christmas around our home 2013

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!…then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ‘Maybe Christmas’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store…maybe Christmas perhaps…means a little bit more!’” Dr. Seuss.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ~An Angel, Luke 2:10-12

“Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.” ~Margaret Thatcher

“May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through” ~Author Unknown

“At Christmas, all roads lead home,” ~ Marjorie Holmes

                    We wish you a Merry, Merry Christmas!

christmas around our home

Hope everyone had a Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

christmas stockings & paper fans

{Even though it’s been a busy month I’m very glad I was able to complete some of the Christmas projects in my list. Christmas is a few days away so there isn’t much time left here but still wanted to share!}

Last year we didn’t get Christmas stocking for the kids, because we spent the Holidays in Perú and stocking are not really a tradition over there. This year however, I definitely wanted to get them cute Christmas stockings, as it’ll be our first Christmas together at home.

I wasn’t sure what type of stocking to buy, classic, modern? I was indecisive until I saw this picture, from my inspiration post, and well, I felt inspired to attempt to sew stockings. Yes. I decided I wanted to make my own stockings. I googled, found a simple and easy tutorial, went to the craft store to get some fabric and put to work.

Also, I was planning on hand stitching the letters, but after I glued them to secure them to the stocking I got lazy and decided to leave them like that. Yes, I like easy and simple.

To finish decorating, I got some red and silver nesting boxes and wrapped a couple of boxes with some leftover wrapping paper, and created and framed a sign saying “A gift for you”. I love, love the way everything looks together, festive, merry, very Christmas-y!

Feliz Navidad a todos!

christmas cards display

{Even though it’s been a busy month I’m very glad I was able to complete some of the Christmas projects in my list. Christmas is a few days away so there isn’t much time left but still wanted to share!}

Last year we hung Christmas cards on our stairs. We really liked how the hall looked very merry and festive. It was also a great way for guests to take some time and take a look at the cards. They were mostly photo cards, and who doesn’t like to see a picture of cute kids {or pets}, right?

This year, I did the same, with a little variation. I added some paper fans to the balusters. To be completely honest, it was not planned like that. I made the paper fans for our living room Christmas display but they turned out to be too big {don’t ask me why I didn’t measure before}. I had to make another set of four, smaller paper fans, so I was left with four big ones. I looked at different places to hang them and they didn’t look right anywhere…except the hallway!

The size was right to hang the four paper fans. Since we are four, I had the idea to put our initials on each of them. Perfect! This year I also step it up a notch and painted the clothespins and decorated them with glue glitter.

The paper fans match the ones in the Living Room, so everything looks coordinated. I like that! I also like that the garland allows to hang many cards. I don’t have a recent picture but now the whole railing is cover with cards.

A new project for next year will be to create a display/storage of all Christmas cards we’ve got, organizing them by year. I hope I’ll get to that for next Christmas!

christmas treat bags {santa kisses}

{Even though it’s been a busy month I’m very glad I was able to complete some of the Christmas projects in my list. Christmas is just four days away so there isn’t much time left but still wanted to share!}

We attended a Christmas party a couple of weekends ago and I wanted to bring a little something for the kids. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you but the web is full of inspiring ideas. But at the same time it can be overwhelming {at least to me}. So I closed my browser and decided to make something similar to these Christmas favor bags I did last year. Ok, ok. It’s almost the same. Ok, it’s the same. I just changed the deliverer. Instead of Elves leaving kisses, this time it was Santa who left them.

I bought my supplies {little Santa treat bags and red ribbon from the Dollar Store, and Hershey Kisses}, designed a little tag, enlisted L’s help and in less than 20 minutes we had our little bags of Santa Kisses ready. After we started filling the bags I realized the bags were too big. I mean, for Santa’s face to be in full view we would have had to fill it with a third of a bag of Hershey kisses. Which would have made it not exactly a treat, right? Those were the only bags I had on hand so we used them anyway.