A Homemade Christmas

This year for Christmas we decided to do homemade gifts. I had so much fun thinking of things to do and getting some inspiration from places like Pinterest.  It all sounded like such a great idea.  It wasn't until I was well into the projects when I realized how much time and work were actually involved! I love being creative, but it was really hard when there was a deadline.  Thankfully I started right after Thanksgiving so I had plenty of time to finish.  The end result and being able to give each gift made it worth it!!!

For these frames, I started with printing out the background with words to describe the person beginning with the letter of their name.  Then I took 1/4 inch paper strips and began to make the shape of each letter and glued it on its end using Mod Podge.

I got these paper mache letters from JoAnn's.  I covered it with family pictures using Mod Podge and added a ribbon to hang it.

I made both of these from canvas. I painted the canvas and stretched ribbon across the front.  Painted the names of each person on the clothespins and added a button for decoration.  I really like this one because it's a fun way to display pictures and makes it easy to change out the pictures for updated ones.
The other canvas I painted black and used a stencil to sponge on the design.  I glued on the buttons and added a ribbon to hang it.

For the coasters, I bought some tile from Lowes.  I printed out the pictures and cut them to fit the tile.  I glued them on using Mod Podge.  After they were dry, I covered them with polyurethane so they would be waterproof.  I added felt to the bottom of each coaster and tied a ribbon around them.

The last thing we made was yummy! We made candy cane cocoa. We wrapped them individually in a small bakers bag and closed it with a mini clothespin. We melted chocolate chips and dipped marshmallows in it and the dipped it in crushed candy canes to be used as a stir for the cocoa. We used coffee stirs for the marshmallow sticks.  We wrapped them up and tied them to the hot cocoa packs using twine. Then we made homemade thin mints. Yes, you heard me, THIN MINTS!!!! They were so yummy!!!! We got the recipe here. We covered some of them with white chocolate (which ended up being my favorite) to give it more of a holiday look.

It was so much fun working together on these projects and to be able to give people things we made!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!! So excited about a brand new year! I believe this year is going to be amazing!!!

On New Year's Eve our church decided to have a party! It was so much fun!!!! We danced, played a fun 2011 trivia game and had a yummy m&m bar!!!

We also had a photo booth.  It was a blast!!! What a wonderful way to bring in the new year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!! I love this time of year!  Here are a couple of pictures of our house decorations.






































And here are some more family pictures.  What an amazing family!!!!

Family Pictures and Self Portraits

We recently did family pictures with the Talley family.  Family pictures are so much fun!!! We always make it our goal to get the most natural smile possible and to capture each personality.  We always have a good time doing family photos and trying to get everyone to smile.  Jon is really good at making people feel relaxed and making them laugh.

We also did self photos this year.  Gotta love self timers on a camera! We always have so much fun and end up laughing so hard trying to set the timer and then running to get in place.

Road Trip 2 - Pennsylvania/Virgina

We recently took a second road trip this year.  The first one was in May when we went to San Antonio.  This time we went to Pennsylvania and Virginia.  It was such a fun trip to take in the fall.  Our first stop was Gettysburg, PA.  We did not stay long because it was freezing cold (compared to what we are used to) and windy.  But, we did drive a little bit around the battlefield and the town.  It was fun reading about the history and sobering to imagine what it was like during the Civil War.

Our next stop was Amish country, Lancaster, PA.  We loved Lancaster.  It was beautiful.  With the covered bridges,  farms and beautiful rolling hills, it was a great place to spend the day.  We had so much  fun driving around the countryside.  The farms were amazing (I am a sucker for farms - love them).  And of course it was also fun to see all the horse and buggies.

Next, it was on to Philadelphia, PA.  We were so excited about Philly.  We recently watched the "John Adams" movie series (if you haven't seen it, you need to!!!) so, it was fun to see the all the historical places. We love American history so Independence Hall was definitely a highlight.  Seeing the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed and where so many brave men chose to stand up for freedom was incredible!!! We also saw the Liberty Bell and walked down the oldest residential street in North America. We also got to eat an authentic Philly steak and cheese!!! Yummy!!!

And of course we couldn't leave Philly without running up the "Rocky Steps".  Such an experience!

Next it was on to Virginia!!! It was so good visiting family.  My cousin had a baby this year so this was our first time meeting Caleb.  What a cutie!!!

While we were in Virginia, we decided to do a little sight-seeing.  We went to Mt Vernon.  I haven't been there since I was a kid so it was fun to see it now that I'm older and can appreciate it more.  It was literally the perfect day to go.  A beautiful blue sky, a cool day and colorful fall leaves!!!

After Mt. Vernon, we went to Alexandria, VA.  I was born in Alexandria, so it was fun to explore the town.  They have a historic district right on the water.  It was so much fun to walk around the town and look across the water to DC.

Our last stop on our way home was Colonial Williamsburg.  We had so much fun in Williamsburg.  It is such an experience. With all the horse and buggies and people dressed up, it's like taking a step back in history.

It was such a great trip.  We are so thankful for that opportunity!