bye-bye, holidays!

Today is the last day of 2009.
Where did the year go?! :)

Well, I am welcoming in the new year by cleaning up all the Christmas decorations today and starting tomorrow with a clean house and a fresh attitude! But.. before the holiday season is completely over, I wanted to share a few photos from the past week...

My sister and I on Christmas Eve... We went out to Coronado with our parents to see the gorgeous tree (a yearly tradition!) and to have lunch by the ocean. So gorgeous and always a place where I feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place. :)


Setting out presents on Christmas Eve... so very magical!


Andrew on Christmas morning! The presents were a big hit! :)


Like our sweet dog Gwynnie, I think I've had enough of the holidays. :) I enjoyed every moment of it for the past month and am now ready to move onto the new year!

I hope everyone has a
safe and
fun night
to ring in
2010!!
See you next year, xo!

sales for a worthy cause.

I was wondering what to do with the holiday items that were still in my shop, and an idea came to me. Instead of taking the listings down, I'm deciding to do something very beneficial with the proceeds. When you make any purchase from the holiday section of my shop, you will not only receive a cute item for yourself, but you will also be helping to feed hungry Americans. For EVERY $1 donated to this cause, Feeding America helps provide 7 meals to men, women and children facing hunger in our country. SEVEN meals for each dollar! It is amazing what one dollar can accomplish. Let's see if I can sell out my holiday items... they are on sale and you can tuck them away for next year. And you will be helping those who truly need it. No one should go hungry.

It's a powerful feeling to know that even with a few dollars, we are making a huge difference.
Shop here and help.
xo!

a last minute gift how-to.

If you are wondering what to do about those last minute gifts, look no further! This is the perfect holiday gift, and looks amazing wrapped up in cellophane and a gorgeous red bow! Made out of old magazines, this Martha Stewart craft is not only easy, it is totally green as well! (And if you've got an old magazine just lying around, it's free, too!!) This also makes a beautiful hostess gift if you are going to a holiday get-together. :) Or if you want to make a few for yourself, gather a "forest" on your Christmas dinner table!



Watch the video here and see the how-to so you can make some of these fabulous trees for yourself! So far, I've made a bunch for gifts... and I'm still folding! And beware... They are super addictive! :)

Happy crafting to you all in these last few days before Christmas... what are you still working on? Are you all set for the holiday? I'd love to know how crazy this time of year is for the rest of you :) xo!

dear santa.

This might be the cutest thing I've ever seen and I feel compelled to share it with you all. :) Yesterday, Andrew and his dad wrote a letter to Santa, but Andrew wrote just about the entire thing himself. Yay for learning lots in kindergarten, right?! And he had to specify which house he would like each item... mom's house or dad's house. Somehow, I got stuck with the "pet hamster".... not sure if Santa is going to come through on that one haha!



Off to drop the letter into the big, red mailbox at Macy's! I'm so proud of this little boy and I think Santa is going to be very good to him this year. :)

xo!

(PS. I had to add that interesting gingerbread man to block out the address hehe!)

this made me LOL. :)

Mr. Half-Eaten Gingerbread Man.

Grab the how-to right here.

I might have to whip a few of these up before Christmas!

xo! :)

party time! ...plus a fabulous & easy holiday craft tutorial!

Yesterday, I threw the Christmas party for all of the kindergartners in Andrew's class and it was quite the hit! I wanted to make it super special for the kids, and I also wanted them to be able to take something home over the holiday break that was exciting to open, as well useful! I came up with these "craft bags"!

With the help of a couple other moms, we created a big bag of craft supplies for each child. They flipped! Stickers, workbooks, crayons, glue, feathers, homemade play-doh, pom-poms... you name it! It was a great Christmas gift to share with them and one that will be used over and over again I hope. :)

I also made each child a "Rudolph the Reindeer" t-shirt, which is the easiest craft to make, but it's so cute and effective!!

Want to make your own??

Here's what you'll need!

Supplies:

White Tshirt

Large Round Spongebrush (You can find them at Michael's or JoAnn's!)

Tiny Round Spongebrush (cut half of it off to make an ear shape!)

Brown Fabric Paint

Brown & Red Puff Paint (that are ok for fabrics as well!)

Small Googly Eyes

FabriTac Glue

Small pieces of aluminum foil

Simply place a small square of aluminum foil inside the shirt where you want the reindeer to be. Then squeeze a little brown paint onto another piece of foil and dip the large spongebrush into it and stamp onto the shirt. Then dip the small round spongebrush (cut into an ear shape) into the paint and sponge the ear shape onto the reindeer's head. Lay out to dry for at least a few hours so that the brown paint can fully set. When it's dry, bust out the puff paint and googly eyes to finish up the details! Glue on the googly eyes with the FabriTac glue, and then be creative- use the brown puff paint to give your reindeer some antlers, and a small dot of red paint for the nose. Let dry at least four hours or until the puff paint is completely set. And ho, ho, ho!! Your reindeer is ready for a Christmas night out! :)

The kiddos were also able to decorate cookies for their holiday treat! I set up one of their tables with a whole buffet of yummy sprinkles, gummy bears, M&M's, frosting tubes, etc! Then they were able to decorate their cookies in small groups and when everyone was finished, they got to eat their handiwork! :)

Andrew's teacher with his group :)

Smile! :)

I think the party turned out fabulous and now we are happy to enjoy a restful two weeks off for the holiday season. Andrew has already broken into his craft bag, so I think it's a success. :)

Hope you are all enjoying a happy and festive holiday season so far!

And PS.

I'm now a college graduate, finally!!!

xo!

some peppy (and free!) christmas tunes!

Have you heard about the cute kids band, Hullabaloo??? If you haven't, you are so missing out. It is a two-man band from here in San Diego and they are super cool! Kids love them, and let me tell you, so do adults. The songs are fresh and cute, and totally fun to sing! If your stuck listening to kids music in the car, please let it be one of their CDs. You are going to thank me!

And guess what else? For the holiday season, you can download their new holiday CD for FREE! Yay! I am definitely enjoying myself blogging at the moment, tapping my toes to this peppy Christmas music. (And my child is in bed.) Yes, I'm listening to kids holiday music by myself and it's cool! Go download it, folks! xo! :)

christmas sale, ho ho ho! :)

{bright and cheery christmas card}

In the spirit of the holiday season (and the season of fabulous sales!!), I am offering all of the items in my shop at 20% off!

That's right!
20% off
ALL items!
ho ho ho!

Get shopping, folks...

because this sale only lasts through Thursday night!

Please purchase and pay like usual and I will refund you the discount through PayPal :) Merry holidays, my friends!! xo!

{happy christmas jumbo tags}

{happy christmas card}

{fabulous merry christmas card}

{cute christmas poinsettia tags}

{bright and happy holiday card}

a holiday memory.

I have the fondest memories of going to the Nutcracker every year when I was growing up. I always thought it was so magical... the music, the story, the dancing, the costumes, the snow softly falling onstage near the end of the show... :)

Every time I see the Nutcracker, I leave feeling inspired and completely in the holiday spirit. Although we don't go every year anymore, it is always a treat to go and it still makes me feel like I am a little girl again, watching the ballerinas twirl in their fancy costumes...

What are some of your

favorite childhood &

holiday memories?

This week, the topic for Pink Saturday is exactly this.. favorite childhood memories of the holiday season. Read about it here! :)

Happy weekend, xo!

craft tutorial - "feel-good flip book!"

Andrew's kindergarten teacher had her birthday today and I wanted to involve all the kids in a special handmade surprise for her. Well, I found the cutest idea to make a little book with each page made by one of the kids. It is also a way to keep the costs for teacher gifts down which I thought was especially important this year. I want Andrew and all the other kids to feel good about making something homemade that is also extra special!! This little book sits on top of a desk and the pages flip open... so if you need to brighten your day, all you have to do is peek through the book!

You can find the basic instructions to make the flipbook here, but I tweaked it a bit for our class. This is the perfect craft to make for your child's teacher... it can be for a birthday, the holidays, teacher appreciation, whatever! Andrew's teacher LOVED it and shed a few tears reading through the nice things that the kids wrote and drew for her...

I printed out the white sheets of paper from my computer and then mounted them onto a heavy cardstock sheet. They are about 8 inches square, so it makes up into a nice size book to sit on a desk.

Then I sent a note home with one page for each of the kids and kept it a secret from their teacher... they returned their finished creations to me and it was so fabulous to read what each of them wrote!

Each page is different and reflects that child, which is so special. And of course, I made the front page and jazzed it up so it looks really cute! :) There you go, the perfect gift for that special teacher this holiday season!! xo!

happy december!

OK, ok....

so this isn't exactly

what my December looks like

at the moment. :)

But these photos were taken a few years ago at our home when we lived in snowy, upstate New York. While I am so thankful that it is the holiday season and I intend to fully enjoy it, I can't help but feel wistful about this perfectly picturesque place that I used to call home.

The month of December always makes me miss the snow. Although, in March I might be happy I live in San Diego. :)

I am guessing the dogs miss the snow as well... or maybe they miss the woods in our backyard that was their personal playground. :)

Wherever you live,

snow or sun,

hot or cold...

have a happy

first day of

December

...and enjoy the season to come, xo!