Halloween Decoration

My Friday Pinterest Challenge project was making a Halloween Decoration. I happened to be in Home Depot getting shelf brackets and while I was passing the paint area I remembered this pin using paint color cards. So I grabbed a few cards and we made this decoration. The kids liked helping me cut these out and drawing faces on. A quick and easy project. We like it.

Holiday Vest

My daughters have matching dresses for Christmas. Their idea, not mine. I couldn't find a good matching outfit for my son, so I decided to knit him a vest. It's green and sparkly, just like the dresses. He is very excited to wear it. I know this can't last forever, so I am taking full advantage. The pattern can be found for free at Naturally Caron.

Eyeglass Chains

My grandmother loved her eyeglass chain that I made her last year. She wore it all the time. In fact, she wore it out. I had to replace the monofilament (I replaced it with metal wire) and the connector (replace the thread/fabric one with a plastic one). This year I made her a few more. Now she can change them out to match her outfits. I also made one for my oldest child, who recently became a full-time glasses wearer. Hers is the one on the right.

Holidays in Hand- some premade layouts

For Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand class we got a cool set of papers and a page template. I added some papers from some freebie Shabby Princess kits and made these pages for my album. I have 8 pages in total. So I will rotate them about 4 times. I figure that with changing the pictures and adding appropriate embellishments and journaling that they will look different enough. Hopefully this will help cut down the time I spend on scrapping the memories during the holiday season, and I will spend more time make the memories.
If I have time I will post my pages as I complete them in during the month of December. By the end of the month I will have a fun Christmas album ready for printing.

Holidays in Hand- Day 3

Yesterday for the 'Holidays in Hand' project I got to download some "prompt cards". They have a prompt for something to write about, photograph, do, make, and remember. Today Jessica Sprague put up lists of things we can choose from (or we could make our own) for the make and do portions. I have gleaned from the to do list. Here are some things I want to do during the Christmas Season:

•Put up the Christmas tree, or add an ornament to it
•Sing a holiday song before bed
•Visit a local light display
•Make your favorite treat together
•Go for a walk, or look out your largest window at the stars together
•Read from your favorite holiday story
•Watch a christmas movie with popcorn
•Bake and take gifts to neighbors
•Play board games
•Have breakfast for dinner
•Visit a place you’ve been meaning to go together: a museum, a walking trail...
•Play your favorite christmas song
•Have an indoor picnic
•Wrap a toy and take it to a charity christmas tree
•Celebrate the longest night of the year (December 21) by lighting extra candles
•Have a video chat with a friend or family member who is far away
•Have a fondue night! chocolate and cheese dipped goodies.
•Make Ornaments, either for your home or as small gifts
•Make cards for teachers
•Make homemade apple pie
•Make a peppermint milkshake
•Decorate holiday cookies
•Address your holiday cards together
•Visit some of the spectacular holiday decorations in your town
•Draw and send postcards to cousins
•Slip a little note of holiday love into a backpack, laptop case, lunchbox, or set it on a pillow
•Get in touch--call, write a letter, email, send a card--with a friend or relative whom you haven't heard from in a long time.
•Get some blank pages and crayons and let your kids write and illustrate their own Christmas story

Some of these things we already do (like playing board games and watching Christmas movies) and some I would like to start doing.
Now for the making part of the prompt. Well, we are already gathering supplies. We are doing a completely handmade holiday this year. The kids are [helping] making ornaments for the tree. I am making all the presents (except the socks and underwear). I have designed our Christmas cards and written the letter. Hopefully we will have time to do all the fun things we want to do.

Free Christmas Card Share

I was bored and made some Christmas card templates. I'm offering them free to anyone who wants them. Click on the preview picture to go download the full sized template (which of course doesn't contain photos or names, just space for them).

Card 1 front:


Card 1 back:


Card 2:


Card 3 front:


Card 3 back:


Card 4: