Christmas Projects Part 2

First a confession: I do not have the decorating gene other women have. I can tell you what I like when I see it, but I cannot do it on my own. I must beg, steal and borrow to have any style in my home and wardrobe.

So it really stinks on the day after Thanksgiving because I am super excited about getting all the Christmas decs down and out and then I promptly get depressed because I have no idea where to put them. Matt has seen this happen like clockwork for 8 years now so this time, being the design genius he is, he gave me a great tip--pick one or two colors per area. OHHHHHHH so you don't just set out all your trinkets on every surface in your home? Got it. So I set out for Hobby Lobby with a plan, red, white, silver. Here's the thinking behind that color palette. I like traditional Christmas, red and green, holly, garland blah blah blah, and our dining room is green so if I stick to red with neutral accents it comes off Christmas, right?

So here are some shots of what I came up with, with lots of help from pinterst, better homes and gardens and my great husband.

Holiday card display.

 You may notice the ribbon is not straight, it was when there were no adorable cards....oh well, worth the imperfection!

Our tree. I love it, colored lights, all miss matched ornaments because each one has a story. This part I can do.

 Top of the piano

 Buffet (with Bixby the elf. Not part of the decorations I had just moved him there and forgot.)

Mantle in the livingroom, very simple, I like the Nativity to be the focus there.

What do you think? Ok? We are liking it : )

So speaking of decorating, late in November, I saw some really cute throw pillows on an end cap at Target. Like I said, I know what I like, I just can't think of it on my own. The pillows were just red with one white ribbon running over them, not a bow, just straight. We have 5 pillows, so at $11.99 that would really add up for something I truly didn't need. Then a few days later I was in Wal-Mart and they had red flannel on sale for 2.99 a yard! I have a sewing machine......

Before:

And after:

I am not confident in my sewing in a straight line skills, so instead I added a W monogram and a snowflake applique to the pillows. I also learned how to make button holes so I didn't have to sew in the pillows. I just sewed 3 sides and buttoned the fourth so in January the pillows will easily go back to normal. Total cost $7 for 4 pillows! They are not perfect, but they are mine : )

Christmas Projects Part 1

Isn't it funny that the time of the year where there is an unlimited amount of adorable projects you have zero time to finish them! Maybe if I was a responsible crafter I would plan these projects in the summer and get them done while I'm "off" work. But I'm not. I don't think of cute Christmas projects until I see them out and about during Christmastime.

Here are a couple I have finished, I have many many more on the list.

First up a felt full sized Christmas tree for Wesley's room. I found this idea on pinterest. Someone else out there must have had a 3 yr old that really likes to decorate, redecorate and rearrange the Christmas tree. So here is the solution, build them there own that they cannot destroy.

Felt sticks to felt, so all you do is cut out your tree shape, then as many "ornaments" as you want and voila! They can decorate to there hearts content! I added the letters in her name with heat n' bond to a few so she could practice spelling, she loves anything with her name right now. She is convinced the letter W is just for Wesley, no one/nothing else. I said W for "windy" the other day and she was very perturbed.

The next project I tackeld was for myself and some of my coworkers. We are having Polar Express day on the 16th. The whole school will be in their pajamas and we will gather by grade levels to watch the movie. If you are not familiar with this holiday classic, there is a little boy who is not sure he believes in Santa or "Chirstmas" anymore. Then the Polar Express comes by to take him to the north pole and you can guess the rest. It is a heartwarming tale, I highly recommend the book and the Tom Hanks film is pretty good. A little uncanny valley for me but entertaining none the less. Throughout the movie the kids on the train talk about hearing Santa's sleigh bells, but the main little boy can't hear them, because he doesn't believe. So here are the shirts we will wear tomorrow with our pj pants.

There are 10 in all, coordinated to match each persons pjs. And since I was already making them I had to do one more....

Christmas Project Part 2:: I tackled throw pillow covers.......

The Party

I wanted to write this post 18 times over, but haven't had the time to think it through. Turns out I won't have time anytime soon, so I better just write it, even if it's not well thought out and grammatically correct.

We had Wesley's third birthday party on November 20th. This was the first official "kid" party. Where we no longer threw a party for our friends and Wesley got the benefit of presents and excitement. This party was all about her for once? again.

She picked the theme, Princess and the Frog. She helped create the guest list, which included 10 of her friends. She really wanted every single child she had ever met, but y'know, have to draw the line. We really did want to just throw out a blanket invite to everyone, but we thought it through and realized our midtown home gets real small, real quick when tiny people are running around it and pulling out everything Wesley owns. We also did our non-kid friends (which is most of you...hmm hmm) a favor by letting them of the hook on this one.

So here are some of the decorations. Big thank you to our wonderful Sissy for all the photos!

I made the banner, but the tissue flowers are from a wedding shower at our school. I know how to make them, but I see no reason to reinvent the wheel, and I am an environmentalist "Waste not, want not"

Here is the cake and table:

Next we have the wonderful banner my very talented friend Eliza made, she does the banner every year for Wesley's party, and she made the birthday girl her tutu as well! She's rad.

Because we are TRYING to minimize the princess obsession in our home. I choose to make the Princess and Frog theme more about Tiana wanting to be a chef. If you have seen the movie, which I love btw, Tiana does not want to be a princess at all. She works two jobs and saves her money because her dream is to have her own restaurant. So obviously I included princess stuff, but the favors were aprons, and their was a cupcake decorating station, and a chef hat assembly/decoration station, not just dress up and tiaras (we had that too though!).

Here is one little chef after creating a cupcake masterpiece. The hats are just a strip of poster board stapled together, and a piece of white tissue paper tucked and stapled in the top. Thanks Pinterest!

Present time was a whole new adventure. Like I said, first time with lots of tiny people. They are not nearly as patient as a room full of adults who want to watch a 3 year old take her time opening each present.  But here is a great shot of her birthday outfit!

Chaos....

Next we decided it would be great to get all the kids in their aprons for a a group photo.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....it was an epic failure.  But here are our attempts. In the end we told them the couldn't have the treat bags unless they sat down, looked at the camera, and said THREE!

All teasing aside, I think it went wonderfully. It was chaotic. Two and three year olds do not follow directions well for longer than 3 minutes. All the games were not played, and ice cream and chips were completely forgotten in the kitchen. But my sweet girl was surrounded by friends and family that love her. We were reminded how blessed we are. And I think everyone who came had a good time.

Happy Birthday big girl! We love you the mostest!