Christmas 2015... Family Memories and a Bit of Decor

As the year ends, I thought I'd share some of my Christmas memories with you.  These are my true blessings.
Olive Jane must have veen trying out for the 'most perfect little girl' award Christmas Day, because she was just that.  Here she is sporting her new, slightly shorter hairdo.  She posed this way on her own:)

Joey gives me the sweetest smiles ever.  He has been trying out for the 'most perfect baby' award since the day he was born.

Great Grandma Horton with 4 of her 'greats' as she calls them.  As you can see, our Benjamin has been a great help with the baby.  Little Aaron is hunkered down in the corner.  One of my goals for 2016 is to teach him to give me a decent smile for a photo.  This will be a tough goal:)

This was our little Joseph's first Christmas.

Lilly Belle.  She looks bigger here than she really is because of the close-up.  She only weighs 15-18 pounds.  She is the sweetest little girl I could ever hope to have for a puppy.  She will forever be a puppy to me.

Buster Bo Jangles.  He has grown into a beautiful, beautiful boy.

Toby Joe, my sweet, sweet and wonderful Border Collie mix.  We didn't actually adopt him.  He adopted us!

... and here's our tree...

There was one more piece of coordinating decor on the right side of the hearth, but a big, white tail wiped it out one day, so I set a tray of Christmas cards there.  We like to go through them several times and reread the messages sent from family and friends.

This is our 'Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night' photo:) 

God bless you and yours in the coming year.  In my next post, I'll be looking at what's ahead for 2016.  Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Hexagon Gift Box

Would you like to see the gift boxes I made for my Scraps and Prayers attendees at our December class?  They were amazingly easy and cute to make.  As I've been so busy babysitting the cutest baby ever, I had to keep them simple. 

Aren't they cute?  If I'd had more time, I would have done a little stamping, made a belly band and possibly even a tag.  Since I didn't have that kind of time and I know you don't always have extra time either, I'm happy to share how you can still make cute things and not need a ton of time to do it.

I had so much fun making flowers out of our Cotton Papers, that I decided to see how a flower would look with some of our Real Red Envelope Paper.  They turned out great and it was easy to work with the papers.  I used 8 layers, staggered them and held them together with a retired rhinestone brad. 

If you're wondering what's inside each box, it's a couple rolls of ribbon.  They help to create the box and hold its shape:) 
In a future post, I plan to make a box or two with some of our new Occasions Catalog products and then maybe post a tutorial on how to make them.  You'll just have to keep checking back to see:)
  

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Christmas Dinner, with the help of Stampin' Up!

I always like to add some personal, creative touches to setting the table for special guests.  Nothing could be more special than my guests for Christmas dinner.  We enjoyed having my mother-in-law, both our children and all the grandchildren.  It was a wonderful day.   

I made elf treat bags for all the boys, a Santa treat bag for Olive, and square pillow box treat bags for the adults.  I kept them all very simple, as I had minimal time to make them.  Everyone loved them.

They had good treats inside, too:)  Did you notice the same stamp set that was used on the stocking charms in this post? (Click here to see my previous post.)

The boys helped me set the table.

I love using the battery operated (with remote control:) candles to keep everything pretty and safe.  Tiny pre-lit trees in each corner and a lit wreath in the window completed the warm glow of Christmas.  The beautiful garland down the center of the table picks up the glow of the candles, wreath and little trees.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Blessings to You and Yours

Have a blessed Christmas.  

The Stockings Were Hung...

I had to make a new stocking this year.  How fun!  When I bought the fabric for our stockings a couple of years ago, I bought extra, just in case we ever needed another one.

When I hung the stockings for the grandkids, I realized that I needed a new charm for the name on Joey's stocking, as well.  I had also saved the stamp set I'd used previously, so it was fun to get it out and make up another name card.  
Last year, we decided to just put up the stockings for the kids and that's what we're doing this year, too.

In a future post, I'll share how I used the same stamp set for making new place cards this year.  Be sure to check it out.  I hope your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Four Gifts Each... Want... Need... Wear... Read...

In an effort to make Christmas preparations a little more sane, I decided right after Christmas 2014 to go with an idea that many others have been using and it's working great.  The idea is that each grandchild gets 4 gifts ... Something you want... Something you need... Something to wear... Something to read.  

I decided to make giant tags for each category for each of our 3 oldest grandchildren.  Joey is a bit too young to start this.

See what I mean?  Big tags!!!  Joey, Papa and my son had some separate gifts in bigger boxes, so I just made them a name tag, using our foil and alphabet dies.  On the tags for each category, I used their first initial. 

Here's what I like about using this system.  By telling the 2 oldest boys how this was going to work, it kept them in focus on choosing the very highest priority on their wish list.  For me, it helped me focus on 'keeping with the system' and making the very best choices for each child.  It really simplifies shopping and I'm incredibly excited to see the kids open their gifts.  I think I did pretty well with it all.  Maybe I'll share what's inside in another post... after Christmas.

Let me know if you've used this system already or if you plan to try it... maybe next year.  It is actually quite fun. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

A Little Pause to Count Blessings

Yesterday was our church's March to the Manger, with characters portraying the Christmas story.  What an honor and blessing to have our little Joseph play the part of baby Jesus.  He did a beautiful job.  

I had Joey totally asleep to hand off to my daughter (portraying Mary) as she and 'Joseph' (my son-in-law) joined the Nativity scene. Joey slept a while after Jenn placed him in the 'manger' and then he awoke and Jenn held him.  He looked around and seemed to know he was a part of something special and beautiful.  

May the blessings of Christmas fill your heart... today and always.

Crafting is Good for Your Health

I've been working on some class ideas for 2016.  This is an exciting thing to do!  I have many more ideas than I can realistically cram into one year.  I'll go for the best of the best.

If you have some ideas for classes that you'd plan to attend, be sure to let me know.  I'm all ears!  If you do not live in my area, feel free to suggest ideas you'd like me to share on my blog.  I'll try my best.  

Be sure to plan some 'me' time for yourself in 2016.  It will keep you grounded and sane.  Crafting with others is extra good for you, so be sure to keep checking to see what I'm adding to my schedule.  

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Advent Calendar Project

Here's a little project that I've been 'meaning to work on' for at least 2 or 3 years now.  I made up my mind that it would no longer be sitting in my 'stash' just waiting for me to come work on it.  I think it turned out pretty cute. 

I attached the papers with Mod Podge so they would be protected.  I punched a hole and added a ribbon 'pull' to make it easier to open each drawer.  

For now, I decided to not add numbers to it because I didn't want to cover up any more of the tiny picture squares.  I could change my mind later.  I added a wider ribbon all around the entire box and tied it in a pretty bow at the top.  It was windy when I took the photo, so it's blowing up in the air a bit in some of the shots:)

Do you have a 'stash' of projects just waiting for you to come get them and work on them?  Grab them and get them finished.  It's a really GOOD feeling to finally get caught up on at least something in your life:)

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

A Gingerbread Project... My Kind of Holiday Baking

I'm sharing a project with you today that started out as a grungy old muffin tin.  This was a 'just for fun' project... created during one of those rare moments when I get to work in my studio and just create something for the fun of creating. 

I've had this old muffin tin sitting around for 2 or 3 years now, just begging me to create something with it.  I've had this idea for a long time now and finally got it finished.

The tree and gingerbread men are all on magnets, so it can attach to the fridge in my studio for a fun little bit of Christmas decor.  With everything on magnets, I can easily remove it all and reuse the muffin tin for another project and then change back to the gingerbread men whenever I feel like doing some holiday baking.  Believe me... this is about the only way I do any holiday baking any more.

Look around your 'stash' of stored items and see if you find something that you can make into a fun project. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Playing With Watercolor, Part Three of Three

Let's wrap up my little series by taking a look at my third card.

I featured the largest snowflake toward the top on this one.  

There are more greens in the background than in my second card in my little series.  The snowflakes look pretty wherever you place them.  

I hope you've enjoyed my little series.  Now, it's time for you to get out your Watercolor Papers and get to work.  Have fun!

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.