miscellany monday- holiday update.

oh goodness... it has been quite a long time since i've updated the blog! so many things have been going on that it has been crazy!

sean graduated from college! (hurray- cofc alumi!)

we headed to chapin to celebrate with his family for a while and do Christmas...

i got to create my own Christmas city from some of sean's mom's collection... she has tons of it- this was just a small sample, the top of what i did is above sean's head in that picture, the bottom looked like this...

see that snow? it was created by pulling apart cotton balls... no, i am not joking. sean gave me a wonderful new camera for Christmas- the last time i got a new camera i had braces- the camera was still working well but it didn't take super great pictures like i'd like it to be able to do, while i am itching to get my hands on a cannon rebel (which still hasn't come, haha) i will be using a wonderful point and shoot- it is a cannon powershot a3100 is- bonus: it is red, which makes it festive. i have been taking pictures like crazy! here's a picture of my mom's new nativity- besides the fact that "baby" Jesus looks like he should be walking around (and is actually bigger than one of the sheep) i think it is quite nice!

we also went with my friend lindsey to the clemson vs. college of charleston basketball game, which clemson won! go tigers!

so happy that clemson pulled out a win! (well, at least i was!)... Christmas day was wonderful- my mom and i opened presents that morning and then went over to a family friend's house for the rest of the day, which was simply great. i was way too spoiled this year, mom really outdid herself with goodies and sweet presents.

super warm sweaters!

fun serving pieces!

mom is starting a cross collection for me, how sweet!

then, on sunday afternoon sean came back into town and we did Christmas all over again with him!

stocking stuffers from my mom, haha.

my present from sean... i was hoping that it would be willow tree and it ending up being...

ding, ding, ding... WILLOW TREE!

i'll spare you the millions of pictures that have been taken of this sweet nativity scene (you're welcome). i am so excited that we will have it for our own home next year! i love it so much!

wow. that was a lot of catching up to do... oh well- at least life has been caught up- i will try and post more this week! go over a link up and share your miscellany!

just a thought.

miscellany monday.

[1] oh Christmas tree. the tree is now up in the house. last night we put lights on it and it shines oh-so-bright... the lights are my favorite part of the tree, not really to put on, but i think that they make the biggest impact on the tree!

[2] the weather outside is frightful. the low for tonight is 19 degrees... excuse me!? that is simply too cold.

[3] this is the Christ. tonight my church is having a free concert, if you live in the charleston area- head out and see it- it is going to be wonderful.

monday, december 13th, 7pm

the gaillard auditorium
77 calhoun street, charleston

for more information about the concert, go here.

[4] tiny tim. i sprained my ankle really bad a little over a week ago and still can't walk quite right, as i walked out of the house on my crutches my sweet, sensitive fiance called me "tiny tim"... how endearing. talk about being a scrooge! :)

go link up with carissa and make sure to keep it random!

just a thought.

craft project gone all kinds of right.

sometimes i try a craft project and it fails miserably... however, this time, i decided to try a project that looked simple enough that there was no way to mess it up aaaannnnnddd it worked!

i found the tutorial at sugar and spice mommy and decided that i would try it out on my own! go to her blog to check out the full step by step, but it was so easy and turned out great- i love when a project has instant gratification, it makes me feel better about myself and the success of the project!

what i started out with:

scraps of fabric (truth be told, i had to go and buy some fabric, because i just don't have fabric laying around the apartment)

sharp scissors (to cut fabric into strips)

long pins (i used quilting pins, 1.75 inches)

string (i used a big spool of natural jute)

styrofoam balls (i used 2.5 inch balls, worked great!)

i started out the project using some burlap because i thought the burlap would be an awesome contrast of materials with the jute, but it just did not lay quite right, so i had to abandon those efforts- maybe something will come to me on how to use it, i only have 1/4 yard, so it wasn't too much of a travesty. 

it worked best when i tried some thinner twill material with small patterns, anything large probably wouldn't be the best option because you cut it all into strips. then, start wrapping the strips around the ball until all of the styrofoam is covered, it took me two or three strips to do this. using a quilting pin, stick the pin into the ball to hold the fabric in place as you tie off a hook for the ball and then stick the pin through that knot and into the ball. that's it... easy as pie. (if you find pie easy to make, that is!)

i did make more than two, but here are a couple

make sure to go check out ashley's blog... i love reading it and she has some great crafting ideas! this project was sure a success and i plan on going back to the store to get more balls to make some more ornaments! you could even make them just as balls and use them as decorative balls in a vase or bowl on a coffee table!

 

just a thought.