Have you recovered?

Christmas Eve this year was beautifully simple.

Nothing fancy, nothing over-the-top, just good food and family...and a whole lot of love.

But now that it's over...well, that feels really good too.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!

Make merry, be grateful, and love all those around you this Christmas!

The stockings were hung...

While my friend was pregnant with twin boys, I knit them each a Christmas stocking.

Unfortunately, at the time that I gave them to her, she only had one of the boys named...Frank.

Frank and Baby No Name...

Now that the sweet boys are here (they were born in February)...and they each have names, "No Name" is now Evan...their stockings are complete.

I used this fantastic pattern from Canadian Living:

http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/holiday_stockings.php

It's easy, fast, and looks beautiful in many different color combinations.

I just love the classic styling and simplicity of these...

I hope the boys enjoy them for many, many years.

I found some slightly outdated, but deliciously adorable photos of the two boys..

My heart nearly explodes looking at their little faces...I love these boys so much.

OXOXOX

Peek of the week. December 9th edition.

Here's a little information about Peek of the Week, from Happily Home Sewn's blog...

Cuz I'm linking up this week.

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? 

It's Happily Home Sewn's regular Friday feature...It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

We made our annual trip to the Mall of America this week to visit with Santa.  

It's become tradition for the kids to bring along letters for Santa, listing out all their wishes.  

I love watching their nervous faces as he reads each list.  

They can hardly contain their excitement.

The whole holiday season is magical, isn't it?

Ornament wreath, dressed in red

What do you give a fabulous friend for Christmas?

You know, the friend that has the most incredible taste and sense of style?!

A red ornament wreath, of course...

Isn't it pretty?  

I had the best time collecting ornaments and glittery red things, and then putting it all together.

It just got better and better the more I added.

It's a little like a Where's Waldo or I Spy book...the longer you look at it, the more you see.

Before I gave it to my friend, I let it do a little modeling over my mantel

And the best part?  I truly think she loved it.

*If you want to make your own...here's a great tutorial for you to follow ;)

12/10/2011 ~ I just received a photo of the wreath in it's new home...

My friend named the photo, "My prized possession"...isn't that sweet?

Oh My!

(For those of you that follow my blog regularly...check out Soleil's face in this photo...it's that sweet expression that I love)

We've been crafting and decorating, and compiling our wish lists...it is definitely feeling A LOT like Christmas!

Unfortunately we've also been dealing with illnesses, and car issues, and hard to manage schedules so I'm a little behind on my blogging.

Hopefully I'll have a hand-knit reveal coming up later this week 

and maybe some photos from our visit with Santa.

Stay tuned.  

Thank you my faithful friends.

white Christmas ornament wreath tutorial

I made something pretty this weekend and I want to show to you...

(I was inspired by a tutorial in this magazine.)


Gorgeous, righ?!  And would you believe easy, too?!
Wanna make one?  I'll tell you how...

What I used:

(I bought everything at Michaels)

~ 12" Styrofoam wreath

~ Wide white ribbon

~ Floral wire and cutter

~ 17 large white glass ornaments (they come in boxes of 8 at Michaels, I originally bought 2 boxes but ended up sending Corey back to the store because I needed 1 more...he loved that.)

~ 10 small white glass ornaments (if I was to do it again would buy 20 of these)

~ A whole boat load of other round white things...pom poms, floral picks that I snipped apart, painted acorns, etc.

~ copious amounts of hot glue

How I did it:

( This was made late at night so the "in progress" photos are less than stellar)

I started by wrapping the Styrofoam wreath with the ribbon, securing it with hot glue.  I don't know if this was really necessary since I was using a white wreath and covering it with white ornaments, but it would be if your ornaments were a different color

Then I made a hook out of floral wire and attached it to the top 

The next step was to start glueing the largest ornaments around the perimeter of the wreath.

*Super good tip* - keep the wreath laying flat on a hard surface as you do this step so that it will later on lay flat against your door or wall*

Once you have the large ornaments glued to the entire perimeter, start filling in the middle with some of the medium sized things.

If I was to do this again I would definitely also add ornaments to the inside of the wreath...I regret not doing that.

Lastly I filled in any little gaps with little things and in some places layered...I think more is more with this project ;)

 And then I hung this pretty little thing above my mantel, on top of my stained glass window (using a 3M hook)...and stood back and admired it...

I just love it.

I'm going to Hook Up With Hepworths so head on over and check out the other great tutorials and ideas!