Happy New Year

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent some time at my parent’s home in Virginia. My brother and his family were able to come as well as my sister and her family. (My other brother and sister and their families were with the in-laws this year.) One of the nieces got an easel from Santa. It was a huge hit (with everyone)!

We had a great time eating, laughing and telling stories.  Uncle Jake was the hit of the party (as usual!!) He talked football with the nephews. He has not turned them into Dallas fans but isn't giving up. They may see the light soon!!!

My dad is the baby whisperer. All babies seem to love him. He has a magical way of soothing fussy babies too.

Opening presents was an adventure with so many people. We tried to label everything right after it was opened so it all went home with the right family. We also threw all the paper away quickly. We are pretty sure no presents got thrown away. The kids all loved their presents. My dad is a HUGE Star Wars fan (and a huge cookie fan).  He got a great T-Shirt! It was the best present of the day!

We had a wonderful time. It is always great to see everyone! We hope your Christmas was as great as ours!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

Thank you for sharing part of your Christmas with us!  We hope all your Christmas wishes come true!

Terri and Jake

Happy Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas! 

May you feel the Spirit of the Season!

New Ornaments

We draw names in my family for Christmas. With so many nieces and nephews it really is a lot of people to buy for. This year I had my sister Lori and her family (Lori if you are reading- STOP NOW).

I made some ornaments for my sister. I have seen them on the internet and they were super easy!!! I rolled the red paper up and put it in the ornament.  After it was as full as I wanted (I stopped adding more paper when the paper didn't move when I shook the ornament), I painted the belt buckle. After that dried, I painted the black belt. I did all free hand. They are not perfect but I think they look great!

Here it is on the tree!

I didn’t have enough paper to make all six ornaments into Santa bellies- so I made two snowmen (I had white paper). I did the same thing rolling the paper and putting it in the ornament. Then when it was full, I painted the nose on. After that dried, I used the handle of a paint brush to make the dots for the eyes and mouth.

 Frosty on the tree !

Waiting for the paint to dry took longer than anything.  I wanted to keep them myself so I am hoping I can get some more clear ornaments (maybe for 75% off) and make some for us. You could fancy them up by adding ribbon by the hanger or a cute hat to Frosty but I like them simpler (and I needed to get them in the mail).

Almost ready to mail!The buckles look more silvery here (and they are silver!)

Here's what you need:
Clear ornaments (mine came from Michaels)
black paint (I had some. It's just regular black acrylic)
aorange and silver paint (I bought the glittery orange and silver at Walmart. It was in the scrapbook section and only 97 cents!)
red and white cardstock (I  had the paper- left over from another project look in the scrapbook section of the craft store!)

 Have fun! Let me know if you try them too!

I linked to Bowl Full of Lemons

Jake's Ornament

Jake made a new Christmas ornament for our tree! Isn’t it cute?

Jake holding his ornament!

His team (the Dallas Cowboys) isn’t doing too well this year. So the ornament needed a disguise.  My visiting teacher brought over the hat (read more about visiting teaching here) and the creative bug bit Jake. I’m not sure if the disguise will come off when the Cowboys are doing better. Mostly we are hoping the Cowboys will improve!

My Favorite Things

I’m joining the Favorite Things Party at 320 Sycamore. I just love her blog! She has great ideas for decorating your home. (go on and visit! I'll wait here.) 

So here are 5 of my favorite things right now!

1)    Pinterest

I love love love Pinterest. I find tons of great ideas, quotes and pictures there (which you see here a lot). There are great recipes too. We have tried several and they have all been good (so far!!!)

2)   Diet Coke

The bubbles! The noise when you pop the top! What else can I say? It is the Devil's Beverage!  Even room temperature it is good!

from pinterest.com

3)   Christmas!

 I love Christmas. We are enjoying very nice weather and it makes going shopping and being out and about with all the other people so much nicer. I love the feeling in the air at Christmas time.  I know that we should fell this way all the time but if we did; it wouldn’t be special or make this time of year special.

4)    Michael’s

I’m don’t usually shop at Michael’s but they have been having a Daily Deal that has been great! Sign up for the email and you'll hear about it too! Hopefully they will do it next year!

5)   Bath and Body Works Vanilla Lotions

I love the smell. It is soothing and becomes more soft and subtle as the day goes on. I don’t wear perfume anymore (Jake has allergies) but this doesn’t bother him and makes my skin so soft!

So there you are- a few of my favorite things! What are a few of yours?