Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Advent Days 1-3

Here are the pictures and activities from the first 3 days of our Advent adventures :)


I used a centerpiece square of burlap from my wedding to make a tree skirt. I used that dolphin mug to trace  circle and then cut it out. Our tree is so small it would fit through that. While it wasn't super big, it was big enough to mostly cover the huge tree stand.

 Hubby putting the lights on. We wanted a small tree since we will be celebrating Christmas at both of our parents so not many presents to go underneath. We set it on our hexagon end table to give it some height.

 My  mom got me all these ornaments on clearance after Christmas last year. I have been waiting and waiting until Christmas to finally use them. I bought the ribbon at JoAnn's.

Putting ornaments on. 

Finished tree! Growing up, we got a new ornament each year based on an important event. All our ornaments had special memories and were great. I love that tradition. However, I also love seeing trees that are decorated with a theme and I have always wanted to do it. And thanks to my mom buying me those ornaments, now, for my first Christmas with my own tree, we have a blue and gold theme and I love it!!

Close up to see the ornaments and ribbon.




 An ornament we received as a wedding present--"Our First Christmas Together-2012"


 Yay for our first (cute) Christmas tree.


Day 2

  I had bought some icicle lights at a garage sale this summer. Unfortunately, they are very stiff still so the icicle effect isn't so pretty right now haha.

Also unfortunately, they aren't quite long enough. And the lights my hubby had were burnt out so we couldn't finish off and go by the front door. Oh well, at least we have some lights and we will get more on clearance after Christmas for next year :)

The view at night.

 Day 3

 Okay, so I decided to make this more this interesting/fun than just draw a picture.
Challenge 1--Draw a Christmas tree with the paper on top of your head.
Challenge 2--Draw a snowman with your eyes closed.
Challenge 3--Draw a candy cane with your non-dominant hand.
And then we drew a picture normal of whatever we wanted. This first picture is my husband's drawings. (the bottom one was supposed to be Santa delivering gifts on skis...I still don't understand the lack of hair haha)


My drawings.

More Advent Adventures to come.
How are you spending the first few days of Advent?

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

DIY Advent Calendar

I have been getting so excited for Christmas. I love Christmas. I love doing Christmasy things and decorating and baking and buying gifts!!! And I am excited for my first Christmas as a married woman. I wanted to make sure we had a special and memorable Christmas season so I decided to make an Advent Calendar with lots of fun activities to make sure we actually did things rather than just talk about it.

I used my mom's die cut machine and her cardstock to make the red and green tags. Then I used her Cricut machine to make the numbers and a snowflake punch. I used adhesive dots to attach the numbers and snowflakes onto the tags. I came up with the advent activities on my own, if you would like the list, leave me a comment and I would be happy to email it to you. To make the activity cards, I used several different free Christmasy fonts that I found from these two blogs: We Lived Happily Ever After and Over the Big Moon. Here are all the tags and activity cards before I put them together. I used glue dots to stick the cards onto the backs of the tags. I looked at our calendars to decide when to do easier activities and when we would have time for more involved ones.



The next step was to spray paint 24 clothespins. I was going to use these to hold the tags on ribbon. I used Krylon Gloss Cherry Red and gave them 2 coats.

Next I got my hot glue gun and a jar of multi-colored and multi-sized buttons that I found at Walmart.

I hot-glued the buttons onto the tops of the clothespins in various arrangements.

Hanging the tags onto the ribbon. I used 2 lengths of ribbon, each 3 1/2 feet long and hung 12 tags on each.

All the tags are hung! Let the festivities begin. (P.S. notice the entry way table...will post soon about finishing that project)

This Advent Calendar is linked up at Positively Splendid.













WTTW #10

I have not posted the past couple weeks because one week I was sick and did not work 3 days (the other days I just wore the comfiest professional clothes I could because I was not feeling great) and then the second week was conferences and Thanksgiving break.

This past week was my first week of full-time teaching. One of the other Kindergarten teachers has started her maternity leave and I am now teaching both AM and PM classes. It definitely keeps me busy.

Here is what I wore this past week:

 Monday
Blue sweater: Birthday present from Shade
Navy blue bootcut pants: Target
Black flats: DSW
Blue necklace: Christmas present from SamMoon


Tuesday
White t-shirt: Kohls
Jean Jacket: WalMart
Maxi skirt: Birthday present
Brown flats: Target
Necklace: Christmas present from SamMoon

Wednesday
White t-shirt: Kohls
Blue sweater: present from Costco
Khaki bootcut pants: American Eagle
Black Flats: DSW

Thursday
Pink shirt dress: WalMart
Long black sweater: JCPenney
Black slouchy boots: JCPenney

Friday
Yellow sweater and belt: WalMart
Skinny jeans: American Eagle
Brown leather boots: Murdoch's

Friday, November 9, 2012

Snow is Magical

SNOW???? In early November??? unfortunately, yes. It has snowed here. So crazy to me how two weeks ago we took our fall pictures. The temperatures just dropped so suddenly and it decided fall was over I guess.

Now don't get me wrong, I love snow, and I like winter. BUT, I like all 4 seasons in their time. Instead, where we live we get winter for 5 months minimum. Enhhhh ya, so I'm not so eager for it to shorten our beautiful fall. It can come, but when it's supposed to come. Well apparently the weather doesn't give a hoot what I think...or even consider what I might want (or not want) for my birthday (which is tomorrow)....and it snowed yesterday. Quite a bit. It hasn't melted. It's staying. It's colder. Winter is here.

GROAN. Yes I did groan a bit last night and then this morning when I drove to work.

BUT THEN...on my way home from work, something happened. The snow was so pretty on all the trees, the bite in the air made me want hot chocolate, peppermint mochas, warm meals, a fire, and all of a sudden I started thinking about all the winter decorating and crafts I want to do. The meals I want to make, the goodies I want to bake, the gifts I want to give and hopefully receive at Christmas, the songs I want to listen to (but not yet...I will stand firm in some things). And all in a 15 minute commute, I decided that I liked the snow and okay, it was winter, bring it on. I'm ready, I'm looking forward to it. I want to get into the spirit, be crafy, be home-makery, and be hostessy. We shall see how much time I ACTUALLY have for all these aspirations since my workload literally doubles in a couple weeks and school doesn't get out for break until Dec 22...YUCK.

As soon as I got home, I went out to take a few pictures. Its not totally enough snow to be a winter wonderland, but it was enough to work its magic on me. :)






WTTW #9

Monday
 Khaki jacket: Bass Outlet
Blue bootcut pants: Target
Brown flats: Target
Crocheted headband: Delias

Tuesday
Mint Gingham button-up shirt: Shade
Denim skirt: don't remember the store, from a mall in Southern California
Black flats: DSW

Wednesday
 Blue baby tee: Shade
Dark yellow cardigan: Target
Black bootcut pants: American Eagle
Black flats: DSW

Thursday
 White t-shirt: Kohls
Coral sweater: Bass outlet
Khaki bootcut pants: Hollister
Brown belt: American Eagle
Brown flats: Target

Friday
Gray baby tee: Shade
Black boyfriend cardigan: Target
Jeans: Vigoss from JCPenney
Black slouch boots: JCPenney
Pink scarf: gift from BP at Nordstrom

Sunday, November 4, 2012

WTTW #8


Monday
Red baby tee-Shade
Black cardigan: Target
Black bootcut pants: American Eagle
Black Flats: DSW
Faux pearl necklace: SamMoon.com

Tuesday
White tee-Kohls
Oatmeal cardigan: American Eagle
Striped scarf: gift for birthday from Nordstrom
Wine pencil corduroy skirt: WalMart (I think)
Brown tights: probably WalMart but who knows
Brown boots: Murdoch's

Wednesday: Halloween

Black long sleeve: Target
Black bootcut pants: American Eagle
Black Flats: DSW
Ladybug antennae headband: borrowed from friend
Ladybug wings: borrowed from friend
Red tutu: made by my mom

Thursday

Blue baby tee: Shade
Ivory and gray striped open-faced cardigan hoodie: Target
Khaki bootcut pants: Hollister
Brown flats: Target
Crochet headband: Delias

Friday
Beige hoodie sweater: gift for birthday from Costco
Brown bootcut pants: American Eagle
Brown flats: Target

Friday, November 2, 2012

WTTW #7

These outfits are from last week. My crazy schedule didn't allow me time to post them last Friday.

Monday
Green baby tee--Mod Bod from Costco
Blue cardigan: Target
Floral Skirt: made by my wonderful mom
Boots: Murdoch's 

Tuesday
Gray shirt dress: Target
Yellow cardigan: Target
Boots: Murdoch's

Wednesday
I was casual today because I attended a professional development class.
Jeans: American Eagle
Red courdoroy jacket: Target
Brown scarf: made by my mom
Navy keds: Target

Thursday
 Denim button-up shirt: Target
Khaki bootcut pants: American Eagle
Brown belt: Target
Brown flats: Target

Friday
Yellow baby tee: Shade
Gray/white striped blazer: Shade
Skinny jeans: American Eagle
Boots: Murdoch's

fall in love

I love fall. The colors are just so beautiful! I have been waiting for a day without gloomy clouds and rain so that my husband and I could take some pictures with the gorgeous foliage. Monday afternoon, it finally happened! Below are some pictures from our little photo shoot along with a couple things I am especially loving right now.

I so enjoy lighting this candle in the evening and smelling the spicy aroma.

Who doesn't love candy corn? And when you put it in a mini Parker Bowl from Crate & Barrel it gets even better.




Had some editing fun with B&W effects.


What are you falling in love with?