Christmas Eve

First an update on my Christmas card wall:

On Christmas Eve, Sweetheart and I did what we have done for the last 10 years.   We went to Christmas Eve mass and then went to eat Chinese food at Flo's Asian Kitchen:

On Christmas morning, we headed to Tucson very early and opened gifts with my family and then we fixed a big breakfast.     When it was time to drive back to Phoenix, my niece decided she was coming back with us....so she did:

She loves hanging out in our backyard.  We had some lemons and grapefruits that were ready for picking and she loves helping with that.   It's one of her favorite things.  That and going to our neighborhood park:

She likes to re-arrange my furniture so she can watch Teen Titans or Moana or Brave or Beauty and the Beast in comfort:

And she loves that Tio Miguel gives her surprises: 

And this kid LOVES rocks so he got her a gem digging project which she had the best time breaking into:

I made a big pot of posole on Christmas Eve so we've been feasting on that pretty much all week:

Needless to say, my plan to get a million things done this week didn't quite work out as I planned.   But spending time with the little girl was so worth it!

Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas!   It comes along so quickly and then at the blink of an eye it's done.    We put our tree up Thanksgiving weekend after our guest left so I've been able to enjoy this for a full month.   And still, it's not long enough.  I would keep it up year round if it was socially acceptable.

A colleague of mine was selling Yankee candles for her son's football fundraiser and I bought some of the Balsam & Cedar candles.   They smell amazing and make my living room smell like we have a fresh cut tree:

Sometimes a throw, a pillow and some jingle bells are all I need to make a festive statement:

And mini wreaths.  Because how can you go wrong with a wreath?

This is one of my favorite spots.   When I sit and drink my hot tea in the mornings I admire this area. It makes me feel grown up and stuff.

Don't you love how sometimes you don't feel the creativity flowing and you throw mini ornaments into a bowl and then people are all "wow, so pretty!"....

This nutcracker is one of my fav's:

See the bow?  I made that.  I went on youtube and searched for how to make a bow and viola!

The ONLY time of the year I get excited to see the U.S. Mail is when I know there's a possibility that I can add to my Christmas card wall:

There's that mirror that just roams from room to room until I find a good place to put it.  I think it adds a nice touch to the tree here.   And see the blocks that should spell out "Christmas"?  My four-year old niece was here for a four-day visit and she "fixed the blocks for me".   Perfect.

Merry Christmas!  Be blessed and safe!

I'm on vacation for the next 10 days and I have a HUGE list of things to do.

Wish me luck!  

Christmas Cards 2017

Introducing my 2017 Christmas Card!  I am well aware of my delusions of grandeur about how anyone shares my excitement over this card.   But it was not easy getting to this year's card.   This year I dabbled in embossing which is a very cool technique involving ink, powder and a heat source.  It's also a very acquired technique.  It took months of practice to get it just right.   The end result was pretty and simple.   Too simple I thought at first, but my best friend told me it was the best card I've created.   She said the simplicity of it was just stunning.   

Phase one of my card was a disaster.   I had this vision of red glitter with frosty white glitter on a white card.  The concept was brilliant.  The execution was a major fail.  This is the best of the worst: 

When I mentioned earlier that embossing is an acquired skill I was totally serious.   And through trial and error, I realized my first plan was a bit too ambitious.  So I went with plan B.   I used a stamp with a thin outline.   I found using this stamp was within my skill set.     

I used red ink with red glittered embossing powder.   It's hard to capture (in a picture) just how impressive the raised letters and the shine of the glitter really is. 

I took pictures of my process because I didn't want to forget how I did this.   That was the initial thought but after making 30 cards I'm pretty sure I won't forget the step process. 

On the inside of the card, I used black ink with clear embossing powder.   First I stamped the card with black ink then sprinkled (liberally) the embossing powder on:

Then I shook off the excess:

Then I applied heat with the heating tool.   The heating tool projects heat through a steady stream of heat.   Once the powder starts to get hot, it will transform into these beautifully raised, shiny letters:

One I knew I had a handle on the process ( and it took LOTS of practice), I started a production line:

After the first one was made, the rest was done within a couple of hours and the next day I signed them and headed off to the post office!

Llamas

There's a llama craze out there and I have officially jumped on that bandwagon.   It all started with an email I got from Pier One.   I had just had the guest bathroom walls painted a warm gray and was in the midst of brainstorming ideas for a color/theme for this hall bath.   That's when the email from Pier One popped into my inbox.     I instantly fell in love.  The tassels, the embroidery, the Llama!

I ordered it immediately and when it arrived I yanked it out of the package and draped it over the navy blue towels I had just bought from Costco.

Seriously, how cute is this towel??

I was so in love with it that I said to myself "self, what would go well with a llama towel?".   "How about a llama print for the opposite wall?", I said.   And thus the llama print I got from Esty!  Is it not simply adorable?   It's an 8x5 print that I downloaded and printed and the put into an 11x14 frame that I found at Hobby Lobby.  I added the white mat to give it a more custom look.   I think it looks great!  

I found the shower curtain at Target about two years ago.  Navy blue is one of my favorite colors so when I saw this I knew immediately that it would look great in the hall bathroom.   I don't know if it can be described as a moroccan pattern but that's what I see when I look at it.    It's lovely. 

I've said this before but I really love how just a few additions can really bring a room to life.    The navy towels are from Costco ($4.99 for full bath towel), the navy bath rug is from Ikea (less than $10), the potted plant from Home Depot and a white towel with a navy trim from Target.   Everything else I had on hand.

BTW, I'm almost done with Christmas shopping and I already mailed out my Christmas cards.    It's a great start to the most wonderful time of the year!