still me

our christmas eve...

Wow… the blog really took a back seat to all the festivities of this last week! It’s been CRAM PACKED with holiday family fun! We could NOT have had more fun, more food, more action and less sleep. Not possible. I am going to post  some of my favorite memories over the next few days as I start to pack up the trees and take down the decorations…it’s been a wonderful, magical, memorable Christmas!

Today I want to share one of my most favorite memories from this year, and a new-ish tradition. This is the first year in a LONG time that we were all together as a family on Christmas. The last 4 Christmases have all been ‘SKYPE’ Celebrations as we were living in China and my folks were on their mission in Fiji.  NOW, there are 10 grandchildren and the kids are old enough to really understand what is going on, and it’s an important and sacred teaching opportunity on Christmas Eve. Of course we have always read from the Bible, the account of the Savior’s Birth, and gathered around the piano for my dad to play Carols… and we have even acted it out with only my crew… but this year my mom did the coolest thing- she found a narration/poem about the first Christmas Eve, and had assigned each person parts. Then she made very simple little costumes, so each person could get dressed up as their part.  As my dad read from the Bible, we all said our parts and helped the littles with theirs. Its was adorable, and so sweet… and the kids loved dressing up, and being ‘on stage’. It’s a perfect new tradition! I loved it.

 

 

After a present exchange and yummy ham & funeral potatoes dinner we were headed back to our houses to get ready for bed!

when we got home to our house... it was clear we had to whip up a batch of Santa's FAVORITE choc. chip cookies... he leaves a note each year, that they are his all time fav!  so we unwrapped new jammies, and made cookies, and drugged the kids with benedryl and off they were into sweet slumber... and thus christmas eve BEGAN! 

 

ho, ho, here we go!

Today was the kids’ last day of school before Christmas. I almost can’t believe it! I can remember that as a kid—school out… Christmas, days away… neighbors dropping off plates of fudge and cookies. What could be better! I can remember the years that a few days before Christmas, the door to the garage would be locked and  get a handwritten sign  “SANTA’S WORKSHOP—Do Not Enter”.  I can remember sitting in the family room and being able to hear the table saw and hammering, and just being filled with WONDER…’what is going on in there?!”

One of the highlights for me this season took place tonight.  It’s actually been a LONG time since I did any ‘holiday baking’ to take to neighbors. I have given salsa, and hot fudge and maybe even choc. covered popcorn or strawberry choc dipping?? But this year, I decided that I wanted to make goodies to give away! 

First step: procure a box or container… and so I found some boxes on ebay, and ordered them up!  I wanted a window to peek inside…and something not TOO big!  The one I found is only 6x6x2.5”

Second step: what to make… I collaborated with my sister, and we thought that it would be fun to make ‘bite size’ mint brownies, peppermint rice krispie ‘bark’, and  sprinkled-with-candy-cane-Oreo-Truffles!

Last: wrap!  We placed each sweet bite in a mini-cupcake wrapper, and filled the boxes with about 10 ‘bites’. I made up some happy christmas tags, and got some yarn to wrap around the boxes. the yarn made it!

They turned out so cute… but the BEST party was tonight when I drove around and let Capri and Connor run each gift up to the doors around my neighborhood. They LOVED having that chance to share and give. They were SO excited!

This kind of thing just makes this time of year SO special!

 

 

It’s only Tuesday, and this is a big week for us!

Tomorrow is our 17^th Wedding Anniversary…Thursday is #41 for Mr. E and Quincy and I are planning a ‘crafty christmas’ party for Friday with a dozen of her friends! 

And I guess I need to contemplate some menus, shop for groceries, and WRAP!  No risk of boredom this week! 

 

magic...

some good old christmas magic:

don't miss this:

ok... this is going to be AMAZING... take a peeK:

 

 

ok... i am totally excited to be a part of this cool BIG collaboration coming in January!! it's a 'creative jumpstart' and it will BLOW YOUR MIND! here's the deal.. you HAVE TO SIGN UP! but the good news is that it's FREE... i am telling you right now: DON'T MISS IT!

click HERE to subscribe (it's totally free!!!) happy new year! and click here to find out more! 

kinda a big deal...

so today is the big day that i can finally make a really cool BIG announcement!  i have been in the process of working on a new book!! i am super excited, and well... if i was being honest, a bit overwhelmed! but it's coming together SO beautifully!

so here is the scoop...

this is a new series put together by Northridge Media and all these amazing designers! i would want a book from each and every one of these ladies! i am sure that you would agree! this is an amazing fabulous line up!  these books will each be beautifully photographed, just like you would expect from Northridge, but in each of our own distinct style and personality!

now the books will sell on the newstand for $17.95 individually, but when you pick up the subscription NOW at the intro price you get each issue for 65% off that price.. just over $8.   i think this is a no-brainer. i have to admit, that i havnen't picked up a new magazine subscription for quite some time- but this one is REALLY worth it. i know for a fact that each of these creative, amazing women are totally out doing themselves on these books.  this is coming at a good time- it's a perfect thing to ask for YOURSELF for christmas! and your 2012 will be filled with inspiration all year!

click this link to check it out in more detail, and get your very own delivered straight to your house! happy mail! you gotta love that!

happy wednesday!

i am so excited about this... i have been loving me some orange tones as of recent... the color is: TANGERINE TANGO! how fun is that? i love what they are saying about it:  "Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy"

i'd love an orange wall!

ok... so today is WEDNESDAY and on today's episode of "Create to Remember" i  show one of my FAVORITE super-quick and fun-to-make desk top scrapbook albums. This idea can be used for so many different types of projects: recipie holder, calendar, birthday countdown, or 'add-on' project. it's a PERFECT teacher gift and can be as simple or complicated... i even think it would be a wonderful way to display those precious drawings and creations your kids make!  the show is only about 5 minutes or so... definately worth a peek!  thanks to the folks at My Craft Channel for doing such an awesome job getting the great shots and making it really easy to see exactly what i am doing!

this is my 11th episode! can you believe that there have been that many!? if you have missed any... you can click HERE and go to my SHOW page... there you can check out all the different shows...there are lots of great gift ideas in there! 11 days left right?  plenty of time to make some gorgous gifts!

happy wednesday!

a recap... w/ some instructions!

I blinked, and it was Tuesday! yesterday I had my MONDAY POWER, and did all the laundry, cleaned out the fridge, did some shopping and even made dinner ( I know that I shouldn’t be so proud of that, but I am on a dinner-making-streak) and I even splurged and make Choc chip cookies for FHE!  I do love Monday!

This morning we woke up to snow, which is kinda threatening what I had planned for my Christmas card photo shoot this afternoon… but it’s getting closer and closer to Christmas, so we will have to ‘make it work’. I was semi-contemplating skipping the Christmas card this year- but it’s just not Christmas without the card. And you know- EVEN my older boys were asking me about it, that is when you know that you can’t falter. I LOVE getting Christmas cards. I have them hanging in the kitchen- THANK YOU to those of you who send cards! They are loved and enjoyed. I realized that I never sent out cards that gave our new address, so I am kinda afraid many cards won’t find us this year. Another reason for me to get them out.  I have to thank connor for my idea- a little late in the coming, but Connor was INSISTING on this hat yesterday when we were at Old Navy… and I was resisting, resisting… and then the idea came. Bought the hat and 4 more!  We’ll see how it comes together!

 

Ok, I usually do a ‘recap’ of the webshow the day after, and now it’s TUESDAY and I haven’t recapped! I still have to take a few photos, and I am planning to film a little ‘highlights’ reel. But until then… I wanted to show you a few photos from ‘the book’… the 12 days of Christmas Hybrid book…

 

Let me explain this one… I made the book from the ground up with stuff around my house. I did use a Cinch binding machine, and then created a cover out of a Ritz box from my pantrty. (you can even bring some snackin' cheese on into your crafty area while you are crafting!...unless you have a yummy cheeseball)

The Ritz box is just the right size!... when you purchase this kit, you will get all the pages in the PDF format—there are 20 pages (or maybe 21) and they come in order of how they appear in the book. i have mentioned this before, but I like to print at my closest Staples. I take all the files on a jump drive and ask them to print on 110lb white cardstock.   The kit also includes a largish PDF instruction file. It’s got big pictures and step by step instructions.  The kit did get uploaded minus one of the PDF’s and the labels the first time, but as of this morning- the kit is all set- so you might want to re-download it if you already have it.

Before the webshow, I didn’t want to put my photos in the book—so I could show all the pages. But I just uploaded a bunch of photos so that I can start filling it. I quite love it!  it’s 15 pages. Which is a lot, but you can definitely fill!

Here are the up close HOW TO shots for the cover... i showed this a little on the webshow, but here are some photos that might make it even more simple! NOTE: doesn't have to be a RITZ box. could be any!

**my recommendation is to cut all the pages, and adhere them back to back and BIND all the pages first, before you start adding all the STUFF.

1. cut the top and bottom off the box.

2. cut the front off the front

3. leave ONE of the sides on the back piece.

4. fold the remaining side piece, in half.. this will make our spine

5. adhere the front piece to that part that folds over

6. adhere papers to covers on front and back-

7. and the inside too.. this will make the book really sturdy

8. add a 4" piece folded around the outside to cover the spine

9. glue the last page of the bound pages to the back of the book -- i even kinda have the wire-0 sitting in hot glue a litte- so that it really holds. you want the binding to go as close to the edges you can-

once you have cut all the pages off... you will be left with these off cuts- that will embellish all the pages- notice how they are labeled, that will keep them all straight- my little quincy (10 years old) has taken this over now that i have it constructed and she is so excited to follow the instructions and add to the pages!

ok...  there you have it!  i like how it feels in my hands! ok... here are a few more 'tips' i shared... i kinda gave up on my circle punches- and i wound up buying this circle template thing from fiscars, and i have been using it with this free hand cutter. works good- this template is called Circles 1.

for the first 3 pages.. the circle word 'joy' shows through. i recommed using a piece of corrugated cardboard to pop it up so that it's nice and firm.

you will find the mini-4" 12 days print... you will be trimming it in pieces


so cute!

for page 2, there is a little card that opens- you will want to make a little slit in the crease, and tie the ribbon around to decorate the front!

i hope that this makes sense! i'll be back tomorrow with a few more tips--the kit is on sale right now for ONLY $13. so it's a really fun one to pick up!

the M&M Christmas Story

eric and i teach the 4/5 yr old class in Primary at church. Capri is in our class, and we have from 7-9 kids in our class every sunday... they are adorable, and i love getting to teach them!  emily just told me about this cute poem that uses M&M's to illustrate the story of Chist's birth... she sent me the link to a post on www.sugardoodle.com (LDS idea site)  So then i just designed a little tag to staple onto some bags of plain M&M's.

the idea is adorable, and can i just tell you that the kids LOVED turning the M&M's around to find the "M", "W", "E" and "3".  they were so excited to discover that cool trick, and practically ran out of our class to go and show their brothers and sisters... so, i figured that some of you might be have an occasion this holiday season to share this cute thing, and change the way that kids look at M&M's forever... as well as cause them to be reminded of the birth of the Savior every time they pop an M&M into their mouth. i was watching my kids carefully turn the M&M's around to see their cool discovery.

here is what the printable looked like- 6 per sheet.  have fun with this!

really quick

one thing you can be sure of with the LIVE show.. and that is you just never really know how it will go! we had a few technical dificluties! we lost a light. had a weird demo version of ustream and even totally lost our internet at one point! i mean... c'mon!  reguardless everyone had a good time! everyone had a blast visiting wtih each other again...and it's just FUN! it really is!  I will have a full recap with photos of some of the projects that i shared... but for now, some of you have started to watch the recorded version-- so let me be sure that i point you to the right place to find the goods!

1. Really Cool unique holiday cards. 3 in the kit. Crazy for only $2.59

2. crank it out in under an hour mini-tag book!

3. THE BOOK:

20 printable pages, plus a page-by-page, step-by-step photographic instructions included!  all for only $13 while this little beauty is on sale! this book is SO cute- as much fun to make as it is to look through. full of tons of little peek a boos...

also, the book kit includes a bonus of 6 package labels:

more images to come tomorrow!

Watch the LIVE WEBSHOW here!

show will start at 8pm Mountain time tonight! you can view the show here or click to the Ustream site to view the chat and catch the giveaways and links!