happy 2011!

i hope everyone had a great holiday season and are now back into 'real life'.

yup-that means cleaning.

i avoid real life as much as possible.

my little family had fun skiing (i stayed home and shopped), swimming (i fell asleep on a sofa at the rec center reading) and celebrating the new year (i was asleep before 9.30pm mst).

i did join my family...in eating!

because really, that is what the holidays are all about!

i did work on a few projects.

no really, i did!

i made me sweet niece megan a birthday banner.

you might have met megs already, last year one of my first posts was her birthday gifts for her 10th birthday.

it is almost as cool as the one i made here.

needless to say, she likes pink.

we made this new years eve night and had it hanging while she was visiting on new years day.

it IS her birthday month after all.
(here is a photo of my boys and megs from last spring. it is one of my favorites!)

happiness comes in 3s!

i have 3 friends who work out me with most mornings.

well, actually, i have more than 3 friends who jazzercise with me most mornings, but there are 4 of us who are class managers.

nice title, it just means you get to come early and turn on the heater at 5am.

but when i was out for about 2 months with back issues this fall, i realized how much i loved them

(always knew that) and that i missed seeing them daily.

something about 'girlfriends'...

then one day while at deseret industries i found 3 of these!

each says 'hope, faith, love', and all in the same colors, just different order.

a great all year 'round decoration.

and they were a sweet price for some sweet friends.

and you know they are true friends...they have seen me with my makeup off and still love me!

no peeking!

when i was little, my mom hid our christmas stuff in a black garbage in the storage room.

right next to the box with gloves and scarfs.

seriously, how could you NOT look!?

and i did...

i think i am MUCH better at hiding gifts. and since i buy them all year long, i have to make sure they aren't found when we are looking for easter eggs.

i hide them in my craft room most of the year. the kids call it the 'crap' room, and as you can imagine, they don't go in there much.

but as christmas and birthdays get closer, i move stuff around. and now they are all in my closet.

no, not just sitting out on top of all my discarded clothing and shoes.

this is chris's side of the closet. a mess of jeans, shirts and whatever.

but carefully hidden behind that university of utah sweatshirt is...

a mess.

i don't which is worse...his hanging clothes or this pile of crap.

but, the kids haven't found it yet!

so let me know where you hides your stuff.

it isn't like your kids read this blog, so come on! share your secret!

hey josh-at least the bucket wasn't full of coal!

now this gift i was wrapping but not actually giving. i have a dear friend (holly) that i wrap all of her christmas gifts as a gift to her. she doesn't have the time and i love wrapping, so it works out well!

her 14 year old son wanted cash for christmas. that is all. just cash.

cash isn't fun to wrap.

after thinking about it, i got a fresh $100 bill from the bank (after holly had given me 5, $20 bills. i don't actually PAY for her christmas!) and stuck it in a metal bucket about half way full of water. i rolled the money up and clipped the top (that was not in the water) with a paper clip. after it was frozen solid, i removed the paper clip and filled it up the rest of the way.

then, we made hints all over the house on where he could find his gift. (which was on the back porch so it wouldnt thaw!).

i think holly and i had more fun with this one than he did!

looking for a cute christmas idea? (because there aren't anyother blogs with good ideas this time of the year!)

i love christmas gifts! i love getting, of course, but i really love giving.

here is a favorite from last year.

these are just 4x4 blocks that have a vinyl nativity scene on them. each side has a different piece of the christmas story. so easy-and inexpensive! check out say it on the wall to order your vinyl! to dress them up, i wrapped them in tulle.

i got these for 2 special friends...1 in tight quarters and 1 who lives way too far away (thanks to her sweet husband mike. i would unfriend him on fb if we were friends because he took her so far away from me!)

i think this would be a great gift for a college student or newly weds in an apartment!

or just because you like someone!

another 'thank you' gift idea

i always thank the ladies that work in the office at my school.

they have 1200 kids (about 700 families) that go there, but they always remember my name!

and so far, we have had really really good teachers, so id like to think it was them taking care of me.

and if not, they just put up with me coming in asking for weird stuff.

(example:can i use the teachers lunchroom's soda machine? i don't want to drive to smiths for a fresca and i really need one.)

last year AND this year, i made them mulling spice gift bags.

of course, i started with fabric bags.

then i added an orange, an apple juice juice box and the following in a plastic baggie

1 T ground cinnamon

1 T ground nutmeg

1 T ground cloves

i attached it with this little card that says...

enjoy the warmth of the holidays while the scent of simmering spices fill your home! slice the orange and simmer them on low in apple juice along with the contents of the spice bag! add a small amount of water each hour to continue the aroma!

and yes, i stole this idea from blue cricket design.

poor crazy aunt trish...

my aunt trish is having bunion surgery today.

(this is her and her friend dianna. the 3 of us used to go to bars alot when we were younger.)

it turns out that both of her parents (my nana and pop pop) and my mom had bunions removed.

and after some 'webmd.com-ing', i found that it is genetic.

thankfully, my feet look great and i'm thinking i got my father's feet.

but sad for trish. she is amazing and kind and so very generous to me and my family.

i wanted to send her something, but since i already sent her christmas gift (something really really cute from aunt pegs!), and im running low on funds so close to christmas, i had to get creative.

i asked the family.

chris suggested a bag of funions because they rhyme with bunions

(vetoed)

parker wanted to get a book on paul bunion

(also vetoed)

so it was all up to me and kohls. i had a coupon for 15% off so i ran down the street and found some fluffy soft socks.

and i decorated a cardboard tag.

i know a simple gift. but it is the thought that counts-right?

and parker did make a little card for her that featured paul bunion.

he gets his strangeness from his father's side...

need a quick gift idea?!

how about these!?

it makes me wish i had sisters!

or that i liked helena enough to send her one. because i would send her b or c.

maybe d.

where can you get one?

(or many?)

aunt peg's of course!

and they are a steal at only $7 each.

 

ball-y gifts

there are a group of young women in my neighborhood who i always give birthday and christmas gifts to. not all the same girls i went to camp with, just some of them.

this year, in the spirit of thrifty-ness, i came up with a brilliant idea!

one word people...

BALLS.

no one should be surprised.

but these turned out so very cool!

and cheap!

maybe free if you have the items in your stash of crafting/christmas stuff!

i got some christmas balls from the thrift store. these cost $1.

one thing i would do different...spray paint them all white/cream/light color. i had one ball that was painted cream and it was alot easier to work with than the lovely blue ones above.

next, find some tissue paper that you have been hoarding since last january.

pretty, huh?

you can either paper mache or modge podge the tissue to the balls.

i ripped my tissue up. but i guess you can leave it in one piece.

ripping is funner.

i would do half a ball, then put it on the top to dry and work on another. this took a few days as i had been sick. see the one in the front, 1st full ball on the right? that is the cream ball. it only took 1 coat of tissue. the rest took many.

of course, since this is a church group, i wanted to put something on the balls to help them remember the true meaning of christmas. so i printed out this scripture on regular printer paper.

'And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.'

i just modge podged the scripture on top then gave all the balls a spray of clear coat.

i had some funky rick rack ribbon that i cut and sewed into a circle for the hook.

and here is the finished project!

heart healthy instructor gifts

you all know that i LOVE jazzercise.

and if you attend with me, you know that im not good at it.
yet i wake up at 4.30am most mornings to go.

i always like to give a 'thank you' christmas gift to the instructors. sure they are getting paid to be there, but the class i take is at 5:30am and in the winter, it is REALLY REALLY cold.

last year, i scored some sweet coupons for olive oil, making each bottle practically free!

yes, i could have stocked up on a months worth of oil for my family, but instead i gave each of my instructors a bottle for a christmas gift.

hey-olive oil is good for my heart and so is working out!

did you know you can SPRAY PAINT fabric?! me neither!

but at v& co last year she does a whole post on it!
IT LOOKS AWESOME!

i mean, really...who wouldn't want this?

(you can tell i made this last fall...nice pumpkins ba!)

i would suggest washing the fabric after the paint drys. the fabric won't be hard and easier to sew.

i just cut the fabric to fit the bottle in and tied it at the top. the fabric i just had laying around, so that was free.

the berries i did pick up at michaels, but they were on sale and topped it off nicely.

when chris saw the bottles on the counter, he asked when i got to pier 1.

THAT TOTALLY MADE MY DAY!

and he wasn't even trying!

ah-love that man!

tie one on!

so i got this sweet scarf-y type thing at kohls for $2. i wear it as much as possible (when i'm not rocking my cowgirls hat to blend in with the locals!) it is rayon and tie dyed and my niece britney thought it was awesome.

we have a family friend, dede, that i got this sweet gift for a few months ago.

but her christmas gift needed something to go with it.

so i decided to make my funky friend a scarf thing-y like mine!

i totally scored with a tie dye shirt from walmart for $1! I KNOW!

i originally was looking for tie dye fabric without any luck. but this boys xl shirt is gonna work just as well!

i folded it in half long ways and cut it, then cut strips that were about 6" wide.

then i stitched the strips together into a continuous circle.

and here is dede's! hers is a little brighter than mine, and cotton rather than rayon. but it turned out really well! and for $1!

oh only 47 days left!

shipping gifts

i send alot of gifts to family out of state.

there are problems with this.

1. i cant put nice pretty bows because they get squished.

2. the paper always ends up ripping.

3. i cant use extra boxes to wrap shirts because it cost more.

this year i solved my biggest christmas problem!(well, except for the 'no unlimited funds' issue)

i made fabric bags.

and anyone with a sewing machine can do this-even if you didn't have mrs lane as your home ec teacher for 3 years!

here i am wrapping an iron man watch for one of my nephews in valley forge. seriously,just make sure you have enough fabric to go all the way around and sew.

i did zig-zag all the raw edges to give it a more finished look.

this is for a shirt for my niece jackie. i cut about 6-8" of fabric (width) then i wrapped it around the shirt liked this...

to see how far the end pieces needed to come up to wrap around.

now isn't this a better looking package to get?

and since they are fabric, you can reuse them year after year!

more christmas ideas!

ok-another reason why i love thrift stores!

both of these cast iron molds were in their boxes-

BRAND SPANKING NEW!

totally ok by me!

i am giving one to nate's teacher and one to his reading specialist.

with some muffin mixes

and wrapped all pretty like this...

who wouldnt want to get them?

ps-we are doing holiday postcards this year instead of cards, and i got 100 of them.

wtfreak?

so they are going to be note cards too this year!

christmas pranks

for my friend holly's christmas gift every year, i wrap her presents.

now don't think 'oh ba, you are the best friend ever for doing that! i never have time!', because this is all she gets from me.

but so worth it, for both of us!

but of course i can't just wrap the gifts all martha stewart-y and be done with it.

that would be so easy.

we wear at least 1 of every gift she gives to a family member...and take photos.

and include the photo in the gift. so it is really like 2 gifts in one!

holly and her kids LOVE seeing what we play with and my kids love being goofy!

here are some photos from past years.

me in my niece britney's sorority shirt.

this is from the very first year of me wearing their stuff. i really really wanted holly's gap puffy vest.

both boys in josh's pj pants

parker with megan's socks.

i can't remember who this book was for, but it was part of the gag.

this funky hat is for shelby.

so this has been going on for 3 or 4 years now.

and yup, i this is a tradition i plan on keeping up!

im linking up to...homebody

12 days of christmas gag gifts

i have seen where people do the 12 days of christmas with different cookies for each day.

i like eating cookies.
not so much making them.

now-funny. i like funny.

and this 12 days of christmas is funny.

we have done this one before and (i think) they loved getting them.
(alot of these items might be in your food storage, even more can be from the dollar store.)

ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - a partridge in a pear tree... Sorry, but I couldn't find the partridge so I am giving you some pears from the tree the partridge flew away from.

(Leave note along with a can of pears or a few fresh pears.)

ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - two turtle doves... Unfortunately, I don't have any, will candy turtles on a bag of Dove chocolates do?

(Leave note along with a box of turtle candy and a bag of mini Dove chocolates.)

ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - three French hens... The French hens were not available, so I'm giving you some chicken noodle soup, compliments of the three French hens.

(Leave note along with a can-or 3 cans-of chicken noodle soup.)

ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - four calling birds... I can't find those calling birds, but here are four messages they left for you before they flew off.

(Leave note for each member of the family telling them why you like them.)

ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - five golden rings...Sorry, I'm too poor to buy five real gold rings, but will some golden pineapple rings suffice?

(Leave note along with a can of pineapple rings.)

(THE PINEAPPLE RINGS ARE MY FAVORITE NIGHT! it is just so dang funny!))

ON THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you-six geese a laying...You don't really want messy geese all over the house do you? How about some of the eggs they left behind?

(Leave note along with six easter eggs (check thrift store if you don't have any.) filled with candy.)

ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you-seven swans a swimming...All of the swans have flown south for the winter, but here are some of the bubbles they used while they were swimming.

(Leave note along with a bottle of bubble bath.)

ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you-eight maids a milking...Here's some milk I got from the eight maids-we think they must have been milking some brown cows!

(Leave note along with a gallon of chocolate milk.)

ON THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you-nine ladies dancing...Here are some canes used by the ladies to help they walk home after they were out dancing all night.

(Leave note along with a box of candy canes.)

ON THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you-ten Lords-a-leapin'...After the Lords get done leapin', this is what they use for their sore muscles.

(Leave note along with a tube of Ben-gay.)

ON THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - eleven pipers piping...Here's a pipe of your own, have fun and don't blow the whole day!

(Leave note along with a bottle of bubbles and bubble pipe. We couldnt find a bubble pipe last year, so i got some horns from the party part of the $1 store and changed the note up a bit. I am certain the parents didnt like us after this night!)

ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you-twelve drummers drumming... No drummers, we thought you could use some quiet time so here is a special treat we drummed up for you so relax and enjoy.

(Leave note along with some treats. We got a christmas movie that was on sale with some microwave popcorn and soda.)

no-i didn't make this up. i did modify from this. i think mine is better.
(of course!)

go broncos!

parker's 10th birthday was yesterday.

how did he get so old?

(yes, chris did have hair at one point!)

when we went to disneyland this year, i got him one of those neck things so he could sleep in the car.

it was only $3 at walgreens but it had a boring cover on it.

but it worked and i used it the ENTIRE way home while sick with strep.

since parker got a bike for his birthday, we couldn't really afford to buy him much more. but i didn't want him to only get a bike. i don't know why.

so i got the cover off of the neck pillow and used it as a pattern.

(what, you don't craft on a table that has star wars action figures on it too?)

i only got a quarter yard of fleece broncos fabric, which turns out to be not enough width wise but i made it work. this side is the one that has an opening so you can slide the pillow in and out.

and for the solid side i just used 2 halves.

and yes, i did sew this together wrong and had to seam rip and re-sew.

im brilliant.

the end result!

not too shabby! and parker didn't even get upset by the fact that he ONLY got a new bike!

another fantasic gift idea!

this amazing ball used to be a bright blue extra large christmas ball from the thrift store. i paper mached it then spray painted it bright red. then i dipped the lid of my water bottle in white paint and made the messy circles. i think it turned out fantastic!

and i had a great time doing it! mostly because it gave me an excuse not to answer the door or the phone because i had gooey hands.

the in laws christmas gift

first, i have to say i LOVE my in laws.

i might be in the minority here, but that is ok.

now my husbands in laws...

and yes, i have already got their christmas (mostly) done. this is part of their 'joint' present, and then i will get them both something else small.

but as always, i saved a TON of money using coupons.

first, i got to roberts with a 50% off coupon and got this frame

it was normally $84, but i got it for $42.

then i went to etsy and found my new best friend, jess.

check out her shop here.

(and look how cute it came in the mail!)

even with shipping, it was less expensive to buy these from her than from the craft stores.

she was fast and helpful (and didn't pay me for this-i just appreciate good customer service and like to let others know where to get it!).

and here my bloggy friends is the final result...

i even vacuumed the rug before taking the photo!
(you are welcome!)

we all signed the back so as my in laws get older and more forgetful, they will know who gave this to them!
(just kidding-love you gary and linda!)