Christmas 2014

OK, it's taken me way too long to get these Christmas pictures up, so I'm not going to write a bunch. Just want to get these babies up. Here's my first batch, from our day over at Chris's dads, when we gave presents to Jackson and Emma.

Next up, Christmas in Michigan. These are from the week leading up to Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve, opening presents with my family:

Christmas day, over at my Grandma's house:

In Ann Arbor, the day after Christmas, when Adam and Andrea took us to a comedy show.

Sorry to be so brief, but I hope everyone enjoys the pictures! Thank you everyone who celebrated the holidays with Chris and I. We love you all!!!!

All Through the House

Once the Halloween party was over, I must admit I took a bit of a break with posting anything new. That bash definitely wore me out, although I didn't just take it easy. Once I put away all the Halloween decorations, I was left with a unique opportunity in many of our rooms. There was nothing up on the walls. The floors and walls and everything needed a thorough cleaning, so I decided it was a good time for some updates.

My first task was the bathroom, where I repainted and put new hardware on the cabinet. I meant to put up pictures, but well ...

Hopefully sometime soon.

But this past week, I finally made it to my biggest undertaking: the living room. My mom and I had painted this room right after Chris and I moved in 5 years ago, and it was ready for a fresh coat of paint. Here's what it looked like after all the decorations came down.

I thought I wanted to paint it blue-grey, but once I got some paint samples up on the wall, I realized I don't actually like blue-grey. I guess I just like the idea of it. So I got more samples, and well, thus we have the picture below.

I went with Benjamin Moore's "Revere Pewter." It's a greige color, sort of a taupe. Mostly grey with a beige undertone. Here's a blurry in-progress picture so you can see the color change.

In the end, I have to say, I love it. It's a very popular color, and I actually found out about it on Pinterest because tons of people use it in living rooms. I probably wouldn't have picked it out on my own. On the paint chip it looks beige, and I don't like beige. But on the walls, it's beautiful. Very rich and sophisticated looking. Definitely a grown up color (says the woman watching A Christmas Story while she paints).

I also took time to caulk all the trim at the ceiling and baseboards. You can see gaps between the trim and the ceiling if you scroll us. But after a little caulk and some paint touch-ups, voila! No more gaps or cracks. Instantly made this room look a lot less dated.

Here's a shot I took the morning after I painted so you can see it in natural light. I was worried it would blend in too much with the couch, but it's actually just enough contrast that it works but is also very calm and cozy.

I waited a few days for the paint to cure before hanging some pictures over the couch. I decided to continue the warm and cozy look for the holidays.

Ok, so the giant octopus is neither warm nor cozy, but come on, I can't get too sappy with my arrangement. Gotta have a little personality ...

Oh, also, the "Be Merry" sign on the bottom left is just a gift bag I found at Target and hung with a push pin. I thought it rounded out the grouping for the holidays and was cheap and will be easy to swap out after Christmas.

I was waiting to put this post up so I could also share pictures of our Christmas tree in our freshly painted living room. Chris, Ripley and I made the trek up to Beckwith's Family Christmas Tree Farm to cut down a beauty. We do this every year and it's a favorite tradition of ours, and we were excited to share it with the pooch.

As luck would have it, today was also the day of the North Syracuse Christmas Parade, so we took a break from decorating the tree to enjoy the festivities.

But we eventually got back to it and ended up with this beautiful tree. The tree skirt is new this year. I found it at Christmas Tree Shop and I'm really hoping the cats don't ruin it. We tried to keep the ornaments up a little higher this year to help pooch resist the temptation to pull them down and chew them. So fingers crossed. 

Once again, we don't have a single generic bulb or ornament on the tree. Every ornament was given to us or we bought together as part of our holiday traditions. It's so nice to see a tree full of so many happy memories. And so many of the ornaments remind us of our family, which is awesome.

Hopefully my next post will be coming a lot sooner than this one did. We're still working on Christmas decorations and I have yet to overhaul the kitchen and some other rooms in the house, so there should be lots to show you!

But in case I don't write again until December 25th, Merry Christmas everyone!

Ways to Hug a Meowface

A while back, I came across this pin and fell in love. Anyone who owns (and loves) a cat will recognize many of the different types of hugs. Chris is especially known for hugging Oreo (aka Meowface) with the Strangle Hug and the Condolence Hug.

So I knew this would make a fun personal gift for Christmas.

I printed out the drawing in black and white and then traced the designs onto white paper with a pencil. After that, I used a pen to finish the images, changing the girl to a boy, and changing the cat to look like Meowface.

Here's what I came up with:

We haven't decided exactly where to put it in the house yet, but right now it's living on the printer table near Chris's desk. It may end up getting hung on the wall near Chris's closet upstairs. Oh, and the frame is from Michaels.

Also, I have yet to see Chris perform the Face Hug, but I'll be sure to snap a picture if he ever does. haha

DIY Boy Gifts

Each year for Christmas, I really enjoy making a few presents for our nieces and nephews. And lately, I've been on a roll with the boy gifts.

I already mentioned the wooden train that I painted for Jackson in this post.

Last year I made these boy banners out of felt and various fabrics.

This year made a little mobile for our baby nephew Asher to hang over his crib. I used scrapbooking paper to cut out a ton of little circles (I cut them by hand, but I would recommend investing in a two-inch hole punch).

I used four circles for each piece, and glued them together by folding each circle in half. I made sure to secure the string in the middle of each piece. The string is then attached to two difference size sewing hoops. I added a ribbon with Asher's name on it in scrapbooking letters to give it a personal touch.

I also made this little monster jacket for Jackson. I simply purchased a red hooded sweatshirt and some lime green felt and lime green fuzzy fabric. I made the horns out of felt by rolling up a triangle of felt (which I glued to secure) and then stitched them on the hood.

I lined the hood with the fuzzy fabric, using both glue and stitching to hold it securely in place. The glue tries hard, so I don't recommend using much, but there were a few rough edges that needed glue to keep the fabric from fraying.

This little monster seems pretty pleased with his gift.

I also made a shadow puppet theater for our niece Hadley, although I forgot to photograph it. I cut out black silhouettes and glued them to sticks, included a slideshow projector flashlight and a book to write down stories. I've been told she's been having a lot of fun making up stories and projecting all the fun images onto the walls.

I gotta say, it's pretty satisfying to get to see your niece or nephew enjoying a present you made for them with your own two hands. And a lot of handmade things can be kept around as keepsake items long after they're intended use, which is pretty neat too. If you've got the time and a little DIY talent, I highly recommend giving handmade gifts a try.