Kid-Made Gift Idea

My kids love to paint.

LOVE. It.

They actually love all art projects.  Paint - oh yeah.  Coloring - sure.  Break out the scissors and glue- you'll have their attention for hours.

So, I knew having them paint custom art work would be a great gift idea for some of our family members last Christmas.

I cut several thick cardboard pieces (not the box cardboard that is hollow in the middle, but the thick/dense type that is attached to the back of sketch pads/notebooks) to a 5x7 size.

I then broke out the collection of craft paints and brushes and let them go crazy.  While they were busy being creative, I got busy snapping photos of them at work.

haha.

I picked one photo of each child painting, that showed their face well, and also showed the painting well.

Oh, and if you do this- make sure you thoroughly clean your child's face beforehand.  LOL!  I noticed after the fact that both kiddos still had dinner on their face! 

I uploaded the photos to an online print resource - I used the photo lab at Walmart.com (I love their 1hour pick up), but you could use any online photo lab, or even use your home printer.

While I was at Walmart picking up the prints, I swung by the frame aisle and picked up two frames made to fit two 5x7s.

Each frame was fitted with the artwork on one side, and the photo of the child creating the artwork on the other side.

These projects were a big hit. 

I plan on doing a rendition of this project again this year.

Mom, pretend you never saw this. haha ;)

-Courtney

1 month

Liam, today you are one month old.  While it seems like this month has flown by, I also feel like you've been with us for much longer.

Today you are 10 lbs, and approximately 22 inches long.

You're waking up 2 to 3 times each night and you're taking 3 to 4 little naps each day.

Your brothers adore you and constantly ask to hold you and hug you. 

Mommy and Daddy think you're pretty special, too. 

Daddy says Mommy hogs you, but that's not true.  ;)

We love you sweet baby Liam.

-Mom.

Our Ornament Tradition

As I'm writing this, my throat is almost swollen shut (hack hack), my older boys are running around screaming and fighting with each other (Brodie is home sick from Kinder today) and the baby is finally (FINALLY) napping in his crib.   I'm on my third change of clothes for the day and it's just after lunch time.  I've abandoned even putting clothes on the baby because as soon as they're on, they're covered in spit up.  Poor little guy is not liking something in my diet and I have yet to figure out what it is.  

What. A. Morning.

On a happier note -   :)   I'm sitting on our couch facing our lit up mantle and tree and it is making me smile.
Yesterday Melanie over at Southern Comfort in a Northern Life posted about her tree and some of her more meaningful ornaments.   It reminded me a lot of our own tree, so I thought I'd do the same sort of post here today.

Our tree is very traditional, with red, green, and gold ribbon, silver and red balls, and a variety of ornaments we've collected over the years.

Each year we take the kiddos out to Hobby Lobby, and we let them each pick an ornament.  We also pick a family ornament for the year.

Pulling them out each Christmas really makes me happy and I like that each year our tree gets fuller and fuller.  I plan on eventually getting another tree for the front of the house that is more trendy and decorative, but we'll always use the same ornaments for this tree in the family room.   I can only imagine how full it will be when the boys are in high school or leaving for college.  :)

This is the ornament that started the tradition, and the funny thing is that we didn't even buy it.  It arrived in the mail from one of Brandon's relatives Christmas season of 2004.  We'd only been married a few months.  :)

Fast forward to this year- a house in honor of purchasing our second home earlier this Spring.   I think it actually looks a little bit like our house- if you squint and turn your head sideways.  haha.

Then there is this one in honor of my husband's job transfer that brought us from Austin to Clearlake.  No, my husband does not work for NASA, but when I think of Clearlake, I think of NASA.. and my boys LOVE their year long passes to Space Center Houston.  :)

Last year we spiced things up, and rather than celebrating the birth of Jesus at home, we packed things up (even the Christmas tree) and spent the holiday in the mountains of New Mexico enjoying the snow.  This little guy even looks like my husband.

LOL!

This little teddy bear is in honor of little Liam who turned four weeks old today.  :)

There's this glass lighthouse, which if you look closely, you'll see is broken along the bottom.  I was going to trash it    :(   after discovering the broken glass this year, but my husband insisted it go on the tree.  We bought this one to remember the 2 weeks we spent in Pensacola, FL right before my husband's deployment in 2006.  I was 7/8 months pregnant and insisted we climb to the top of this old historic lighthouse, only to get extremely sick upon reaching the top.  Brandon never lets me live that one down because he didn't want to climb it in the first place. haha.

The next two each stand for the theme of our babies nurseries.  Brodie- camping/wilderness (fish), Rylan- firetrucks.  I'm still looking for a nice sailboat one for Liam, which is why he got the bear this year.

This little crayon is from the year when we couldn't go to a restaurant without immediately hiding any crayons they provided for little ones.  Why?  Our little Rylan would chow down on them!  lol.  There were countless times I fished waxy mess out of his mouth.  Yuck.

Lastly, I bought this yellow ribbon flag ornament while my husband was in Iraq over Christmas.  :)

Our Christmas tree and Mantle, Christmas 2010.

Do you have any special traditions you carry on with your family?

-Courtney

Linking up to:

TDC's Christmas Tree Party
The Hooked on Holiday House Tour

Gift Tag tutorial

Today I'm sharing with you a really simple way to make your own personalized gift tags with your home computer, using Word software and simple white address labels.

I use labels that come 30 to a sheet.

Step 1

With your Word software open, click on Mailings, and then Labels

Step 2

Make sure you have 30 labels selected.  If you want to use a different size label, you can change that under options.  Click New Document.

Step 3

After the template loads, make sure your mouse is in the first box.

Step 4

To insert a graphic, you can use a file of your choice located under Insert, and then Picture  OR you can do as I did and use a preloaded clip art graphic.

Step 5

After the clip art search box loads to the right of your screen, enter a search term.  I used the word Christmas.  About halfway down the choices, I found several trees I wanted to use.  Just click on the image you want to use.

Step 6

The image you click on will load in the first box. If you want to add more than one image, as I did, just continue clicking on the images until they all load.

Step 7

Unfortunately I did not Print Screen this image, but the next step is to add the Name.

Make sure you are still under the Insert tab, then click on "Text Box".  When the options pop up, click on "Draw Text Box" located near the bottom of the options.

Step 8

Draw the text box in your label by clicking and dragging.

Step 9

Type in name, and format as you wish.  I used Algerian, size 24.

Step 10

The next step is to format the text box to that no black line shows and so that the background is transparent rather than white - This will enable only your text to be seen, rather than a white box, if your graphic is large.

Right click inside the text box and select Format Text Box.

Step 11

Use the drop down arrows to ensure that No Color is shown under both Fill Color and Line Color.  Select OK.

Step 12

Place your mouse over the dashed line at the top of your first box.  A small black arrow will appear.  Click and it will select the row as shown below.

Step 13

Right click inside the blue area and select Copy.

Step 14

Right click, once again, inside the blue area, and this time select Paste as Nested Table.  This will copy everything that appears in that first label, into all of the labels below it. 

Step 15

Place your mouse above the second column as you did the first until the black arrow appears once again.  Click to highlight the whole second column.  Once again, right click on the blue area and select Paste as Nested Table.  Do this to the third row as well.   Your image will now be in all of the labels.

Step 16

You can now print onto Sticky Address Label sheets according to the directions on the label package, or you can change some of the names as I did.

My sticky labels are clearly labeled as to which way to insert into the printer, and I just print as I would on a normal sheet of paper.

If you have messy handwriting like I do, this is a great way to keep your gifts looking neat and put together.

You can also type in your address rather than a name, and have cute personalized return address labels for your Christmas cards.  :)

-Courtney

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Room.

The house we currently live in is much larger than our first home.  So, when we moved in, we were lacking the right amount of furniture to fill it (or even make it look decent).

When you first walk into our home, you enter a space that was originally meant to be a sitting room combo dining room. -Except, I'm thinking it was never really meant to be USED because it's really too small to serve that purpose.

Since we only had one living space in our last house, we used our old livingroom furniture to fill the family room near the kitchen in this house.

So, since March, we've used the front room as a land all for JUNK.  Oh nice, right?  The first thing you see when you enter our house, is our entry wall to one side, and to the other... a dresser, a buffet, a dining table being used as a desk (which I'm currently typing at), chairs (to the table) lined up against the wall, and a tent.. fully pitched that the boys play in.  There is also an abundant amount of stuff that I have no where else to store.  -Stuff that I'm not willing to part with because it was passed down by family. 

Imagine all of these mismatched items just placed in the room, looking very horrible and mismatchy.  I'm all for mismatchy.. in a good way, but when a stranger (like an AC repair man) comes to your home and asks if you JUST moved in, it's not really a good sign.  :/

My mother, the wonderful woman that she is, gifted us Christmas early this year and while the money (she never knows what to buy) would be better served elsewhere, I'm REALLY tempted to get this room looking the way I'd like.

This is my inspiration.

And this.

Unfortunately I do not have sources for either of these photos because I saved them several months ago without taking note.

Aren't they lovely?

They're quite different - one is more clean lined- solid rug, less ornate furniture, while the other is much more busy, yet still casual due to the eclectic style.

The do have several things in common.   White sofas.  That's do-able.  Multi-purpose, both have desks.  Light colored window panels- already have those.  Storage- one via a large bookcase, and one via a large hutch.

I plan on selling our dining room table and turning this space into a sitting/office combo, just as the photos above.  Hopefully I'll be able to score a few Craigslists finds and make this happen in the next few weeks!   If you know of any photos that fit this style, I'd love to see them.  :)

- Courtney

How to make a short tree tall. AKA dealing with tall tree envy.

Yes.  I have a short tree, and have developed tall tree envy.

What do you do when you have tall tree envy, and a wee 6 foot tree?

If it were December 26th (how I love thee After-Christmas sales), I might rush out and buy a new tall tree, but it isn't.. so I am forcing myself to make do. 

What is my solution?

Oh my goodness, how did that insanely adorable baby get in the photo of my short tree?  hehe.

Here we go

I started with a side table that wasn't being used and I covered it with white sheet.

Place tree on top.

My short tree has an ugly skinny base to it, so I covered it loosely with a rolled blanket..

Then topped with a tree skirt.

If you're pretty comfortable in your ability not to bump into your newly lifted short tree, then you can decorate and enjoy.  However, I have unruly  rambunctious children, and decided to attach mine via fishing string to the wall.  Safety first, right?

Fa La La LaLa La La La La.

:)

-Courtney