Bring on 2011

I won't be posting tomorrow, so I wanted to wish everyone a very happy new year! What are your plans tonight? Do you have friends over, or do you get dressed up and go to a fancy party? Or maybe you go to sleep at 9:30 and celebrate the new year from behind your closed eyelids?

Don't be jealous when I tell you that we'll be sitting on the couch, playing some games, maybe watching a movie, and trying to stay up 'til midnight. Not quite sure what we're going to have for dinner (I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl) but I can promise you I will be keeping it simple.

Keep it simple! My mantra for 2011. At least until I forget.

Which will be in approximately 5...4...3...2...1...

I can't wait for next week, I'll be sharing a list of some of the projects I have planned for the new year!

Here's a peek of something that is already in progress...

And those are NOT my hairy man-hands, but if they were 'laser hair removal' would definitely be on my list of new year's resolutions.

A few favorites from 2010

Hey y'all, I've only been blogging since the very end of August, so I don't have a whole bunch of fabulous projects to highlight (can't wait for 2011 though!) but I wanted to share my favorites!

Bedroom Chair

Boy's Bunkbed

(Not much of a post about it... but it's one of my favorites nonetheless!)

Thrift Store Sweater Stockings

Guest Room Makeover

Faux Mercury Glass

Stay with me, I've got some fun plans for the new year!

Sharing this at Southern Hospitality's Top Projects of 2010 Party
and Someday Crafts' Whatever Goes Wednesday

Christmas Recovery

Phew. Does your house look like Christmas threw up or am I alone? I feel like every time I turn around I find new tags and packaging from toys as they get opened up and played with for the first time. The wrapping paper was nothing, it's all this post-holiday shrapnel that's got me going a little crazy.

I hope you all had a beautiful, wonderful Christmas. Ours was great, my boys are just at the most fabulous age and seeing the magic of the holidays through their eyes is something I will remember always.

On Christmas Eve the boys each got to open a special present and here they are showin' off their new jammies and their modeling skills:

The next morning stockings were full, cookies had been eaten and the tree was stuffed to the gills with gifts.

We spent the morning rockin' out...

...and playing with some fun new gifties.

And the best picture of all?

 Fig in her giftie from Santa, can you see how much she loves it?

In other news, the time has come to celebrate after-Christmas sales! I scored some clearanced tall black boots at Target with a little Christmas money. (That sneaky Target, their boots are still full-price online!) Not quite sure what I'm doing wearing skinny jeans tucked into tall boots... the world may be ending as I said I'd never ever do that on account of the junk that I have in my trunk.

But you know, I think they're cute and my sister says they're cute and I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope that she's telling the truth and not secretly sabotaging my cuteness so that she can go out with me and look 10-times better by comparison. Sisters would never, ever do that to each other... right? :)

Unofficial poll time!

Skinny jeans tucked into boots?

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve today, my favorite day of the year. A day full of magic and excitement, clean rooms (Santa can't come if your room is messy, after all) and family.

The moment when the kids are finally asleep, the house is quiet save for some peaceful Christmas music and you can relax in the glow of the Christmas tree, take a deep breath and feel the magic wash over you head to toe.

Quiet anticipation and reflections on the birth of Jesus and the real meaning of the holiday.

Peace, after all the insanity that the lead up to this most special of holidays entails. No more shopping, no more frantic baking, no time left to do anything  but what we should be doing - enjoying our loved ones, letting that love fill our hearts and minds, and thinking about the birth of our Savior and the love he has for all humans, regardless of how they spend this time of year.

I'll be spending this day with my family, doing super important things like drinking warm drinks in festive cups...

...teaching my boys the age old trick of curling up over a heat vent in a blanket (the best way to spend a morning in my opinion)...

... tracking Santa's progress at NORAD's website...

 

...and prepping the farolitos that will line my front yard and walk tonight.

(photo from 2008)

Oh, and we'll be trying to deal with my poor overloaded kids who are alternately bouncing off the walls in restless excitement and having meltdowns at the slightest provocation. I'm sure we're not the only ones going through that today!

So peace be with you, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

...but I still love technology, always and forever.

Ohh, how I've missed y'all these past few days. (sniff)

Sorry for the mini-disappearance. My husband, kids and I drove down to visit family last weekend because I was the soloist in a performance my sister was putting on with her church's choir for the holiday. And so I spent several days worrying about how I'd do, since my sick kids had been coughing all over me and I had a sore throat. Luckily my voice stuck around, we got through it, and I made my way back home with my family. Phew.

Now the countdown to Christmas is officially on! My boys are 3 and 5, and I am having the most wonderful time watching them this year -- they are the perfect ages for the magic and excitement of the holidays.

Tonight Santa sent them their own personalized messages via email, and they could not believe it. My five-year-old was amazed to see his picture in Santa's book, and my three-year-old sat in awed silence while Santa talked about what he had asked for in his letter. It was priceless -- I love technology, don't you?

There's still time to put one of these together for your kids... and I would definitely recommend it. Santa says their name, and you can add their photo to his big book of kids, plus he knows exactly what gift they asked for and what behavior they needed to work on this year (although I didn't see an option for "whining" -- perhaps I should send a suggestion in for 2011, haha!)

The best part about the messages from Santa is the fact that they are 100% free! Check out Portable North Pole's website and send someone you know a message from Santa.

(Just in case anyone was wondering, no one from PNP contacted me about sharing their website, I'm posting it only because I stumbled across it on Facebook and thought it was fabulous. Plus, I know how stunned and amazed I would have been as a kid to receive a video message from Kris Kringle himself!)

How I make my stocking pom-poms

Last night I woke up in a cold sweat when I realized that I had posted about the recycled sweater stockings, but I had promised to share how I made the simple pom-pom decorations and I had forgotten!

Okay, I'm exaggerating. There was no cold sweat involved, but I did have an "oops" moment last night, so I wanted to share the instructions before Christmas was over.

Remember these stockings?

Here's how I made the easy pom-pom decorations:

Step 1: Buy some pom-poms. There's no way on earth I would try to make my own pom-poms. Craziness, people. I got a couple packs of large white pom-poms at a craft store for 99-cents each.

Step 2: Thread a needle with matching thread. (I threaded the needle with doubled thread, then doubled it again with a knot at the end. So the thread was quadrupled... I've got busy little boys with strong little hands and I prescribe to the "better safe than sorry" philosophy for most everything.)

Stitch through the pom-pom, pulling all the thread through, then go back through the pom-pom the opposite direction creating a loop (seen on the right side of photo #2 below) -- don't pull the thread all the way back through this time. 

Step 3: Thread cording (I found mine by the yard at a fabric store) through the loop created in step 1 then knot securely.

Step 4 (or 3.5?): Cut excess cording away and singe the tip to help prevent unraveling.

Step 5: Pull the thread loop tight, which will draw the cording into the center of the pom-pom so the knots will disappear. Tie several knots in the thread on the other end of the pom-pom to secure it.

Step 6 (optional): Repeat on the other end of the cording, and hang on a stocking! Or anything else that is crying out for a pom-pom... which is pretty much everything in my book.

See? Easiest thing ever. Probably didn't even require a tutorial -- but I felt pretty smart when I put it together, so don't burst my bubble if you know of a better way to do it or if this whole post was a "duh, Anna!" sort of experience for you. K? :)

(Pats herself on the back.)

Eye Candy (bonus: it's calorie free!)

Yesterday I...

...dropped my cordless phone battery down my laundry room's floor drain (sigh.)

...locked myself out of a room in my basement, one that does not have a key.

...forgot to pick up my son and my nephew from Kindergarten

...stained my tshirt with my little one's bloody nose (resulting from excessive roughhousing with brother 1 1/2 hours after bedtime)

...burnt a batch of toffee (why does the world wait to fall apart until you're boiling sugar?)

So let's focus on some nicer things. Santa, are you listening?

(Each photo is a link to the item)

Ugg 'Skylair' boots with knit cuffs

I think Santa's laughing at me right now. Okay Santa, I'll put those on layaway. In the meantime though, I'll be happy to settle for these...

Mossimo 'Katherine' boots

And this?

Caramel Braided Avenue Tote

Stella & Dot 'Soiree' earrings in gold (also available in silver... also on my list!)

OPI 'Sparkle-icious' Polish

And let's just be honest here... Santa, this is what I really want:

MDF. Lots of it.

What's on your Christmas list this year? Are you asking for MDF too, or am I just odd?

Neighbor gift idea & Christmas tags

 

Aren't they cute?

I'm so proud of my non-wrapping self. My strength does not lie in packaging things cutely, I promise. When I see gift bags with 7 different colors of precisely aligned and fluffed tissue paper and crazy little picks and curly ribbon, all I can think about is how long that must have taken the wrapper.

So while I admire people who can turn a gift bag into a gift in its own right, or who can scrapbook like a maniac... that's just not me. So I? Am proud of these.

And my neighbors better like 'em if they know what's good for them!!

The recipe for an awesome neighbor gift a la Take the Side Street's manageable standards?

• Metal pails from Target's dollar spot (love. love. LOVE. Target's dollar spot)
• Bag of red cello gift bags (30 for $1 at... you guessed it, Target!)
• Thin satin ribon (spool of 3 complementary ribbons for $1.50 on sale at Michael's)
• Homemade 'Merry Christmas' tags
• And... Christmas junk snack food deliciousness.

It... sort of looks delicious, right? Well it is, I swear.

I doubled this recipe from Family Fun, and I may or may not have added some extra dried cranberries because I'm their biggest cran-tastic-loving fan.

I threw the snack mix into the little red bags (I was originally planning to use clear bags but when I went to my stash I found these red ones and decided I was entirely against driving to the store just for small cello bags.) which then went into the larger metal pail (cuteness factor! Layering is always cute when done thoughtfully, right? Clothes, gift wrap... I'm learning so much today!)

I finished it off with a little bow and some tags I made a few weeks ago. I used a 2-inch punch to cut them out and yes, I painstakingly created that scallop by hand... I am such a computer geek stud.

Want the tag? I think it's pretty cute. Here it is for your downloading pleasure:

Merry Christmas Gift Tags

Merry Christmas, go make some gifts! I'd love for you to comment and let me know how you're planning to use the 'Merry Christmas' tags if you're going to download them! (Secretly I just want all your cute ideas...mwahahaha.)

Toffee Bar Cookies

Today I'm sharing one of the most fabulous, Christmas-y cookies out there. At least in my opinion.

They come from Tasha Tudor's fabulous little cookbook, and are a great recipe to incorporate into your holiday baking schedule.

My mother used to make them every December, and when it came time for me to be the household cookie maker I was thrilled to discover that they are also ridiculously easy. So easy in fact, my sister I made a couple batches last week while drinking a little wine, and they still turned out great.

Which is more than I can say for these beauties...

Cookie fail!

Believe it or not, they were supposed to be thumprint cookies. They didn't quite turn out. Don't drink and bake, friends -- I'm still not sure what happened. (I'm gonna blame it on the recipe though... it was flawed, I'm sure.)

Anyhoosies. Back to the no-fail toffee bar recipe, which is apparently much more my speed.

Cream butter and sugar and an egg yolk together, add some vanilla. Mix in flour.

Move the dough to a small pan. This recipe is adaptable; you can use a small cookie sheet, a 9x13 cake pan, whatevs. Use your hands to press the dough into the pan evenly then bake for around 15 minutes or until it's lightly golden on top.

You don't want to overbake it unless you like your cookies crunchier, so watch it because the time will depend on what size pan you're using. I usually check after 13 minutes and end up going with 15-18 minutes. You can see that the pans we used weren't the same size, so there was a couple minutes difference in the baking time.

When it's done, sprinkle with chocolate chips, and after a couple minutes you'll be able to spread them over the top of the cookie.

Sprinkle nuts on top if that's your thing, let it set up for a bit and cut them into whatever size Christmas cookies your little heart desires.

Unfortunately, my heart desires that size.

Tasha Tudor Toffee Bars

1 c. softened butter

1 c. brown sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla (This might not be in the original version of the Tasha Tudor recipe... I add it anyway)

2 c. flour

1 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Cream butter and sugar, then add egg yolk and vanilla. Add the flour and mix well. Spread the dough into a prepared 10 x 13 pan. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes or until the top of the cookie is lightly browned.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let melt and spread the chocolate evenly over the top. Sprinkle with nuts, score and cut into pieces.

Cliff

A fabulous lady, Jeannett from the blog Life Rearranged, is working very hard to raise money to help Cliff, a little boy with Down's Syndrome in an Eastern European orphanage. Adoption costs a lot of money, and she wants to help make a difference in the life of this little guy, one of so many orphans across the globe who need and deserve families.

(Photo from Life Rearranged)

Please go check out Jeannett's original post about Cliff to learn about the plan and consider donating to help raise money to help cover some of the adoption expenses for whatever family decides that Cliff belongs with them.

At the time this post was published, over $5,000 had already been raised -- and according to Jeannett, it's made up mostly of small donations. So if you're moved to donate even $5 or $10 -- it makes a difference, I promise.

I've added a link in my sidebar for Cliff, and you can hop over to Jeannett's site to get the code to add one to your own blog if you like -- and if you do, make sure to enter her giveaway. Several people, including me, have donated items that one lucky Cliff-sidebar-putter-upper will get when they win.

I donated these lia sophia jewelry pieces, worth $134 to the giveaway... and that's just one of the fabulous things you could win for getting involved!

Please take a moment to go check it out -- your heart will be glad you did.

Elf ears

We belong to a magical sort of family.

I grew up believing my grandma was a real live witch, and photographs of her elaborate Halloween costume only served to cement that fact in my mind. So naturally, being a quarter witch myself, I felt the need to encourage such magical and imaginative thoughts in my own children.

My sister Johannah must have felt the same way, since according to her stepson I found out that she has a  magical witch castle in Ireland. Next door to the castle is the magical fairy forest where I (a fairy queen, of course) reside. Her stepson also informed that me he was half elf, on account of his pointy ears.

Ever since hearing this news my oldest has been distraught as his ears are most decidedly rounded on top. It's all that fairy and witch blood I'm sure.

Fortunately, this season offers him the opportunity to fix his perceived elfin shortcomings.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Well, I did it. Phew.

I didn't know if I'd ever be able to get our Christmas tree up this year because I kept dragging my feet while making the eleventy billion feet of pom-pom garland it required.

The tree has actually been up and lit since the Saturday after Thanksgiving. But I was making stockings and painting a couple lamps for my dining room and NOT cooking dinners, much to my husband's chagrin. I'm an expert at starting 17 projects simultaneously... finishing those 17 projects in a timely manner though? Hmm. Not so hot at that one.

Anyway, back to the tree. As you can see I'm a fan of trees that are a bit on the crazy side. No cone-shaped trees in my house, thanks anyway. This is a Douglas Fir which I grew up with and love immensely. My kids actually picked it out at the lot and I think they made a great choice. I love its quirky uneven charm.

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite things about our tree with you... because I'm in a sharing mood like that, lucky duckies.  

  

The lobster ornament is from when I was dating my cute hubster. He's my lobster, guys!

 

  

I always hang this fairy/angel thingamabobber at the top of my tree -- I bought it on my first Black Friday shopping experience when a friend dragged me out kicking and screaming. The moment I picked up this little ornament I had the shocking realization that I was pregnant with my oldest son. So I bought it to remember the moment, even though I was terrified at the time.

I'm not a traditional topper kind of gal... look at me breakin' all these rules! Next I'll be hanging my Christmas tree upside down.

Ah, the chili lights. If you look at a photo of the tree you'll see these scattered around. My mom was raised in New Mexico and when I was growing up, several of our traditions were influenced by that. Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner was posole, we lit farolitos (also known as luminarias) and we had a big strand of these chili lights in our front window. (Why? Because they looked cool, of course.)

I loved those traditions so much I carried them on to my own family. I think the chili lights look even better on the tree!

I found these mirror balls at TJ Maxx last year and decided to include them today because they're among my favorite ornaments -- no fancy or sentimental story attached to them. Just fabulousness.

The same holds true for these little icicle ornaments -- I got them this year at Walmart -- $3 for a big box! I love how they look, sort of tinselesque but without all the insane work... I might have to get another box if I can still find them.

But my favorite part about our Christmas tree? All the decorating help we get from little hands:

If one ornament looks good there, two will look even better, right?

Here's our tree at night looking a little more 'glowy' and beautiful:

I'm linking this up to Thrifty Decor Chick's Christmas Tree party and Someday Crafts!