long time...

I have been slacking on the blog lately and I don't really feel bad about it. We had Holidays, travelling, illness, and a bout of negativism. Anyway, I think things are picking up a little.

We had family parties on Christmas Eve at Steve and Jen's house, Christmas Brunch here, Christmas Dinner at Steven and Jen's again (my parents were snowed in at home with no power so we missed seeing them), and then Saturday with my dad's extended family in Centerville, and Sunday with my mom's extended family in Orem.

My coworkers have been passing around a nasty stomach bug and I started feeling it on Christmas Eve. I missed work on Friday and slept most of the day. I thought that was done, but I went to bed last night feeling pretty nauseous and woke up feeling it as well. Plus, I think I'm getting a cold on top of it.

Life is good overall. I'm busy on some jewelry and scrapbooking projects and I'll try to share photos soon. Hope things are going well for everyone.

no peeking...

This year, we had 90% of our shopping done before December and it has been awesome. Here's what we did for family this year:
I found the huge red bowls at Walmart for like 1.97 and I ordered vinyl lettering for them from onceuponadesign. I don't know how it'll hold up, to be honest. I'll tell the recipients to handwash the bowls if they want to preserve the lettering. I'd kinda like to buy and label a barf bucket now. We had one growing up that was named "Beeston." It would be so stinking awesome... Anyway, we followed a movie night theme. It was fun and easy.

Last year, we made jammies for everyone. It was a lot of fun and a ton of work. I don't mind spending time on a gift, but it was stressful. We bought tons of flannel way in advance and then waited until a week before Christmas to actually make them, so there was a major time crunch and not enough enjoyment in the project. This year, I did a lot of online shopping and was done in just a couple hours. Perfection!

I got this today. Just the wrapper. Not the chocolate. My coworker thought it would be a nice reminder for me. (It says: Holiday magic starts from within) I happen to like being Scrooge-ish. Haha. He thinks I'm bad for being cranky for four weeks out of the year and he's cranky for 52 of them ;)

hooked on...

Holiday House Tours! Check it out at the Hooked on Houses blog. I love houses and decorating, so these online 'parties' are so much fun! In past years, I've done more decorating, but I scaled back some and I'm glad that I did. There's enough decor, but not so much that its overwhelming. I definitely don't want to repeat last year - I got tired of the tree being in my way and I took it down a week before Christmas.



Starting at the front door, I have a fun Christmas wreath. I like non-traditional colors for decorating, so this lime-y green, pale pink, and light purple is great. I made it two years ago.


My mom has had this nativity for as long as I can remember and I've lusted after it for as long, so I figured I should get one of my own. Luckily, I found one last year and bough it for myself. I love it and I look forward to displaying it every year.

The apothecary jars sit on top of my computer armoire. One is filled with gold bells and assorted ornaments. The other is filled with tiny gold pinecones. I wanted the smaller jar to have faux snow and a fun ornament inside, but I couldn't find an ornament that I liked enough.


I liked the view of the tree from the mirrors hanging on the wall. If you click the photo, you can see the tree topper. It's a birdcage ornament that I wired to the top of the tree and added a bird.

The bowl on my coffee table is filled with scented pinecones. It is festive and fun. That bowl's contents change according to the season... just last week, it was filled with mini pumpkins.


This year, I thought it would be fun to make the tree match the decor of the room. Our color scheme in the living room is aqua/teal, chocolate brown, and muted gold. To be honest, I wasn't sure it would all come together on the tree. I bought a little at a time (and carried fabric swatches from my living room so I could match things) and hoped that it would look cohesive and not thrown together. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I think we'll stick with this "theme" for a few years. I've decided that it is impossible to take a photo of the tree that will do it justice.


Thanks for stopping by to take a look at my home.

feeling creative!

I pondered all the things I could do today as I laid in bed this morning. I could wrap presents. I could sew pillows. I could make jewelry. I could take photos of jewelry I've already made. I could scrapbook. I could venture outside and take some wintery photos. I could fold the mountain of clean clothes and put them away. I could sew the duvet for my bedroom makeover. Honestly, I could waste my whole day trying to decide...

So, I've been awake for 20 minutes and I've made my decision. I'm gonna tackle the pillows, then the mountain of clean clothes, and then scrapbook. I hope this creative vibe sees me through tomorrow too. I need to recharge and being creative helps me do that.

on the 6th day...

Heather Melzer has been doing a fun "12 Days of Holiday Cheer" giveaway this month and I offered up one of my necklaces for a giveaway. So, if you want to win a gorgeous necklace or one of her other great prizes, be sure to stop by her blog today!

The necklace is also available in my shop :)

tree time!

Last year, I got so tired of having the tree in my way that I took it down a week before Christmas. I had strangers stop me at work to tell me how sad that made them. Whatever. Scrooge can do what she wants. LOL. As much as I dislike Christmas, I do love putting up a tree and displaying my nativity.


I was smarter this year and bought a 4.5' tree that fits perfectly atop the chest I have under my living room window. I should have done this YEARS ago. We have changed themes every year and kinda wanted something that matched the decor of our living room (aqua/teal, brown, and muted gold).

I've bought a few sets of ornaments in the past month or so and hoped that I'd be able to make them work together. I actually LOVE how it looks. I'll try to get a decent photo of the whole tree and share that later. It'll take some practice though... photographing a tree is hard work (for me, anyway!) LOL