Christmas Week: Our DIY Christmas Card

Posted by Nat on Dec 14, 2011 | 1 comment

I had this rosy picture in my head of how our Christmas card photos were going to look this year.  I would put my plan into action, the kids would perform for us, we’d get some stellar pics, and hooray!  Cute Christmas pics!  Ahem.  Well, even if things weren’t in our favor, it still turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

We decided not to get professional photos done in order to save some money.  So I went and found some cute Christmas pjs (something I would have done anyway), some white sheets at Wal-Mart (I have a love-hate relationship with that place), and also a few props.  Remember my glitter letters I shared with you a few weeks ago?  I tried to use them.  Didn’t work out.  Turns out 4- and 2-year-olds do not work well with props (for the most part).

Timing was difficult.  My husband, who dutifully knew he was needed to help, was sick.  Thanksgiving came and went and I was getting desperate to get it done.  The weather was also a factor- it was either raining or super cloudy, and I wanted outside light.  Finally the stars aligned…  Not really- I just saw the sunshine and started setting up even though my husband was still sick.  Sorry, honey.

My big take-away from this:  I have SO MUCH to learn about photography, and I REALLY REALLY REALLY want a *real* camera.

I used two sheets to set up a sort of outdoor staging area.  I hung one from a tree branch, and another I laid on the ground.  I covered our Bumbo with white for Miss Em.  I got the props, set the ISO on my camera to “high,” and started clicking.  Here’s an outtake so you can see what the set up was kind of like.

My wedding photographer said to me at some point, “All you want is one great shot.  If you get one great shot, you have accomplished your mission.”  It was slim pickins, but we got some good ones.  I started editing in Photoshop and created our card.  Many thanks to Rita at the Coffeeshop Blog– her green freebie is my background.  I found it here.

Here’s what it looked like as a digital file.

The little props we used I found here via Pinterest.  Where else, right?  Coincidentally, the best shots of the kids were when I had them lay down on the sheet rather than sit or stand.  Go figure.

The next part I wanted was an insert.  I saw this on Pinterest and wanted something similar, but knew I could never find something online that would put it together, so I started looking at fonts.  I decided on Budmo and Honey Script.  I made a list of our top 10 for the year, and this is what I came up with.  I. Love. It.

The last phase was printing.  I didn’t want a flimsy photo this year.  I wanted a nice thick print.  My friend Amy over at 10:02 told me that I should try Mixbook. They turned out so nicely and are exactly what I wanted.  The best part?  Mixbook sends you EXTRA ENVELOPES.  And not just 2 or 3- there were at least 10 extra.  Awesome!

For the “Top 10” insert, I went to Office Depot and had them cut down a bunch of cardstock.  I think I had 125 cards made.  Guess how much it cost to have them cut for me?  Including the cardstock, it was less than $8.  Super cheap.  I am so, so happy with this.  It will probably be a new thing for us.  It was honestly easier than a letter and so much more fun to do.

Christmas Week! A Handmade Christmas

Posted by Nat on Dec 13, 2011 | Comments Off on Christmas Week! A Handmade Christmas

This year we are trying to go light on the gifts because we are taking our kids to Disneyland.  That will be our main gift to them.  Between that, a few other things, and gifts from family, I know that they will have an amazing Christmas.  Because of the closet projects I’ve taken on, I haven’t had the time to make as many things as I’d like for Christmas this year.  I also feel it’s insane for me to attempt when I have an infant in my brood- too much is still unpredictable, so I’m not going to set myself up for disappointment.

My challenge, though, is that I wanted to have some handmade gifts for the kids- I don’t want everything they receive to be made of plastic and say, “Made in China,” though it seems inevitable at times.

My handmade solution?  I went to the Queen Bee Market last month.  I thought I’d share some of the awesome gifts we bought for the kids.

I’m not sure how I’ll divvy up these hair clips, but here they are- one for Em and one for Anna.

Above:  from Bebecha; I love how this one feels- I wish I could show it to you in person.

Above: from Lillybug Lane; super high-quality felt flowers.  I need to learn how to make them, but until then…  I also purchased a Christmas clip for Anna, and a headband for Emily, seen here.  Such great quality.

Lastly, Jack will get this crown- I can’t wait to see it on his noggin’.  Anna and Jack will be getting LOTS of dress up clothes from Santa this year- right now all Jack has is whatever Anna has, so we’re adding to the collection so that they can both put on a whole bunch of different things.  This will be an awesome addition.  The crown is from The Little Red Wren.  I don’t see any crowns there at the moment- maybe after the holidays she’ll add some more.

I also got a fun gift for a family member.  Can’t wait until he gets it!

Christmas Week! An Easy Wreath

Posted by Nat on Dec 12, 2011 | 1 comment

I hereby declare this Christmas Week and Crafting Crazy.  Woo hoo!  I am not going to post anything revolutionary.  My crafts and thoughts will be simple.  I like to keep it simple during the holidays because it’s hard to get everything done in terms of gifts, cards, and more- why throw in a totally-involved project to add to the stress?

So project #1:  an easy wreath.  This really happened by accident.  I was shopping with my 3 kids at Michael’s.  Anna, my 4-year-old, said, “Mommy!  Sparkle balls!”  Done.  We found a fake wreath just the right size for our door for $6.  Two little packets of various styrofoam balls of silver, white and red, and we were set to go.

It was super easy and Anna loves it.  Anna would hand me a ball, and I just used my hot-glue gun to stick them in place.  I’m also very proud to say that I did NOT burn myself this time.  I almost did, but I didn’t.

I do plan on making some of those fancy yarn wreaths after the new year- you know, the ones that are flying all over Pinterest.  But for now, our sparkle balls will do just fine. 🙂

Right now…

Posted by Nat on Dec 8, 2011 | 1 comment

I’m totally going to be a copy cat.  I have no post ready for today.  So I’m copying Lindsey– she has one of my favorite blogs.  She copied Meg, who also has one of my favorite blogs.

Right now I am…

Watching:  Umi Zoomi.  So adult.

Eating: Nothing.  I’m so hungry!  It’s almost 2 and I haven’t had lunch yet.

Drinking:  I’m going to have some water and then another cup of coffee.  I just gave up soda.

Wearing: a nursing tank and jeans.  So fashion-forward!

Avoiding:  blogging.

Feeling:  tired.  Emily was up three times last night- usually she gets up once.

Missing:  my family in Kansas.  Can’t wait to leave to see them for Christmas!

Thankful:  For my husband, whose hard work allows me to stay home right now.  And for my cute kids.

Weather:  I think it’s supposed to be 64 right now, but it feels warmer with the sun shining in the windows.  Our 1970s, non-UV-protectant windows, that is.

Praying:  for Kelptyn.  He’s the son of a friend of mine.  He’s very sick- please pray for him, too.

Needing:  Someone to come finish my organization tirade.  I want to be finished- I don’t want to go through the process, I just want to be there so I can feel okay about crafting again.  It will be great when I’m done.

Thinking: about our Christmas cards- they are so cute!

Loving:  My sweet Emily, even though she kept me up in the night.  She’s such a sweet baby.  And Anna, for being every bit of 4.  And Jack, for being every bit of 2.

Wordless Wednesday #6

Posted by Nat on Dec 7, 2011 | Comments Off on Wordless Wednesday #6

How do you use Pinterest?

Posted by Nat on Dec 6, 2011 | 1 comment

“Hello, my name is Natalie, and I’m addicted to Pinterest.”

Are you hooked yet?  Do you just love it?  If you haven’t gotten on the Pinterest bandwagon, shoot me an email and I’ll send you an invitation.  Pinterest is the place to be these days.  I’ve abandoned so many other tools, and I am now a fully-fledged, self-proclaimed Pinterest ADDICT.

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s the definition I give my friends.  The conversation usually goes like this:

Me: “…so when I pinned that to my Pinterest boards…”

Friend:  “I’m sorry, when you what?”

Me:  “Pinned.  You know, Pinterest?”

Friend:  “What’s Pinterest?”

Me: {insert inner squee here} “It’s like visual bookmarking!  It’s life changing!  It’s the best thing ever!”

If you want to check it out, you can watch a great tutorial on how to get started here.

I think some people are under the impression that Pinterest is only for women.  Or that Pinterest is only for bloggers and people who are online 24/7.  But in fact, Pinterest is a valuable tool that can help you in so many ways.  Aside from the addictive, eye-candy experience that I simply must have on a nearly-daily basis, here are a few other things I’ve started using Pinterest for.

#1:  I’m done with “bookmarking”

This is my favorite one.

Ah, good ol’ bookmarks.  Go on- check your bookmarks in your browser.  Give ’em a click and hover through them.  Are they organized?  Do you have category upon category of bookmarks?  Or all they all just lumped together in one ginormous list, waiting for you to sort them out on a day when you have nothing to do?  Mine were a mess.  I tried to keep them organized, and then I’d go back through them from time to time and ask myself, “Whaaa?  Am I supposed to remember these?”

So here’s what I did.  I had so many bookmarks that this probably took me an afternoon or two (but it was totally worth it).  I sat down and made myself open all of those bookmarks, one by one.  I pinned the ones to my boards that I still liked- projects I want to do, places I want to go, recipes I want to remember or try.  Other links I realized were no longer active, so they were just taking up virtual space in my browser. Then, when I had gone through everything, I deleted them.  Forever.  Now, my bookmarks look like this:

Everything is neat and tidy, and really there are hardly any links in those folders- nearly all of them were moved to Pinterest or deleted.

It is so much nicer to have a picture associated with a link.  Visual, people, visual!

#2:  Organizing and Planning Projects

How many projects does any person have on their to-do list that take planning?  Everyone does at some point.  Pinterest is such a great place to get ideas for anything you want to do.  Parties, revamping a lamp, dinner menus- the possibilities are endless.

For example, I am planning on giving our kitchen chairs a major overhaul.  Paint, new fabric, etc.  Not only can I search Pinterest for ideas, but I can also pin different fabrics I’m considering so that I can see them all at once.  I can also show them to my husband all at once so that he can say, “Yes to the stripes.  Hell no to the elephants.”  See what I mean by visiting my Kitchen Chair Project board.

So what now?

Are you convinced yet?  It didn’t take me long to get hooked.  A few other things to know:

– Pinterest sometimes gets wonky.  You may check your boards and it will look like pins are missing.  Usually they fix it within a few hours, so don’t freak out.

– You can’t pin everything.  Some sites don’t have the right kind of graphics (or any graphics at all), and some sites somehow block it. For example, I’m a Ravelry user (a site for knitters & crocheters) and usually you cannot pin projects from Ravelry onto your boards.

– You can get totally addicted in two seconds flat.  It is the best time-suck ever.  I will be posting in the next week or so some other things I’ve done inspired by Pinterest, so it’s not a complete time-waster.  Sometimes you will see an idea for something that will change your day-to-day life.   It’s awesome!

And I will restate:  if you’re not on board yet, email me!  I’ll shoot you an invitation to join!

What have you done with Pinterest?  Tell me!

Real Simple Easy Dinners: Roundup!

Posted by Nat on Dec 5, 2011 | Comments Off on Real Simple Easy Dinners: Roundup!

If you’re new to this series, start here, then go here, here, and here, and then here.  Or just get yourself a copy of the magazine. 🙂

So, my brain has had plenty of time to process all of the cooking I did.  I’m rather proud of myself that I made every single meal except one.  That’s 19 new dinners in just 5 weeks (should have been 4 but we lost steam at the end).  Yowzas.  There were meals we will make continually for a long time to come, and then there were meals that we will never make ever again.  But the important thing is that we tried something new and have lots of recipes in our back pocket to refer to.  Hooray!

Our top 5 favorite meals from this experience would be:

#1:  Steak with Cognac Sauce and Salad (from week 2)

#2:  Chipotle Beef & Beer Chili (from week 4)

#3:  Chickpea Spinach Curry with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce (from week 3)

#4: Lemony Tuna and Olive Oil Pasta (from week 3)

#5: Tomato Soup with Roast Beef & Cheddar Panini (from week 1)

A few of my least favorites, which I will not visit again:

Chicken with Potatoes, Bacon and Cabbage

Pork Loin with Sauteed Cauliflower and Capers

Lime and Soy-Glazed Chicken with Cabbage Slaw

One thing that I love about this whole experience: it has me really thinking about food.  I’m making some changes in our day-to-day diet that I’ll be exploring with you soon.

What about you?  Could you try this many new recipes all at once?  Are you looking for new recipes to try or to make a change in your diet?  What’s holding you back?  For me, it’s the fear of change and trying something and failing.  But I learned through this that one bad meal isn’t the end of the world (though it is a pain in the tushie).