All Together Again

Monday night was a hoot. We finally got all the kidlets back under the same roof and got to listen to all the silly stories from their trips. After dinner, we opened a family gift from Grandma. What surprise did she have in store for us? Pictionary Man! Haha! If you haven't played this game yet ... you're definitely missing out.We just about ran to the table with it, popped in the batteries, skimmed over the rules, reminded everyone to be good sports and jumped right in. You actually draw on Pictionary Man or either of the two props using a dry erase pen. So, if you get the word 'cheerleader' you can draw a cheerleader's uniform on Mr. Man and make the round prop a pom pom. We went through words like puppeteer, mascot, lingerie, John Lennon, Marie Antoinette and Titanic. It was a riot and we were all having some good old fashioned fun. Then our son needed to know what a proctologist was for his turn. Ha! Nice. Our youngest passed on jockstrap and I about wet my pants when I pulled Bosom Buddies for my last turn. Good times. Good times!My sweet Hubby set scones out to rise for our 'Christmas morning' breakfast and we sent the little angels off to bed. It was nice not having to wait up for Santa this year. We all got some much needed rest and were up by seven to tear into the presents. Stockings first, as always, and then we cycled through the kids so we can all see what everyone got. Izzy even got some great new chew toys. It's so good to have everyone together again. I love Christmas!

It's Still Looking a Lot Like Christmas

Not one present opened. Not one. Our tree is doing a fine job guarding the pile of gifts and the 'critter fence' helps to keep Izzy out of them. It still looks like Christmas morning here, everything bright and festive, but I can't help but feel a little sad. I miss my babies. I can't wait to watch them open their goodies and see the surprise light up their eyes. I miss that. But only two more nights and a wake up, as hubby would count it.Everyone should be back sometime tomorrow. Two are flying in from California; they're coming Standby on JetBlue, thanks to my flight benefits. And three are driving back from Colorado. They'll share all their new Christmas stories with us and we'll throw in a good holiday movie and have hot cocoa together. Then, the Tuesday 'wake up' is our Christmas morning. Can't wait.

Merry Christmas To All

Wherever you are and whoever you're with, have a wonderful Christmas!
This is a time of remembrance and love.

Remember Him.

Love each other.

Fantastic Santa Incentive!

If you haven't been to the Portable North Pole yet, it's time you did my friend. This is the most realistic, personalized, Santa-knows-who-you-are video I've ever seen. You can make your video for a child, teen or adult. For the older kids you can even say if their naughty or nice. You can see the video I set up for my daughter here. It's a riot! How great for little kids too, to see that Santa is out there and knows personal things about them. This actor fits the part perfectly too. The costume, voice ... you name it. They really nailed it. Go make one for someone you care about now: hubby, mother, boyfriend, daughter, cousin, lots of choices here.

The Sock Partay!

Holy hoopla, this has been a busy couple of weeks. Just about every extra minute was spent either making gifts, or shuttling kids out to get their shopping done. And now ... we are kid-free. Weird. We flip holidays with the other parents so this is our 'off' year for Christmas. It's quiet. Weird. But before the children abandoned us we were able to squeeze in some good holiday memories.

Sunday night we went to check out Christmas Utah (aka the Clark Griswold of SLC). It was a riot as always. I can't imagine how long it must take to get all of those lights set up, not to mention choreographing the music and light show to go with it. The kids love it though and it really is amazing to watch the lights dance.Monday was the infamous "Sock Party" at hubby's folks' house. This is always the Monday before Christmas and the whole family comes for dinner, presents and sock stuffing. It's such a fun tradition for everyone. It's a chance for us to all get together and visit and give everyone a little something in their stocking. After dinner we set a big PVC frame over the dining room table and all the families hang their stockings up. Then we get to go around and put little goodies in them. At the end of the shindig, the families scoop up their socks and take them home to check out the loot. The kids are so cute about it. This is one tradition I will definitely carry on with our own family down the road.

Gift Tags Galore!

So apparently my patience level has bottomed out since we're just nine days from Christmas. Instead of going to buy new ink for my printers, I threw a few more designs together and just emailed the file in to Office Max for them to print. They turned out great! The nice bright colors make all the difference. Of course, the photo really doesn't do them justice, these gray days are horrible for lighting.But this time, I've included the file for you. You can download all the tags here. Just print them on white cardstock so they're nice and sturdy. Merry Christmas!

Gift Tags for All

I promise I'm trying my best to keep the projects coming ... it's just been hard to find blocks of time that are 'mine'. I seem to get blindsided by the kids' schedules constantly, then there's dinner and dishes and trying to squeeze in any kind of quality time with hubby. Anywho! I've managed to grab onto a small window tonight and thought I'd finally make these since they've been on my to-do list for way too long.

I started by opening a business card template in my Pages program. I split the card in half with the page rulers and set up a simple graphic image and a text box. I grouped everything together and duplicated it to each space. Quick and easy.Then I made another with a word cloud from Wordle.
Print. Cut. Stack. Clip.

With me so far?

Now, we're going to use either white glue (Elmer's) or padding compound, if you have it. Brush on a generous coat and leave it to dry for about half an hour. Use a heavy-duty hole punch to punch through the stack. If you don't have one that is strong enough, then punch them before you glue them together.There are 20 tags in each nifty pad. These are so great to have on hand with your gift wrapping supplies. My next batch will need to wait until I get more ink for our printer, running a bit low these days.

Photojojo Shop-o-rama

Ooh ... these items are all on my wish list this year! I have loved the projects posted in the Photojojo Newsletter, but visiting their store is a whole new kind of medicine for me. Just look at these great finds!The Fuji Instax Instant Camera, the new polaroid phenom, at just $90.The Bad-Ass Bowler Camera Bag is as sexy as a camera bag gets for only $50.The uber cool Monsterpod that sticks to over 1.000 surfaces and is the ultimate other-worldy tripod for your point and shoot.And then, of course, there's the infamous Photojojo book, chalk full of DIY photo project goodness and ringing in at $22. Yay! Where to start? I'll talk one of each please.

Surprise! Introducing ... Izzy

Drumroll please .....

Meet the latest addition to our family, Isabella (aka Izzy)! Isn't she the cutest? We've been planning this little surprise for the last couple of months and were lucky enough to find the perfect little pooch this week. We went over and met her family on Monday, fell in love with her instantly and purchased her on the spot.After that, it was just a matter of deciding when to bring her home. We had originally planned on December 18th, but had absolutely no will power and didn't want to miss these precious puppy days ... so we chose Black Friday instead. We picked her up around noon today and had a nice car ride to her auntie's house where she was able to meet her cousins and have a nice bath.It only took the short drive home to get her calmed down again and then we placed her in our lovely gift box. We told the kids we had an early holiday present for them and they all lifted the lid together. I don't know what they thought it was going to be, but no one predicted a puppy. I've been pretty adamant about not having a dog in the house.What can I say? She's completely won me over and I'm undone. Can you blame me? Jut look at that face!And she has been absolutely perfect ALL day. She's very affectionate and seems to love all of us. She is right at home in her crate. She hasn't whined or whimpered a bit and has a perfect record on the potty count so far. Yay!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The last few days have been filled with kid-stuffs: football practice, homework projects, deliver meds to school for a migraine, check out from school due to migraine, carpool, a broken filling, dentist appointment for repair of said filling, Halloween plans, Halloween dance plans, trunk or treat plans, violin practice, correct math assignments, follow-up, follow-up, follow-up, laundry, laundry, laundry. Whew!

Hmm, no craft time. No sewing, painting or photography time. Planned projects coming to a full stop. Sad. What to do? Wait it out I suppose. I just need to keep the ideas coming, even if they have to sit on the back burner for now. I should find out within a day or so if I got into the Art Barn Holiday Show, which will be a first for me. I've never even shopped that one. (crossing fingers) Oh! And two of my dear friends Kanani Hayes and Nanette Amis each had a snippit on Studio 5 today, along with a couple other local artists. Check them out!

I Feel A Project Coming On ...

Great vintage photos for a test project. I can't wait to get these printed up to try out my next project. This is another one geared toward family Christmas presents. I'll admit right upfront that this isn't my original idea ... but then, they rarely are. I love to see what other people are doing and then take it my own direction. This one is great if you have old photos from your own family that you can scan and have reprinted.Projects, projects ... I LOVE getting my hands on a new project!

Easy-Peasy and Soothing Too: Heat Pack Tutorial

There's nothing like the reality of getting older combined with new and exciting budget concerns to really get your muscles tied up in knots. I use these microwavable heat packs religiously all year long, but they are especially comforting in the colder months. If you already have one, you know the kind of relief I'm talking about. If you don't ... you're in for a real treat! I made three different heat packs to show you a variety. The actual process is very simple and they make a great gift for that hard-to-shop-for person on your Christmas list.

Materials:
1 new, washed hand towel
20" cotton or nylon webbing
Thread to match
2 1/2 cups rice

1) Cut your hand towel lengthwise so it measures 10" wide.
2) Cut webbing so you have 2 pieces 10" long.
3) Fold towel in half lengthwise, right sides together and pin easing in any difference in length. (the binding edge will be slightly shorter) Stitch twice at 2/8" for extra strength with minimal bulk.4) Tuck one length of webbing to the inside of one of the openings, making sure there are no twists in it. Match up the ends of the webbing with the edge of the fabric. Pin and sew at 5/8" two times. Trim corners.
5) Turn right side out using a blunt chopstick to get the corners square. Now scoop 1/2 cup of rice into the tube and let it fall to the very bottom.
6) Lay the piece out and pin 5" from the bottom securing the rice inside. Stitch here to close the pocket of rice. Add another 1/2 cup of rice and pin 5" from the last segment. Sew. Repeat 3 more times.7) When you reach the last section, turn the fabric inside about 1/2".
8) Tuck both ends of the last webbing piece into this section and pin securely.
9) Stitch twice very close to the edge and you're done!To use: Microwave for 90 seconds to start. Place on neck or back and let the moist heat work its magic. (These are great on your abdomen for cramps too.) If it's not hot enough, heat in 30 second intervals. 2 1/2 - 3 minutes is usually perfect for me, but every microwave is different. DO NOT scorch the rice or you'll never get the smell out. Store in a cool dry place away from food.

Alternate method: Follow steps 1-4 above. Then pin lengthwise 1 1/2" from each side of the tube and 1" from the open end. Stitch to make 3 separate tubes. Pour 3/4 cup of rice into each tube using a funnel. Shake the pack so the rice can fall all the way to the bottom. Once these are all filled, follow steps 7-9 above.Alternate Fabric: These area also great made from polar fleece. Just cut a rectangle measuring 10"x26". Follow all the steps, but make 4 sections 6" long instead.These striped towels from IKEA remind me of candy canes and would be so cute from Christmas. Stay tuned! I'll have another how-to with the remaining towel pieces shortly. Fun!