Snowmen At Christmas - Day 24

Pink Christmas Frames.

One of my Matthew’s favorite pink Christmas crafts this year are his pink Christmas picture frames.  We have made picture frames in the past as holiday gifts for friends and family.  Usually under my supervision we put stickers on the wood frames or decoupage holiday papers.  I like my holiday craft projects easy.  Matthew on the other hand. . .

In any case, here are the instructions. 

1.       Purchase the wood frames, and wood die cuts to glue to the frames.  You should also purchase your paint, paint brushes, glue and any other ribbon or knick knacks you want to use on the frames.  Or course this year we went with Pink and Green as the color scheme.

2.       The first step was to paint all the frames one color. Then wait for the paint to completely dry.  Matthew suggests waiting a week or so. You should paint the wood die cuts too.  When you paint the frames, not when the frames have dried.  Otherwise it takes too long.

3.       Next we used painter tape to tape off stripes on half of the frames. 

        Then we repainted the frames with the second color of paint.  Resist the urge to peel the painter tape off right away.  Ok, maybe just do one of them.

4.       The other half of the frames we painted with circles.  To do this, Matthew used the lids of the mini bottles, dipped them in the paint and pressed them to the wood to make the large round circles.  He used the paint brush to fill in the circles.  He and his brother Paul also used their fingertips to add the smaller circles.

5.       Do not forget to wait until the paint has dried. 

6.       Now you can pull the painter tape off. Plan on being surprised about how amazing it will look.

7.       The next step is to glue the wood die cuts onto the frames.

8.       After the die cuts you should glue the ribbon and any knick knacks or doo dads to the frames

9.       There was a lot of discussion about what pictures we should use.  Matthew was all for using old Christmas pictures.  I wanted to use the boy’s school pictures.  In the end we compromised and went with anything that actually fit within the frames. 

I hope you like the results.  My Matthew was very proud of himself.

Christmas Reminders

***HUGE MAJOR DISCLAIMER This blog entry contains some personal information I usually do not share with people because I don’t want to be one of those people who over share. Also I really think that some of this information is my private business and I don’t wish to discuss it, even with family members. Don’t worry, Kat knows about it.  I am sharing this information as it relates to Christmas, and I am not inviting a conversation about my fitness habits.

So here it is.  I work out.  Or, rather I was working out, on average of 3 times a week for the last 15 months or so.  I am on a temporary hiatus at the moment. Finances and a crazy work schedule that has me leaving work at 8pm are the reason for the break. I hate telling people because honestly, it's like I am inviting people to judge me for it. 

Prior to the break I had set alarms on my phone on the days I worked out to remind me to leave work in time to get to the fitness class on time.  Even though I am “on a break” The alarms are still set and they go off 3 days a week and now instead of reminding me to go work out, they remind me that I am not currently making time to take care of myself.

I think that maybe some of the visual and audible signs of Christmas are like those alarms.  Sometimes I see Christmas lights or hear Christmas music and I am annoyed and it makes me irritable because it is interrupting something else I am trying to do.  Sometimes I see the lights and hear the music and I am nostalgic and remember fondly Christmases past. Other times it motivates me to be kind, and do something meaningful for someone. 

What are your Christmas reminders?

2017.15 45 Trees?

I may have mentioned 45 trees were a decorating issue I was struggling with pre-party? What was that about?  Well those in the know may remember 2 years ago for the silver 25^th party I went a little over the top with the decorating. Polishing all that silver, and the silver decorations, the ornament chandeliers… After that year Kat had me agree I wouldn’t spend money on the next year’s decorations.

So I reigned it in and last year I only decorated using items we already owned (raiding the boxes of Christmas decorations that are in storage here in Oklahoma).  I liked how it turned out, and got multiple compliments, including how elegant it looked.   The downside is that when the night was over I had to pack all those decorations up and then… uggghhhh… take them back to storage. So last year Kat said, no more, this year when the party was over she wanted to throw the ornaments in the trash.

I don’t believe that she thought I would remember, or that I would comply. However, I spent the better part of the year trying to figure out how to make that happen.  I think I came up with a good plan, thanks in large part to help from my unpaid interns, and despite some Saturday afternoon panic I was really happy with how they turned out, and the table decorations that did not find new homes with party guests went in the trash and did not have to come home or to storage with us. 

So here, for the first time are the party decorations, both the completed party shots, and the pictures from ‘in the process’.  Just know that even though designers said red, and Scandinavian, and rose gold were the hot trends we went with a mostly monochrome theme, despite what people may think, I am not just a slave to trends, HA!

Oh, and the table wreaths? After a craft fair in Shawnee we saw a woman toss them in the trash. I pointed it out to Kat and she said if Matthew and I had a plan for them, as long as they did not come home from the party... So we grabbed them, took some garish ribbon off and then spray painted them with a coat of white paint.  Nice! 

Day Twelve 2016

Post Party Exhaustion.

24 hours later. My feet still hurt, and I missing my belt.  Still haven't found the fancy mustards and the spice gumdrops.

Also, just wondering if anyone else is trying to figure out if next years party is the 16th or the 23rd?

And Kat wants me to come up with decorations that can be thrown away at the end of the night?

Day Nine 2016

Going for something lighter here.  Because Lord knows I need something lighter, anything lighter.

Several days ago my friend Autumn posted these pictures on facebook. 

She got several likes and multiple comments from people asking if this was her house and/or her collection of old fashion shiny bright Christmas ornaments.

Because I am the kind of sweet person that says sweet things, I suggested that I hoped she had grabbed the pictures from pinterest, otherwise  I might have to liberate them.  #OrnamentLiberationFront

I also mentioned that I have one, small silver and pink old fashion hand painted shiny bright Christmas ornament that belonged to my Granny Horton (my Mom’s mother).  I have no idea how this ornament managed to survive my sister and I growing up, but once my Mom gave it to me, I knew better than to hang it on my tree.  Why? Well it is small, it doesn’t exactly stand out.  Also I worry it will fall off the tree and break.  Instead, when I want to display it, I put it on a cupcake stand under a dome.

Autumn asked what that looked like, so viola, here you go.

I think this was 2011.  I displayed it using a mini martini glass and old fashioned candy from Hammond's in Denver.

And here is the ornament close up, in Matthew’s hand.

Day Seven 2016

Today was the last day of school before Christmas Break for the boys.  I am off work this week to get ready for the party.   Paul had an appointment at the chiropractor today after school.  So I picked up both boys and took them to the appointment.  In years past the week before the party, (also known as party week) has been highly anticipated, and the boys have come running out school EAGER to start on party prep.  Not so this year.

I tried to engage them in the car with a discussion about the menu that Kat an I had worked on at lunch.  I asked if there were any last minute additions, or things that were really necessary menu items.  They both were noncommittal “I’m sure its fine”.  “It is all good Papa.”  Finally I said “at lunch when Mama and I talked about the menu, at first I read her the list from my phone, then I put my phone away so we could discuss the menu without interruption…”  Matthew replied “that comment does not go unappreciated”, but still waited to put down his phone. 

To be fair, I don’t really need the input from them, but it is more fun when they are engaged.  When we got to the chiropractor Matthew wanted to wait in the car, but I dragged him into the office to wait with me.  While inside, I regaled him with many of my clever ideas and suggestions.  First I posited that we could serenade his brother, and the other patients at the chiro clinic today with Christmas carols.  I suggested we stand outside the rooms and sing loudly so they could hear.  I started to warm up in the waiting area singing that year round classic “La La La Singing.”  My Matthew tried to crawl under his chair.

Then I pointed out the under decorated Christmas tree in the waiting area.  Matthew tried to hush me, but I pointed out that I wasn’t talking that loud, and that the people who decorated the tree clearly knew it was under decorated.  A fact is a fact, regardless of whether or not anyone points it out.  That lead to conversation about trees falling in forests and bears and whether or not that makes a thing true.   

We then segued into a conversation about whether or not the ornaments on that tree were sad or not.   I assured him that they were, particularly because they were red, and red is one of the decoration themes for this year’s party.  #Allegedly.  I suggested that perhaps one of the ornaments might like to accompany us to our party, in Matthew’s pocket.  When he stood up, he awkwardly bumped the tree, which was really placed too close to his chair, and one of the ornaments fell off the tree.  He caught it. 

I told him this was a sign that that was the ornament that was most unhappy on that under decorated tree.  It seemed only right that that sad ornament be liberated.  And so the #OrnamentLiberationFront was born.  Honestly I am not sure why I didn’t think of this sooner.  We are already in talks to consider the happiness of several other trees we have access to have seen this year.

Kathleen suggests I let law enforcement everyone know I fully plan to return this to the chiropractor office on 12/26/2016.

O Christmas Tree

Like I said, I failed with the Christmas tree here at the house.  I tried, but Elvis Kitty foiled that plan. 

So instead of a picture of my tree, I am sharing pictures of my friends trees stolen off face book.  

Enjoy

Tree of lights form my Sister in Law's sister Geraldine

Magical tree of lights from Candace

Christmas tree from Jacqueline Lightcapp

No tree, but festive seasonal decorations from Javi

Classy tree honoring her Mother from Kristen Priddy

Love my friends and families creative and beautiful trees.