Family Picture Time Again

Savvy Moms Save Blog

So my friend Crystal Porter has a blog where she reviews and gives away items. It has been really cool to follow. It's called Savvy Moms Save. Right now she's doing one for this really cool Tupperware decorating tool. It's called the Squeeze it decorator. It has different tips to change out and it comes with a lid so you can store the leftovers in the fridge. Very cool!

Letters to Santa

Last year I had this really cute idea for letters to Santa, only it was too late to use it that year. So along with my projects I got this out to finish it. I found the tube at Craft Warehouse. It's made out of wood. So I painted it and worked up some vinyl for it. Emma saw what I was doing and got so excited to write her list for Santa. I told her that I was just getting it ready for our Christmas countdown coming up in December. She couldn't wait that long. She wrote and re-wrote her list so many times to get it just right.

Here's the idea. They write the letter and we stick it in the tube. We leave it overnight and then check it in the morning. We then magically discover that the letters are no longer there. They have been delivered to Santa. Emma checked it this morning before I was out of bed and then came in, so excited, to tell me about it.

What I've been up to

I am past my big enrichment and vinyl prep weeks. So yesterday, I sat down and worked on some things that I wanted to get done just for me. It was so fun! I love doing vinyl, but when there's a lot to do and a very close deadline, it gets kind of crazy around here.

I think having wood (8 foot lengths and blocks and signs and stacks) around our house will always be characteristic of us. I keep telling myself, and everyone who visits, that it's simply because we don't have a garage. I thought once we moved out of our apartment into a house we'd have so much more room and it wouldn't be all over. Not the case. It's still everywhere.

by the back door

by the microwave, thanks to Paul

by the mirror
these are actually sanded and ready for me to complete

by the front door

we don't just have wood around, we have tools too. It's either the drill press (above), the sander (above), the router, or whatever else

And when it was clear that we wouldn't be using our dining table to dine for a few days, we set up dinner in the family room. It'll be nice to have a dining room table that is just for gathering the family and eating. Who knows when that will be.

I love the drill press by the way. It helped us at my craft night to make the FHE signs go smoothly. It also helped me to complete the following garlands that I've had on hand for a long time.

This one I've had since Ellensburg. I made one for my sister-in-law at the same time and then never got mine completed. Finally, yesterday I did. Hooray!

My mom gave me these little decorative things to go around mason jars. The idea was to fill the jars with cookies-in-a-jar or soup-in-a-jar or whatever and then slip these cute little seasonal wooden wreath things around the jar.

Well, I pulled them all apart and turned them into garlands. Thanks to my drill press I was able to drill through some walnuts and chestnuts to add some dimension. I had bought some wooden beads at Micheals to use as well. Then just used torn fabric pieces every so often.

Fun! Fun!

A few fun things with vinyl just because I wanted to.

I am so pleased with how this one turned out. It brings me joy just to look at it.