Christmas Thank Yous

Happy Monday!

Ahhh ... I'm really starting to get into this relaxing business ... just in time to start gearing up for the New Year classes and promotions *lol* ... Oh well ... I'd be really bored if I sat around in my yoga pants much longer (and they wouldn't FIT if I didn't get back on track with the healthy living I've been trying to adopt!!!)

This weekend I got a bunch of crafting in ... and REALLY enjoyed it.  I don't often craft just for fun but that's what I did - SO relaxing!!  I'll share one of the cards I came up with tomorrow ... but today I want to show you the Thank You cards I made for the girls to give out.  As you know by now - NOT sending a thank you not is NOT an option in my house.  You get a present, you send a thank you.  Period.  No discussion.  Well ... they TRY to discuss it ... and negotiate it away ... and whine a LOT about it ... and *promise I'll do it later* ... but Mom is a hard ass.  You don't do it - I tell the people not to get you a present next year.  They know I mean business and they do it!  Here is what I whipped up this year:

 Look familiar?  It should - I made the same card a while back but in different colors.  For this card I used some retired "Manhattan" DSP for the back paper layer, then a piece of Whisper White stamped in Old Olive with the Oh, Hello sentiment ($22.95 clear), splotched some Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive and Crumb Cake blobs using the Gorgeous Grunge set and attached it all using the Season of Style Washi Tape.  So quick and easy!!  I love this card layout - it's my "go-to" card for quick and easy!

I also wanted to share the Christmas cards that Rebecca made for all of us.  She made green for the boys and red for the girls:

Aren't they great?!  Last summer I was at a garage sale and bought this retired set - I just KNEW it would be a great one for the kids to use!  I stamped the images in Staz-on and then she colored them.  The paper is from Michaels (NO I don't let them use my *good* paper!!!!).  The images are punched out with the 1 3/8" circle punch and the black ones with the 1 3/4" punch.  they turned out really great!  My little card-maker-in-training :)

That's it for today - pop in again tomorrow(ish) to check out my latest Valentine card!  Until then ... have a stampy day!


Tam

Trixie ... our Elf on the Shelf

Happy Sunday!

OK!  I must be procrastinating on something because here I am blogging again!  Today is the day - I'm going to share our month with Trixie ... our very much loved Elf on the Shelf.  I always assume everyone knows what these magical little creatures are all about ... but this year I had questions from a few of my friends over in Europe asking what they were and how they worked ... so ... for those of you who don't know ...

Elf on the Shelf has been around for about 8 years now ... but has REALLY taken off in the last 2-3 years over here in MY world (butof course you all know that I often live under a rock and am completely out of touch with what is *in* lol).  I have really noticed an increase in it's popularity this year, as many of my friends have been posting daily pictures on FaceBook showing what their little elf has been up to.  How it works:  A family *magically* receives and Elf on the Shelf from Santa (or mom goes and buys one at the store!).  Once the family names their Elf they become part of the family and get their magic powers.  During the day the elf watches the children and then at night magically transports back to the North Pole to report to Santa as to whether they have been naughty or nice (yes ... just a *little* creepy ... and yes. Alicia - my 8 year old - DID have one or 2 nightmares about Trixie this year!).  Every morning the elf returns to the home but is in a different location.  The children run around the house trying to find him/her.  Last year our elf did a lot of hide-and-seek ... but THIS year she got into quite a bit more mischieft than last year.  Naturally I took pictures daily and have now created a scrapbook of her antics:

The album was so quick and easy to put together I decided to have a class for my friends' ... they will come and make a book of THEIR elf for a great keepsake.  I used the Season of Stripes 8" x 8" album, the divided page protectors and Season of Style Designer Journaling Tags for this project.  The total cost of it is only $27.50 (Canadian) - really exonomical!

So here are the pictures of Trixie's adventures this year ... in no particular order ...

 

She must have found the stash of Halloween Smarties!! 

 Luckily she used a dry erase marker on all our pictures and not a Sharpie!!

 We found her in the bathroom hanging around ... with a smiley face drawn on the mirror ... and the pen!!

 Hee hee :)

 Lounging in Barbie bathtub ... filled with mini marshmallows! ... She used one of  Rebecca's socks for a hair wrap *lol*

 She somehow managed to get Rebecca's Easy Bake Oven down and made a REAL mess!  ... on the bright side we had cupcakes for breakfast!

 Zip lining in the kitchen ?!?!?

 ... made her own breakfast (now if she could only teach the children how to do that!)

 Post it notes all over my bathroom!!

 Hiding with the stuffies ...

 She found Rebecca's makeup kit!

 Checkin' out Baby Jesus ....

 It took HOURS to find her this day!

 Drag racing with Barbie and a stuffie ,..

 Camping ... and toasting mini marshmallows ...

 Playing snakes and ladders with Koda's toys!

 Learning how to read ...

 Hiding ...

 Listening to Christmas tunes ...

 She found the Cheetos ... and seems to like them!

 Hiding in the tree!

 Watching movies

 She found my knitting!!!

 Jingle Bells on the piano!

On Dec 24th we figured it would be ok to touch her (if you touch/play with her she loses her magic for the night and can't make it back to the North Pole ... but since it was her last day with use we figured we could ... and we left a note for Santa to take her home with him when he dropped by ... which of course he did!)

 Craig thought her would catch Trixie helping Santa stuff the stockings ...

 ... and of course a few pics with our furry children ... Koda ...

 ... and Charlie ...

 Awww ...

And then Craig thought it would be hilarious to have a few out takes ...

 ... umm hmm ... VERY helpful Dear ... VERY helpful ...

 So there you have  it!  24 days of fun with our elf.  I'm not gunna lie ... while I hate to see her go I DO look forward to earlier bed times for me!  Great fun and great memories for the girls.  Every morning was like Christmas morning as they would come flying down the stairs to see where she was and what naughtiness she had been up to.  Yep - I'm a sucker for a fun tradition!

Pop in again soon ... I want to share the Thank You card I made for the girls to send out to family/friends for thier gifts ... and the Christmas card that Rebecca helped design for her family.  Until then ... have a stampy Sunday!


Tam

Christmas Ornaments

Happy Saturday!!

OK ... at long last ... and as promised AGES ago I thought I'd finally post pictures of some of my favorite Christmas ornaments that we have made over the years.  I THINK all of these have been posted at one time or another on my blog so if there are any that interest you that require explaination just do a search over on the left hand side to find the post you are looking for.  If that doesn't work leave me a comment and/or e-mail me and I will find it for you.  Some of these projects you have seen recently (like the angels) but some are from a few years back so if you are new(ish) to my blog they may be new for you. 

My PLAN is to do another post very soon with those also-long-promised pics of Trixie, our Elf on the Shelf.  We'll see how my day goes ;)

Enjoy!

My newest favorite - the Angels ...

These candy canes were made ... last year? ... for the teachers.  The little tag reads ...
Look at the candy Cane
What do you see?
Stripes that are red
Like the blood shed for me
White is for my Saviour
Who's sinless and pure
"J" is for Jesus
My Lord that's for sure!
Turn it around and a staff you will see
Jesus my shepherd
Was born for me!

This years' Festive Flurry Kit ornaments ...

My contest winning glitter balls ...

Glitter Rudolph :)

Snowman Snowglobe ..

M&M ornaments (yes - quite heavy ... a few have fallen from the weight and broke :(

My oragami ornaments ... beautiful but a MAJOR pain in the tookas to make!!

Last years' ornment kit ornaments ...

Rudolph made with a battery tea light so his nose glows :)

Close up of the glitter ornament ...

Glitter santa belly ornaments ... flat version

Santa belly - round ball version

Glitter snowflake made out of chipboard ... pain in the tookas!

Snowmen ornaments (so stinkin' cute!)

This year Alicia made a melted snowman ornament for grandpa *lol* ... made with Kosher salt, 5 peppercorns and an orange pom pom cut into a triangle - LOVE it!!



 This goes back about 4 or 5 years ... a paper wreath made by hand cutting leaves, folding them then running them through the crimper and gluing them to a paper circle base.  I actually had a kid's class to make these (awww .... and there is the Santa Belly ornament under it *lol*)

 This year's Cork Critters :)  (My mom LOVED them!!)

 ... and this year Rebecca made golf ball puppies for her grandpas ... thanks for the idea Sheila ... they LOVED them!!  Made by hot gluing 7 golf balls together .. then we painted them ... then Rebecca decided on colored stones for ears (felt or fun foam were the other options ... she picked the stones!) - she then wanted a piece of ribbon around the neck for a collar and a small pom pom for the dog tag.  SHE came up with the design of the snouts - a small pompom and then a teeny tiny pom pom for the nose and one for a tongue.  Googlie eyes were hot glued on ... oh and the tails ... we used golf tees.  *lol*  So cute!!

 

So there you have it ... a little after-the-fact but now you have some inspiration for NEXT Christmas!

 

Pop in again soon to see if I ever get up to posting about Trixie.  Until then ... have a stampy day!

 

 

Tam