House of Christmas Cards

PROJECTO NUMERO...TRES? Christmas Cards!!!

Oh hey! Merry Christmas guys! Here's another project I put together this year, and now that most of you have already received these suckers I can post about them.  Here's the deal, every year I make our damn Christmas cards. EVERY YEAR. One year I told Jesse I was just going to buy them, I believe this was last year WHEN I HAD JUST HAD A BABY. He looked so heartbroken, and actually SAID he wanted me to make them again. WHAT???? What a jerk. And a sweety. Apparently this means something to him. Blah blah blah. So yeah. Every year I spend more money on crafty supplies than I would on buying a box of letterpress ready made Christmas cards. It seemed ridiculous this year. So I decided instead of throwing more money at supplies whose leftovers would end up being hoarded in a box somewhere, I decided this year to use all these leftovers! LEFTOVERS! Fancy huh? Turns out I have a whole bunch of stuff. And it only takes a very small amount to actually make cards. So expect even more recycled cards in the future! Maybe some Valentines? Or easter? Or arbor day?

STEP ONE: Decide on design and create a rough draft. (That's Jesse's great aunt up there, we had no tiny family pix to use on this template)

STEP TWO: Cut all the strings. It was a lot of strings. I made a cardboard template that was the length i needed the strings to be and just wrapped and wrapped and wrapped for 35 times (I needed 70 lengths of string). I then just cut at the rounded edges and viola I had 70 pieces ready to use. Did that make any sense?

 THREEEEEE: Cut tiny little flags! Using good old fashioned elmers glue attach the strings, you can then just slide the flags under the string onto the still wet glue!

 A work in progress!

 STEP FOUR! Admire your work thus far!

STEP FIVE:

PHOTO SHOOT TIME! 

(to be continued...)

You guys, I love candy canes.

On the second day of christmas...

I'd like to call this Inspira-post:

 

Birdhouses as Winter Cabins!

Or

Why My Dad is Awesome!

Holiday project post number two is really not much of a project, well it WAS a project that my Dad did, last year. Project number two and I'm already stretching it? Jeesh. This isn't going to last long, tomorrow I'll be posting about how much I like candy canes and calling it good. Dude, but candy canes really are so good.

Let's get on with it! Last year I kept seeing these cool tree silhouettes, some out of wood, some out of metal, some painted, some natural. All of them I wanted. I found some that I really liked in a magazine, but they were very expensive and I just couldn't justify it so I did what any daughter of a woodworking dad does; I sent my Dad a photo of a picture in a magazine of these laser cut out trees. And whaddya know! I got myself some handcrafted, one of a kind, wooden tree silhouettes! They were gorgeous and went up immediately, I think. I don't remember Christmas last year very well. Have I mentioned that we had a one month old? 

They really are beautiful and since last year was such a fuzzy mess, I have been waiting all year to be able to put them out again and really enjoy them. This year they became center stage on our woodland mantle. Apparently donkeys, lions, and moose all live together in my imaginary Christmas forest, as do giant birds who live in giant bird cabins in the snow. Heck, it's Christmas, it's magical, anything can happen.

 

So as I said, project number two wasn't so much a project as being inspired by one piece of decor and running with it. The snow? It's a garland I got at Big Lots years ago. It hasn't made it's way out since the Fire and Ice party of '07. It's nice that it joined us this year. And there is one little bean who very much enjoys saying 'night night' to her magical Christmas Donkey, Lion, and Moose.

Projectile Christmassing.

Let's see how many empty promises I can make on this little bloggy blog. My new one? I am going to post ALL my holiday projects. From decor to food to crafts. No really. I am...c'mon give me another chance. I've changed, I have, I mean it....

So the reality is that Bean is not going to remember this Christmas. She won't, she'll enjoy looking back at the funny pictures and her mom's ridiculous bun (omygawd only old ladies wear their hair in buns moo-oom), but she won't have those honest to goodness tradition making memories. I mean, the weird part is that WE are going remember this Christmas so well. This is going to be her first real Christmas. Last year she was just one month old when Christmas hit. It was a festive, love filled, blurry, stressful holiday. This year feels so relaxed and so Christmassy. And I hope this feeling of calm is one we can make a tradition. Can you imagine? Calm Christmas' being the tradition. HAHAHAHAhahAhAh. This year is a fluke, I know it, I am waiting for the other candy cane filled shoe to drop. In the meantime I am going to enjoy this feeling, and I will try to remember what it feels like in Christmas' to come.

The relaxed feeling may come from my out-of-character early prepping for the jubilee. I know it is only December 5th (edit-it's actually the 6th, but I wrote most of this post yesterday), but my brain keeps thinking it's Christmas Eve. Seriously. I don't know what is happening to my inner clock. I calmly collected all I needed to make our Christmas cards last night, and even finished the first step. No rush. No panic. Just really thought it was somewhere in late December, when I usually start my Christmas cards. I am not going to complain. Whatever strange universe star alignment that is occurring that is making me 'on top of it' this year I am welcoming with open arms. Oh, and just so you know, it only applies to Holiday things. I'd forget my own ass if it wasn't attached. I've left my wallet at home too many times to count. I've missed appointments. Lost keys. Walked from one room to the next only to turn around because I couldn't remember why I left that room in the first place. (Edit-adding this in just to really drive in the point of me being a nut job in the rest of my life: I just left the bath running, it overflowed, and flooded are bathroom. I am not kidding. There is a load of towels on spin cycle in our washing machine right now so full of sudsy lost bubble bath water. Grrr) So what little organization I seem to have regarding this Holiday season I am going to embrace the crap out of and get. stuff. done.

Project Numero Uno:

Simple yarn and pom pom garland.

And by simple I mean SIMPLE.

Take a real long strand of yarn. Get yourself some craft pom poms. Tie said yarn around said pom pom evenly spaced. Hang from fireplace/tree/dresser/ceiling fan (every time I write ceiling I have to recite "I before E except after C").



Feliz Navidad mis amigos.

besos.

My own definitions...

dai·ly  

/ˈdālē/

Adjective

 

Traditional definition: Done, produced, or occurring every day or every weekday.

My definition: Done, produced, or occurring every once in awhile, whenever there is time, maybe every month, maybe not, depending on the amount of stuff going on, sometimes never, hopefully more often.


Blogging daily. HahHAHAhAHHAAHahhaha....


...well, I tried. I really did.

xoxo,
Absent Minded Professor

33 is a magic number.

 

 

I spent my birthday doing exactly what I wanted to:

Cake for breakfast.

Funny cards from my mom.

Red Robin with my Dad and brothers.

Afternoon at the Aquarium with my little girl.

A night out with my friends.

A pedicure.

A football game with my husband.

I am so grateful for my life.

Why can't men witch have babies?

BECAUSE THEY HAVE HOLLOW WEANIES!

 

Wanna hear that again, same time next year? I thought so. Should I also go on and on about how important halloween is to me? As I do every year. As it is every year. But really, you guys, I love this silly holiday. I stay up late making costumes. I decorate my house. And, it turns out, at least for her first Halloween, our Bean is a big fan too.

I decorated late one night. So it was like Christmas morning for bean when she came out to the living room. She laughed and pointed and immediately figured out what were Jack-o-lanterns, what were pumpkins, and what were bats. She had to say goodnight to the Jack-O-Lantern every night. And today, when I finally put him away for next year...well, she gave him a kiss and a hug. Her mother's daughter, for reals.

Another sign that we have a little Hallowbaby on our hands? She never once tried to take her costume off. The whole three hours she was in it. Happy as a duck in water. Did we mention she was a duck?

Story goes as this, Lyla's first word was Duck. I had started off the season trying to decide between lumberjack and chimney sweep for our first Halloween costume. We then decided she should pick her costume, as much as a ten month old can. So it was between Duck, her first word and her favorite book character, or Monkey her favorite stuffed animal. We wandered into a consignment store a month before halloween and this duck costume flung itself at us. And thus it was decided. "Duck!" "Duck!" "Duck!"

I was feeling a little bit weird about not making her first costume, so to dissuade the guilt I decided to throw a bow on it to match Dimity Duck, a character in this great book. She loved the book, she would point out the duck on every page and giggle when her pal Frumity Frog surprised her from under a lily pad. This little bow, and a stuffed frog turned our little ordinary duck costume into a literary character. Maybe next year she'll go as Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, or maybe Ponyboy from the Outsiders.

With her duck farmers in tow, and meemaw the Leprachaun Mayor (oh where are THOSE pictures??), we headed off to fairhaven to brave the elements and get this Duck her first Trick or Treating experience. She was happy, and cozy, and after some time in the bookstore she was ready for home. All in all it was an amazing family Halloween. 

    

 Oh, but wait. This holiday isn't just for the kids now is it?

Things got real weird once the sun went down and Brad and Angelina showed up. It was just all so vivid. And so strange.

XOXO, until next year my little goblins...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone