christmas crafting

i love making homemade gifts. 

though the holidays are a very busy time of year, i always enjoy the excuse to try out some of the creative ideas i browse on pinterest.

we especially have a tradition about ornaments.  

every year we create something special to give to family and close friends.  

this was a tradition that was started with my family when i was a child, and i enjoyed it so much that we have decided to continue it with our children. 

these button wreathes were our 2012 ornament.

you can check out our rustic tree ornaments from 2011 

or our handprint snowmen from 2010 if you are looking for some ideas of your own!

this was a particularly fun project for my two year old to help with.  he enjoyed stringing the buttons onto the wire, and also sorting the colors, or even just moving them from one container to another.  i did find buttons all over the dining room for weeks however......

for the complete tutorial, you can visit martha stewart's link.  

i understand that this would have been more fun to read last month, when you were planning for the holidays, but honestly, i gave these to people who read my blog and i didn't want to ruin the surprise!  ;)

i also crafted these christmas trees, and though they were inspired by pinterest, i actually combined a couple of different projects into one.

mod podge is my favorite crafting tool.  

and, yeap, i got it everywhere doing this project.  

i loved the rustic feel of how these burlap trees turned out so much that i made an extra one to keep for myself.

should i actually be admitting that?!

our sick christmas

christmas of 2012 will forever be remembered by me as the christmas that daddy was sick.  

hendrix had an ear infection that was discovered on christmas eve (thank goodness the clinic was open and we were able to squeeze him in to get antibiotics before the holiday) but he bounced back pretty quickly after his first dose of meds.

daddy, on the other hand had a cold, then the flu, (he was up most of the night with a fever and chills on christmas eve), then a sinus infection, with a double ear infection grand finale.  he was out of commission for an entire week, during which mommy had this very important role of santa to play on her own.  it really was a super bummer to see your hubby laying on the couch in misery, while trying to excitedly open presents with your two kiddos on christmas morning.

enough complaining though.

our. holidays. were. awesome.

we got to celebrate multiple times with many family members, spread out evenly enough to let us savor each event.

our kids were showered with awesome presents and amazing memories.

i love christmas!

we started out at grandma's house.  after yummy breakfast treats, hendrix got the first taste of christmas presents, and he was so distracted with them that he wouldn't even hold his sister for a photo......

blaire was a doll just watching the lights, and ribbons with fascination.

hendrix, was of course, most excited about his new markers.....

coloring. is. his. thing. 

our second christmas celebration was when grandpa came to visit us for christmas eve.  hendrix enjoyed playing with some of his new toys with him, and grandpa just ate up the time to hold his baby granddaughter!

hendrix helped to open daddy's presents since he wasn't up to it.

watching hendrix have a little "jam session" with grandpa on the guitar was probably a highlight of my holiday season.  he was so delighted to be a part of the music, and grandpa was so patient with his energetic strumming.  so sweet!

hendrix came downstairs on christmas morning to find a new play kitchen from santa with all the fixin's......he was thrilled!  he probably played, making us a pretend breakfast, for a good 45 minutes before we even got to opening any of the wrapped presents!  

santa was very happy with her choice on gifts this year, and is looking forward to many years of play cooking from both hendrix and then eventually blaire ;)

after a few hours of lounging around home, we packed up and headed to nana and papa's house for the day.  

my kids get more attention than many dream of at nana and papa's house and it is always so fun to see my siblings, my sisters-in-law, and now my new baby niece!

hendrix was a hoot with all the presents, and he has taken over a few toys that were meant to be for blaire.  oh well, she doesn't mind too much yet!

he was especially thrilled with his new reindeer ornament, and has been really sad about putting away the ornaments and taking down the tree for the year.  he pitifully begged to leave it up saying, "mommy, i like ornaments, and my tree, cuz, mommy, i love christmas!".  i know kiddo, but it will roll around again, and quite frankly, much sooner than one would think!  lol

my grandparents came for part of the afternoon, and it was really fun to watch my brothers give my grandpa a homemade knife gift that was so personal and special it invoked tears.  precious moments like that are not soon forgotten.  i love gifts from the heart!

it was so fun to snuggle my niece, annalise; and her mommy and i got to spend a significant part of the day hanging out in the rockers nursing our wee little babes ;)

our holidays were full of yummy treats, family memories and more gifts than we even knew what to do with!  

happy 2012 to all, and here's to a fresh whole new year!

christmas cheer

i finally got our christmas cards mailed out (after sitting on my dining room table for nearly two weeks while i updated my address list to print labels) and i must admit that i am thrilled with how they turned out this year!

designing and sending out christmas cards is one of my favorite parts of this time of year; and while i opted not to use the holiday photos that i took of my kiddos, i still had a tough time narrowing it down to just four photos.  i am in awe of those who can pick just one!  ;)

these are from pear tree greetings, and i love the newsletter feel that my cards have this year.  it seemed like a perfect fit for announcing the arrival of our new little girl without leaving anyone else in our growing family out ;)

(front)

(back)

warm holiday wishes for a very merry christmas from my family to yours!

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