Found Festive :: Felt-Ball-Garland-and-Burlap-Christmas-Tree-Skirt

We have not yet upgraded to a full size tree since we moved into our home. We figure that keeping the small "apartment tree" that we have had for the past 6 years works with an 20 month old that might just find it fun to remove every single ornament within reach. We went to our local Homegoods in search of a table to house our pretty little tree and found this wonderful black round table that will look good whether it has a tree on it or not. We still had a little problem, the not so pretty green plastic base of the tree that made it look a little less than put together. I got a piece of burlap from my stash (addiction to cloth) and used a few of the hundreds of plastic bags we have from grocery trips to fill in around the base and tied the burlap with some brown baking twine a few times. I LOVE the result. My own version of a "ready to be planted", Charlie Brown-esque tree. 

I saw an idea for a felted ball garland that was more affordable both money and time-wise than its Anthropologie counterpart from last year. This garland seemed to be easy enough when I thought I would make the felted balls, but then I found the beauties below at my local Micheal's store and a light bulb went on! They were already made and most had holes in them for stringing onto a bracelet. So I went to work with some brown baking twine, knotting before and after each felted ball, and voila!

We're getting festive around here and enjoying all the Christmas preparations! Tonight it's letters to Santa at the North Pole...

How is your holiday decorating going?

Found Festive :: Valentine-for-boys

Picture via Me

I had my first real taste of what Valentines Day will be like when my kids are in school. We attend a play group and they had a Valentine party. We made Valentines for each child based on this idea. And I think they turned out really cute. The dollar store in my area had these cute bouncy balls that look like baseballs, basketballs and soccer balls. They were a hit and my little guy had a blast handing out his fun valentine prize to all his friends! 

Found via {DesignMom}

Found Festive :: Happy New Year

Demdaco Ornament from 2009

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you will enjoy this opportunity to revision what you want your 2011 to look like. I love the reflection of this time of year and the changes and hope that accompany it. In our house this new year will bring about many new things as we continue to raise our children with as much love and dedication as we can muster!

One of my goals for 2011 is to journal our lives (personally, non-bloggy) and use our pictures to produce a beautiful hard copy memory book for my children. Also to be more "present" with my children and make self-importance a little less important. Love more, smile more, serve more.

Here's to 2011! Happy New Year!

Found for Home :: Christmas-Tree-Decorations

{Christmas Tree picture from last year}

I love decorating my Christmas tree and I'm hoping that will happen in the next few days as we get ourselves "settled" into our new home. THAT right there is a bombshell people! We bought a home and we are moving ourselves into a construction zone! I will be posting all about the rehab process we have gone through with this home and you will get to see the before and after shots. Are you ready for a DIY renovation? We're right in the thick of it and I am so excited to show all of you! 

The holiday season is so busy in a large family like mine, as well as yours I'm sure. We are excited to see family that will be travelling to see us and those that live close by. We are settling into a Christmas gift buying groove for our children and it looks a lot like this: something to wear, something to read, and something to play with... and then the traditional Christmas Eve pajama opening. We all like to look our best on Christmas morning as we stumble from our beds with rats nests in our hair... wearing our new pajamas!

How do you shop for your children for Christmas? How is your shopping list looking... lots of check marks?

Found Festive :: Giving Thanks

This season is full of thankfulness for my family. We are thankful for each other and for all the material blessings we are afforded. We are thankful for our relationships and the little things that make life more meaningful. And we are thankful for a transition into real-world employment (post-advanced degree) that has helped us get a firm footing. What a whirlwind the thanksgiving holiday was for us! And now Christmas seems to be bustling up right ahead.

We are thankful for our children and the amazing milestones they achieve. They are amazing and we marvel at every little thing. Today as we drove in the car, I heard a quiet and energetic song floating from the back seat... "Bingo had a name! Bingo had a name!" My son is very interested in all of the songs I knew as a child and sings "row, row your boat merrily down the stream" and "tinkle, tinkle little star... like a diamond in kai!" and with these songs he takes me back to my childhood when these songs were the backing track to my adventures and happiness.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! What are you thankful for?

Found Fun :: Pumpkin Sculpting :: Pumpkin Carving

For Halloween the past couple of years we have attempted sculpting pumpkins instead of carving them. This year the results were so much better than last years attempt that I had to show off the creation that we made together ( I helped give some reality to the definition in the nose and eyes.) We used clay sculpting tools from the art store and this year we didn't gut the gourd. We left him with all his seeds intact so that we could use all our energy on sculpting the face. I think he turned out pretty handsome... they both did... :)