New To The Tree 2012

I am an ornament addict.

There I said it.

Every year, as I go around, no matter where the place, if I see an ornament that is "fits" our family, I get it.  I used to get the girls an ornament (or two) every year, sometimes letting them pick their own special ornament, keeping their collection in their own storage tubs.....well those tubs are getting mighty FULL.  In fact we have a bunch of storage tubs that are FULL. 

This is the first year that I have curbed myself when walking into Hallmark...not that I do much of that anymore thanks to making my own cards.......However, I have bought a few new ornaments to add to our tree.  After all kicking the habit takes time.

I could not resist the cuteness of these owls when I saw them at Hallmark.  The fact that they were about "sisters" sealed the deal....perfect for the girls!  Not that you'd ever see them this close, but ONE day, my friends, one day they will understand the power of sisters.

Found this guy at Michaels. 

He was in my hands in seconds when I found him at Target.

So was this.  Target had me this year!

Ummm, this was a no brainer when I was getting my coffee fix one afternoon.  Love me some Dunkin!

On our last Disney trip, I always have to hit up the Christmas store in Downtown Disney.  I never leave empty handed.  Ever.

Lady & the Tramp is my all time favorite Disney movie.  It's SO romantic!  Joe even proposed to me at Tony's Townsquare Restaurant which is from the movie.  Like I said, SO romantic!!

Unfortunately, every once in awhile, there is a casualty of the season.  This little peppermint glass ball had a close encounter with my floor, but it's OK.  He's served me well. 

The tree is officially finished and in it's place of honor. 

Let's bring on the MERRY!!

Scrap Cards

After going on a scrapping bender, I found myself with some scraps laying on my desk.  I was tired of shuffling them around my desk and realized I had enough to make a few cards.

As much as I don't consider myself a "card maker", these just come in handy.  I've noticed people appreciating the cards I've made too. Makes it all worth it.

These two cards look so much better IRL, but I could not make them look the same on the computer. 

I'm sure if I wanted to I could make another ton of cards from all the scraps I have but I run in spurts.  I'll get there. ;)

Christmas Card Pics 2012

Every year there are tantrums, tears and frustration when it comes time for taking Christmas card pics....never mind the reactions I get from the girls.

This year, to change things up a bit, I wanted a different kind of pic.  I had an idea & got everyone's approval.

I put together a quick banner for a prop and had the girls get ready.

We threw this together so quick I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off.  I promised the girls it would be quick & fast if they cooperated & we gave it a test run before heading outside.

In FIVE pics I got the shot we decided to use.  Is it perfect? No. 

But we are rolling with it....and they are printed & ready to be addressed, stamped & mailed.

Gingerbread House School Fun

Every year the third graders build Gingerbread Houses in class.  Gianna has been looking forward to this day for a long time.  This is her kind of thing...CANDY!!

The teachers supply the "gingerbread walls" (cinnamon sprinkled graham crackers) & the parents bring in the "glue" & CANDY.

There are no rules, except using your imagination.  We didn't have a plan for our house but it we had fun with it.

The best part for me? 

Hanging out with my sweet girl.

Choir Holiday Concert 2012

Marissa joined the Choir in middle school.  She's had Monday morning rehearsals before school starts every week.  It makes Mondays *that* much nuttier but she enjoys it.  Tonight was their first concert. 

The concert was a mix of two bands & two choir groups but surprisingly, it was a quick concert.

For being short a few rehearsals due to Hurricane Sandy, they sang beautifully.

We are so proud of her. Looking forward to the next concert!

Butterfly Card

This card came together when I was playing with the Daydream Believer kit from Studio Calico.  I had put these butterflies aside to giveaway since they're not really "me", but then realized they would make a great card!  I think I can officially call that kit "done"!

I stamped a simple "Happy Birthday" on a cardstock strip and pop dotted the wings on the butterflies. 

The colors are prettier IRL, but they play off each other nicely.  Perfect card for a birthday!

Speaking Of Elves....

Zonko is BACK in TOWN! 

He arrived on Thanksgiving and has kept the girls on their toes trying to find him every morning.

This might just be my favorite.  Zonko found himself a girl!
 

Gianna had a hard time finding Zonko in this spot!  Took her a few trips through the room!

Dressing up the house today.  I feel so behind though I know I'm not.  Now if Zonko would play me some Christmas music I'd be set!

Jolly Little Elf

In honor of it being the first of December I am sharing this LO I made recently.  I've had this pic printed waiting to be scrapped for awhile now (I seem to do that a lot).  I even had the title printed on the back, all ready to go.  I finally grabbed the pic and dug through my stash of Christmas papers.  Finding these old Imaginisce papers that I used for the last December Daily I made.

I was trying to capture Gianna's playfulness in the LO.  She's always been a happy go lucky kind of girl, always ready for fun.  She was four in this picture.  Can this really be four years ago??  I remember taking this picture like it was yesterday.  Where does time go?? 

I re-discovered my Heidi Swapp date stamp for this.  Happy I never got rid of it.  I've got quite a collection of roller stamps going...not that I have a "problem" or anything.  Nothing I can't quit...but I don't want to.

Used my Silhouette to cut the two doilies, have I mentioned my love for that machine??  Makes me wish I didn't have a few other machines....

Hoping to get more Christmas-y LO's made.  I don't think I've done a lot of Christmas scrapping, which is ridiculous considering how much paper I have! 

Debating on doing a December Daily this year.  I'm inspired by everyone's albums I've seen on Instagram but don't want to fill up my plate more than it is.  I've got Project Life and well, there's Christmas and all that goes with it.  **sigh**  Maybe I'll do it afterwards, you know in January or something....

November 365

November is over. Already?? It seriously flew by!

It's been an interesting month to say the least. Now onto December!

Project Life October 2012

After waiting for some time and decent lighting I finally gave up and took these with my iPhone, at night.  Work with me.

I stuck to all my tricks for playing with Project Life: Washi tape, stamps and letter stickers. 

Simple. Simple. Simple.

My 12on12 for October.

Those top two cards happen to be my favorite on this page....if I do say so myself.

I had a ton of pics from the pumpkin patch (of course) so I narrowed it down to my favorites for the insert.

I like how this page turned out.  I think it has to do something to do with the stamps. I must say I am in LOVE with Kelly Purkey's stamp sets!!  She nails it every time!

This page was hard to do.  Re-living the days through the storm when we had no power for 9 days.  I didn't think it would be hard but it was.  I guess living in the dark can affect a person.  I have a bunch more pics from those days but I think I'll add them in an insert as part of the next month.

Got the idea for this card from Barbara on Instagram. 

I had a few pics that told the story but wouldn't all fit together on the insert so I turned it into a card like Barbara does. She is a genius!

 

On these two cards I used some Knock Knock sticky notes.  So fun and perfect for these!

I'm now working on November, but its been slow going with Thanksgiving and lately Marissa has a ton of homework that keeps her up late.  I try to keep her focused and help with what I can.  I wish she didn't have to stay up so late with that much homework, but she gets great grades so I'm not complaining much.  I'm hoping to work more of it this weekend as well as get the house decorated (finally) for Christmas....wish me luck!!

Thanksgiving 2012

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.  We did.  I host the family every year, this year we were 15 in total.  It varies a little here or there but generally the house is full.

I wish I had manged to take more pics, but then again my plate was pretty full as it was.  I did mange to get some pics (food mostly) the day before.

I make this White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pie that's Joe's favorite. 

Can't have Thanksgiving in our house without apple pie.

And no meal is complete without some chocolate.  The girls made these.

Here are my little helpers the day before.  Both girls made the chocolate covered pretzels, and Marissa made the bacon wrapped water chestnuts.  They were both so much help to me both in cleaning and cooking this year.  I am so proud of their eagerness to help, more so in the kitchen than with the cleaning but I'll take what I can get.

I redeemed myself from last year's turkey!!  That was the first year it was dry but I blame the oven running too hot.  This year I used my bottom oven for the turkey and it came out PERFECTLY MOIST!!  I used a dry rub and butter to give it flavor and color and also went with a smaller bird this year.  There were no leftovers...in turkey at least.

We had a TON of food!  We couldn't fit it all on the table.  I always get "comments" on my over cooking but even though I kept things simple "OTHER" people brought more than they should and the table overflowed with goodness.  Luckily, everyone brought food home.

So now that this holiday is over, it's time to focus on Christmas.  I usually start decorating on Black Friday but both Joe & I were exhausted and didn't dig out the decorations from the crawl space.  I feel behind, but taking it easy felt great after all the rushing & cleaning last week.  Who cares if I don't get the Christmas Cards mailed before Dec. 1??

30 Days of Thanks

Wanted to squeeze in a quick post about the album I've been working on.  I started this during the Hurricane when I was feeling very grateful. I felt a mini album showing what I was thankful for would be nice.  I know it's very similar to a December Daily, but as much as I'd like to make one, I just don't think I'll be able to manage it.  I fell behind on my Project Life since the storm and have the last week of October to work on before I can share that.  I catch up and fall behind...story of my life.

I kept it very simple with a design I repeated through the album.  I dug through my stash and found some old KI Memories papers that I've been holding onto as well as my beloved Bo Bunny Dots.  I like using what I had on hand and actually doing something with it. 

I didn't do anything to the inside cover but I might go back and add some scraps I have leftover to it.  Used a Technique Tuesday/Ali Edwards stamp I had plus some Studio G stamps for the "title" on the card.  All the pics are Instagram prints that I printed at home 4x4 size.

I'm only sharing through page 5 since that's all I have done! Things have gotten a bit hectic and well, the holiday always does that to me.  I hope to catch up with this in small snippets of time here & there this weekend.

As for today, I am off to do my food prep for tomorrow.  I host every year and have about 15 people to feed tomorrow. 

What are you Thankful for?