Christmas in January...

...because I can. This is my blog and I'm allowed to post snapshots of my Christmas even though people have moved on. So if you are sick of shiny lights and cozy trees then you better just move along. Don't worry, though, I just have pretty pictures to share and not many words! We didn't decorate a whole lot considering we don't have many decorations yet, but we loved everything we did have. Our first Christmas in our home was the best I can remember. I can't wait to add more next year (after I go clearance shopping this year).

I bought this at a thrift store but you could make one yourself so easy!

Find my ruffled tree skirt tutorial here.

Aaaand that's pretty much it. Don't worry, we aren't Grinches, I just took the photos before all of our Christmas gifts were wrapped. Mostly because gifts weren't wrapped until the last possible minute. Oh, but I love how my house looks again without Christmas! Woo!

We're Still Here & Traditions

Woo! We get to celebrate Christmas! And New Year's! And anything else! Clearly I'm glad the end of the World did not happen, and no, we did not stock up on goodies and prepare a bomb shelter just in case. I'm more of a "if the World's ending, so be it, just take me" kinda person. So, in celebration of being able to celebrate, I wanted to share some of our Christmas traditions we will be starting this year. Growing up, we didn't do anything super crazy besides spending time with all 4 sets of my Grandparents. Now that I'm old and married, Travis and I want to start some of our own traditions.

We cut down our own tree this year and I hope we continue to do this. It was so fun to spend some time in the mountains and find our wonky tree.

The first year Travis and I were dating, his family started the "Prather Amazing Race". His parents set up silly games for the 4 kids and their spouses and had prizes at the end. Think "Minute to Win It" type games. Puzzles, scavenger hunts, eating 'dog treats', getting ping pong balls into cups, and so on. It's been such a hit that this year will be the 4th year and it just gets better every year. All I have to say is Trav's siblings better get their game faces on because we mean biznass. This is one tradition I hope stays forever and I can't wait to carry it on with our kids someday.

 

This is our first Christmas in our new home and we will be spending Christmas Day there, just the two of us and Riley. We received some homemade Kahlua (hello yummy) from a friend so we plan on making White Russians. I'm hoping this can be a tradition we carry on. I also plan on washing down these cinnamon rolls with the creamy deliciousness. If all goes well and my kitchen makes it out alive, cinnamon rolls will be an annual thing, too. It's my first time making homemade ones. Pray for me.

Silly Christmas/and or Disney movies are also on the agenda. Did you see all the movies Netflix added?! Fox and the Hound, here we come. Oh, and I can't forget opening our presents from each other.

I would really like to start the 12 days of Christmas next year and have a fun advent calendar when we have kiddos.

These are just a few things we plan on starting this year and I can't wait to keep adding more to the list as time goes on and our little family grows. No matter what your traditions are, I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with family, friends and all the little things that make Christmas special. I know that's the most important thing to us is spending time with our family and making memories.

Saw It, Pinned It, Did It: {Ruffled Tree Skirt}

Holy 5 days until Christmas, Batman! I can't believe 2012 is almost over. It's been a whirlwind, that's for sure. I'm ready to spend the weekend with family and spend Christmas Day for the first time in our new home with my love and Riley. We decorated a little bit for Christmas and I will share the rest of our decor tomorrow, but now it is time to share my most recent DIY project with you! I totally stole was inspired by Katie's ruffled tree skirt project and I knew I had to make one for myself. Not only was I inspired by Katie's project, but by this pretty one I saw on Pinterest:

I obviously had to keep with the burlap and red theme. I think one made out of all burlap would be really cute, too! So, you will need:

• Fabric of choice. I used a little less than 2 yards of each.
• Glue gun and glue sticks. I needed a whole bunch.
• An old tree skirt for the base.
• Scissors.
• Patience and time.
• Wine.

1. Purchase awesome old tree skirt from the thrift store and debate keeping it as is. Everyone loves Tigger!
2. Cut strips of fabric about 2 inches wide. No need to measure, I just eyeballed it.
3. I found it easier to make my ruffles first and then glue that strip to the old tree skirt. Start at the outer edge and where the slit in the middle is and glue your strip to the skirt.
4. Make your ruffles as big or as little as you want. You can make your placement of the different fabrics as wide or thin as you want. There's no right or wrong way!

This isn't meant to be perfect so just have fun with it! It only takes a few hours if you do it all at once and yes, you will burn your fingers. I'm very happy with how it turned out and Travis likes it just as much! Oh, and good luck from keeping your critters off it while you work. #hesluckyhescute

No Riley, I'm not trying to do something productive...

I'm pretty obsessed with the Christmas lights and the background of city lights.  

Sorry there are more pictures of my dog than the actual process! Really, it is as easy as it looks! I can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to!

Ugly Sweaters & Weekend Fun

Before I get into my weekend, I just wanted to say a few quick words about the tragedy that happened last week. I'm sure you all know I'm talking about the Sandy Hook shootings. I honestly cannot even imagine what the families, responders and community are going through right now. For a person to so easily take the lives of innocent people, especially children, truly disgusts me and it makes me question my desire to bring children into this ugly World. I plan on writing more about this in a later post, but this one is meant to share that my thoughts are with those affected and it's just another reason why I choose to live like there won't be a tomorrow. Go hug someone you love right now. That's one thing you'll never regret.

My weekend was spent with a lot of my favorite people. On Friday, we attended the 3rd annual Ugly Sweater Party at our friends' home. I of course waited until the last minute to go sweater shopping, so I found a semi-ugly sweater and belted a dog toy to the front of it. Yes, it squeaks.

The fuzzy guy is Trav's brother [as if you couldn't tell] and his wife is the cute one next to him. They rock. None of us won 'Ugliest Sweater' but I think we looked pretty dang good. I ate way too many delicious things and drank way too many delicious drinks. After a late night, Saturday was spent eating a greasy breakfast, doing last minute Christmas shopping [almost done, woo!], and taking a two hour nap. I finally finished my 'Saw It, Pinned It, Did It' project that I'll be posting on Thursday. Here's a teaser:

I betcha can't guess what this is...

 Sunday was spent sleeping in [again] and taking Riley out with the in-laws and their dogs for an afternoon of shooting and hiking. Here's my handsome dog in his scarf. He's pretty much the cutest ever.

Now, I don't condone having guns or not having guns and none of us are hunters, we just shot at some targets with Trav's brother's new toy. I will never get political on this here blog so if I offend anyone, I apologize.

After we used up a few bullets [and I showed off my aim], we took the dogs on about a two mile walk. They were in heaven. It was nice because we are finally getting some snow here! Woo hoo! My wish for a white Christmas may actually come true!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend and I encourage everyone to have a blogger day of silence tomorrow to honor the victims of that senseless tragedy.

Saw It, Pinned It, Did It: {Yarn Wreath}

We finally got our house [a little] full of Christmas cheer and I wanted to make a few projects myself. I've been wanting to link up to Katie's and Steph's spectacular party since they started it and it was just the motivation I needed to stop pinning and start doing!

I've been seeing those yarn wrapped wreaths all over the interwebs and Pinterest for forever now. They look so easy but so cute and can easily be made for any reason/season. I like projects that I can do myself but take minimal supplies and not too much time. I'm a really picky pinner (is this in the dictionary as a verb yet?) and since there are so many variations out there, I pinned a simple one I liked and used it as inspiration to make one for our front door.

Pinned from here

So cute and simple, right?

So, first you'll have to gather supplies. I used:

*1 Styrofoam wreath, any size you want
*yarn, any color you want
*felt, a few different colors you want
*ribbon, twine or anything you have around for hanging
*glue gun
*scissors (make sure they're sharp)
*any other pretty things: twine, beads, etc. to jazz it up

See, cheap and easy (just the way I like it)(that's probably what he said), especially if you already have some of these things on hand!

....Drum-roll please....

Voila!

I didn't take pictures of the process because it really is so easy. I took my pretty red yarn, hot glued the end to the wreath and started wrapping. Round and round you go. I would hot glue about every 10 wrap-a-rounds just to hold it in place. If your yarn is nice and thick it will cover pretty well so you shouldn't have to go around more than once. This only took about a half an episode of 90210. There were a few sad spots, so I just randomly wrapped yarn around those spots, which also added a little bit of variation and texture. It won't be perfect but that's okay! Imperfection is better in this case.

Now, for those simple little flowers, all you have to do it cut some circles or strips out of felt. Make some bigger to add some excitement to that little wreath of yours. There are so many tutorials out there to make felt flowers, so I'm just going to direct you to the one I used. She spells out five different ways to make them, and seriously, once you read through them, you'll probably never have to refer back to it. It's that easy. Can you tell which ones I made?

After you make as many flowers as you want, start hot gluing them to the wreath in any arrangement that suits your fancy. I didn't make a specific plan or anything, I just started gluing one by one.It would be fun to add some pine tree sprigs or mistletoe to jazz it up a bit, too.

In my case, I used a pretty ribbon that came from my wine club vino to hang the wreath on the front door. I'm pretty smitten with how it turned out and I can't wait to make some more. These would make a great handmade gift, too! There are so many ways to personalize them. I can't wait to make one that can be hung anytime when there isn't a specific holiday coming up.

Now let's hope the crazy wind we have up on the hill won't blow this baby away....and next time maybe I won’t use such a baby sized wreath…

Gratitouille.

That’s my word for thankful. Tonight anyways. I’m not sure where it came from. Maybe it’s my mind telling me I need to watch ‘Ratatouille’…

…and that randomness leads me into the point of this post. Gratitude. Thankfulness. There’s so many things that I’m thankful for. Not just this time of year, but all year round. It is easy thinking about all those things right now, though, with the holidays in full swing. So, in no particular order…

I’m thankful for…

*My Family. Both sides are so different and so amazing, in their own ways. Life just wouldn’t be the same without all of them.
*Our Friends.
*my Riley darg. The feeling I get seeing how happy is when we come home is something I’ll never get tired of. Life just wouldn’t be as exciting without him and his hairy self.
*my husband. No explanation necessary.

*white wine and red wine and blue wi…oh wait. I just like wine.
*Seasonal beers
*Pumpkin everything
*A healthy body that can get me through every day, and even more challenging things like fun races
*my nephew. Who knew a 4 year old could bring such happiness. He makes me want one of my own. Someday.
*Our home. I’m so thankful for the roof over our head and all the amenities that come with it. So many aren’t as fortunate.
*’Parenthood’. Except when it makes me cry. Every week. But it makes me laugh more. If you haven’t watched it, get on it. Even Travis approves.
*My job. Even though I complain most some mornings, I really am glad I can help provide for our little family while being challenged every day. And read blogs once in awhile.
*Four Seasons. As glamorous as Idaho is isn’t, I love seeing snow falling abundantly in the Winter, the flowers blooming in the Spring, the sun beaming down in the Summer, and the leaves turning gorgeous colors in the Fall.
*Food. Delicious, clean, whole foods.

Obviously, this list definitely isn’t extensive, but I think it’s important to think about all the things we are so blessed to have. Not everyone is so lucky.

And because a post isn’t a post without a picture of an ass...

You’re welcome. What are you thankful for? Besides fuzzy noses, of course.