Here’s a tip! To save room in your storage, you can wrap some rope around the tree as you pack it together. We have very little storage room and when we got this tree, it was in a big bag that took up lots of space. Hopefully this way we’ll be able to save a little, and it will be easier to take down next year row by row! I didn’t have any rope or twine handy..so ours got some unused ribbon that was close by!
My parents are both really good at crafts. I enjoy watching them come up with things to make, I guess that is where I get it!
Mom and I saw this little bow and arrow at a Craft fair earlier this year, and knew it would be easy to make! I can do a tutorial if anyone would like. I think it’s my son’s favorite present. He immediately stuck the arrows down the back of his shirt and started shooting them off. I am amazed at 3 how well he does it! He says “look mom!, I’m Robin Hood!” (One of his favorite shows right now) next project is to make him a quiver!
Dad whipped up some little PVC doll furniture as well for my niece. Mom sewed all the fabric stuff. We just don’t have the room right now, although, I think my daughter does need this little bed! I am also digging this one on anna-white.com though. We’ll see!
Stroller for baby dolls, and a chair for the toddler! Dad made these for me and my 3 sisters when we were little too..we had a bunk bed for our dolls though.. future project!
My present are some Card Holders. Mom came up with the plan last Christmas, and dad whipped them out! He had a tall order this year. I’m going to be painting mine! :)
I love my wreath! I’ve been wanting a nice big one for a while. I enjoy my little ones too, but for Christmas I wanted a nice one to put on my door!
These bulbs are round, but flat. I cut the picture and rolled it up. Once it was inside I had to use a tool to flatten it out a little, but it turned out great! The second ornament..well, it was actually a toy that I screwed and eye ring into the top of. I wrote my son’s name and 2010. This was his year for Toy Story for sure!!
Baking and making goodies!
Truffles and Spumoni cookies among other yummies!
The kids, mostly my son, enjoyed pulling the presents in and out over and over all day long. When my husband told him to open them, he looked at me with a funny look and shook his head and said “nooooo, we don’t open presents till Christmas time!” hehe.
J got his PS3 wheel as a Birthday/Christmas present. He built the little table himself and has been having a blast!
…for this year..and to start in future years! I will likely add more or change things up in the future, but I want to document so I remember them! :)
Leading up to Christmas:
Advent Calendars
Elf on the Shelf
Treat plates delivered to friends (and caroling w/it when the kids are older), a night to go look at Christmas lights and open pj’s that night so they can enjoy them through the Christmas holiday.
Christmas Eve
Chinese dinner! (I forgot my camera though) J’s family tradition, my families was a fish fry w/french fries (Fish and chips..is what the Savior ate) But they have fish and fries at the Chinese Restaurant..so it’s a total WIN WIN!
Christmas Eve watch “Joy to the World” or read Luke 2. Have a Birthday cake and maybe sing Happy Birthday to Jesus while the kids are younger.
Christmas morning:
All go into the Christmas tree together singing “Here we go in to the Christmas Tree, the Christmas Tree, the Christmas Tree. Oh here we go into the Christmas Tree so early Christmas morning!”
IN OUR PAJAMAS!! (Very important.. ‘cause growing up, I always had to be dressed for the day before we got to go down to the tree!)
Cinnamon Rolls!
WHAT ARE YOUR TRADITIONS??!!!
Chili Blanco (White Chili)
*Saute in a big pot:
1 TB. Oil
1 onion, diced
6 Garlic cloves diced
*add:
2-3 cans (15oz) White Beans
6-8 C. Chicken Broth (6 if you want the chili chunkier..8 for creamier)
*Simmer for at least 1/2 hour
*Add before serving:
1 can (4oz) diced green chilies
4 tsp. Cumin
2 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
4 C. Chicken, cooked and shredded
1 C. (8 oz) Sour Cream
2-3 C. Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (mozzarella works fine as well)
*Stir until cheese and sour cream are melted completely.
*Serve w/corn bread or tortilla chips.
*This is mildly spicy, I suppose if you want more spice you can add more green chilies or Cayenne Pepper!
* Enjoy! YUM YUM!!
I guess that is what I will call it! So, I have a couple friends that do this “Project 365” where they take a picture every day. One a day, every day for the whole year. They upload them weekly to their blog. CUTE pics..anything from kids, husband, good hair day, home, sports, activities..anything! I enjoy looking at them..the poses, etc..and hope to one day be a much better photographer myself, but that is not what I am doing! I have decided on a different twist…
SO, MY GOAL in this “Project 5/52” is to create 1 Digital Scrapbook page/day -5 days a week for 52 weeks (@least)! Only 5 days because I need to give myself a day or two leeway in case I am too busy..I’m not just snapping a quick picture.. this will take a little more time. But I can also do 2 or 3 in a day and get ahead too! I will upload them once a week to my blog. I hope I can keep it up. Then, by the end of one year I will have 250 pages of my scrapbook done and ready for printing! I have been married about 4 1/2 years and am WAY behind... about 2 kids worth! I probably won’t be doing the pages in any order..I’ll jump around a bit. Hopefully I’ll get it all caught up in a year!! So, here it goes.. Wish me luck!
I use Adobe Photoshop for creating, and I think I will be using Blurb.com for printing. There are tons of digital scrapbook papers and embellishments that can be found online, many in kits and MANY for free..here are a few of the new (new to me) sites I have found that I love! The Blog Trains are FANTASTIC and FREE!! You just have to visit a number of blogs and download a portion of the kit from each, but by the end you have a HUGE kit that is color and theme coordinating. Or, if you choose and LOVE a kit enough, you can buy them too.
If you don’t know where to get started..jump on this journey with me, and I can answer any—well most-okay, some questions you have. I’m not a pro at Photoshop either, there is a LOT to learn, but I am excited about it! Lets learn together!
If you know of any other GREAT digital scrapbooking sites, please share in the comments!
WEEK 1
*Step one would be to decide what size you want to make your book. What printer company you want to use and what size books they have available/what cost you want to spend. I think I’ll be doing mine a 12x12 Hardbound.
*As you create your pages, make sure you give yourself about 1/2 inch on the side of the page that will be tucked into the book for binding.
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Trying to decide if you want to switch?
My Pros vs. Cons:
I LOVE to paper scrapbook. It gives me a chance to get out of the house and have fun with friends, some “me time” and that is why I have not switched before. But I have come to realize, time and money are not always available and that is why I am not keeping caught up. Also, storage SPACE is an issue, with all the other crafting I like to do as well. So, this is all contained on a {little} external hard drive that I have. It’s fabulous! AND it’s cheaper (after your initial purchase of Photoshop, and the occasional printing of your book) since I won’t be having to buy all the paper and embellishments and machines, etc.. Although I know from time to time I’ll still be pulling out the paper-I’m still not ready to give it up completely. I do like the look of paper scrapping better, the 3D and all, but that too takes more space, besides w/digital, the paper and colors are endless because you can adjust them to whatever you wish! Also, you can {fit more}pics on a page as you can just adjust the size and crop to whatever you want..not just your 4x6 or 5x7 or 3.5x5. Besides, my lappy is portable, I can still go to my friends/or have people over to sit and scrapbook together!
