Thank you Auntie

Gone fishin'

Thank you Auntie for the oh so cool onsie! Doesn't Kieran look dapper? 

Nice tummy.

Christmas 2010

Paper Snowflakes Christmas 5x7 folded card

Turn your pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Advent 7

KJ art!

Advent 6

Card Pouch

This is for all of those store cards that you have but don't use very often. Keep them in a cute little pouch. Now you will know right where they are when you need them...

Come fly with me...

Are you like me? Have you been slacking in the Holiday card department? Well I have...It seems like I am pretty much operating 3 steps behind these days. I'm going to blame it on being a busy working Mom. Ha, I don't play that card very often.

Several years ago I sent out my favorite Christmas card. It was Christmas 2007. The hubby and I sent out our very first joint card! We chose a favorite photo from our wedding and added a simple holiday greeting. Holiday cards are a really nice way to share a little piece of your life with the recipient. Last year I really did not have my duck in a row and we (gasp!) sent out no Christmas card at all! Not this year, not this year!

With the help of Shutterfly, I can click my way to photo card happiness! Have you checked out their cards this year? Really really great! What makes them great you ask? This year Shutterfly has some terrific layouts and perfectly modern fonts to choose from. These are my top picks for Christmas Cards this year:

Family Wall Red

Sweet Monogram Ribbon

Color Me Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays

Joy Wishes Ornament

And what about a desk calendar? Perfect for the Grandparents, right?

Shutterfly also has a great selection of birth announcements too. My mom was the superstar Gram and made Kieran's birth announcement last year.

Awe...wasn't he the cutest?

You will have to wait a few weeks to see what I ended up choosing. What do you have planned for holiday cards this year? Will you DIY them or have them printed? Tell me all about it!

Advent 5

A hot air ballon paper ornament!

This was another (I have many) happy accident. As I was trying to make a 3 tiered paper heart ornament, I realized it wasn't going to work. Just as I was getting frustrated, I saw a balloon in my pathetic looking heart. So the hot air balloon was born. Do you like it?

 

**Kieran received a beautiful knit hat made by his Auntie in his Advent calendar today!**

Look at that hat!

Advent 4

I messed up...totally forgot to take a photo of Auntie's Advent 4. She opened a Christmas garland today using the same technique as used here. Do you have any old Christmas cards lying around? Maybe ones that are now a little dated or just not the message you want to send? Just punch out a bunch of large discs and string together using ribbon or yarn. I chose three different pretty papers to back the card discs. Sorry for the lack of photos!

**Kieran opened a piece to his new nativity scene, a sheep, from Auntie Louisa today.**

Paint me a picture...

Happy Friday! I hope this makes you smile. We sure had a blast! (And a mess to prove it!)

Bath is all set for the soon to be painted boy.

Oh so tidy.

Not too messy.

Oh so happy!

 Have a wonderful weekend!

Advent 3

Paper ornaments.

Okay, let's face it...this is a pretty basic ornament. Just punch a couple large discs, gluestick together and add a ribbon or yarn braid loop.

**Kieran received a very cute Christmas onsie from his Auntie Louisa in his Advent calendar today.**

Advent 2

Kieran's hand ornament! 

This was so much fun to make and super easy. Here is a quick tutorial with a bunch of pictures. 

1. Trace your little ones hand on a piece of cardstock.

2. Tidy up your hand. Kids are squirmy, take a look at your little hand to see if it needs a bit of tidying up.

3. Cut out the hand following your revised lines.

Awe...so little

4. Choose fabric for both sides of your ornament and grab some double sided iron on interfacing.

5. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of one piece of fabric. Be sure to iron both sides of the fabric to insure a strong bond. (Following product directions.)

6. Peel off paper backing.

7. Iron on the second piece of fabric. 

8. Trace hand onto one side of bonded fabric.

9. Cut out just inside your lines. (Unless you used disappearing ink...)

10. Punch a hole in the palm of the hand. This will be what you thread your ribbon through.

11. Use a large punch to create a color coordinating paper disc.

12. Label disc with year and child's name.

13. LAST STEP! Thread a piece of ribbon through the hand and disc. I though it would be cute to add a jingle bell too.

I think this is a nice way to track an important little person's growth from year to year. It will definitely bring a smile to our faces in the future years when we dress our trees with this little whimsy hand. I hope it makes Auntie smile this year.

**Kieran received a handmade (of course!) cloth nativity scene in his Advent calendar (from Auntie Louisa) today.**

Advent 1

 Mini bunting! I think it's pretty cute, do you?

This is a quick and easy project. Just cut out a bunch of little triangles using scrapbook paper (or fabric, but use pinking sheers in this case). I made a template to trace out of cardboard.

Stitch the triangles together using 2 spools of thread in your machine.

And that's it! Pretty simple for a cute bunting that could be used in all sorts of places...Christmas tree, mantel or in a window. I think it would look nice pinned onto my sister's bulletin board maybe. 

Kieran enjoyed helping me package this teeny tiny gift.

**Kieran received a sweet Christmas book in our Advent Calendar from his Auntie.**