Christmas Morning

We so enjoyed Christmas morning for quite a few reasons...

1. Liam! Liam took his first Christmas morning very seriously...opening gifts like a pro, attacking ornaments, and eating wooden blocks. All business. Very professional.  

2. Batman came! My 19-year-old brother spent the majority of Christmas morning wearing his Batman mask, revealing his night job of fighting crime.

3. Bacon! Enough said.

4. Striped PJs! You may have noticed those stinking adorable striped PJs are...ahem...floods...Bad planning mom...bad planning. 

5. Poofy coats! You know the only thing better than a poofy coat? A LONG poofy coat!

6. iPhone 5! Clint got me the latest iPhone model and she is a sleek lovely lady. Should I call her Phillis too?

7. It snowed!

8.Wrapping paper everywhere! Although I have never experienced a real life hangover, I am convinced it feels like my living room felt after a tornado of unwrapping. 

9. Purple-brownish furniture! I'm not complaining, but these college couches Clint bought off a friend and the poop-colored recliner that was a "sweet KSL find" are kind of throwing off my Christmas photo-shoot feng shui. It's time for slip covers. Most def. January project maybe?

10. The gift of giving! The best part was watching my brother's eyes light up as he pulled on the ridiculously long skirt-sweater thing we got him, or snapping photos of my sister snuggling with her perfume/lotion set we got her.

  

 

Congratulations! You made it to the end! Not sure what Clint was doing in the above photo, but those gloves are adorbs. ;)

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A Christian Carol

Oh I am just lounging here with Liam watching Disney's A Christmas Carol (the only Christmas movie, or any movie, that Liam will sit and watch from start to finish...should I be worried?). And while I'm watching I am reminded of a last December when I covered my huge pregnant body in layers upon layers of maternity clothes and trucked out into freezing temperatures to a small-town play house to see A Christmas Carol live.

The play was wonderful...that's what stands out the most. But, I vaguely remember the director or producer or someone important standing up on stage, before the play began, and giving a speech.
They said something to the effect of, "I love doing A Christmas Carol because it's not about God, its not about religion, its just about giving."
And I thought to myself: Well, that's silly.
So I might get on my soapbox just a bit here. Be warned ;)
The reason we give, I believe, at this celebratory time of year is in commemoration of the greatest gift ever given. The gift Christ gave. And I give because I celebrate His birth. I honor other religions that celebrate in the spirit of giving. I admire the generosity of those who don't believe in God and give gifts of the season.
But A Christmas Carol does ring of a Christian message of giving. And that's not a bad thing.
My mission is to be Christian to all and I think that was the message of A Christmas Carol.

What's more, the most famous line in all of Dicken's masterpiece is spoken by Tiny Tim: "God bless us! Everyone!"

I feel so blessed to have Liam (that my pregnant body made a miracle). My gratitude for my Christian faith is overwhelming. And my family, being with them forever, is the best gift.

So Merry Christmas!...and God bless us, everyone!

And every nativity is a party...so add a disco ball!

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My mini Grinch

Every now and then I experience a creative moment in which the crafting stars align. My mantel was such a moment. Did you see it? From the teal and gold antlers to the fringe and woodland creatures, it all just seemed to come together.
And then it came apart...well the fringe did at least.
You see, Nugget Liam happens to be quite mobile these days. Look the other way and you will find him tummy deep in Jada's dog water dish. Run to go pee and come back to find presents unwrapped and ornaments de-treed. So when I ran upstairs for only 2.0 seconds, it should have been no surprise to find my mini-Grinch sitting in a pile of my mantel fringe!
What a little butt.
So what else was I to do but grab the camera?
And now, for a series of poor-quality photos starring my little monster himself...

A Happy Christmas Eve Eve Eve to you all! I'll check back in on Monday!

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Oh Christmas Tree!

Aren't Christmas trees wonderful? They are right? And very important too...The exclamation point on a Christmas decor sentence. Thus, a matter such as deciding where to place your tree is of utmost importance! After the tradition of my mother, I placed our tree in an unexpected, but somehow perfect, place...the dining room! It was a perfect place, you see, because we are walking through that dining room all day and Mr. tree is always there for a high five, wink, or supportive butt slap. And although the formal front room is giving me the stink-eye from feeling neglected, I am happy with the tree placement this year. 

Oh, and we threw in Christmas cards, a disco ball yarn solar system, and wire wreaths for the heck of it!

Note that my "star" is a glass light cover filled with a strand of Christmas lights...It's from Home Depot of course!

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

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brown paper packages tied up with string...

these are a few of my favorite things!
And now you will be humming The Sound of Music all the live-long day! You're welcome!

The numbers for this little number below are from Home Depot...They're house numbers. Look at my big bad crafty self!

Now don't get me all wrong, I do love me some color. And I do love me some Christmas color. But when I saw this ginormous roll of brown paper at Home Depot, we had a love connection. I was browsing the isles of paint, flirting with some Martha Stewart glitter paint when that role of paper whistled at me. I played it cool, did a few laps around the paint counter, and casually made my way over to that paper role. And then I took him home with me...I think I may be on the naughty list now ;).

Best part...he's super cheap and wraps, like, a million gifts! Best bang for your buck!

So if you are in a bind, staring down a TON of gifts to wrap, I suggest wrapping with neutral brown paper and jazzing it up! Here are 3 different ways I accessorized my sexy brown paper gifts:

1. Glitter me pretty! Below is a little tutorial on adding glitter and glam to your wrapping...and I never turn down glitter (or glam for that matter).

1| Wrap it!

2| Create a design with glue...I used the end of a paint brush to make the dots and the hair side to make swirls and trees.

3| Glitter it! Cover all that glue in glitter.

4| Dump it...shake off all that extra glitter.

2. Yarn. Yarnny yarn yarn. Sting's big-boned cousin...yarn. Oh I do love yarn, and I love the little pom-pom yarn balls as much as the next girl! I used this tutorial to make my snowball-reminiscent poms.

3.  Keep it neutral...why mess with a good thing? Like the brown package itself, twine adds a simple touch that can't be beat (unless you use glitter ;) ).

 

And remember...perfection is not the goal! So have fun with it. Go wild! It's just going to be ripped to smithereens anyways! Happy wrappings!

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