What a Fabulous Holiday...More or Less

Ok, so December just flew by in the blink and 1/1/11 blew in and out without much more than a "Happy New Year" and a nod.  Did you think the "holidays" went particularly fast?  I used to love December.  My birthday is in December (8th) and if you knew me then, you know I tended to mention my upcoming birthday thousands of times in the days and weeks leading up the big day.  Honestly I didn't do it to get attention or special gift…. No, I just LOVED the idea of my birthday as a special day.  I loved the excitement of thinking of an extra special way to treat myself my birthday.  How great is it that my birthday falls between the beloved holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas?\

www.sweetfineday.com

December holds so many wonderful memories of family, cozy fires after soft snow falls, skiing, warm soup, paper snowflakes, 

hot coffee or chocolate, picking out the perfect present for my family and friends, Christmas cards with news from the year, Christmas pictures of friends long since moved away, Christmas Trees hung with my cherished ornaments,  red green, gold, and silver everywhere look, and beautiful store windows.

My first Menorah was similar to this one

 Then I married a Jewish boy and we decided we should celebrate BOTH Christmas and Hanukkah.  At this point we had my birthday, my dad's birthday and two major holidays happening in December, and while it was a little crazy it was  manageable.  I collected gorgeous Menorah candles and Rick tried to teach me how to say the Hebrew prayers each of the 8 nights of Hanukkah.

Unlike Christmas that comes faithfully every year on December 25th, Hanukkah fluctuates based on the Jewish calendar.  To further confuse this Christian-raised woman, Hanukkah starts at sundown the night BEFORE so the calendar is a day off… I think.   In the mid '90's I was still doing great, got the Hanukkah gifts off on time, purchased and addressed the Christmas cards, decorated a beautiful tree… it was always such a magical time for me.  Then we decided to start a family and I swore to myself that there was NO WAY I would have a December baby.  After all, I had too many years of the “combined gift” and watching my sister throw pool parties to celebrate  her August birthday.  Of course, as you work at a pregnancy time passes and suddenly you joyously realize your going to be a mom….. in December.  What? Huh?  How did that happen?  On No!  It make it even worse, my December 13^th baby became a December 20^th baby and the holiday season has been but a blur every since.  In an effort to illustrate this point I will divulge one dirty little secret (I have picture proof of another later on).   I purchased a Martha Stewart Gingerbread House kit, 3 years ago thinking Ryann, my niece Ally, and I would enjoy building and decorating this simple kit.  You know where this is going right?  I packed it up again this year and it's still as a kit… here's hoping for next year!

So as Y2k was approaching and the December page of my datebook (remember when we had paper datebooks?) was getting really messy but I was confident I was still in control, right?  Then, when baby was 9-months-old, I rediscovered rubber-stamping and I was hooked, lined, and sinkered.   I was invited to a Stampin' Up party, hosted by somebody I liked a lot and just wanted to support.  You know those women whose energy and life spirit draws you in?  I had wanted to make a velvet embossed scarf for sometime and Stampin' Up had a rose stamp that I knew would be perfect. Unfortunately, the rose was a hostess set- meaning there was no way I could buy it without hosting a party.  I begged, pleaded, and whined, but in the end I signed up to host a party, got the stamp, and made a beautiful black-velvet scarf.  

Ryann's 1st birthday approached and I think it goes without saying that I added the Big Birthday Party to my December routine.  Maybe I started this because I found the perfect "1st birthday" theme in a rubber-stamp….Raggedy Ann.  For those of you who weren’t friends of mine in 1972, I was deeply love with a raggedy Raggedy Ann and my bully of a sister decided to decapitate her in a moment of rage.  

There was no replacing my Annie, though my mom tried.  I remember to this day, exactly how the new doll felt and smelled.  She was all stiff and chemically smelling; not at all good for snuggling while I sucked my thumb, at night, or during a particularly scary moment on Captain Kangaroo.  The bully did make amends a few years ago by shopping on E-bay (back when you could still find a treasure now and then) and surprised me at Christmas with a vintage Ann that isn’t stiff or chemical smelling.  

What is this crumbly thing?

I eat this?

Mmmmmm

 But I digress (again)… we were talking about Ryann’s 1^st Birthday Party…. In December 1999, the kids b-day party scene was just beginning to overboard in America.  I'm pretty sure that Oriental Trading was still somewhat unknown and Birthday Party Express had yet to take-over the world.  Most kids who had big parties, did so at a venue like Chuckie Cheese or a scary jungley-gym place with a big bin full of dirty-plastic balls and a rope net.  Nobody wanted the hassle of entertaining a gang of toddlers, but I loved having her party at home because I enjoy all the planning, decorating, crafting and baking.  It was even more fun because while we lived in North Carolina, we had a solid group of friends with kids all around the same age.  

I broke out the new stamps and made probably 10 invitations, a cool cake, some treat bags, and a few others foods that fit the theme and we had a fun party.  While the 1st Birthday party wasn't a tremendous amount of work it did set the standard and each year they got more and more elaborate. One day I may blog about some of those parties.  

Sadly, I didn't keep an invitation from that party.  It was a shaker card with Raggedy Ann holding a book and hearts floating in the shaker portion.  It was pretty simple but hey, she was only 1! 

I think it was the next year that I decided I should MAKE my Christmas cards.  I mean, I really enjoyed making those 10 birthday invitations and a few birthday cards over the previous 12 months, so why not make holiday cards?  All 70 of them.   I admit that over the years, the cards a year were a huge source of stress as well as pride.  I love sending something beautiful to my friends.  Sending something pretty and that I designed and handmade, feels to me like sending a little part of my spirit to my dear friends.  Being former Air Force family, we have been privileged to know many amazing families and keeping in touch means a lot to us.  Before Facebook, it was much harder to keep in touch, but sending a Christmas card was always one simple way to remind those families that we miss them, think about them often,  and am honored to be their friends.  For me, sending a preprinted card just wasn't enough but every year Rick, gets annoyed and (repeatedly) tells me "they just throw them out".  EVERY YEAR...Ah… yeah, I get that, but it isn't about what THEY do with the card; it's about what sending the card means to me.  

I tried to do it all for years but, slowly it dawned on me that the month of December which had always meant so much to me, had became so over-booked and over-stressed, it wasn't any fun anymore.  I had forgotten how to enjoy it.  I have yet to discuss it in this blog but my health is ever an issue and I never know if I am going to have a good day or a bad day.  Though I probably will talk about this more as time passes I will say that I, and both my children, have Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (HEDS) which is a genetic collagen deficiency that ultimately causes pain and fatigue.  You can get more information here.  HEDS obviously adds to the stress and makes all the obligations, expectation, and deadlines so much more difficult to meet.  Throw in anything extra like planning of the huge Squadron Kids Christmas Party (while in NC) or Hosting Bunco (here in Michigan)... December was on chronic and perpetual OVERLOAD and I was more often than not running on empty, stressed at myself for not getting everything done, and certainly not enjoying the moments of family and friends that I've always treasured around the holidays.  

As much as I adore Martha Stewart, there is now way to get as much done as she pretends to on her ubiquitous calendar.  Obviously, I needed to do something(s).  I stopped making Christmas cards a few years ago and instead will stick with New Year or Valentine cards- take that one off the list.  I try NOT to host Bunco in December because it always falls within a day or two of Ryann’s birthday- take that off the list. 

 Last year I decided no more big birthday parties for Miss Ryann after the Twilight-Tween Extravaganza.  She doesn’t want a big, activity-filled, pinata-bashing party anyway at this age.  She'd rather "hang out", maybe go skating, and have a sleep over-take that one off as well.  

Hey, I did makes some changes but did my changes help?  I can’t say that this year was perfect, and I didn’t get to relax as much as I would have liked to, but at least I wasn’t a complete basket case so I guess I would say… YES….

Laters...

Better Late than Never or Inspiration for Next Year

Better late than never I am posting a few pictures of my Christmas decorations. 

Bookcase

I stuck with the same color scheme I’ve used for a few years because I love it and you just can't go wrong with red and white at Christmas.  I always, always throw in a little metallic for sparkle and shine.  So, while I love this look  something was just off this year. 

I love these two Snowmen

It just didn't look as beautiful and luscious as in years past.  Why?  I'm not really sure, but a few things were off.  First, I use Angle Hair to cover the mini-lights  on the bookcase and mantle and this year it was a disaster.  I've used it for probably 10 years or more in a variety of Christmas themes.

The Mantel

Although it isn't necessary to throw it away after one use, over time it does get mangy.  I bought a new bag for this year and I think this was the reason for the mess.  It turned out that this new bag was full of short pieces; something I had never seen before.  I was impossible to work with because I couldn't pull it out and stretch it to create the airy, ethereal look I was going for.  Instead the short pieces pulled apart and some actually fell onto the floor (not good to have spun glass fibers on the floor).  The short fibers stuck straight up and didn't do much to cover the mini-lights and strings. 

close up of tree

Every year my Christmas tree is my pride and joy.  I have collected ornaments since I was literally 3-weeks-old from a variety of people and places.  I have carried on that tradition by giving my kids special ornaments each year.  This year the tinsel was a nightmare with so much static electricity it stuck to everything but the tree. 

 It caught on pants as we walked by and boots and shoes as we walked on it.  I found it stuck to my furniture and on the carpet upstairs, and even in the sink!
Over the years I have cared for and saved the ornaments by returning them to their original box if possible.  If there isn't an appropriately safe box then I protect them by wrapping them in tissue or bubble wrap and carefully packing them in hard cardboard or plastic boxes.  I put the ball ornaments in special boxes made to hold them.  I’ve never broken an ornament until this year and I more than made up for it.  Several broke sometime over the year of storage and I have no idea how since those boxes are really never bothered.   I broke two “Normal Rockwell” ornaments I’ve had since high school.  I probably broke 10 basic ball ornaments, which itself was  sad but what a nightmare worrying about getting every single shard up off the horizontal surfaces involved.  I even broke a ball at my mom’s house.  I topped this streak off on Sunday by breaking the glass from a huge picture frame on my HEAD as I carried a box to the basement.  It hurt like hell and glass went EVERYWHERE.  There is nothing worse than worrying about that moment when your child comes to you screaming with a piece of glass sticking out if his/her foot so cleaning just never seems to be enough. 

The Mantle:

Bookcase

I love making these from kits but adding lots of extra sequins

Close up of Stockings I made the Kids

My stocking made by my grandmother

Mirror in bathroom

Laters...

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Birthday

The calendar changed to December on the 1st and it was like somebody flipped the switch on the snow machine in the sky.  We got snow... ground-sticking, fluffy-white, sweet-etheral, beautiful snow.  It certainly isn't unheard of, or even unexpected, for snow to fall in December here in Michigan.  Because we had an unusually warm fall it seemed somehow, odd to have snow blanket our world.  I think that, for me at least, the time from Halloween to the first day of December, flew by in a nanosecond and I am sure that the shock I felt at seeing the first snowflake was, at least in part, related to this.  Of course, as often happens, we then had rain, which melted all of the snow in time to be hit with our first "lake-effect" snowfall of the season.

Ahhhh, lake-effect snow!  Living in southwestern Michigan, we are subject to the crazy weather systems created and fed by our very own "ocean" which we locals call "Lake Michigan".  When we were planning to move here, I told Rick that Portage, like my beloved Ann Arbor, is in SOUTHERN Michigan and thus we would not have to deal with much snow.  You see, it doesn't really snow in A2 as much as it "slushes".  I reasoned that Portage therefore, would be slushy and wet and we wouldn't have to deal with shovels let alone snowblowers.  Haha but the jokes is on me!!!!  Because of beautiful Lake Michigan and it's "lake effect snow" we receive significant accumulation.  Seventy inches of snow or more on average.  While that may not seem like much to those of you who live in snowy locals- like the U.P., or on a mountain, or at the North Pole- you have to remember that it IS a significant amount of snow for SOUTHwest Michigan.  

Ok, so we get snow.  Who cares right?  I love snow... it's pretty, I love skiing, and sledding is fun if go to Oakland Park, so where is the problem?  The problem is Rick isn't so keen on the white stuff that falls from the sky and somehow he manages to be at work- usually in Hawaii, Paris, Puerto Rico- when the big storms hit.  How does he do that?  

It is hard to believe, but it is Christmas time and Hanukkah is but a memory.  That means lots of decorating and crafts, cookies and carols, shopping and Christmas/Hanukkah cards, wrapping and shipping.  I had good intentions that this year it would be all that and fun and relaxing and inspiring as well.  I started earlier this year!  In fact, I think I started right after I peeled the jewels off Lady Gaga's cheek and washed the lightening bolt scar of Harry Potter's forehead.  I mean really, I was off to a great start and as an added bonus for playing the game, Ryann isn't having a big Birthday Extravaganza this year.  I didn't have to plan and execute a themed-out event consisting of some cool, interesting, and exciting, yet theme-appropriate craft projects that the kids never were able to do  without a lot of adult "guidance" (somehow, I never figured out how to match the guests talent and age appropriateness with my need for the craft to fit the theme),  2-3 games, and a swag bag of cool crap that also was completely themed-up, and let's not forget to mention the feast I always put on, again think "Theme" including cake, cookies, and candies, oh my.  This theme-centric event was always fun to plan and fun to host and I would have anticipated it as a highlight event of my year, if it was in July or September or March, but December... it pushed me over the edge, it really did.  So, while I did love it, I must admit that not having it, is one huge stress off my back.  

But I digress, I was talking about what I DID do this year....I made some beautiful Christmas ornaments, glittered everything in sight, and fired up the Cricut to cut gorgeous snowflakes.  I made my grandmother a gorgeous wreath for her door at the assisted living facility (more on that in a moment) and put together several banners with holiday messages like "joy" and "Merry Christmas" and added more glitter.  I whipped up some cards, painted some chipboard, and added more glitter.  This is fun but oh so messy.  The kitchen table became but a memory as it was overtaken with paper, paint, glitter, and glue, tools, and cardstock, glitter, and buttons.  I can no longer reach the cabinet that houses my candles or anything more than a foot back from my chair.  Maybe I need to clean up a little?  Who has time?  I'm busy with the glitter. 

Let's take a moment to see how I am doing with my holiday goals for 2010:   

*Decorating: well I waited a loooong time to put away Halloween but once I did get the decorations up- they look beautiful.  so...Decorating: Check (Pictures to come in another post)

*Crafting: I just old you I did a bunch of stuff- Check

*Cookies:  Oh, ummmm, well, here is my first snag, you see- my pancreas-which as been acting-up on the job for years, at times even threatening to "unionize" and to go on strike (like while I was pregnant).   I have been able to head off most talk of collective bargaining until recently.  Being a nurse practitioner, I love numbers- here's a secret: all medical personnel love numbers.  That is why we run so many tests; we need numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers.  With this in mind then you won't be surprised to know that I have been checking my blood sugar every so often and I've noticed the fasting blood sugar numbers creeping into the "pre-diabetic" territory.  Yikes, I say.  So now I have to watch what I eat (or more realistically-what I don't eat).  Now days the voice in my head sounds like "No cookies for you!".  Ryann is gluten free so "No cookies for you" (or at least none that taste anything like a cookie- she is allowed to eat the gluten-free powdery shit that is supposed to resemble a cookie but crumbles in your mouth in a way I can't even describe making it more like a sugar/butter flavored Pixie Stick and not in a good way).  Rick is essentially gone for the entire month of December leaving Chase to eat the cookies.  We could just bake and give them away but what fun is that? I don't have that kind of willpower.  

So Cookies:  Not check.....

*Carols: Have you heard us sing?  Not check.

*Shopping: Check, but really last minute on this one.

*Cards:  Seriously?  I haven't had holiday cards ready in December for years (see birthday extravaganza above).  I am going for "New Years" or "Valentine's Day" this year because let's face it- it is much more realistic.

Now, don't forget my 29th birthday and Ryann's 12th birthday also come in December.   So in summery:  Another year went to hell.  Maybe next year, right?  By the way, I spent my birthday holding Chase's hair while he puked.  The entire day.  And night.  And next day.   Ryann's birthday turned out better because she went low-key (see above) choosing to ski all day with her friend and then the two of them had a quiet sleep-over.  We really wanted to take her out for a nice dinner but she didn't want to go.  Not letting that stop us- my mom, Chase and I went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants while Ryann and her friend stayed home.  Seemed sort of stupid but I did't want to cook! 

So for some crafting:  I've decided to show some of my wreaths in this post.  I am planning on making a wreath tutorial in the near future so you can learn how easy it is to make your own wreaths.  Wreath making is really simple, requires only a few tools, minimal skills, and is soooo much cheaper than purchasing a pre-made wreath.  I promise your handmade wreath will look better than anything you can get at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Target, or AC Moore and cost half as much!

My quest to keep my 94-year-old grandmother's door decorated with something each month continued this month.  I started in October with this "BOO" banner.  I made her a beautiful autumn wreath which I neglected to photograph.  Hopefully I can get a pictures and post it in the future.

  

For her holiday wreath I wanted to go a little glam with lots of glitter.  At first I thought old school red/green and maybe gold but then I saw these absolutely gorgeous purple-velvet hydrangeas. I am crazy about hydrangeas anyway and I love the texture of the velvet and the color variations which give the flower so much more character.  So I flipped my plan and went new school with purple and white-gold.

I always start a Christmas or winter-month wreathwith a base of faux pine rather than grapevine.  For this wreath, I found a faux-pine wreath at Michael's that was already decorated with 2 varieties of pine cones and a mixed variety of faux-pine needles.  I have never seen this type of wreath at the craft store before and when I went back for more, they were all sold out.  Usually the faux-wreaths available at the craft stores are meant to be embellished and are made of only one type of faux-pine needle.  

I wish I had taken the time to glitter the edges of the pine cones that came on the wreath.  They would have been spectacular tipped in white-gold.  But, as always, I was in too big of a hurry and once I had the flowers on the wreath it was just too big of a mess to even attempt so I left them plain.  Before I go any farther I must say that the wreath is much more beautiful in person than in the pictures.    Maybe it is all the glitter that just doesn't show up on camera?

I did hot glue all the embellishments into place on this wreath.  Sometimes, if I think I will want to change the wreath up, I will just stick the stems into the wreath, keeping them in place just by how I weave the flower stem into the base.  Obviously, you don't want to do this if you are in a high wind area or if it bothers you to have to pick flowers up off your front porch and stick them back into the wreath on a regular basis.  You could use wire to attach the embellishments onto the form; this is a happy medium between hot glue and my wing-and-a-prayer technique.  With the wire technique you just wind the wire around the stem and either the wreath form or the branches, then when you want to change the wreath you clip the wires and go on your merry way.

So what exactly did I use on this wreath?  3 stems of the purple hydrangea, several stems of the glittered eucalyptus, 5 glittered Christmas ball ornaments, and the little purple acorn and bead picks I found at Michaels.  The hydrangeas came with huge heads, one per stem, that I cut apart into little clusters of 5 or 6 blooms a piece.  The acorn picks are an example of one of my wreath secrets which I will cover in the upcoming tutorial.  I bought ribbon for a bow but decided against using it because it just added confusion to the wreath.  So, this is it- a gorgeous wreath for not a lot of money.  

I also bought some beautiful pale coral poinsettias that I just couldn't pass up because they were so pretty.  When I got home I decided to make a wreath for my mom out of the coral poinsettias and some faux "snow" covered greens, similar acorn picks-but green this time, and a glittered bow.  They only had 2 of the poinsettias and they had huge leaves, must too big for this small wreath, so I cut off the top leaves using this as a single bloom and then used the large leaves individually.  It is amazing how different the two wreaths look as I made them at the same time.  

Here are some other wreaths in my house that I made in years past:

Gorgeous White Gold Poinsettia Wreath

Christmas Ball Wreath

This wreath was made quickly by hot gluing a variety of sizes and colors of glass Christmas balls onto a faux-pine form.  It matches the colors in my bathroom exactly.   I am planning on giving this number a little make-over which I am planning on showing in the tutorial.  

This is probably one of my all-time favorite wreath and was made using a pre-made "stem" of flowers and greens that I took apart.  

I am posting this tonight, the evening of my daughter's 12 birthday and my grandmother's 94th.  Happy Birthday to both beloved women in my life. 

I will try to get the tutorial up soon but I do have another prolotherapy treatment tomorrow and that just poops me out so we will see.   I am excited about the prospect of starting tutorials and hope that you enjoy them.  If you have nice things to say please leave a comment.  For now, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and 

Laters Baby....