Before Christmas gets too far in the distance I wanted to share the gifts I made for people.
This is the one time of year that I feel like I really get to be creative and do the projects that I've been wanting to do all year long. Crafting is quite a bit more difficult with two little guys and I was pretty much making everything after they went to bed, having to clean up everything before I could call it a night myself. Regardless, it's still a lot of fun and a major stress buster for me.
I love coming up with projects that suit each person and I like to think about each person using their gift while I craft the night away.
For the guys I made most of the treats that I mentioned in
this post.
It sounded like they all loved them.
This year's wrapping:
(note to self: get a stamp made that says "{CB^3}")
Utensil crock and dipped spoons for my sister- in-law:
Chalkboard wine glasses for my sister:
(I thought these would be perfect for the wine parties they have quite often)
quick tip: use a pencil sharpener to give chalk a nice writing point!
A chalkboard hors d'oeuvres plate also for my sister:
A chalkboard for my mom:
Homemade granola for Chris' mom:
(I didn't get a picture of it all wrapped up, so this picture is an oldie but a goodie. To get my granola recipe click here.)
And I also made a few pom bookmarks for people.
They are so easy I thought that I'd post a little tutorial for you guys!
(get original tutorial here.)
*Grab sharp scissors and yarn.
-cut one 15 inch-long string
-cut one 10 inch-long string
(set the two strings aside for now)
1. Take the end of the yarn and wrap it around three fingers 90 times. You can do more if you want your pom super full. It doesn't need to be wrapped neatly, but just make sure it's not too tight or else you won't be able to take it off of your fingers.
2. Cut the yarn and gently slide it off of your fingers. Lay it over the 10 inch piece of yarn and tie a knot as tight as you can
(without breaking it) around the middle of your 90 loops.
3. Tie one end of the 15 inch piece of yarn directly over the one you just tied. The long end will be the tail that will act as the actual bookmark.
4. Holding one side of your yarn ball, slide your scissors into the loops on the opposite side. Cut the loops over the garbage can, because it makes a huge mess. Make sure you get them all. Holding the tail, do the same to the other side and trim it up to make them all even, this is what really makes it into a ball. Be careful to not cut the long tail!
And there you have a super cute bookmark!
Did you guys make any gifts this year?
I've already started collecting ideas for next year!
Happy Weekend Friends!
So after a whole summer of preparing to paint, we finally have a painted house!!!
Our friend Craig brought his sprayer over and helped out a ton.
It's crazy how much work goes into prepping and the painting portion lasts only a few hours.
Before:
Old/new:
The finished product:
We love it so much!
This makes our door look orange but it's definitley red.
I just wanted to show you guys our awesome exterior fixture:
(Our fancy new light up doorbell is awesome too but you can barely see it.)
While they were painting, the boys and I went to the zoo with Chris' mom.
Bennett decided that instead of stopping to look at each animal, he'd like to just run past them all.
This was our view the entire time:
Except that he stopped to sit on the animal statues:
and to watch the tractor bring sand into the elephant area:
(Buck wasn't too into it either)
Saturday afternoon we went to Bennett's friend Lucy's 3rd birthday party.
He had never seen one of these cars before and he thought that it was broken because it wouldn't go.
He kept getting out to push it then quickly hopped back in as if he were giving it a push start.
"This car doesn't work guys":
I also did a lot of cooking and baking this weekend!
I feel like I haven't baked in a long time, so it was nice to get back to it.
(I've tested a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes trying to find the perfect one, this the the one I always go back to.
I love to eat them frozen!)
I tried recreating Portobello's Beet Tartare:
(We agreed that I got pretty close! I made the whole thing in my vitamix...it was fun seeing what it could do. It's a vegan recipe but is so full of flavor. It's cashew cheese on the bottom with chopped beets mixed with a carrot aioli. It's incredibly filling, we both split this for a late dinner.)
I also made
this cashew pesto veggie pizza, which was also SO good:
(I don't think I'll ever make pesto with those expensive pine nuts again!)
and we made lots of smoothies with the vitamix.
Best purchase ever:
mmm smoothies:
Happy Wednesday Friends!
So Little Brother will be here in approx. 11 weeks.
Right now his room is non-existient.
Well, it exists but it's more of a play room that's open to the rest of the house than an actual bedroom.
Somewhere between 1954 and July 18th, 2011 someone decided it would be a good idea to turn the 3rd bedroom
(which is in the front of the house)
into a tv room.
(we are assuming it was probably was an old man wanting one of those newfangled "man-caves")
When we bought the house, we knew we would be turning this room back into a bedroom once we had another little wiggly one around these parts.
The time has come to figure out what we want decor-wise and to do a little construction.
(with help of course. I love Chris, but have you met him?)
So this is what the room currently looks like from the dining room:
And standing in the room looking at the dining room:
(that whole opening is going to be walled off, and the new doorway will be moved to the
very left side of the wall so we will be able to close off all of the rooms in the hallway)
Yay!
We get to find homes for Bennett's toys and all of the other stuff we inadvertantly filled the space with! Not.
Goodbye fort.
(it's not you, it's me)
So once all of that is out of the way, we get to do the fun stuff.
That is where I come in.
The walls will be kept bright white to match the rest of the house.
(yes, I know we are boring...but it all flows together like a mid-century ranch should)
I present you:
( I don't know why Polyvore shrunk it all into the center. Hopefully you can still read the labels.)
We actually don't need to buy much since Bennett's room
was/is so similar.
We are re-using his old crib and changing table/dresser.
We are also moving the cube lamp from B's room into the nursery.
(the soft glow is perfect for night time diaper changes and feedings)
The same green chair is being used.
All that is left is the
shelf,
(I LOVE that IKEA came out with a lacqured version of this!)
(one of which is just a piece of fancy wrapping paper...though I'm still trying to convince Chris that the map is awesome and kind of makes the room)
The inside of the closet will be painted the same gray color that we used in Bennett's room, for a little added interest.
I can't wait to see it all come together!
(thank you tax refund)
What do you guys think?
Happy Friday Friends!
Over the last few year, we have got into the habit of making our Christmas gifts instead of buying them. I don't know what exactly people want and I don't want to waste my money/time (or lack thereof) trying to figure it out.
But I really enjoy making things for people.
I think putting more time/thought than money into a gift makes it special.
I also really enjoy the packaging part as well.
This year I bought some paper tags and ended up making my own intentical ones when I ran out.
I stamped the names and tied on bakers twine.
The tags got tied to a string that was holding a branch onto the brown, paper-covered packages.
I also stamped a few packages all over to make a random pattern.
Easiest wrapping ever.
brown paper packages tied up with string:
Now onto the gifts...
For all of the guys, I try out special recipes I've been wating to attempt and then (after taste testing of course) I stuff bags full of the assorted yummy treats.
I only took one picture of said treats this year, and it just so happened to be a fave...
the TJ's Candy Cane Joe Joe bark.
(See all of the yummy treats I made this year here.) and packaging them up:
I love being crafty for the ladies' gifts. It's really the only time of year that I get to craft and I totally enjoy it...but am so ready for it to be over once I'm done.
This year I made...
a wreath for my sister:
a chalkboard board book for my one year old niece:
necklace scarves for both moms and my sister in law:
I also used
this to etch my mom's initals onto a casserole dish.
Hers always get sent home with other people after family gatherings, but not anymore!
I was hoping to be a little more original and give everyone a different gift, but I feel like Christmas kind of snuck up on me and I ended up making everything just days before Christmas!
Hopefully next year I will know some sewing basics so I can be extra creative ahead of time, which will be helpful, especially with two little muchkins running around!
Did you guys do any DIYs this year?
So I have a ton of baking to do but I'm taking a break to do a post.
Anyone else feel like Christmas snuck up on you this year?
Not really many pictures from our weekend because we didn't do much, so I included a bump update as well...it's a growin'!
I felt the need to go out and buy a few new things for the baby.
(eventhough it's a boy and we probably have most everything we need!)
Couldn't resist these mushrooms:
date-night-in complete with a Costco u-bake pizza and eggnog
rice pudding:
(we sure know how to party it up on a Friday night)
so he dipped them for me while I was out running errands with my mom:
(isn't he sweet?)
Chris' parents came over on Sunday for a bit to play with B
while we finished up DIY gifts, baked, and wrapped.
Bennett especially had fun knocking down towers with his papa:
And that's that for our weekend...told ya it wasn't very exciting.
. . .
Since my bump was pretty much non existent the last time you all saw it, I thought I'd show it off a bit.
This little dude is growing quickly!
(I gave up on the chalk paint pens on week 17...it's a little harder to read but takes much less effort to erase.)
(And yes, that's a mango...don't judge.)
Okay back to baking!
Happy Tuesday (almost wednesday)!
POST EDIT: Chris just pointed out that we took two different week 17 pictures...oops!
No wonder I've been so confused on what week it is...blame it on the baby brain.
Just processing ideas for the bathroom re-do which won't even happen until next spring. We are slowly buying things as we see deals though. If anyone is moving in the near future, totally sign up (in the change of address packet) to get West Elm's catalogs at your new address (even if you already get them, because catalogs don't forward.) They will send you a 10% off new mover coupon which should save you a pretty penny!
1.
DWR Gooseneck barn lamp I'd really like to find a cheaper alternative if I can. I'm not sure what lamps are used in the inspiration picture but I'd like to find them!
2.
West Elm Organic Woodgrain bath towels We only had two towels to begin with, so I got two of these for guests to use.
3. We can use our existing chocolate brown bath mat!
4.
White pennyround tile placed up to the ceiling behind the sink as well as in the shower.
5.
CB2 Coop Tower to hold towels and such. Brings in more of an industrial feel.
6.
Kraus white square ceramic sink I can't decide if I would want a sunken sink with the counter overlayed (like in the picture) or if I want a basin sink on top of the cabinet. Either one would look good.
7.
West Elm Blackened Metal Mirror. I've had my eye on this mirror for months and finally decided to call and see if they had any because I saw it was marked down to $79.99 (originally $130) online. None of the stores had any left but there just so happened to be one randomly being sent to the store so it was mine and was only going to be $45! Once it came in we went to pick it up and the price had dropped to $25! It's such an awesome, low profile mirror for an amazing price...if anyone is in the market for a mirror definitely call about this one and see if there are any more!
Do you guys like it?
Happy Friday!
We ended up getting keys Friday evening and for the last three days it has been a mad rush to get stuff done before we move in this coming Saturday!
We are painting all of the walls white:
(it's taking for.ev.er.)
We pulled off hideous contact paper that somehow was everywhere.
I actually liked the original brown gingham but the ugly celestial was put right over the top of it.
My awesome brother was able to get the ugly slate off of the hearth.
The next step is to put a fresh coat of white paint on all of the brick.
Things are slowly but surely getting crossed off the list!
And we are spending way more time/money at Home Depot than we ever thought possible.
Ugh.
I wish we could just go on vacation and have all this stuff done for us by the time we got back.
Oh did I mention that Thursday is our 5 year anniversary?
How romantic to spend it painting and eating subway or Costco hot dogs.
Not.
It will all be worth it though!
And I also made a few pom bookmarks for people.
