Another Christmas Gift...

I gave one of my friends at work a layout framed for her office. It was a layout on her job at the church we work at. I figured one day she would want to remember the place that took up so much of her time. She writes our parish bulletins and taught me Microsoft Publisher. I used paper from Basic Grey - their Thanksgiving style paper that came out in 2010. I embellished it with some of the rosette ribbon from Websters Pages, and sprayed it with "Ivy" from Tattered Angels. I found a great frame at Aaron Bros. that worked perfectly. It was a rough wood - kind of "cabiny." This will probably go on her wall with a layout I made her previously. That one was for her birthday a couple of years ago. I used paper from Karen Foster, some chipboard embellishments, and the wine label from the bottle we all shared at her luncheon.

Before Christmas

I started to make my Christmas gifts back in October. I really should have started in July because I never finished some of them. I made a Pre-School album for my son's tutor. Her son just started Pre-K at the school my son goes to. When I would take pics of Jackson, I would stop by and snap a few of her boy also. I had a page for his first day, a page with his school friends, a page with his teacher (above), a page for the Halloween parade, Thanksgiving day luncheon, the school Christmas program, pics of them learning to pray in the church and some pics of his school work. I found the album at the Scrap 'N Yap. One of the few scrapbook stores left near me.

I also made a vacation album for one of my girl friends. That one was fun to do as I remember when we did all of the events I made pages on. Our trip up to Pismo Beach. I made all of the tags this year for the Christmas presents. I included clues so the person receiving the gift had to guess what was inside of the gift. This slows down how fast everyone opens their gifts so it takes longer and we can truly appreciate each one. Heck, they take so long to wrap, put on a ribbon, a package topper and then a tag. We should savor each one as long as possible.

I was able to go to Roger's Gardens twice this season. Once when the Christmas room opened in October, and then the first weekend of the sale. So much of their inventory had sold prior there was nothing left really. How lucky. I did see all of the purple flowers they had for spring. So refreshing to see the new colors. They had beautiful topiaries in white. I love looking at all of their potted plants and floral displays. I plan on scrapbooking more this new year.

As far as my resolutions from last year. I read my goal of 15 books. I love the goodreads web site. You get friends like facebook and can see and read their reviews on the books they read to get ideas on what to read next. I am currently reading The Paris Wife.

I put Jackson's new bedroom together, Now I just need his furniture and that is accomplished. I lost ten pounds. Gained back two during Christmas... I fell short on playing games with the kids, scrapbooking and writing on this blog. However I did read alot of the entries on everyone else's blog!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and a productive New Year! 

Cake Pops Bakerella New Book

I have followed the Bakerella blog for awhile now. When I read Angie Dudley was going to combine all of her best Bakerella Cake Pops into one book I could hardley wait for it to be available! And yeah! They had it at our neighborhood Barnes and Noble! What an awesome source of ideas and creative goodness. I love it. I love all of the cute ideas. Can't wait to start to try some of them. They will make cute treats for the kids to hand out in their classrooms. Who would not want an adorable reindeer at Christmas? So adorable. If you find rolling a baked cake piece into a ball and decorating it too cumbersome she also has great ideas on how to decorate cupcakes, recipes for awesome brownies and sweet treats!

Late Night Catechism - Sisters Christmas Catechism

What a crack up! This show is definitely needed during all of the stress of Christmas! Sister Donovan from Donovan Entertainment does it again in another edition of Catholic parody. Sisters Christmas Catechism, click the link for a small sample of what her show is about, came to our parish the second Friday in December. She was even more hilarious and the laughter even more welcomed than her previous show! Parishioners from the audience were asked to join in the fun and become cast members....

But, before she recruited her cast mates, she peruses the audiences looking for rogue parishioners who are not honoring the sacred space. She will find you if you are chewing gum or if you dress inappropriately (sleeveless tops, dresses) for church. She will call you out in front of the congregation and give you verbal humiliation. Plus she will also praise those in the audience for off the wall things, such as: those who "re-gift," those who choose to sit in the back, and to those who are wearing "Christmas sweaters." She will pick the best four decorated sweaters and have you come up on stage, then the audience votes for the best Christmas sweater with applause! Plus she lets you know which one SHE likes the best...

Then she selects her cast mates by walking the audience making her comments on how members were Altar Boys who never "got over it." Or the girls who always tried to please but never could become an Altar Boy. The cast she selects, she hits dead on! Her comments are always appropriate for the roles each will play. Once she has assembled her cast, the play can begin. Who stole the Magi's gold? That was the mystery that needed to be solved before the show ends. It was a great night. We opened our Christmas Boutique and had finger food available for donation only to help support our neighboring shelters. The girl who ran this made cupcakes, cakes, gingerbread, hot cider, candy cane reindeer's, homemade Raspberry Jam, and homemade cinnamon-vanilla sugar. The evening was buzzing!

Switching Gears - A Visit to Rogers Gardens

A visit to Rogers Gardens is a must every holiday season. They have the most variety and the most unusual displays. Each section has a different theme therefore, something will appeal to everyone! The shopping is easy, because right under each tree is a basket over flowing with the ornaments that adorn that tree. If the basket is empty, simple remove the ornament from the tree. The picture above is their Waterford Tree all decked out in red with metallic accents.

This tree is for the little boy, it is called Little Drummer Boy. They also have pink tree for your little darling! These trees are filled with heart ornaments, baby booties, angels, and Baby's First Christmas bulbs.

This is their Asian themed tree, all decked out with jeweled tone colors. The picture does not do this tree justice, in person this tree is stunning!

Moving on into Santa Workshop area the trees become more whimsical. Vintage Santa's, a toy tree, a tree filled with snowmen, an all green and red tree...

The Toy Factory brings you to the most imaginative trees in the store! This is where the

designers must have released their "inner child."

There was an all gold tree, a tree filled with vintage games, and the tree to the right that had all the accoutrements of a little boys travel. There were sail boats, compasses, globes (in black and vintage creme), airplanes, firetrucks, wired wreaths filled with glass bulbs, and my favorite this year a vintage flickering candle in a holder that attached to the tree with a clip. Similar to the candles that were on the trees in the Victorian days. There were instruments, tubas and wooden guitars. This tree was so creative I wanted to buy the whole thing and plop it down in my son's bedroom! In an adjoining room they had a black, white and chartreuse tree. Some of the ornaments were made of velvet, and there was lots of crystal glistening in between the branches. When you entered the Christmas rooms you were greeted by birch branches that had been cut into two feet pieces and assembled together with "S" hooks. They dangled from the ceiling and created an interesting feel to the room. A visit to Rogers Gardens is sure to inspire anyone. You can not help but want to go back to your home and put something together, especially using your newest purchase!

Countdown to Christmas!

Each of the Design Team had to come up with a Christmas inspired project that could be completed in ten minutes or less. Scrappin' Good Times will start their Countdown to Christmas in September. Each weekend until December, they will have several creative projects to put together! For my project, I designed a recipe card holder. What a great way to give a plate of homemade cookies along with the recipe and directions on how to make them! I know this would be a gift that I would like to receive....

The picture does not show the "Directions" card - which is on red cardstock with a green peppermint candy for the tab. The recipe is for gooey chocolate cookies dipped into a white chocolate icing ten sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies. So yummy! ~ Happy Creating!

The Living Nativity

The second week of December, The Granite Creek Community Church in Claremont, performs a Living Nativity. There are eight stations which you walk through, or you can drive through the various scenes - only one car at a time can go though. Each scene is about the birth of our Saviour. Granite Creek has a short video to show you what to expect. Each scene is complete with the actors, costumes, painted scenery and animals. The kids loved it. The actors do such a wonderful job and as you are waiting to enter the "walk through" some of the actors play vagrant's and will come up to you and ask for money or handouts. Then the fierce soldier comes by and shoo's them away. There is no cost for this. The church just wishes that you would stop by the various vendors at the end of the performance and buy a cup of hot chocolate or something. Truly a first class "offering" and a wonderful way for the family to do something spiritual at Christmas time. I absolutely loved this!

Christmas Card Etiquette

Every year we need to decide on our Christmas Card. This year was hard as the oldest (23 yrs.)has moved out the house and is living three hours away at school.This is the perfect time to snap a current picture of the family so friends and family who do not see you all the time can see how the kids have grown, etc. I try and take a Christmasy looking picture so it is festive in the frames. I also like the pictures of families on their vacations. It is always fun to see where people have traveled. Then you know who to call to get feedback on a trip, where to stay, what restaurants to go to, sights worth seeing. We have friends who travel to an exotic location every year, so it is fun to see their card and where they went to. One year she was riding an elephant. I think one year their picture was in a hot air balloon... Something we will have to do once the kids have grown and moved out. This year we took our picture in front of the tree at Fashion Island. As you can see from the

picture, this is a very tall tree. The bulbs are HUGE! And my kids are like most kids. They are not always cooperative. I decided this year to snap them as they were being difficult. The pictures are priceless as you can see my husband in the big gold bulb telling them to behave. This will make

a cute layout. I always hand write a note in my cards to each person. Christmas should be personal (I think). The cards are stamped with cute stamps I buy from Stamp Your Heart Out in Claremont. Some are filled holiday confetti too. It is the little touches that make Christmas a special time of year. Otherwise it gets commercialized - photocards stuffed into envelopes with out a personal message, just the one printed on the photo and address mailing labels? I also try to make handmade gifts (time willing). This year I have a handmade gift for several people, some are the way cute Basic Grey Calendars designed by Kelly Gorree. They are beautiful when completed and easy to do. I make all my own gift tags too. The tags for my family have "clues" written on them. We guess what is inside of the box. This makes the time unwrapping gifts a little longer and we can appreciate all the wrapping that goes into them. I buy coordinated toppers for my gifts that go with the theme of the paper. Each year the paper has a "theme." Last year it was Metallic's and Velvet. The year before it was Silver, Blue and White. This year I went with Holly. Vintage Holly gift wrap. However, I really liked the Contemporary Snowman paper Hallmark had this year. There was the snowman, the red plaid, and the black paper that said Happy Holidays. Maybe next year I go with this theme.

This last snapshot of me and Lauren, I included because look how tall she is! She is almost as tall as me! Cracks me up! It was yesterday I called her my "dolly." Now she is "all that!"

Christmas Craft Ideas for the Kids

The HNM Festival was in October which includes a Holiday Boutique with crafts donated from the Parishioners and students at the school. The students made ornaments this year that I thought were so adorable and easy to make from items that you might have at home. The blue angels are from Michael's that have been painted blue and dipped in Martha Stewart glitter. Her glitters, by the way are so beautiful The colors are so unique and rich. The wood crosses are done the same glitter adhered on. Another ornament is made from a small terra cotta pot. The pot, painted a metallic god with a wood ball glued on top as a face, add some feathers as wings and a gold pipe cleaner for the halo and you have a little angel. Christmas wreath ornaments were made from pasta glued onto a

wood circle. Then painted green with some spray paint. Spay one piece of the bow tie pasta red and glue to the bottom for a bow. Behind the wreath are shirts made of paper and molded over some wire to resemble a coat hanger. Snowflakes made from Popsicle sticks and then the glitter glued on to them. Some had a lot of glitter and looked really good. Another one I thought was cute was a wooden spool with paper wrapped around it and have some extend like thread off the spool and write your Christmas wish list

on it. These were adorables. The paper list could extend quite a bit, and then scroll at the bottom using a pencil to make the bottom curl. And last, was a toy soldier made from wooden clothes pin. Painted black on the bottom to represent pants with two legs, red tops and a face. Glue a black pom pom on the top for a hat and add a red ribbon to hang the ornament on the tree! So easy and so cute! I do not know where the teachers got their ideas from, but I just love the craftiness of them. I love when the kids come home from school with a cute project that I just have to keep. (Ooops, not that I don't keep ALL of their projects). There is something special about a tree with homemade ornaments that have a story to tell. My husband has all of his ornaments he made as a kid for our tree. He loves unpacking the ornaments and telling us the story behind each one. Christmas tradition.