Buying a New Home for Christmas

In the 11 years that George has been in the Army, we have met some amazing people. Many of the spouses I've met who share a love for creativity have some really amazing and unique talents. My husband spent 5 years in his first assigned unit and I was surprised with how much time I spent with the spouses and families through 2 yearlong deployments that it was AFTER we moved to another military installation that I found out some of the creative talents some of the spouses I'd seen on a weekly baisi, if not more, had been keeping to themselves. O.k. it's not like they were hiding it, I just think many of them "developed" or honed their craft after we'd left.

One of those spouses. Maribel, was someone who I'd watched to learn more about being a military spouse. As a young wife, married to a newly commissioned officer, I knew that the impressions I made would be important. Maribel, the spouse of a senior officer was a great example of the poise, confidence and friendiness that I hoped to develop as I started this new life.

Though we didn't keep in close contact like some of the other friends I'd made in those firs few years, I did check in with her via Facebook a few times a year. It was a few years after we left that she introduced a line of decorative papercraft homes, chapels and other buildings that were the absolutely gorgeous. 

As you can imagine, life with an active toddler boy, I was a little nervous to order some of these delecate ornaments and such, so I put it off. Earlier this year, my husband bought me a china cabinet and when Christmas came around, I knew that it was the perfect time. 

In early December, my order arrived and I have to say, they were even more amazing in person than I'd seen on her website, White Berry Lane. I love that they can be personalized with names and such. I even requested all white to fit with my (future) Pink and White Christmas. It inspired me to make some more ornaments for that tree too, which I'll share later. 

I knew even before they arrived that there was no way I could put them away with the holiday decore, so with a little rearranging, they got a permanent home in the tea cabinet. 

Even the packaging is adorable and I was hesitant to unwrap them!

She also sent me this cute tea set photo which is also on display in the cabinet. 

Until our next cup of tea ... 

All That Glitter Isn't Gold ...

I wonder how long it will take me to write this post, because I literally have glitter everywhere on me ... hands, legs, face ... even my eyes! There's like this little glimmer when I look around, maybe its on my eyelash ...

Well, tonight (last night once this posts), I spent the afternoon and part of the evening making pretty, little glittery ornaments for my Pink Christmas tree. Once day, when we finally have a place for this second tree, it is going to be decked out in all sorts of shiny homemade ornaments. 

Last weekend, I braved the after Thanksgiving shopping madness (on Sunday) after my son's play date. It was a well thought out plan because I knew he'd be tired and sit in the cart and play with his LeaPad. I managed to get quite a few things onsale or with coupons. One of them was a variety of mismatched cardboard Christmas ornaments. 

Tpday, I decided to get started on decorating two shapes, the stars and a dreidel sort ofshaped ornament. The plan was quite simple, I would use a paint brush to spread glue onto the ornaments and them sprinkle with glitter and let dry, then do the otherside. It wasn't so much the technique I was using, but the work-surface.

You see that brown matt laying under my supplies, that is a Grip-n-Press by Bear Thread Designs. They actually have a variety of work-surface protectors, but this one was the best choice for this project.

First, the bottom has a non-skid material on it which keeps it from moving around on my table. That is quite important with a curious 4-year-old wandering in and out of the kitchen while I worked. The top side is a non-stick surface. Since nothing sticks to the surface, I poured my glue right on top of it, like a paint palette. Once I'm finished, I can just wipe up any excess with a wet paper towel (or baby wipe) and lt it air dry. Even dried glue/paint/etc wipes right off! Love it!!

To make the ornaments, I just "painted" glue on a small section of the ornaments, then sprinkled glitter over it.

Wht a fun and quick project! The silver stars turned out better than I imagined, and the pink will have a second layer later since I got a really light colored and fine textured glitter. Its a baby pink and the brown cardboard shows through. 

Later, after they dry completely, I will cover with a resin or other protecting agent to make sure the glitter doesn't fall off.

Until our next cup of tea ...

I'm Dreaming of a French Christmas

I'm a bit of a dreamer. Growing up I knew I was a bit of "gumbo" when it came to ethnic background, French, Mexican, Spanish and somewhere there were rumors of a little Hawaiian in the mix, but that could've been a childhood misinterpretation. However, from early on, I romanticized it all. Especially the French part as I grew older ... Paris is link synonymously with romance and French is the language of love.  

 

A few years ago I found this beautiful pink rose fabric with a French theme. It has white watermarked Eiffel Towers and PARIS and other French wording. I held on to it because the pattern was so large with the roses and I was scared that using it for quilting would diminish the effect of the overall pattern.

 

Recently at the Houston Quilt Market, I met up with Mattie and the gang from Quiltsmart and one of the projects I added to my collection was The Christmas Stockings. When I got this project, I KNEW that this was something that I wanted to used the fabric for, if only a piece of it.

 

One of the best things about Quiltsmart is the ease and quickness of even some of the most traditionally difficult patterns. One thing I loved about the Christmas stocking was that it was a quick project.

 

Yesterday, I had a conversation with "Quiltsmart Mandy" who does much of the social media, marketing and stuff for Quiltsmart. Since we are nearly the same age and both mothers of young children many of our conversations are both professional and personal in nature.

 

Last night, I tried to get my little guy settled with dinner and a new game on his iPad and thought it was a good time to start this project, which traditionally would take about an hour. This is how my conversation with Mandy went ...

 

 

Seriously, we have every intention of actually finishing these projects we start. In our own minds we have created this amazing fantasy where we will come home, cook dinner, clean up a little and the kids will settle down with TV or books or toys and we'll be able to sit down and reward ourselves after a long day of working and caring for family, but them that bubble quickly dissipates with resounding **POP** as our husbands or children come to us in rapid succession with what they believe to be world crisis that the UN Summit would be scared to tackle. In reality they've just forgotten how to do the most basic tasks, like in my little one's case, he cannot go to the bathroom by himself.

 

So we've decided to make it easier for moms of small children, by creating a formula to help determine how much time will really be required ...

 

 

Well, I was finally able to finish the first stocking that I started last night. After I put my son to bed, warmed dinner for my husband (who has been studying for law school finals) and he went to wind down with some TV time. I was truly excited that once I was able to focus, it was done so quickly.

 

This was the first project that the light bulb didn't click when I read the directions through before starting. As I did each step, I was still thinking, "I'm not seeing how this is going to work", but then in one of the final steps it finally clicked and I was like, "That is truly amazing! I never would have thought of that!"

 

The completed project turned out even better than I imagined and I am already thinking of a million more ways to make stocking with themes and embellishments. The second one (there are two in a pack) I am doing with traditional Christmas fabric, but I may do more later because they were so quick and fun. I might even be willing to make them for Christmas presents next year (if I can let them go once I make them.)

 

 

So what do you think about this addition to my Pink Christmas collection?

 





 

I'm hoping to finish the second stocking tomorrow and I'll post once its done.

 

Until our next cup of tea ...

 

 

Editor's Note: This post is dedicated to Mandy, who doesn't sugar-coat my loss of sanity, just reminds me I'm not the only one on a fast train to Crazyville!

 

I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

Anyone who knows me, knows I love pink. Like OBSESSIVELY!! While I love all pinks, I am partial to light pinks, especially paired with white or lace. 

One goal, or dream, is to one day have a pink and white Christmas tree. I mean, I want a green tree, but the ornamnets would be pink, white and a little silver. So every so often, I get a little creative and make some pink or white ornaments. There is no time that gets me more inspired than Fall and Winter.

About 2 weeks ago, I decided to recreate some ornaments that I had made when I first got married and was creating ornaments for our family tree. It was a fairly new technique then, but has become more and more common.

You simply pour small amounts of paint from 2 or 3 colors into glass (or plastic) ornaments and rotate them inintervals until they create a marble look, or unique blended design. This year I made 12 (and already broke one). Here are a few of the ornaments from the first batch.

The ones that I made when we first married were a variety of colors and I will try to take a picture of some when we put our tree up this year, but I did find these ...

Until our next cup of tea ...