Crafty, Crafty

Today, while perusing the aisles at Hallmark, I told a friend from work that I was going to have JD (with my help) make some ornaments for my brother's girlfriend. Then I thought, if I don't stop making things I'm never gonna be ready for Christmas. I still have cookies to make for a cookie exchange this weekend, not to mention wrapping all the gifts. The last few nights I've been working hard to get projects done. I put the final touches on a gift for one of my good friends (which I'll post pics of later...she may read this) and finished the gift card tins for JD's teachers. I wanted a creative way to give them...I think we made paper holders last year. Altoid tins are the prefect size for gift cards so I started looking on line and then decided that since we'll be giving Dunkin Donuts gift cards, the cup of cocoa stamp my mother in-law has would be prefect. She's the best and not only did she stamp them for me, she colored them and Stickled them. I cut paper to fit the shape on the lit and attached the finished cup and added a ribbon around the edges so you can't see the writing on it. Here are the gift card tins.

 

Of course I was on the Martha Stewart site and saw these cute candy cane mice made from felt and had to make them for JD's classmates. I have to say cutting the felt was no fun, but sharper scissors might have helped. LOL They turned out so cute. The only thing I might change is the candy canes...get the fruit flavored ones. Not sure how well 4 and 5 year olds like peppermint. JD does, that I know.

There's a chance we might get those ornaments done, but we'll see. LOL Christmas is only 10 days away. Yikes!! Better get moving.

Our Elf, Scooby, Returns

Last year we welcomed an Elf (On a Shelf) into our house. JD decided to name him Scooby. It was fun to see where he landed each day after his trips to the north pole to report to Santa or whatever else he was getting into. This year, JD is super excited to look for him everyday...he's really in to it. I told JD that Scooby's probably more comfortable in the house this year, since he was with us last year, and he might find some new places to hang out.

See, I've been checking out some sites, through Pinterest, for things to do with the Elf on a Shelf. There are some pretty great ideas out there. Here are a few of the places I got some of my ideas:

Pinterest Elf Ideas
15 Fun Ideas for Your Elf on the Shelf
101 Elf on the Shelf Ideas

So far this year, this is where we've found our elf, Scooby (I'll keep adding as we go along, some days he stayed in the same spot overnight) :

1. On the top of the small Chirstmas tree in JD's room (the morning he arrived)
2. Peeking out of JD's bag of halloween candy with an armful of candy
3. Peeking out of JD's Christmas stocking
4. Sitting on top of the TV
5. In the pocket of the Letters to Santa pillow after delivering JD's letter to the North Pole
6. In JD's room, reading a book
7. Sitting on the wreath by the front door
8. On the pantry shelf with the snowman he made out of marshmallows and toothpicks (and Scooby left the marshmallow bag open!)
9. On the bookshelf in the living room with a tiny bowl of popcorn, ready for TV or a movie
10. Hanging on the christmas tree advent calendar with one of the ornaments for it in his hand
11. On the christmas tree, with his arm around the santa ornament
12. On the dining room table, making a "snow" angel
13. On the bookshelf the day of our holiday party, with drink glass in hand
14. On JD's dresser
15. On the cabinet in the dining room, candy kiss in hand
16. Resting comfortably in the garland around the dining room light (guess he thinks it's a hamock)
17. Sitting in the basket of pointsettas at the top of the steps
18. In the bathroom with toilet paper wrapped around him and the top of the closet on the wall
19. In JD's room, sitting on the desk with a paintbrush and watercolors
20. Sitting on the light up train decoration (2 nights in a row)
21. Scooby followed us to mom-mom and pop-pop's in NJ and showed up in our room
22. Peeking out of JD's Christmas stocking on Christmas Eve
23. JD asked Scooby to stay one more day so he watched us open gifts from the Chistmas tree with a candy cane in his lap.

Scooby left us, until next year, on Christmas night. He left the candy cane he had and a note for JD: "See you next year JD. Remember to be good! Thanks you for taking care of me. Love, Scooby"

JD was sad to see him go, but who knows, Scooby may make a mid-year visit to make sure things are going okay and he will be back next year. 

Pinterest...Organizing On the Web

So, how many times have you found something online and then couldn't remember where you saw it later or bookmarked it and then couldn't find the bookmark in your huge list of them? My mother in-law told me about a site called Pinterest, where you create boards to store your ideas. You can use the catagories the give you or you can make your own. It connects with Facebook so you can find friends to follow and they can follow you. I've got boards for recipes, crafts, parties, family, the house, travel, clever products and just clever idaes and a board of just things I like (fashion, jewelry, etc.). I've told several friends about this already and they seem to love it like I do.

Check it out:
http://pinterest.com/

More fun nail polish...

Just had to share again. We had my company's holiday dinner Saturday night. Got a new dress...NOT black, believe it or not. It's red...bright red and I love it! I found the Sally Hanson Salon Effects for the Christmas season about a month ago and they couldn't have matched better.

After dinner we went out to Cancun Cantina to meet some friends and celebrate December birthdays. The rest of the weekend was pretty much cleaning, laundry, errands and making lists so I don't forget anything before next weekend. Been chipping away on the Christmas gift list and found that some of the gifts won't be given until after the new year, which helps alot. I've got the next two Sundays and most of next Saturday to get wrapping and get anything else I need. I so want to share my latest project, but I'm going to hold off in case the people receiving these gifts check out the blog.

Last Friday I took JD to his school for the Santa Shoppe, where the kids can shop for family / friends and not spend lots of money. Most gifts were $1 to $4 and there were older kids (elves) to help the little ones do their shopping. The little boy JD had was so sweet and very helpful. I had filled out the list on the money envelope with the names he wanted to buy for and hoped for the best. When we left, I told him I'd help him wrap the gifts in bags he could decorate, in a way that I wouldn't be able to see what he bought (there was a gift for me in there). So he proceeds to tell me, "Mommy, I got you a ring." So I said, "Buddy, you're not supposed to tell me...it's a surprise." He says, in a whisper (I guess the volume of his voice made him feel like he was still keeping a secret)  "I'm just going to tell you...I got you a star ring becsaue you're my star." Aawwwwwww! Love that little man. When we get home, he tells me he wants to play with his plane and daddy can help him put it together. Me: "What plane?" JD: "The one I bought at the Santa shop." LOL He didn't forget himself. So, daddy snapped the tail on the plane and JD flew it around the rest of the night.

Moving Right Along

Well, I can cross a few things off my "To Do List", which makes me feel better. I've purchased some Christmas gifts and decided on others. I've got a package ready to go out in the mail tomorrow. We had out family pictures done (story to come) and I got to work on a scrapbooking project for Christmas that I had pretty much given up on even starting. I have my mother in-law and Betsy to thank for that, because they came to my house yesterday and we all worked on projects together. If they weren't there I would have found a million other things to do.

Thanksgiving is 2 days away and I actually have less to do now that previously planned. Carolyn and Dean are bringing a bunch of food, so all we have to do is fry the turkey, make some rolls and 2 sides. I'm also going to make an apple pie, with my homemade pie dough (for the first time!) and possibly an apple cream cheese bundt cake. JD is looking forward to Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's visit and has been marking off the days on the calendar for the last week. He also drew a picture of himself with Pop-Pop on his mini magna-doodle on the fridge. Dad's gonna love that!! 

We finally had our family photos done a few weeks ago. We went to Portrait Innovations, who we used last time, but we went to their new location in Frederick. JD was NOT happy about doing this and told us "I'm gonna stay in the car and you and daddy can get your picture taken." Yeah, right. So, let's just say the girl who was taking our photos earned her money that day. The first bunch of have JD's squinty-eye, closed-mouth, cheesy smile. He warmed up after a while...after she told him she'd give him a lollipop if he was good for the pictures. LOL One of the best things for me was that the place was in the same shopping center as the new Wegmans and we went over there to grab lunch and look around while waiting for our prints to be done. Of course we didn't escape without jalapeno cheese bread, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, cheese, and K-Cups.

Hope you enjoy our new photos!

JD Gems...

Last night JD and I went to the grocery store and to Kohl's. Kohl's was a last minute decision after JD decided he wanted to go too. The purpose of this trip was to find a sweater for family photos we're having done on Saturday. After looking around a bit and explaining to JD that we weren't buying toys because Christmas was coming soon, he said he had to use the bathroom. So off we run to the restrooms (which curiously smelled like a movie theater and I think it was because it's near the employee break room where someone made popcorn - still, it was weird). JD tells me that the water in the toilet is blue, so I say don't worry about it, it's just cleaner. So he starts going and I hear him say "And now it's turning green!!" So I said "well son, here's your first color theory lesson...yellow and blue make green." I wonder how the other people in the restroom didn't laugh out loud after hearing our conversation. You just never know what's going to happen.

Another time, when we were in Costco, he was riding in the cart and says "mommy, look, a genie!" So I'm looking around and realize he's talking about a woman in a traditional African outfit with the head wrap.  LOL

It's the most wonderful time of the year....ALREADY?!

JD's been saying to me that it's Christmastime. I keep telling him we have Thanksgiving first, but I'm afraid to take him into the stores now or he'll be sure I'm wrong. The night before last we took the summer decorations - yes, summer; we forgot to put the halloween ones on - off the small tree in his room. We decorate it for Valentine's day, Easter, summer, halloween and Christmas and use it as his night light. He put the Chirstmas decorations on...by himself (Note to self, take a picture for him). He was really proud of the job he did! Last night he wanted to put up Thanksgiving decorations, like window clings and I had to explain the people don't really decorate for Thanksgiving like they do for Halloween and Christmas. Maybe if they did we wouldn't skip from ghost and ghouls to Santa and Roudolph.

I think this is the most disorganized I've felt with the holidays approaching. I've tried to make lists, which usually helps get me focused and feel better, but so far, no dice. The weeks seem to go by faster with each one that passes. The next two months are shaping up to be a marathon of run here, run there, bake, cook, decorate, clean, shop and try not to lose my mind. So far my to do list is looking like this:

• family holiday photo
• show in Baltimore (Straight No Chaser - can't wait!!)
• clean for Thanksgiving and plan dinner - our house this year :-)
• BLACK FIRDAY!!! (Luckily Kohls and Walmart are right up the street)
• an IEP meeting for JD
• my company Chirstmas party
• clean and prepare for open house
• lunch with Santa? - we'll see
• christmas cards
• gift shopping (after I figure out what to get...gift cards are lookin' mighty fine this year)
• bake cookies/cookie exchange
• get anything that needs to be shipped, wrapped and to the post office
• get all our stuff ready to go to NJ for Christmas

Throw in a possible girls night dinner and scrapbooking day and several birthdays and you have a recipe for mayhem. Somehow it all gets done, but this year it's causing me some stress. Could be that we're also trying to refinance the house during all this too. Well, I'll keep making my lists of food, chores, and events. Hoping your race to the holidays is filled with as little stress as possible, good deals on Christmas gifts, and all the cookie dough you can eat before you put the pans in the oven! Oh yeah, wine too...yeah, wine would be good. LOL