Gift Tags Galore!

I’ve been busy these past 2 weeks making some gifts for family. My Mother-In-Law’s family exchanges family gifts (there are individual gifts for the cousins who are much younger than Nate and I) and since Nate and I are celebrating our first Christmas as a “family” we decided to move into the adult exchange. Most of the family gifts are homemade, like a loaf of bread, or venison sweet bologna from the hunters, but neither Nate nor I consider ourselves bakers, and we don’t don the camouflage for some tree stand time come hunting season. So, naturally I turned to my never ending supply of scrap booking paper.










Since we gathered before Christmas, I decided to

make some gift tags for each of the 5 families. I was inspired by the snowman and Christmas tree tags I made for the first presents I wrapped this Season. I made 3 tags of each of the 4 designs. Since I wanted each of the designs to be the same I first made a template out of black cardstock. Then I traced it onto colorful paper, usually added a border and wa la! A little punch finished off each one. I made one from each of the designs a little more special, like the Christmas tree with a beaded garland which is pictured below.

After I had all of them ready to go I had the next dilemma of presentation. And like the famous chefs, I always think presentation is just as important as the product itself. Nate suggested I put them in envelopes and decorate the outside, but since gift tags aren't exactly a conventional gift, I thought they deserved a better "grand entrance" then some "lick n' seal" packaging. Thus, the next few photos:
I decided to make some little boxes to "wrap" each set of gift tags in. I looked up some simple instructions online, and after a few minutes of
creasing and folding I had these little babies to fill with my handmade tags.







They looked so cute when they were all put together ... and I got to show off my paper cutting skills!

Here's a shot of all of them together ... one big happy family! :)

and a close up of the aforementioned Christmas tree with a beaded garland


and a bow and gift tag (what else would you put on box of gift tags... hah :)) stand in for the cherry on top


Merry week of Christmas!

P.E.A.C.E. ... la paz

Contact Paper & Paper Chains

As an apartment DIYer I usually have to reign in my first thoughts about a new project. First, our lease isn't very DIY friendly. No paint ... No nails ... No knocking down walls. Okay, I probably haven't thought about knocking down a wall, but I have had my doubts about an apartment with every wall painted a muted periwinkle. At first I didn't think it would be an environment my color craving self could live in. Despite my desires to spend a few hours in the Lowes paint depart, I've been pleasantly surprised at how well I like the place in all it's lavender-esque glory. It's made being a DIYer even more satisfying with more challenging problem solving. Check out my solution to a headboard.

And since I naturally always purchase too much in the DIY department, I ended up with a whole unused roll of contact paper and a receipt long gone in the trash. Hense, our new dining room wall decor.

I love having these words to look at in the morning when I'm waking up over a nice bowl of cereal.

Micah 6:8

"He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God"

What a great reminder of why I am here on Earth.

Lastly, I'll end my post with a jingle bell, or two :)

Since I don't have a collection of Christmas decorations yet, I decided to make some! What else would a DIY gal do to spruce up her digs? These Christmas paper chains lighten up our living area and they were super cheap and easy to make!

Since I still have sheet after sheet of scrapbooking paper left over from my honeymoon memory book, these were the perfect
projects to use some of it up ... and they look super cute too!

P.E.A.C.E. and joy to you this Christmas season...

An Ode to the Question Marks

A while back (July 30 to be exact) I wrote a post about finding my one true love. Okay, maybe just a hobby since I think my husband has a monopoly on the “one true love” title. So, with the approach of a new year, I thought it was time to reflect back.

Enjoy!

6 hobbies I thought were "gonna be the one"

- Card making: I bought the supplies, read card making blogs, thought up many ideas for designs, made a total of 9 cards and quit. The pretty paper I bought is still mostly untouched.

Although I don’t have a stock of these to show off, and those card making blogs put my little greetings to shame, I have continued to make my greeting cards instead of purchasing them. It’s fun to add a personal touch to a gift, and I even came up with a little logo for the

back. That’s right, go check your wedding cards recent brides … I made all of those by hand! They’re no hallmark beauties, but they send love and cheer all the same.

- Cooking my way through a cookbook (Julie and Julia style): I have the books, couldn't pick the right one, tried a recipe for a curry that turned out a bit too spicy for my tastes, and quit.

Well, I’m not so sure I have any update here. I did however find a better way to use my “Foodnetwork” magazines. Check it out …

I love the recipes in each issue but find it hard to remember to use them, and let’s be honest, at 5:30 after a long day in the office the last thing you want to do is page through a 200 page issue to find that one recipe you think you remember seeing. Plus, the page covers make a perfec

t defense against those roaming ingredients and sauce covered spoons. What? Am I the ONLY one who gets pizza dough stuck in between the pages of her nice Betty Crocker Cookbook EVERY time I try my hand at the Italian delicacy?

- Scrapbooking: Now here is one that, through the years, has left me the owner of 3 or 4 unfinished scrapbooks. Well, none of them are really started either. Since I had the paper and supplies from the card making binge I decided I was finally going to accomplish putting together an entire, completed book of our honeymoon pictures. 1st step: order pictures from snapfish or shutterfly. hmmm.... I'm still on the 1st step :)

Ah Ha! I prevail! (at least one of these things has true tangible progress!) Okay, not quite. I’m 3 pages short of completing (yes, you read that right) our honeymoon scrapbook. I ordered the pictures from Snapfish during one of their “get 50 free prints” deals. Saweet! Then of course our postal system had a bit of a hard time getting them into our mailbox (yes, I know a side porch entrance is hard to find Mr.

Mailman, but really…). In the end, I landed myself with 2, count ‘em, 2 sets of the pictures. Ironically the original order came 2 weeks after the nice Snapfish customer service people sent me reprint order. Anyways, I’m almost there… so close I can taste it.

- Photography: a good camera (that I of course absolutely need to start this hobby) is a bit out of my price range. It would cost me a good year's worth of fun money... and do i really want to give up all that fun so that a year from now I can take a few pictures and move on the the next hobby idea?

A few months back Nate and I welcomed a new member into our family.

Welcome to the world Nikon D3000!

I should probably come up with a cute name for it ... like people do with their cars. Any suggestions?

I LOVE my new camera. I even had my first “parenting” lesson. ALWAYS put the strap around your neck! My poor Nikon has a bit of a broken lens due to my careless handling. What is funny is that I got this first lesson about 3 minutes after my own Mother warn

ed me that my arms looked a bit full to try to carry the new camera too. Guess we know who isn’t ready for her very own baby. But, all is well with a few rotations of a screwdriver every so often.

- Gardening: This one started back in the spring, but as my garden wilts and dies (from a fungus in the soil that is apparently impossible to kill) I have of course given up and moved on.

Eh, skip.

The only gardening I do these days is nurturing my ever growing family of spider plants. Mama spider plant, who I adopted way back in 6^th grade during a class activity, is still making those babies (I don’t think menopause is in her future)!

- Blogging: This one makes me laugh a bit. I started this blog with the intentions of using it as an outpost for my thoughts on being a newlywed. It soon turned into ramblings about hobbies I wanted to pursue as my life before the ring was full of them, and now being a Mrs I seem to have lost them or left them on the way. As you can see... I didn't post for a whole month.

Well, I guess my blog is now a space for me to share my little DIY projects. It gives me some form of accomplishment to publish my craft creations … it’s even more rewarding when someone mentions “Hey, I saw that on your blog …”

Enjoy the Holidays and

P.E.A.C.E. … La Paz

In the Spirit of Christmas ...

Thanksgiving has past, along with the turkey and sweet potato leftovers, and I'm in full swing for Christmas. A few months back Nate and I purchased our very first Christmas tree, and yes it surely is a fresh cut fir wannabe. There is much to be desired ... fraying multi-colored fiber optic lights and all. But, the price was right at only 6 George Washington's. Here's our baby standing tall in all of her (too pretty to be a boy) two and a half feet of blinking glory the day we brought her home. (I was pretty excited)

and here she is after a loving touch and few combs through her tangled branches.

I've always been a "white light" kinda gal, so I strung a white mini-light set on it instead of using the fiber optics. We even have a few presents by the tree already.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

As you can see I have been busy creating Christmas cheer in our little home

1. I decided to forgo my pottery barn tablescape after I happened upon the discovery that a candlestick fits in my old oil diffuser bottle. I love the mix of heights and shapes.

2. So, after making my wreath, decorating the Christmas tree and filling a bunch of decorative glass vases with that bargain lot of ornaments, I STILL had some to spare. It felt like the ornament well was never gonna go dry! So, to add a bit more Christmas spirit in our little apartment (which after my last decorating spree is pretty much bursting at the seams with jingle bells) I threaded some ribbon through the remaining ornaments and now our door is all decked out in it's Christmas best!

3. Lastly, (for this post) I crafted some fun wrapping paper out of newspaper that was waiting its days in our green bin and added some cute hand-made tags.


That's all for tonight ... stop by soon for some more of my Christmas projects!

P.E.A.C.E. ... ... La Paz ... ...

Four For Decor...

U.n.o

My Christmas wreath was seeming a bit drab. Pretty, but not enough W.O.W.But luckily the Goodwill fairies were looking out for me. For just 49 pennies more I added a nice Christmas-y touch. I also added in a few more of the ornaments, and after 15 minutes, and hands sparkling worse than a pageant queen's dress, I had this beauty to show off.


D.O.S.

Since I happened upon such a large lot of ornaments I didn't want to see them go to waste. One evening, some white & gold paint, and 2 more glitter covered hands later, I now have these babies to "deck our hall"(less) apartment with.
T.R.E.S.

So you all know that I LOVE to thrift. There's something about it that gets my heart singing the happy tunes. You never know what you will find and you can't beat the price tags. Of course, there's always that popular phrase to fall back on too - "your junk is my treasure."

One other thing you should know is that Goodwill is in a program with Target- see.spot.save. Other than resembling my alma mater's volleyball slogan, it means Target donates their slightly damaged, returned and overstock seasonal items to Goodwill who distributes them to all of their locations. And for me, it means my thrifting is a whole lot more rewarding. Welcome home, stockings! :-)
These 2 were Target's last season's rejects and my season's projects. Since we don't have a mantel for them to crown, our bookshelf might be their place to "hang" out. :-)

Q.U.A.T.R.O.

Lastly, but certainly not least, these were 3 happy purchases today. I love the colors, shape, and how they reflect the light on the windowsill. For only 47 pennies each, Pretty, Pretty!

Happy weekend.

P.E.A.C.E.

I hear those Christmas bells ringing...

Okay, maybe they're just in MY head. Is anyone else getting bit by the jingle bells bug yet?

Over the weekend I took a trip to the grandparents-in-law house. We arrived to a cozy house warmed by an open fire and a yummy dinner... and surrounded by family at the dinner table it just felt like Christmas! We stayed up late playing games and reminiscing over old photo albums... it doesn't get much better than that. Here are a few pictures from the trip.





My Christmas spirit, aided by some good ol' silent night melodies, continued on into my evening as I completed one of my challenges! Goodwill and 2nd Ave thrift stores were like giant sized presents! And the store displays were proof as Holiday memorabilia littered their shelves. I returned home with:

2- green Christmas wreaths.... a steal at 97cents each
1- big box of shatterproof Christmas ball ornaments in varying sizes and colors... 5 buckaroos
1- roll of leftover tulle from our wedding in March... free! (well, kinda)

After wiring each of the ornaments onto the wreath I wove the tulle throughout the wreath. I ended the night with this... I think I'm going to add more of the ornaments since I have 1/2 the box left.

L.A. P.a.z. P.E.A.C.E.

I DIY"ed" ... It's my little slice of Heaven here on Earth

Since moving into our apartment in March, I have been slowly transforming the space into "home." It's the perfect project for me since it never gets old (there is always a new season to decorate for) and I can mold some of my former pre-marriage hobbies into some sort of decorating diva persona. And here is where I insert plugs for my favorite spots of inspiration. If you haven't already heard of them, get over to Young House Love's (YHL) amazing blog. They do the coolest things, not to mention the million and one fantastic ideas they blog about. It's the mecca of aspiring DIYers and my daily cup o' Joe. Lately I've been mixing it up a bit with PB. Peanut butter you ask? No, not for this self proclaimed interior designer. It's Pottery Barn... the other mecca :). I am in love with their stuff, but not even to fork over the $$$ for their price tags. This is where I introduce my new favorite hobby! I think I found one that will stick!!

THRIFTING: refers to the act of shopping at a thrift store, flea market, garage sale, or a shop of a charitable organization, usually with the intent of finding interesting items at a cheap price.

I die, I DIY. Those defining words speak to my very soul! Shopping, Charitable Organization, Finding, Interesting items, and the best for last: Cheap price! My Mennonite heart beats hard for those bargains!

So, in a effort to combine all of those sweet sounding melodies into one amazing musical composition, I'm challenging myself to accomplish these 4 designs below... all before Christmas! The rules are plain.... I have to use my creative, God given gifts, shop at local charities/ thrift stores, and accomplish each by December 22 (gotta make sure they're completed by the time we have Christmas visitors!)

The Challenges:

#1 Create this Pottery Barn centerpiece....


#2 Recover this lamp shade (the lamp is a $5 thrift find!) ... inspired by a YHL project



#3 Update this door with a seasonal wreath...



#4 Make or thrift find Christmas Stockings and come up with a way to hang them


Wish me luck! And I'll keep you posted!

P.E.A.C.E.

FALLing in love...

Hello Fall, it's good to see you again!

I just love, love, LOVE Fall! Well, actually, I love the turn of every season, although somewhere in the heart of winter, when the snow storms hit, I send a few curses to the sky for their creation of slip-n-slide roads and my frost bitten toes! I just hate driving in snow.... but back to Fall, my lovely, lovely Fall :) I have been "itching" to get one of those pretty mums for our porch, and maybe a pumpkin to brighten it up. Speaking of pumpkin, I picked up a can of (what I thought was) pumpkin at the store the other day as inspiration for some autumn treats and aromas to fill our little apartment. On the drive home I was practically salivating thinking about the pumpkin roll that was soon to be mine..... only to my disappointment a can of "pumpkin pie MIX" came out of that grocery bag. LAME! but..... then something magical happened and these were filling my kitchen with such a sweet aroma, and once again, I was happy!

Well hello, Pumpkin Crumble Muffin....

And.... we've officially been "boo'ed." Oh Lansdale, you have so many neighborhood games :) that's all folks! stop by again soon :)

???????

And over a month later... I am still looking for that one brilliant hobby that keeps me entertained and energized for weeks on end.

6 hobbies I thought were "gonna be the one"

- Card making: I bought the supplies, read card making blogs, thought up many ideas for designs, made a total of 9 cards and quit. The pretty paper I bought is still mostly untouched.

- Cooking my way through a cookbook (Julie and Julia style): I have the books, couldn't pick the right one, tried a recipe for a curry that turned out a bit too spicy for my tastes, and quit.

- Scrapbooking: Now here is one that, through the years, has left me the owner of 3 or 4 unfinished scrapbooks. Well, none of them are really started either. Since I had the paper and supplies from the card making binge I decided I was finally going to accomplish putting together an entire, completed book of our honeymoon pictures. 1st step: order pictures from snapfish or shutterfly. hmmm.... I'm still on the 1st step :)

- Photography: a good camera (that I of course absolutely need to start this hobby) is a bit out of my price range. It would cost me a good year's worth of fun money... and do i really want to give up all that fun so that a year from now I can take a few pictures and move on the the next hobby idea?

- Gardening: This one started back in the spring, but as my garden wilts and dies (from a fungus in the soil that is apparently impossible to kill) I have of course given up and moved on.

- Blogging: This one makes me laugh a bit. I started this blog with the intentions of using it as an outpost for my thoughts on being a newlywed. It soon turned into ramblings about hobbies I wanted to pursue as my life before the ring was full of them, and now being a Mrs I seem to have lost them or left them on the way. As you can see... I didn't post for a whole month.

well... I'm off to think up my next idea... maybe something along the lines of cooking/ eating organically? Or maybe I'll actually order those pictures for my scrapbook.

any suggestions?

List"en"ing... hobby or not?

I am a woman of lists...

Just the other day I cleaned out my purse, which had become a work-out on its own to haul around. I tend to stuff this and that in it as I go through the day, so by a week or two the thing is usually a few pounds heavier and a scary mess. As I went about my most recent "purse detox" I realized just how many lists I make. Little pieces of paper with neatly printed things like "milk" and "take out garbage" emerged by the handful. And when I say handful, it really isn't an exaggeration.

I often find myself grabbing a stickynote before heading out the door and quickly jotting down things I need to do before returning to the house, or things to be done immediately after returning.

When my calendar proudly reads "Vacation" or "Dinner Party," I turn into a list making queen! What's even better is that I usually make 3 or 4 lists before being satisfied. See, there are 2 (maybe more) clear list making styles. Some people like to make a very long list and then cross off each item as it gets accomplished or completed. Lines = happiness and a feeling of accomplishment. Then there are people who need their lists to be completely neat and orderly (as if the act of making a list to begin with doesn't fufill their obsession with order). They work a list over and over until it looks perfect on the page. Even a misspelled word can drive them to start all over. These people hate the lines... lines = mess and do not signal that a task is completed. The lines mean things are out of order. Lucky for me (unlucky for my purse) I am a lover of perfection and crossing out things on a list doesn't help me feel good. Instead, I prefer to create list after list... clean, orderly and exact!

So, since I am searching for a hobby, and list making seems to have taken over my life (in some respect), I decided I should explore the idea of turning it into a hobby. Some people make lists to ensure their grocery trip ends them with a perfectly stocked kitchen, while others dig deep into their souls to make a list of life goals. I can proudly (maybe it should be regretfully) say that I am a master at the grocery list.... but I don't think I've ever put serious thought into a life goals list.

That brings me to this...

The lists I'm used to making involve meanial things in the big scheme of life. Most of them just affect me and my wallet (my husbands too :)), but a life goals list is more than just a trip to the grocery store. It involves your spouse, children, your heart and passions. Am I ready to make such a big list? It also strikes me that I should be listening rather than "listing." The biggest part of who I am is my faith in Christ, and if I'm making such an important list, shouldn't I be listening first to what my life can do as an extention of the church?

hmmm.... who knew making a list could turn into such a long post and deep conversation...

Do you have a specific "listing type"?

The Hobby of Hospitality?

"When hospitality becomes an
art, it loses its very soul."

I enjoy planning and hosting events, in fact, I get paid for it. Working at DVFBC has given me many opportunties to show hospitality, but when given the opportunity to practice outside of the paycheck, I feel like I lose something in the hustle and bustle of making sure the fridge is stocked with beverages and the shower drain is free of hair. Amid the petty prepartions of making sure the temperature is just right and the house is "dust bunny free" I lose the joy in offering a place for friends to gather in fellowship.

Is it possible to make a hobby out of hospitatlity... or is that the very root of the problem? Have I gone too far as to calculate the act of being hospitable into a formula, or danced it around into perfect swoops and dips as if it is part of a magical performance? In making it into an art, have I lost the very meaning of it?

____________________________

At the Home of Martha and Mary:

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.""

____________________________

I suppose you can call me a modern day Martha. Not a title I want to boast about, and yet it describes me right down to the jealous thoughts of " well, I guess someone has to do the work..." I want to follow the teachings of Jesus, and soak in the real pleasures of life. I want the gift Mary received when she put aside preparations and focused on the relationships.

The challenge then comes in opening my home to others, and focusing on the relationships and stories to be shared instead of rushing off to the store for last minute splurges on treats and placing a perfect (store bought) bouquet on the table (as if it is placed there fresh every day). A home can still be shared regardless of how many pairs of shoes have made their home outside of the bedroom closet and regardless of only having water to offer guests to drink.

So, I guess I won't be making hospitality into a hobby, but instead focusing on bringing it back to the joy of friends gathered around a crowded dinning room table, enjoying a nice glass of water and sharing joy with bouts of laughter.

A Short Introduction

Hello fellow bloggers...

May I offer a short introduction?

Just three and half months ago I set sail for the journey of my lifetime. I quit my job, spent every waking second focused on plans, and arrangements and more details than I could handle. I learned the lingo, and negotiated my way through save the dates, menus, and tulle (lots and lots of tulle).

On March 6th 2010, in front of friends and family, I said "I do" to the man of my dreams and sailed away with him to Mexico for a week.

And this leads me to start my blogging career. After all the planning and focused attention on the wedding, I feel like I lost part of myself... mainly my hobbies. So, I'm embarking on a journey to find those again, and hopefully this will prove a good outlet for me as I search.

So here's to the journey!