Looking Forward To...

I can't believe Christmas Eve is tomorrow.  I'm so looking forward to it! I can't wait to have some time off and spend it with family.

Here are a few things I'm excited about this Christmas.

1. Exchanging gifts with family and friends. 

2.  Listening to THIS song lots. 

3. Making Christmas cookies

4. Making Chai Eggnog Lattes.  (All you do is mix one part milk with one part eggnog and then add chai powder...it's SOOO yummy!)

5. Spending time with family

6. Eating lots of tasty things on Christmas Eve. ( We've started a tradition where we all bring an appetizer and the whole table is covered with yummy treats.  Cheese, summer sausage and crackers, spinach dip, fruit dip and fruit, cookies, cake, and of course eggnog ) Maybe I'll try this recipe for edamame-tomato bruschetta...looks tasty and the colors are perfect!

7. Having a sleepover at my parents and waking up to an amazing breakfast.

 BUT>>>>>>>> Let us not forget who came to earth as a babe.  Who came so that we might live!  Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice!

Hope you all have an amazing break with your families!

Love.

blog.dormify.com,

frenchblue-frenchblue.blogspot.com,

mhpstrong.com,

http://www.rodale.com/easy-party-appetizers, 

archive.blisstree.com

Bedroom Makeover

My Christmas present this year from Justin is a bedroom makeover!  I'm so excited. I get to spruce up a few things.  I've had some ideas since we moved in but haven't done them yet. I think our room kinda got the left-over look. I can't complain...it's a beautiful room, but I'd love for it to have a little more cohesion.  I can't wait to get started!

I want to make a tufted headboard.  My friend Jenny (check out her blog!) sent me this link on how to make one!  It doesn't look TOOOO hard and it's fairly cheap...at least compared to buying a new one!

Here's the link.

I might chicken out and just get a simple normal bed...but I think I'm up for another project=)  I like the shape of the one on bottom better than the home-made one. I guess I'd draw up my own pattern. Lots of work, but seems worth it!

I also really like these horizontal striped curtains. They are so bold and fun.

...and some simple night stands

 Isn't this room fun?!  It's so put together.  I don't know if I could do it. I am way too eclectic. I do like how they used different shades of color though. It all goes, but isn't too matchy-matchy.


Have a good day!

Vintage Christmas Cards

Can you believe Christmas is just around the corner??  It seems like it has flown by this year.  Every year goes faster and faster...it's crazy!  It seems like you put up your tree and take it down a day later.  

I came across these vintage pieces of Christmas art that I wanted to share.  Aren't they fun?

DIY Advent Calendars

I was thinking about making a fun advent calendar for Christmas.  I probably won't until we have kiddos in the house, but this one caught my eye. It's so fun!  I remember having one when we were little.  There were a bunch of really small little gifts individually wrapped, one on each day.  It was the most fun thing ever!  The anticipation was so hard to bear!  I remember asking multiple times in a day if I had already opened the one for that day or if I had to wait for the morning.  It was THE FIRST thing I wanted to do when I woke up.

Gifts were never a huge thing in our home. I think the advent calendar was a gift from someone to us kids, but it sure was fun.  My parents wanted us to always remember what Christmas was all about.  I am so thankful for them and the things they taught us...and are still teaching us. 

I do love though how gifts are a way for us to show others how much we love them.  After all, Christ coming to earth was in itself, LOVE.  It is so much fun to be able to bless others with a little gift representing love.

Unique Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas

With all the craziness of Christmas, I never want to look past the most amazing gift of all.  Jesus born in a manger.  God becoming man.  How incredible is that!  I was thinking about it today and was blown away at how amazing a gift that is.  We are truly blessed to have a God who loves us.  So much that he would send his son into this world to die for us. 

Mini Apple Pies

There's nothing quite like the smell of an apple pie baking in the oven in your home. It's so festive.  I love how warm and cozy the house feels when there's something yummy baking in the oven.  Maybe that's because my mom is the master cook=)  Around the holidays especially, she always had something yummy filling the home with an amazing aroma. 

She taught me how to freeze apple pie filling so that all you have to do when you're ready to make one is make the crust and plop it in!  It's an amazing trick and a huge time saver.

All you do is make up your apple pie filling.  Put it in a freezer bag, put it in a pie pan and pat down the apples.  Then you just freeze the filling in the pan and when it has frozen, take the pan out of the freezer, keeping the filling in the freezer. It's as easy as that! 

I decided since there are only two of us, I should make some mini ones.  I used the same technique but just put the filling in a large cupcake pan.  They looked like this.

 Just make up the crust, roll it out so it's big enough to fold over the top of the apple filling.  Mine didn't turn out too pretty, but if you took a little more time, they would be really cute!

Bake at 350 until the crust is golden brown and apples are done. Enjoy!

Cornish Hen's a Roastin'...

One the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...two Cornish Hens.  I finally made the cornish hens that we bought for thanksgiving.  I guess they were our Thanksmas dinner.  Things get so crazy around the holidays anyway, so it was kinda nice to have a fancy meal in between it all. 

Look at the beauts=) I will have to admit, I was kinda proud of them...and a little grossed out at the same time.  The whole ENTIRE bird thing kinda weirded me out.

Clever Ways to Organize

I'm not the greatest at organizing. I'm getting better, but still have a ways to go.  I came across these really fun ways to organize.  I love the drawer with the cute porcelain plates.  I have a few of those that I have collected over the years.  I may have to give it a try.  The only thing is that they're hidden I guess, but they make for a pretty little surprise every time you open your drawer! 

 

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colored doors

A lot of rooms in our home are neutral colors.  I've been thinking it could be really fun to paint some doors a fun color.  I don't know though.  It seems a bit risky.  I'd have to be really sure of the color.  That's always the hard part. It would only take a quart though, so it wouldn't cost much if I wanted to change it.  Hmmmm....

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Hope you enjoy the snow today! 

Kendra

DIY Paper Flowers

Happy Monday to you all!  It's so crazy to me that it's December!  Time sure does fly.  This is such a sweet time of year. I love how many gatherings there are in December.  Craft parties, birthday parties, appetizer parties, white elephant parties, hot chocolate parties...and then all the festivities of Christmas.

I was thinking today how thankful I am for all the people in our life. We are truly blessed. I have been asking God to show me how to focus on the blessings in life.  The things HE has done for me, and not always wish I had something that I don't. It's amazing how my perspective changes when I do.  God is a good God.

I went to a baby shower recently and the room was filled with some really amazing women who are big parts of my life.  I am so thankful for friends.  I was asked to make some decor for the shower.  She is having a boy, so I made some blue, yellow, brown, and turquoise paper flowers. They were so much fun to make and I was honored to be a part of the shower.

They are so simple to make.  All you need is some fun scrapbooking paper, tissue, and some hot glue.

All you do is cut out some flower shapes and glue the tips together of each petal to make them 3-D.  They can be made in a million different ways, so just have fun with it!

Here are the boquets I made...

Eclectic yet put together

It's been a while since I've posted some of my design likes. These are all so fun because they are put together, but yet are not entirely matchy-matchy. I sometimes have trouble knowing how to put my crazy eclecticness into an orderly fashion.  I love these bold colors and statements.

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Oh Christmas Tree...

I thought I'd share our Christmas Decor with you today.  I love looking at other people's too. It's so fun and cheery!  We have two trees this year, a white one in the dining room and a green one in the living room. I love Christmas lights and I think by the time the season is over, I'll have some in every room of the house. They are just so pretty!

Hope you enjoy...

Happy Birthday

I am so thankful for my husband.  God has blessed me so much by giving me such an amazing man.  It's not perfect.  It's not always easy.  But I am so grateful for a man who loves the Lord and loves me. I am so glad that God matched us up.

You constantly challenge me and encourage me.  Thanks for being such an amazing part of my life.

Thanks for being there for me=)

Setting up the Tree

Did anyone else set up their tree on Thanksgiving night??  I was giddy about it. As soon as we got home, we pulled out our tree from the attic, got out our Christmas box, turned on the Christmas music, made some hot chai tea and went to work.  My sisters came over to help, which made it lots of fun=) 

I was looking at some fun Christmas decor the other day and found these really neat ideas.  I love this first one!  I have some antlers that my father in law just gave me. I'm so excited to hang them up.  I want to hand ornaments from them like this...

here

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Hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Baby Clothing: My current project

I hope you all had a great weekend.  We had a really good time with lots of family.  We are so blessed. I never got around to making our own Thanksgiving meal.  I guess I can always make another night special though.  There was just too much food already!

I'm so excited to be a part of a friend's new shop.  I can't wait to share details with you soon...as soon as she has everything in place. I have been making lots of fun projects for it. I love making children's clothing, and that's what I've been working on over the past few weeks.

Here is my mess of a sewing room and some color combo's I've chosen so far for some outfits.  I'm excited to share more soon.

Pumpkin Desserts: Post Three

I forget how much I like pumpkin until thanksgiving rolls around.  Why do we only make things with pumpkin then?  I decided that I want to make pumpkin muffins year round. I just made this recipe last night and they are soooo yummy! They are called Pumkin Cream Cheese Streussel Muffins.  The name says it all!

They are really fun to make and don't take too long.  There are a few ingredients, but oh so worth it. I kinda like when recipes have lots of ingredients...it makes me feel like a good cook=) 

I want to make a pumpkin pie for tomorrow too.  This one looks tasty.

I'm so excited to spend time with family.  We are so blessed and so thankful.  I'm thankful for amazing parents, my siblings, my in-laws, my sisters and brother-in-law.  My husband, who supports me and encourages me. Our home. Food on the table every day. Clean running water. My job. Being able to do what I love.

Most of all, I'm thankful for the freedom we have in Christ. I'm thankful that God sent his son to die for our sins.  He is the reason we live.  He is life.  He is love. 

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving this year. See you on Monday.

Thanksgiving for Two: Post Two

We are so blessed to have our families live so close to us.  So many people have to travel/choose who they get to see on holidays.  We get to see both sides.  I'm so thankful for that. I haven't yet cooked our own Thanksgiving meal since we've been married.  We are still going to eat meals with our families, but I thought this year it was time to make one of our own too... YES...we will be eating lots.

Thanksgiving Week: Post 1

Thanksgiving is coming so soon!  I can't believe it. I thought this week I would look for some inspirations for decor, food and fun.  Here are some really cute Fall/Thanksgiving decor I liked.

This week

This week has been pretty cold. I'm not a fan of really cold weather...but I do love the things that go along with it. I love snuggling by the fire.  Drinking hot drinks. Watching movies. Playing games. Baking. Thanksgiving and Christmas!  I can't believe Thanksgiving is in less than a week and Christmas in a month! 

This week we set up one of our christmas trees.  We got a little white one for our dining room or bedroom (haven't decided yet). We set it up a few days ago but we're not decorating it until after Thanksgiving.  I got so excited when we put it up!  I love the lights. We've been burning the fire lots too.  It's so cozy. We are so thankful to have one this year!  We sat and drank hot Chai a few nights ago and watched a movie.  It was so much fun. 

What do you like doing this time of year?

Hope you all have a great weekend. Be thankful!  There's always something we have to be thankful for.  God is so good.

Home Made Coasters

Wanted to share this fun and simple craft with you...decoupage coasters! 

Here's what you'll need:

1. Tiles ( you can get these at home depot for 16 cents a tile!)
2. Modge Podge
3. A paint brush
4. Magazines for cut-outs
5. A can of clear sealing spray paint. (  I found one at Wal-Mart.  It says for decoupage on the back)
6. Friends to make them with!

First, decide what you want on your coaster. Then spread a layer of modge podge over the coaster with your paint brush and place your image on top.  Then, spread another layer of modge podge over your image to seal it in.  Let it dry.  When they are all dry, spray a layer of clear sealing spray on top...and wala!

Here's how mine turned out. I wish I would have taken a picture of everybody's because they were all so neat.

Gift Wrapping: Sparkle and Fluff

This month is full of birthdays in our family.  My mom's is the 1st, sister's is the 2nd, baby sis's the 14th and Justin's is coming up on the 30th! One packed month!  I love it though because it gets us all together and we get to enjoy a delish meal made by my momma.  She is such a great cook!  Baby sis just turned 13 and requested bbq chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, irish soda bread and ice cream sundaes for dessert!  Mmmm so good. 

Since it is birthday month, I thought I share some wrapping ideas with you.

Wall Art: Vintage painting with Text

Here's the finished product!  I had so much fun making these two pieces of art. I've had the matching floral paintings for a long time, but never really liked them the way they were. I loved the frames though!  So, I decided to give them a makeover.  I haven't painted in a long time. I didn't know how much I missed it! It was so relaxing.

This past weekend, Justin went hunting and I got really motivated to hang up a bunch of things at our house.  I always think he should do it (because I usually put way too many holes in the wall)...but I think I did ok this time.  I just went for it. Now we FINALLY have stuff hung up. I just had to get over my intimidation of more wall space, and just decide already!

I put these two on either side of our dining room window. Trying to figure out if I should paint the frames a fun color?  I like the antique look they have, but a fun bold color would be fun too.

To make one yourself...

*First, simply stencil or free hand your text on an old painting with a pencil
*Next, pick a color of paint and start painting around the outline of your text, to leave only the text  showing!
*Lastly...hang and enjoy!

Its Monday...

Some Mondays are hard for me.  I just have to wrap my mind around the weekend being over.  Anyone else have this problem?  I'd love for the weekends to be five days long and the week to be two.  But that's not life =)  I have to remember that I have lots to be thankful for though. 

I got lots done this weekend and had so much fun hanging out with people I love. We had a girl craft night at our house Saturday that was so much fun. The entire living room floor was covered in magazine cut-outs.  We made decoupage coasters.  You can get the tiles at Home Depot for 16 cents a tile.  A really cheap craft!

Here's the crazy mess we made. I'll share pics of the tiles soon.

Hope you have a good Monday...even though it's Monday=)