Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Alright- I'm not in the best of moods. My house is a mess because I needed to make candy and cocoa, I was working at my desk all day- and my 3 year old decided to wreak havoc with her toys. I do not do well with chaos. Chaos without leads to chaos within and vice versa. That aside, I have some Christmas projects to post- and I love Christmas. To me, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year. First and foremost being my faith. As a christian, I revel in the wonder of it all. God coming down in the form of a humbled babe and just the quite of the worhsip. The idea of the wisemen coming from a far and the angels coming to tell the shepherds- the lowest class at that time- to tell them of the birth of a saviour. The still of the night being broken by a chorus of angels singing praises to God. Just- the real beauty of it all- gets to me. So I love it. I love the Christmas stories and hymns and songs and plays. Then beyond that, I do love some of the Christmas- I dont' want to say commercialism- but nevoux Christmas spirit. I love the Christmas cartoon specials- the old lame ones with Rudolph and Santa. The new ones with Flintstones and Shrek. The only reason I was depressed about cancleing cable was that I couldn't watch them this year. So part of our Christmas budget is going towards a Christmas library :D Tim Allen and Chevy Chase and Fred Flinstone and even Minty! (if you have a little girl obsessed with My Little Ponies like mine is- you'll know who Minty is!) BUT I will pack them up with the rest of the holiday decor as I don't want to wear them out and have the 'magic' gone by watching them during the other seasons!

I love the decorations- the tree, the tinsle, the glow of the many many Christmas lights! I do, however, think personally, anytime before December is way to early to start decorating. In the Nellis home it's usually the first weekend of December. That way we keep it up for the entire month of December. I usually tear it down December 26th or January 1st. Again- I love the decorations- but after the hubabaloo is done and there is no more gifts and the anticipation is over- it's just to bitter to keep it up! I don't know if my home, with my three children and my limited decorating expertise, will ever look like they do in the magazines, but I love the golden glow of the lights alongside the warm rich gold and red and green hues in the background. *sigh* I even love the commercials and the Christmas jingles over the intercoms and the tacky street decorations hanging off of the lampposts. I love Christmas shopping- hate crowds BUT I found that a little Christmas patience and spirit is just what those frazzled people need and makes their shopping experience a bit better. Imagine how stressed and tired they are- then someone takes the time to smile at them and wish them a Happy Holidays, or Merry Christmas. To let them take the last thing on the shelf, to let them cut ahead in line. I dunno, it just makes my Christmas to make someone elses.

So all that aside, I also love doing Christmas crafts, baking and candy making. For the past three years I 've been making my own Christmas cards and either baking or making treats for my friends and family. It's the same cost, because materials and ingredients DO add up, but it's enjoyable. What do I hate about Christmas? ME. LOL, I hate what a procrastinator I am at doing my Christmas crafts. Everything last minute and the house gets to look like chaos and my kitchen is worse. I also last minute shop for my hubby- but that's not too bad because this year I'm avoiding our mall and heading downtown. We have a modest downtown- but I can do damage for my hubby! Kids? We are spending (part) of our anniversary date day by Christmas shopping for them. Hitting Walmart or Superstore and done!! DONE in like, an hour (well- plus wait times!). So all of this planning and spirit and plotting and budgeting makes me a chronic list maker. C-H-R-O-N-I-C!!! I list all year long to what I need to pack for vacation to what needs done during my spring cleaning to weekly budgets and schedules. Do I stick to them. Hell no- I'm not that avid of a keeper of the law- just a bringer of the law!! LOL And Christmas is no exception! Tho I am a bit better on keeping the lists in check. I have LOTS to list, from Christmas list, to my wishlist, to budgets, ingredients, materials for projects, and what needs to be done, and now movies I would like. I also like calanders, so I can figure out stuff. I have a calander. One. Stuck on the wall that I rarely look at. BUT when budgeting or listing I usually jot down a small calender so I can have my 'due dates' for crafts and stuff. So here, is my new- never have I ever been so list-organized, Christmas planner!

So here it is. I have a Calander for the months of November and December- prime holiday times (well, and the fact that October is over!) four note pads for lists and budgets, and one to do list. I made this by using a 12x12 sheet of paper and scoring it at 4.5 one way, and then at 3 and 6 the opposite way. I used my sticky strip to make the pockets and keep it closed. I then stamped with snowflakes (I'm on a glittery snowflake kick this year- hmmm) and of course, used my glitter/embossing powder combo to add dimension. I then used my computer for the labels and note pages. I simply used the underscore/line button and held it down til I had a full page of two columns. I cut them to 3 and 1/18 and each notepad has 8 pages. Then my base was 8x3.25 and scored at 1 inch to fold over the note pages. I NEED a crop-a-dial. I used my instant setter and it was too much for it. I got it done- with lots of 'chunk chunk chunk' noises, but man, I'd love that crop-a-dial! So the I closed it with 'sugared' brads (homemade, just brads coated with Mod Podge and glitter) and a bit of ribbon. It's folded and tied off with a ribbon and can fit in most purses. So it's perfect for other chronic listers and can be made for other things too- like planning for baby or a wedding or even a birthday party.

Along with the snowflake theme, I made my FIRST order today! Well, not first paid, but first stranger. Someone I don't know, that I'm not related to or friends with, ordered a brandiecrate and I started it, and finished it, today. She wanted a snowflake pattern so more snow and glitter later, I came up with this:

I've done other colours before, but I find that a white base makes for more variety. I am starting to enjoy the accent colour ideas. I think I could have added another hue of blue, but this works well. It's not too much. Check out my previous post to see how to assemble one for yourselves. They are easy and addictive- perfect for gifts! In fact, I want to see what I can do instead of candies and cocoas for gifts. Ahh the possibilities! So this is my snowflake obbsession for the year! It started with some cards I made for a door prize and realized just how pretty blues, silvers and whites really are. So- the mess is still waiting for me, but my disposition is slightly better. So after the place is clean I think I may be able to squeeze a bit more crafting in! (I DO have those gifts for my mom's b-day waiting to be finished!) So that's it- and take care!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

your work is so awsome. thanks for sharing