Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays

     

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!

A Little Sparkle

I really like wrapping gifts, but bows and gift tags and curling ribbon can all add up and it really just goes to the trash bin once gifts are all opened up. (I try save bows and reuse them on anything we get.) Plus if you are shipping anything it can sometimes take a beating in the mail and doesn't look so pretty when it arrives to the giftee. Here's my creative solution for this year.

After wrapping these gifts I used some sheer green ribbon that had a little sparkle to it and then took glitter glue and put the initial of who the gifts were going to. I had planned on putting their whole name but the glitter glue wasn't too cooperative with me. Since no one at this house had names that started with the same letter I just went with their first initial.

VALENTINE FUN

I found this fun idea on Lu Bird Baby and thought it was perfect for a little Valentine's Day gift for those kids in Montana that I miss so much! The little mailboxes are from Target's dollar section right (found them the beginning of January) and the rest is from Hobby Lobby - felt and velcro. I sewed little envelopes and put velcro for a closure. The envelope also has velcro on the front to change the stamp and "mailing label". There are letters to put in there, but it will be fun for the kids to write their own notes too!

AND THE STOCKINGS WERE HUNG

This is the first year that I'll be waking up Christmas morning in my own bed! The last few years I've spent the night before at my grandparents or been out of town somewhere else. This also means that there was a need for Christmas stockings.

I generally like things to be matching and coordinated, so the idea of picking up stockings this year for 5 (my parents, brother and the two of us) and then possibly needing more in the future was kind of scary. I decided that I would be coordinated by not having anything match. Each sock is made from a patterned sweater. And when the need to have more arises I'll just cut up another old sweater. So, there's a theme and no one ever feel like their Christmas sock doesn't belong because it doesn't look like the rest. Here's the beginning of my collection!

HAPPY HALL(HOO)WEEN

OWL SHOPPING TRIP

Went on a little shopping excursion to find pieces for my owl outfit. There's not a Michael's or JoAnn's real nearby, but there's Hobby Lobby - which was kind of slim for fabric options but has great selection for all kinds of other crafts (and for some reason, lots of home decor).

Here's what I got:
- 5 different fabrics, 1/4 each (5.91 total)
- Various felt (2.80)
- Felt glue (3.99)
- Elastic (1.29)
- Pillowcase (1.50 ... from Ross)

Total Costume: $15.49!! Plus my time : )

OWL COSTUME INSPIRATION

lady bird | owl mask | wings | owl kiddo
We thought with moving to a new place that we would not have Halloween plans or the need for costumes, but we've been invited to a co-workers Halloween party and for the last week I've been racking my mind for what I can make and not spend a lot on.

Spirit Halloween opens in Bozeman a month or so before, and of course there's costumes at Target and Walmart too. Here there are all kinds of Halloween stores, but a lot of them have the same expensive stuff that doesn't always fit the right way.

I narrowed my list down to:
- a sunflower (my original idea from months ago)
- a lady bug
- 20's flapper

And then while I was blog surfing this morning, I came across this lady bird costume and from there did a couple other searches for some ideas to be an owl. I'm so excited to have a project to work on and a costume that will be original!

CHINESE TEA EGGS

While searching for how to dye eggs with onion peels, I came across this technique for "Chinese Tea Eggs". This is a snack in China that is actually made by soaking cracked eggs in tea . . but for Easter it was more fun to use colored dye. Instructions can be found here!

Halloween Costumes

I've had my eskimo costume done since last year - it was made and then something came up that we weren't able to go out for Halloween. This year I also made a Harry Potter robe and a clown suit for my roommates.