We could have chosen this one…

or this one…

or this one…

But we went with…

Really fast…
If you get on the net sometime tonight enter this contest and you might win a Lid.
It is being held by Pajama Mommy, a great Mommy site.
Good luck!!

Do you need a last minute idea to wow your guests at Christmas dinner? Make an ornament chandelier!!!
This is easy and fun to do and really looks great. I modified the idea of balls just randomly hung around the room.
Just like in the cute paper strip ornament craft I used light colored thread… use fishing line if you have it.
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To get the ornaments the same length…

~Put a broom between two chairs.
~Tie the fishing line to the top of the ornament (there is usually a metal ring for hanging) and hang it at the correct length.
~Match the other ornaments to this length, tie, and they are ready to hang.
~I figured this out about half way through the project… it made things way faster and more accurate AND I wasn’t climbing on and off the dining room table anymore… much to the dismay of Hot Hubby who was watching the whole time.Hang your first ornament up as a center starting point by tying the fishing line around the tack and pinning it up on the ceiling…. then hang the others around it in the pattern and lengths of your choice!

I should have cut off the gold ornament hangers… I thought it would be a nice touch… it wasn’t.
I’m super happy with the way this turned out! And it looks awesome through our window from outside. As with most crafts… you have to do it once before you can do it perfect. Next year it is going to be huge…

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

One of my good friends, Ester, has an awesome company called Sewing The Seed… it’s inspiring, fun and cute to boot!! Ester and I have known each other since before kids… whatever that means! And she is super cool… very funny… I must say… I’m still in stitches about the tranny talk we had at the last b-day party (inside joke).
Sewing the Seed rules! Ester has created about a kazillion adorable designs. Take a peek at her site… it’s super fun because you pick the tee you want then you get to customize it with her unique designs. This year she gave my kiddos the best shirts… and I should have had Eli wear it for the Christmas card!!
I got to ask Ester a few questions… now you get to read her answers…
How did you get the name Sewing the Seed?
I believe God gave me the name, Sewing The Seed, when I told Him that I wanted to create images for clothing that would bring Him some recognition and glory. So hopefully the images will get you to think about God and how much we are loved by Him.
Tell me a bit about your cute stick figure drawings…
The images and characters are all pretty simple…I don’t consider myself an “artist” by any means, I’m more of a “doodler” and so I’ll get an idea and just start scribbling, sooner or later something comes of it and I’ll try to attach scripture or encouragement with it so that it makes you smile.

I think one of my favorite designs is the HEAVEN SENT angel.

Isn’t Ester great?!?

I asked our friend Sarah to take a few shots of her kids in their Sewing the Seed shirts. Her email with the pictures said, “These were the best we could get.”

All her pictures were AWESOME!

These were the “best” we could get…

How much do you love that skirt!! I found 3 Lil Muses on Etsy while I was looking for Christmas outfits for the kiddos. I fell in love. I got to talk with Lil (the owner/designer/mom), she uses beautiful whimsical fabric in fresh colors… the prices are great too! I just had to find out more…

What inspires you?
So many things inspire me. First, of course, is my girls. I also love being surrounded by bright, colorful and happy things- and seek out, and am inspired by other artists who incorporate these things into their art.
I really believe your surroundings can effect your mood and well being.

When did you start selling your creations?
I started selling my own designs for the first time in Dec 2007 (on Etsy)

I have actually never done a mother/daughter set or had any custom requests for it yet, but I would def be open to the idea!

How cool is that !?!?! I got the Christmas skirt in the mail super fast and as soon as I got it I just had to put it on Cora Jane… even thought she was in her PJs!!

Some of my favorites on 3 Lil Muses…

Real or Fake?
The GREAT debate!
I asked my friends and you will see
what they like about their trees.
Passions flare and tempers rise (not really),
keep on reading for a nice surprise (not really)…

Ester over at Sewing the Seed says:

REAL!!! Nothing like taking the kids out to pick the tree, bringing it home and getting needles EVERYWHERE and then being SO type A that you don’t want your 2 1/2 year old to touch anything 🙂 THEN, once you get over all of that, you have the great and precious memories!
xox

Patti over at Everyday Grace says:
The Spada’s have a lovely fake tree that we inherited from my parents. It is pre lighted, which I love, but it is H-E-A-V-Y, and my dad got tired of muscling it around in the garage rafters…so now we get to. 🙂 In a perfect world, I think we’d prefer a real tree, but that perfect world would need to include Christmas trees that a) don’t drop needles EVERYWHERE and b) don’t make me crazy worry that the house is going to erupt in flames. So, especially with a 6 month old, fake is the ticket. Plus, pre-lighted is pretty cool. We can get straight to the fun part – ornaments! Like many families, we get an ornament or 2 each year to represent what happened that year. This year, as we pulled out each ornament, we photographed anything that was precious and/or particularly breakable…since I could remember breaking more than a few of my parent’s precious ornaments when I was a kid. Like the commercial says, having a baby changes everything.

Jami over at The Roger’s Family Life says:

Here’s our REAL tree. I am a fan of both real and fake trees. Positives for fake trees…they can’t catch on fire and burn your house down and they always have the perfect places to hang ornaments. Positives for real trees…they have that wonderful smell that reminds me of Christmas and it’s a fun family tradition going to pick out the tree.

Aimee over at the Gustafson Family says:

Lawrence and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage on the 20th. Since we got married so close to Christmas, we thought it fitting to give Christmas ornaments as wedding favors. We hope that people will remember us when they decorate their tree with it each year and remember helping us celebrate our union. This is by far my favorite Christmas ornament!

Rachael over at The Woodall Family says:

Real or Fake Christmas Tree? We choose… LIVE tree!We have a three year tradition now of buying a potted, live Christmas tree. We decorate it, enjoy it for a few days, then take the tree up on or just after Christmas Day to my hubby’s parents’ place in Ridgecrest, CA (think Mojave Desert, literally). They’ve planted the past two trees that we’ve taken up for them, and the trees have taken root and are growing strong and taller each time we visit. It’s fun for our kids (and us!) to see the transformation! We’ve said each of the trees from the past two years have been for our first two children. We’re hoping they don’t get the wrong idea when we bring up a third tree this year!

My turn!!! Our tree is fake. I was raised having beautiful real trees (always a Douglas Fur) and I still think I prefer the real thing. Last year my grandmom gave a a fake tree that she got (for practically pennies) when a department store went out of business. I love the size… very narrow to fit in our tiny apartment. We used it last year and it was awesome not having to mess with falling needles, watering, stringing lights and a fire hazard. But overall I think Rachael has the best idea… live tree.

Merry Christmas from our trees to yours!!!

My friend Rachael told me about these cute paper ornaments. I couldn’t wait to try them out. They are super fun and easy to make. I added my own spin on them by changing the sizes, stacking them and finishing it off with a star.
I think it is cascading awesomeness!

The biggest ornament was made with the strips below. Double sided scrapbooking paper works the best. Otherwise you have a lot of white… I learned that the hard way!

Stack them up (lining them up on one end) in this order 12″, 10″, 8″ 10″ 12″.

Staple

Still working on our stapling skills…

Line up the other ends and watch the magic happen…

We are all sick (cough sniffle blow nose), so Hot Hubby stayed home from work. He was quite excited about “craft time.” Well, he was excited that he got to hang out with us and didn’t have to do much… he is just silly!

I had so many scraps, so I started making ornaments in different sizes… I used my hole punch and some thread (fishing line would have been way better, but we didn’t have any) to connect the ornaments in descending size order. We were thinking the pale pink would be really light and blend in with the walls… we probably could have made a better choice…

I love the way this turned out!

If you have some time you can really get creative with these. I really think you could probably create something worth keeping through the years… think, thick card stock…. gemstones… some wired ribbon… bows… and of course a coat of glitter! I have about a gazillion other ideas… but time is something I’ll probably have to wait 20 years to get!

I have been under the weather (cough cough sniffle sniffle) so I have neglected my cleaning duties and have been blog hopping instead.
Blog Hopping = Going from one blog to another without rhyme or reason or a care in the world! It is fun and addicting so only try it with the utmost willpower!! (term I made up)
I stumbled upon Mommy Sweet Mom. This “sweet mom” has a fun linky called Things in My House Thursday. Isn’t that the coolest idea?!?! This will be a great way to hear some back story about the things most precious to each other.
In keeping with the Christmas season I am showing off our stockings. These stockings were handmade by my Aunt Patti!! Each stocking is personalized with the things we love… keep in mind that Patti had no patterns for these she is just THAT creative!
Hot Hubby’s Stocking:
Burger, fries and a soda from In N Out Burger. INO (yes, we love it so much we have an acronym for the place) holds a special place in our hearts, tummies and pocket book!
Baseball and mitt represent his love for playing baseball. He doesn’t watch it on TV just loves playing! I get to watch his studlyness for about an hour a week on the field… eye candy!
The cross intertwined with a “K” are his two greatest loves
My Stocking:
Ballet tutu and toes shoes… I danced my whole life and I was even going to minor in dance in college until I realized that recitals don’t go on a resume. I’m going to start up again at the Jr college in January… I’m sure I’ll be blogging about it.
Candy, oh how I LOVE candy. If I didn’t have this addiction I would be a size 3!
The cross and my Hot Hubby are things I adore… but in different ways!

Eli’s Stocking:
The snowman… Eli was an adorable 1 year old and a snowman is adorable… but not as adorable as Eli.
The car… little boys LOVE cars, though I think we will have to add a choo choo train to it now.
Baseball stuff… well Hot Hubby is hoping that his “mini me” will love playing baseball just as much as he does.

And for the finale… A picture of our stocking on the hutch (my favorite piece of furniture, thanks Mom and GG!). What’s missing? Cora Jane’s stocking. I wonder what Patti’s gift to us will be this year

Wasn’t this fun? You should do it too! Just go here and add your link 🙂