The Holidays Sure are Fun!

I took down my Christmas decorations yesterday, and enjoyed my vivid memories of the boys decorating the tree.  I hope they will want to help for lots more years.  It was so much faster putting up the lights on the tree with Henry there to hand the string of lights back and forth.

On Christmas Eve we had a full house.  Helen and Mike with Clayton, Charlie, Rose and Isobel slept over. Also we had the pleasure of Sarah and Brock, Sam and Sally, and Kristina staying with us.  We had so much fun we forgot to put the kids to bed that night.   Santa almost missed our house because the children were up until eleven.  Opps.
                                                                Never fear, he came.

Daniel spent the next week taking the boys skiing at Sundance and Beaver Mountain Resort.  On New Years Eve we enjoyed a curry dinner at John and Terri's, and then a game of Charades.

The children finally lost interest and left the adults to a more competitive game.  Somehow Daniel was able to get his team to say Gattaca (the movie with Ethan Hawk).  Wow.

At 9:59 pm we all counted in the New Year with the East Coast, each of us (kids included) holding Martini glasses full of sparkling cider.  It was a Happy New Years Eve.

Christmas Pillowslips

My Mom made Christmas pillowcases for the boys last year, and Henry took his to Helen's last month for our Thanksgiving holiday.  "I want my children to have Christmas pillowcases"  Helen said.

Okay, it would be my pleasure to make that wish come true.  I decided to make some for my nieces over in England too and because I had to get UK gifts in the mail, their's are what I have to show you today.

I couldn't decide which fabric to use, and then the thought occurred to me, I could make them like mini quilts

    I mixed in a little bit of the minky fabric that is so popular, and I love the soft pinks and blues side by side

                                Hopefully these will help produce sweet dreams of sugar plums

Angels

Artist: Brian Kershisnik "The Nativity"

I love love listening to my Josh Groban Christmas Album.   The whole CD is excellent, but here are my two favorites, and they both have to do with Angels singing.

                                              I am crazy about this duet with Brain McKnight

Photographer: Mark Mabry

                                           This arrangement is amazing. Ooo its so good.

I've decided I want to sing in a choir of Angels.  It must be the most beautiful & joyous music ever.

James Taylor Christmas

                                       Daniel surprised me today with a new Christmas CD.

   Ooo, I love learning new Christmas music, and James Taylor has several new songs (to me) plus a couple less used songs such as "Go Tell it on the Mountain" and "In the Bleak Midwinter".  Mr. Taylor  also has a fun version of "O Christmas Tree" in french and I have decided I really like hearing familiar songs in other languages.

Here is an example,  I came across this last year and its so good.  "Jingle Bells" in french is "Vive le Vent".

In closing, I recommend the James Taylor Christmas album.  His voice is as good as ever and the instruments are so pretty.  Great arrangements and nothing is better than Christmas music.

Christmas Tree Skirt

I 

I love ruffles.

                               Maybe with a tree this big, I should make a bigger skirt.

                               I love creating something beautiful out of scraps of fabric.

God So Loved the World

I absolutely love the scripture  I shared last week from John 3:16. "God so loved the world..."

Here is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "God so loved the World" written by Carl J. Nygard Jr. along with a collection of art by Liz Lemon Swindle, Greg Olsen, Del Parson, and Corbert Gauthier.

I am working on creating my own word art of this scripture, and have just ordered myself a scanner! That means I'll be able to share my art with you and  I can start ordering custom fabric from spoonflower.com  That makes me very excited.

Flower Glitter Ball

I have lots of flowers in my yard: coneflowers, black-eyed susans, wild sunflowers and daisies.  All of them have a solid textured center which are perfect for covering with glitter once the petals have fallen and the stems have dried.

Here is a picture tutorial on how to make my Christmas Glitter Balls.  So pretty, so satisfying.

Once your flowers are dry, spray them with glue or a natural sealer and then sprinkle with glitter.  Here you can see examples of bronze, green, red and pale blue.

Poke a hole in your styrofoam ball, squirt a dab of elmer's glue, and push in your ribbon.

Cut your stems to an  inch long.  Using the biggest centers first, push the stems into the styrofoam.  You want to evenly space out your big ones to give you an even ball shape. Continue on with the next size, using the smallest ones last.   As your centers start to fill the styrofoam, they will stick together like Velcro.  You need more flower centers than you realize, so be sure to use a small styrofoam ball for your first project.

This particular Flower Glitter Ball is three years old and it still looks as good as when I made it.  Enjoy your flowers in the bloom and then let them adorn for Christmas tree for years to come.

Give of Yourself

Everyone enjoys opening up presents on Christmas morning, but there aren't many gifts that stand the test of time.  Add to that the stress of time and money, and Christmas shopping can be discouraging.

I have two ideas that I hope will excite you.

Idea #1  Make copies of your favorite snapshots from the last year to give away to extended family.  Everyone loves looking at pictures and you can easily present them in a 4 x 6 photo album.

Idea #2 Write an personal essay to give to your immediate family.  Everyone loves a sentimental note, and this is taking it to the next level.  The topics are endless to pick from.

Learning how to ride a bike, Your first date, Memories of your parents or grandparents, Special foods at Holiday meals, Weddings, Births, Family vacations......

 In the past I have written  "Summer of '97", "I wanna Jammin' with you", "Daniel in the Kitchen" and Top 10 Lists,  "My Dad and Music", "Favorite Memories of my Mom".  

Sharing personal feelings and memories are worth more than money, and they will be more precious as time goes by.

Okay here's one more, Idea #3 Collect family history to share with your family.  Interview grandparents and/or parents, type out  your notes and make copies for everyone to enjoy.

These ideas can be used over and over again.  Each Christmas your family will look forward to having an addition to their photo album or family history collection. If you start brainstorming now, there will be plenty of time.

Christmas in July

For the last two or three weeks, I have been spotting tall brown weeds in Salem, and they call my name. "Kimberly, come make a wreath with us." Yesterday I finally said okay, let's do it.

After tying them to a wreath frame, I first sprayed with a plant preserver, then I sprayed with glue and sprinkled with glitter and fluff. The funnest part was selecting a garnish to be attached to the ribbon.

This week I also started thinking of new ideas for my Christmas gift tags.

Christmas Creations

At Christmas time I like to give away homemade granola and planted paperwhite bulbs.

This year my mannequin was wrapped in turquoise silk and I made two advent calendars for our home. The one for me hung in the kitchen all green and gold. In the upstairs hallway hung the calendar for the boys, more playful with a wider range of colors. The items I chose to hang on the tags were a mixture of nature, ornaments, and jewelry.

For a family gift I made a one-of-kind map of the United States. Each state is cut from a different paper and then mog podged onto a canvas, which was painted as the ocean with the help of my children.

Other items I made include stockings for 2010 babies, a sweater blanket for my new nephew Leo, and two velvet bolster cushions with handstitched birds. In the rush of the holidays, I sent them off too quickly to take photos. I am looking forward to a new year of sewing. Last years resolution proved too much for me, this year I am setting a more realistic goal of sewing twice a week, and that should still produce great results!

Ornament Exchange

There is a wonderful lady in my neighborhood. Tricia Arrowsmith. She moved here to Woodland Hills the same time I did, three years ago. After raising her six daughters in Washington state, she and her husband have built a home and retired to Utah County. I love her because she is so bubbly at the age of sixty four and I see all the many ways she enriches her life. Piano, quilting, tap dancing, daughters of the Utah Pioneers, and the list goes on.

Tonight I attended a party at Tricia's home, a Christmas ornament exchange. There were twelve of us and the rule was we had to make what we brought. I decided to make a paper cone filled with nature, glitter and trim. Here are the pics.

This is the Season

"We've longed for the year. Sing a rhyme, Christmas time soon will be here."

In honor of Christ's birthday I thought I would share pictures and website link to reflectionsofchrist.org

Brock's dad introduced me to Mark Mabry's photography this summer and I am still wowed by it every time I visit his website. I have always been particular about artwork of the Savior. There are so many interpretations and not all match my imagination of what He looks like. But these portrayals really work me.

Once you arrive at the website click on multimedia and then video to see the whole selection against the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing".