One More Gift…

Yesterday’s Answer: “Fleas Navidad!”

(You’re all probably glad those are done!)

I hope everyone enjoyed their day yesterday. Here’s one more Christmas gift that we made this year. Sarah loves Tinkerbell, and what better way to show than with a quilt?! I bet Erik will love it, too; it’s very girly. I must say, I’m pretty impressed with how well the squares all match up! This year was all about the appliqué, apparently… This one was harder than mom’s because the background is darker. Tink was looking kind of blue before the couple of extra layers! I love the color combinations. I hope she does too!

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday’s Answer: Ribbon Hood!

I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas today. Hopefully Santa brought you what was on your list and you get to enjoy the day with your families. Remember, we may be miles apart, but you're forever in our hearts!

Today’s Joke: How does a Chihuahua say “Merry Christmas?”

Another Quilt

Yesterday’s Answer: A point-setter!

(I’m posting this because it is kind of hard to hide things from each other, so she kind of already knows what it looks like. Oh well. She’ll still enjoy it!)

Each of the blocks is a different pattern from the Quilter’s Cache website, which has a ton of quilt blocks and all of the directions needed to make them. I knew that I wanted them to be 12x12 squares, so I looked at those first. Then I realized there were different block patterns for each state. After this summer’s epic road trip, I knew I would use the ones from the states that we visited. I used the same fabrics from other projects (the chair covers and cushions, tree skirt and stockings, and the aprons). I think it looks adorable!

Today’s Joke: What do you call an elf that steals gift wrap?

Everyone's Getting Ready!

Yesterday’s Answer: Claus-trophobic!

It’s the day before Christmas Eve and Mrs. Claus has been busy getting Santa’s suit ready for the big night!

If you remember, we previously made a baby clothes line card and thought it came out great! So we decided to hang Santa’s clothes up for our Christmas cards this year. All of the pieces were cut with the Cricut. We added some dimension with paint for the fur trim. Dawn perfected the bows to tie the clothesline to the candy canes and the clothes were ready to hang. We had some mini clothespins in our stash of embellishments and wanted to get rid of them, so we broke them in half (less weight that way to send) and glued them on. Santa’s all set to go! Even his bag is packed and ready on the inside of the card!

Today’s Joke: What do you get when you breed a Pointer with an Irish Setter?

Welcome Winter!

Yesterday’s Answer: Crisp Kringle!

Happy First Day of Winter! We don’t really like winter around here. There’s too much snow. And shoveling. And cold. But what can you do? It is a great time to do some crafting! Here’s today’s project. It’s a banner that reads “Welcome Winter.” After making the fall one earlier, I knew there would be more of them. It looks perfect hanging up in the dining room in all of its winter wonderland glory! (See more pictures of the dining room on the post from the 14^th.)

Today’s Joke: What do you call someone who is afraid of Santa?

An Early Christmas Gift

Yesterday’s Answer: Silent Night!

Today’s project is the quilt we worked on for our mom. It’s kind of become a tradition over the last few years to make her a Christmas quilt. We actually gave it to her a little early so she could enjoy it and show it off, instead of packing it away with all of the other Christmas decorations. Back in 2009, we made one with our family members as snowmen. (It was actually the very first one we made.) This year, we decided to make everyone again but this time they look like people! We used the “Paper Doll Dress Up” Cricut cartridge to make the appliqués. After cutting everything out, we sewed it all onto the white background. We had some of the green holly print fabric leftover from other decorations over the years (some of the earlier posts have it in there too). It brings the room together nicely. The pictures aren't that great, but they get the point across!

And here’s a picture of the snowman quilt:

Today’s Joke: What do you get if Santa goes down a lit chimney?

There's Magic in Believing!

Yesterday’s Answer: Short bread!

Here’s another scrapbook layout in our finally finished holiday scrapbooks. I love the color combination on this page. It isn’t very Christmas-y, but I think that they work together quite well. I think Santa’s white coat and hat make him look sophisticated. It’s amazing how different the same thing can look when you change just the color.

Today’s Joke: What is a parent’s favorite Christmas carol?

Quick Shadowbox Gift

Yesterday’s Answer: Elf-is Presley!

Here is a quick gift we made for our aunt. She’s an avid sewer and quilter, so we didn’t want to make her anything with fabric! (Didn’t want her to critique it too much!!) So we did the next best thing. We made her a scrapbook page to hang up in her craft room. It was really simple and quick to put together. The hardest part was putting the words in the best fitting spots. I hope she enjoys it!

Today’s Joke: What is an elf’s favorite cookie?

No Peeking!!

Yesterday’s Answer: He was a rain-deer!

This is my second-favorite page I finished. Not by much, though! I had a different image of how I wanted this page to look, but I saw something similar to this set-up, and wanted to use it. On the left side, with the presents, the little elf pops out of her box. The other page has a new technique I learned the other day! I was trying to make a paper bow, and I found directions on how to make an origami bow. These are so cool and, after some time, it became super easy!! I can’t wait to make some more!!

Today’s Joke: Who is an elf’s favorite singer?

2011 Ornaments

Yesterdays Answer: Mini vans!

A few years ago, we started using ornaments as gift tags. They are so much better because tags usually get thrown away and this way, the receiver needs to keep it! One year we used inks to paint them, and last year we used a ton of glitter to fill them. This year, we wanted to make snowmen. We used the same glitter technique as last year, but didn’t need nearly as much since we were going to paint over parts anyway. After letting the glue and glitter dry, we replaced the tops and added the snowmen’s facial features and pipe-cleaner ear muffs. Finally, we used glitter paint to add the year on the back. This is definitely a great project to let kids help with, especially the glitter part!

(It's kind of dark, but I hope you can see it still.)

Today’s Joke: Why was the deer wet?

Santa's Workshop layout

Yesterday’s Answer: “Mooo-ey Christmas!”

This is one of my favorite scrapbook page layout. I absolutely love how it came out. There are spots for 3 small pictures (you get to look right into Santa’s shop!) Behind the door is an area for some journaling. I don’t know how other families decorate for Christmas, but around here, it definitely feels like a workshop!

Today’s Joke: What kind of cars do elves drive?

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Yesterday’s Answer: An ice cap!

I just love these Cricut paper doll characters and wanted to make something with them, so here are two table runners we made. (There are some other projects we’ll share over the next few weeks with them, too.) I’m glad I tried the fabric technique with the Cricut again. It makes appliqués so much more fun and personalized! Mom thinks that the kitchen needs more “Christmas spirit,” i.e. less gingerbread and more Santa, so there’s your Santa, mom.

Today’s Joke: What did one cow say to the other on Christmas?

Dining Decor

Yesterday’s Answer: No woman wears the same outfit every year!

Today’s projects are a few weeks in the making. It took a while to get it right, but I think we did. It’s our “Winter Wonderland” dining room décor and tablescape. The room is usually pretty dark, since it has brown paneling, and kind of gets forgotten. We put whatever doesn’t have a spot anywhere else in here. Well, not this year! It definitely needed some brightening up, and what better way than with silver, whites, and blue?! The tablecloth and curtains were some cheap twin-sized sheets that we repurposed for the room. Then we threw on a white lacy cloth to add some white (and to hide some of the wrinkles we couldn’t get totally ironed out!) Next, we got some ornaments in our color scheme to put all around. They make great decorations on and off a Christmas tree! Then to bring outside in, I spray painted some small sticks silver to use in the ornaments. Finally, we threw some bright white, almost blue, icicle lights up for the final touches. Hope you enjoy it!

Today’s Joke: What kind of hat does a snowman wear?

Merry & Bright Layout

Yesterday’s Answer: Frosted Flakes!

Here is another scrapbook layout I finished. I’m just glad that I am actually going to finish it soon! (Cross my fingers!!) The title of this page is “Merry & Bright”, so the page just had to have bright colors on it! I love these four colors together. The ribbon in the background on the right-hand page has all of the colors in it, which was the inspiration for the rest of it. The flourish in the corner was the finishing touch, and it fit perfectly in the corner. The picture will fit nicely underneath it, too!

Today’s Joke: How do you know Santa is a man?

Another Christmas Tree

Yesterday’s Answer: Grave-y!

We’ve celebrated the “12 Days of Christmas” with each other for the last few years. Well, since we are both currently unemployed, we decided that we would make gifts for each other with things found around the house. So with the leftover fabric scraps from other projects, I made this mini tree skirt for a small tree. It matches quite well with the kitchen décor this year. We only had this small black tree to decorate, but I think that the ornament colors brighten it up. Nothing like adding some sparkle to cheer things up!

Today’s Joke: What does a snowman eat for breakfast?

Two Cards, One Layout

Yesterday’s Answer: The elf-abet!

Today’s projects are two easy cards. They actually have (just about) the same layout, but have very different looks to them. One of them is a birthday card for a friend of our mom, and the other is a thank you card for an early Christmas present. The birthday card has a small, matching cupcake on the front. Sounds kind of silly, but I’m really happy with how the bow came out- it was the first one I made “correctly”! After that, I had to make some more of them, and luckily we had another reason to. The gingerbread card is the thank-you. I based my colors off the background paper, and after a bit of effort, I finally came up with paper patterns that I liked, and could work with.  The gift was a Christmas ornament from our Aunt. It went right up on our kitchen wreath!

Today’s Joke: What do vampires put on their Christmas roast?

Warm Winter Wishes

Yesterday’s Answer: Camel Ye Faithful!

Today’s project is another quick winter card. It was a simple card to make- squares and rectangles. The four squares pop out of the card. A few layers were put together to make it 3D-ish. The snowflake in the corner is hand-stitched in purple thread and has a jewel in the center. The card says “Warm Winter Wishes” and has three more little gems, in purple. You can’t go wrong with gems and jewels!  The envelope has a simple stamp- a little cup of hot cocoa, which is the best way to stay warm! It will be a good way to spend this weekend, which is supposed to be chilly!

Today’s Joke: What is the first thing elves learn in school?

*Merry & Bright*

Yesterday's Answer: Frostbite!

Today’s post is another holiday card. This is one of my favorites. We got the light brads a few years back and I had all these ideas for how to use them, but never got around to it. This time, I did! So, needless to say, the lights are all brads. There is a little jingle bell in the middle of the bow, too. I decided to use white ribbon because all of the paper was kind of dark, in my opinion. I was going to write something on the front, but decided against it because I thought it wouldn’t look good on the dark red. So, instead, the inside says, “May your holidays be merry and bright!” The envelope has a string on lights along the flap, to go along with the design.

Today's Joke: What is the most popular carol in the desert?

Season's Eatings

Yesterday's Answer: So he can ho-ho-ho!

Here is the last gingerbread project we have, for now. This is a cute card we made with some scraps. The gingerbread couple is the same one as the scrapbook page, except that these are a little under-done! They, too, have white ‘icing’ and brad buttons. And, of course, big smiles! The border strip has candy canes on it. The greeting on the front is “Season’s Eatings!” and the inside was left blank.

Today's Joke: What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?

Baking Spirits Bright!

Yesterday's Answer: It's "ice" to meet you!

Continuing on with our theme! Here is another page in my holiday album. It, of course, has gingerbread on it! So far, this might be my favorite! It’s just so cute! The title of the page is “Baking Spirits Bright”, since we do so much holiday baking, and everyone seems to enjoy it when we do! There are two little gingerbread cookies in the corner, complete with browned edges and icing! The star above them is a cookie cutter embellishment. On the second page, I’m going to add a recipe card, but I haven’t decided on which one yet!

Today's Joke: Why does Santa have three gardens?

Quick Kitchen Projects

Yesterday's Answer: A penguin!

Today’s post has two projects in it. They were both super-quick to do. The first one is our kitchen table’s centerpiece, surrounded by our gingerbread shakers. All we needed to get were candy canes, and luckily they were on sale! We had everything else at home already. We used a coffee can and the flowers I had made sometime earlier. The ornaments are a nice touch, too. The second project is a wreath we threw together in like 10 minutes. We wanted to have a little tree in the kitchen, but figured a wreath took up less room (obviously). It has all of our kitchen ornaments on it. We wanted to make a different wreath, but couldn’t find all of our Christmas cookie cutters. We have a mixer, some cookies, and snowmen bakers on it. The bottom ornament has three gingerbread people holding up a rolling pin that says “Christmas is Cooking”. It’s a nice, quick touch to add to the kitchen.

Today's Joke: How do snowmen greet each other?

Kitchen Decor

Yesterday's Answer: Santa Paws

The next few posts this week all have a theme. I’m pretty sure it’ll be easy to tell. Today’s project shows off our kitchen decorations. Since Mom gave us reign over the kitchen, we thought it would be fitting to put two of our favorite hobbies together. So, we decorated it like a gingerbread house!! Robyn found fabric that is absolutely adorable and started making kitchen accessories with it. Some of them may show up in pictures, but it’s not all finished yet.  There are quite a few pictures in this post. The brown cabinets actually worked well, with their frosting and candy borders. The gingerbread house on the refrigerator is hand-made. We weren’t sure where we were going to use it when we first made it, but it found its home for the season. Each cabinet and drawer handle has its own candy canes, too. The wall says “Baking spirits bright”, since that’s what you do in the kitchen! The third picture is of the table. The pink curtains are certainly different in the kitchen! And the wreath from Thanksgiving works nicely on the door. It’s kind of hard to tell, but on the closest chair, there is a cushion that Robyn made with the gingerbread fabric. There are more, just not in the picture! The last picture is of the chair cover she made. It is a textured bright pink fabric with the gingerbread fabric for the tie! We have to add a few more touches, but it looks so cute!

Today's Joke: What kind of bird can write?

Oh, Christmas Tree

Yesterday’s Answer: Lost
I have been working on this album for some time now, and my goal is to get it finished by the end of the year! It’s an 8”x8” album, with more than enough pages! I keep adding more to it! Here is a layout from it. There are spaces for two pictures, along with a pocket for a journaling tag. And what is a page for a Christmas tree without a tree on it?! The other picture is our tree this year. The picture doesn't do it justice. Mom always makes it look nice- she's such a good tree-decorator!!

Today’s Joke: Who brings cats’ gifts on Christmas?

Deck the Halls

Yesterday’s Answer: ‘Jungle’ Bells

Here is another decoration we made for the stairs. I promise, it’s the last one! You can only put so much on a staircase!! This is probably my favorite part of it all. The wall says “Deck the Halls” and then underneath it, we added “Fa La La”. All together, I think it looks adorable and puts a smile on my face when I look at the stairs. It really gets me in the holiday mood. Maybe because whenever I come down the stairs, I expect something more in the living room, since Mom always seems to be adding something new to it! Here are a few pictures of it.

Today’s Joke: What are chickens called at the North Pole?

12 Stairs of Christmas

Yesterday’s Answer: A ‘jolly’ roll
Today’s project can be seen in the background of yesterday’s post. We added some holiday cheer to the long-forgotten staircase. We decided to use the lyrics to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” to decorate. We’ve been singing the song every time we go up the stairs. Hopefully that urge will end soon…  Interesting fact- if you were to buy all twelve gifts today, it would be over $100,000.

Today’s Joke: What’s a monkey’s favorite carol?

Christmas Countdown

Another month has come to an end, and now it’s time to get busy on our holiday crafting! What better way to start December than with a Countdown to Christmas?! This is our version of an Advent calendar. It might be a little hard to see the details on the stockings. There are twenty-five, one for each day until Christmas. The stockings all have a joke in them. (Really bad jokes J, but we get a laugh out of how bad they are!)

Today’s Joke: What does Santa get from the doughnut shop? We’ll post the answer tomorrow!