Announcement

So I've been MIA for the past five months...but for good reason.  We found out in January that we're expecting our first child this fall.  Blogging was put on hold due to morning sickness, celebrating, and just general excitement, but I plan on eventually posting all the projects (including several nursery ones!) that have been accomplished since my last update.

Merry Christmas!

He will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

-Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas, from our house to yours!

Christmas Decor

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm just now getting around to posting our Christmas decorations.

The tree in the library:

The main tree in the family room:

We used pictures on the presents instead of name tags.

My Willow Tree nativity scene:

An elf made by my grandmother:

And a Santa made by her, too:

Beautiful stockings by the fire:

Umbrella Girl

When I joined Pinterest a few months ago, one of the first things I pinned was this piece of art. Since I couldn't afford it the yellow in the painting didn't fit with my existing decor, I tried to recreate it using colors I have in my dining room.

The original painting was done with a palette knife, which was beyond intimidating. I asked the art teacher at my work for some help, and this is what was created:

I love it. Since it's semi-abstract, it's very forgiving with my beginner painting skills.

I framed it in a frame identical to the one I used for the doilies, so it matches without being too matchy.

This gives me motivation to stop just pinning and start doing!

Family Silhouettes

I was feeling thrifty and crafty the other day, so I put together this project using things I had around the house:

I started by taking profile shots of the hubs and myself using PhotoBooth on my Mac.

Then I resized them to the size I wanted and printed them out. I cut out the two images and traced them onto the paper I wanted to display. I took creative liberty with my hair and gave myself a hairstyle that was cuter than what it was actually like in real life.

Once they were cut out, I secured them onto a piece of painted cardboard, cut out some vinyl for the bottom, and stuck in a frame. I opted to tape the silhouettes so that we could rearrange the whole thing in the future as our family grows.

Framed Doilies

Years ago, my sweet grandmother gave me a set of three doilies that she had made. They have been stored in my jewelry armoire since then, but I finally figured out what I wanted to do to preserve and display them.

I found a framed poster at the thrift store. After painting the frame and the original print, I used adhesive spray to mount the doilies and keep them from sliding around.

I love seeing her beautiful handiwork being used as art in my house.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Since I love wreaths so much, it made perfect sense for my first craft of the Christmas season to be a wreath.

I just hot glued moss all over the wreath form, then hung it up with a red ribbon. I had a wooden red H to add to the front, but I changed my mind and left it plain.

Wreath form: $0.69

Moss: $4.00

Ribbon: Found in a box