Christmas Part Two

She absolutely LOVES this dog.
I think she thinks it's real, she was giving out treats to Jet and brought one over
to this guy and put it in his mouth. Seriously, too stickin' adorable!

Christmas Part One

This is from Christmas Eve, Santa was VERY good to Lola!

You can't see in this picture, but presents continued to the left, and behind where I was standing taking the picture too. And to think that Santa agreed to take it easy.

 

Phew, all these gifts are exhausting!
Time for a rest with Daddy.

Christmas Part Two tomorrow.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year.
I wish for each of you that the year to come is filled with peace, love,
kindness, smiles, creativity, health, and laughter.

As a side note, I have not neglected posting about our amazing Christmas Day, I have been quite busy this past week, and promise to post about our Christmas and all the incredibly amazing and thoughtful gifts Lola received this coming week.

Then, hopefully the following week, I will finally get to post her Birthday Party which was back in October. I have a bunch of fantastic tutorials, recipes, and party ideas for you.

Let It Snow

 

This is the window in the living room after we hung the snowflakes on 

Christmas Eve. We are really happy with how it turned out, plus it was so cute when Lola 

discovered the "snow." See the tutorial on how to make snowflakes here.

We hung the flakes with fishing line by threading it loosely through 

the openings in the flakes, and then tied the line around the curtain rod.

 

Best Cookie Ever

These are quite possibly the best cookies I have ever tasted!

My mom made them the other day, following what she thought was 

a recipe, but turns out did't follow the recipe at all and created her own new cookie!! 

They are light, moist, cake-like, not too sweet, and taste almost likea very fluffy shortbread.

Ingredients:

1 package Better Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

1 stick of butter

¼ tsp vanilla extract

1 (8oz)  package room temperature cream cheese

1 egg

Directions:

Combine all ingredients with electric mixer. 

Chill Dough for 2 hours.

Roll walnut size balls of dough in powdered sugar.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350°s for 10-12 minutes.

Dust with powered sugar when cooled.

Pour glass of milk.

Enjoy.

The hardest part about making these cookies is eating only a few!

Christmas Poem

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Santa's Workshop

 Jeff was so excited to have his first late Christmas Eve night toy assembling project.

 Uncle Jim was a big help!

 Uncle Beezer, not so much.

The guys got it done in plenty of time, and it looks fantastic!
She is going to be so surprised!

See the finished project here.

Snowflake Tutorial

I mentioned in an earlier post that we are creating our own white Christmas

this year, and that is no joke. Jeff and I (mostly Jeff because he is amazing) made dozens
of paper snowflakes in a variety of sizes, dusted them with fine glitter (fairy dust I think 
it was called), and will hang them in the windows with fishing line on Christmas Eve
to make it look like it's snowing when Lola wakes up on Christmas Day.
Pictures of the windows here.

Below I have demonstrated how to fold the paper, and cut the snowflakes.

 Start with a square.

Fold in half to make a triangle.

Fold in half again to make smaller triangle.

From the pointed side, fold into thirds.

 This is the hardest part.

After both sides are folded this is what it will look like.

 If you were to open up the last two folds, 

this is where the creases are.

 Cut off the bits that hang over.

 You will be left with a triangle.

Now for the fun and creative part, cut your design.

Cut away more paper than you think that you should, the negative space
is what gives snowflakes their delicate lace-like design making sure that you leave
bits of the edges so that it holds together.

See how I cut most of the paper away?

Unfold, and be amazed by your genius!

For those of you who are nervous about jumping right in and free-handing
your own flakes, I posted a few of the flakes that we made below so that you can get an idea of what to cut away to get different the patterns.

.

Tips to remember when making your own flakes:

Snowflakes are all different, so don't worry about making them the same. Besides I think
a grouping looks best when there is a variety of sizes, shapes, and styles.
Use very sharp small scissors.

Pine Cone Elf

 

I was so excited when I came across these sweet little pine cone elves from this shop.
The seller sells them in sets of three, but  is unfortunately (for us)
on vacation from her shop at the moment.

While I absolutely support buying from crafters and their shops, and encourage you
to do the same... They look simple enough to make yourself (since she is away), and could
be a fantastic follow up (or alternative) to the elf craft in this post from the other day.

Kiddos will have so much fun gathering all the pine cones!!

Which is ALWAYS a fun outdoor activity!

Oh my gosh, how many different ways could we use these little guys??
Ornaments (which is how she suggests)
Attach to gifts as fun little adornments
Wine glass identifiers
In a Christmas village as an alternative to traditional snowmen
Presents for children's friends, or teacher
Attach to a Christmas card as a thoughtful personal touch
Place markers at the Christmas dinner table
Kids can attach them to string, and have a pine cone elf marionette show

I could go on all day!


All the images in this post are from the original shop.