolling, folding, and some squishing...this is what I came up with:

2 pair of socks, 1 pair of booties, and 3 onesies

I made another 12 month baby book, but this time I decided to make it a little bigger (4x6) than I normally do. I thought it would be nicer to include bigger pictures, rather than being limited to wallet size photos. I think I like the smaller version better, but I'm happy with how this one turned out.

Front Cover ~ I got a little carried away with the buttons! :)

Welcome home Reegan Rian Hennessy!