Spooked by Santa

Remember when I shared earlier in the month about Dylan's meltdown during Santa photos with his cousin?  The memory and photo still make me chuckle (he turned off those waterworks the moment I picked him up - total show).  Anyhow, when I saw Parents Magazine had a Spooked by Santa photo contest, I knew I had to enter this photo.  Now, here's where I shamelessly beg :)  - please vote for it here: http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/656508. ...

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Christmas in Photos

And that was just the start of our celebrations with family ... we still have upcoming visits to see my Dad & stepmother and Trent's parents.  Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday seas...

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Merry Christmas!

Supplies: Sara Schmutz's School Is In Paper Pack 2; Michelle Underwood's Bright Smiles kit; Deena Rutter's Happy Christmas kit;  Amienne fo...

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Santa Plate

A few Saturdays ago, Trent, Dylan and I joined some friends at a local ceramics shop to make Santa Plates.  After Dylan and his friend finished their part, the dads took them home so we moms could finish up the details.  That was the best idea ever - Dylan and his buddy had been to the ceramics shop before (in May our entire playgroup of 6 babies ages 8-15 months went to make Father's Day gifts), but now that both walk and want to move...

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DIY: Hybrid Gift Tags and a Freebie

In need of tags for your holiday gifts?  Look no further than your digital scrapping kits!  Here's how I made a set to use for the boxes of ginger snaps I gave to friends last week... In Photoshop, I set up a template of circles sized to fit inside my 1-1/2 scallop circle punch.  I selected digital papers and masked them using the template: Printed the tags onto cardstock: Then used my scallop punch to punch out each one: After...

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Christmas Decor

A few of my favorite Christmas decorations in our home this year ... Dylan's Advent Calendar, a gift from my mother & stepfather last year.  Love that we can reuse this each year and talk to him about the real meaning behind Christmas.  He has such fun putting up each piece (which explains why Joseph is hanging out in the middle of the grass versus in the stable) but doesn't quite understand the "one per day" thing right now. ...

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Remember: Christmas 2009

Today our playgroup is getting together to celebrate Christmas.  It had me thinking back to last year - hard to believe Dylan and his friends were so small!  It took a bit of work (ie, returning crawlers to their spot) to get a photo of them just before their First Christmas: Supplies: Shimelle Laine's Remember Page template; Sara Schmutz's Delight Papers 3; Betsy Tuma's Snow Kissed: Christmas kit; Angelina font. ETA: Excited to find...

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Wordless Wednesday: Ginger Snaps

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Christmas Tree Plaque

Last week, Dylan and I got together with friends to make our Christmas plaque.  I had searched online for ideas of what to do and settled on a simple straightforward design - a single handprint tree: The downside to this design - Dylan wanted to do more than just put one handprint on it!  My boy loves to paint now.  Thankfully, my friend Stacey, smartly kept some extra plaques we let the boys freestyle paint on after their making...

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Refinished Cabinet

In my spare time over the last few weeks (ie, nap time and when Trent is home to help keep an eye on Dylan), I have been working on painting the dining room and refinishing a cabinet. The cabinet is my solution to child proofing the cat food & water now that Dylan is allowed into the dining room and kitchen (he's at the point where the living room alone is like being trapped). The cat food bowls and water fountain are like a magnet drawing...

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Coming Together

When we bought our house new in 2003, every wall was painted "builder's white."  Over the years we've slowly been painting room by room.  One of the early rooms to get paint was our dining room.  But only an accent wall.  The terra cotta color resulted from a conversation Trent & I had sitting in a Starbucks one day (he liked the color on their walls) and the luck of discovering a $2 oops gallon at Lowes not too long after. ...

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{Made by Me} Wednesday

I'm up to my eyeballs in holiday preparation and events.  Amazing how busy this time of the year gets, isn't it?  I've decided to extend last week's {Made by Me} Wednesday through next Tuesday (Dec 14).  Visit the original post to join in the fun and link up your crafty project!  Looking forward to seeing what you've created. ...

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Handprint Santa

I love getting crafty with my little guy and last year, I dared to pull out the paints with a 5 month old to do so.  Thanks to help from the high chair ;)  I managed to paint his right hand white and help him make a handprint onto red cardstock.  Once it was dry, I began the process of turning it into Santa using a variety of supplies from my scrapbooking stash. The end result: I then scanned it in and resized to approximately 3"...

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Birthday Card: enjoy

A very happy birthday to my stepfather today ... Supplies: Die Cuts with a View card; Stampin' Up Marina Mist ink; Heidi Swapp stamp; EK Success corner rounder punch; Making Memories stitches; Jolee's Boutique sticker; Autumn Leaves label; Doodlebug Designs rub-on letters. Inspired by November A Year in Cards class at Two Pe...

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Santa - take 2

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we had plans to return to Santa with Dylan's entire playgroup.  Realistically, we moms knew it would be a challenge to get all 6 toddlers either sitting or standing with Santa for a photo.  After a few moments of chaos, we jumped right in too and honestly I'm so glad we did because we ended up with a great group shot: Supplies: Pressplate No 26 template by Paislee Press; Veronica Ponce's Cottage Bluff...

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Santa - take 1

Ah, yes, the annual photos with Santa.  Last year, Dylan was all smiles in line but when I put him in Santa's lap, a bit of uncertainty crossed his face.  He didn't fuss, but I did not get a smile out of my child that up to then always posed and struck a big grin when he saw the camera (even if I wasn't taking his photo! LOL). Fast forward to this year.  Trent's cousin, his sister and I decided to meet at a nearby mall this past Tuesday...

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