out with the old backgrounds.

i finally changed the background pics on my phone and computer. my phone's had a pic that my little bro sent me from his phone that he took when setting up their tree. (note the thumb) he was lucky enough to score the only evidence of me sitting in santa's lap (or next too. somehow his lap wasn't big enough for me as a chubby child).

my computer background has held a sneak peak into our xmas cards that I ordered. lucy gets more festive with each and every year. i wanted to share the blooper pics from that photo-shoot, but I couldn't ruin the surprise that was hitting mailboxes!


poor lucy.

merry xmas.

merry christmas to all.

make your own christmas ornaments.

this holiday season i've been on the JIT (just-in-time) gift-giving inventory plan. this means i'm running around (ok - so no real exercise is occurring) trying to get EVERYTHING done but I'm really so behind I don't get to anything until less than 24 hours before it's required to be 'gifted'.

recent problem: it's 9pm, Grey's Anatomy is on (which despite BOMBING this season, I can't let go b/c of all the time invested from previous seasons), I have an 8am mtg (boo) & a holiday happy hour event which I NEED to bring a little something-something to for all the ladies.

recent solution: glitter balls. spend your commercials creating quick ornaments filled with holiday CHEER. (yes, there are still people on this earth without DVR) i found this idea on hgtv's christmas crafts countdown. click on the Nov 23rd date from the calendar and watch the quick video... she has lots of good ideas for glittering glass balls.

a few basic supplies are needed: christmas ball ornaments (i got some cheap ones at kmart and the dollar store), glitter (i HEART martha stewart glitter), glue (w/clean spout so it's easy to 'write' with), a small paint brush and ribbon.

you can follow tutorial steps here on my projects page, but the basics are:
1. using glue, draw SOMETHING on the ornament. (i'm really into MONOGRAMMING lately)
2. shake glitter over the glue, making sure to cover all sides.
3. tap the ornament to remove the excess and repeat until it the glue has good coverage.
4. let the ornament dry. (i set them all in shot glasses to dry overnite)
5. when glue is completely dry, use a small dry paintbrush to brush off excess glitter.
6. string ribbon color of ur choice and HANG from tree!

happi bday.

happy birthday to me. happy birthday to me. happy birthday to NICKY. happy birthday to me. what a celebration this Floridian weekend! i am so grateful to have spent time with family and i can't thank our hosts, Justine and Lauren, enough for letting us invade and take over their apartment. i was showered with love and presents the whole weekend long which was just fantabulous. i didn't want to leave!

among my presents - a pedicure, pink winter gloves, a bottle of wine from my FAVE winery, an ironing board and iron, the cutest crafting TOTE and craft supplies, a mini dressform, sewing supplies and a gift card to Joanne's to stock up on more CRAFT supplies! happiday.

let me give you a closeup of how adorable the giftcard was dressed.oh - and how could I forget the best present of all. 3 feet of snow to shovel on the day of our return!

3 hours.

it's crazy how 3 hours on a plane can take you from this:


to this:


pictures to come SOON!

igoogle themes.

new igoogle themes are here! pass it on...

my FAVE is the 'bus-stop'. this theme changes based on the weather here in the Roch. everyday i'm greeted by my friends at the stop and they give me a sneak peek at what's going on outside. if it's blustery and cold, they're all bundled up facing the snow. sometimes they're chasing their hats down the sidewalk after the wind gusts or have their umbrellas up reminding me I left mine in the car. i have such good friends.

doggie snow angels.

hey gang, lucy here.

after that cold trek in the snow picking out a tree, mom took me to one of my FAVE parks. i love going there b/c I usually meet one of my favorite boyfriends, Danny-boy, to play. boy he is a HOOT. i think he was trying to impress me big time with all those doggie snow angels he was doing. he's got the stop, drop, and roll down to a science! we were having a GREAT time getting our 'flirt on' until mom and Sondra starting taking MILLIONS of photos of us. sigh. i really hate POSING for the ball. then she put Danny's coat on me and ooh'd and aaah'd over how cute I looked. guess what's going on my xmas list now... sigh.

ps - go here to see the pics. u don't have to go far to see snow angels. i'm thinking a mini flip book of them would be a fun xmas gift for him...

lovin the lazy life,
lucy

christmas tree.

today we dressed Lucy up in her SANTA collar and headed to Wilbert's xmas tree farm to cut down the world's most *perfect* xmas tree. apparently we're a little rusty picking out trees from being gone last year. it wasn't until it was in the stand until we noticed it has curviest trunk ever. i'm just waiting to come down one morning and find it on it's side. (sigh)

check out some more pics on my gallery page.

a norman christmas.

i recently scored this HUGE book of 300+ norman rockwell magazine covers from the back of my mom's vehicle. it was on it's way to the salvation army when i RESCUED it. very coincidental b/c i had JUST been on ebay the week before bidding for a book of his xmas illustrations. (good thing i didn't have too much wine that night cause my bid-happy-buzz could have left me swimming in rockwell books) i cut out one of my fave illustrations and put in this frame for the holidays. me likey!

diy magnet tutorial.

long-time readers must be thinking - where are all the project updates?! well, rest assured i'm busy-busy. it's just i'm TORN at whether i should talk about them PRE-Christmas at the risk of revealing the homemade treats that MAY be arriving in a stocking near you. but this christmas magnet project is one that won't be gifted to a blog reader. in fact i'm not sure this recipient even knows what a blog is. so here goes...

basic supplies: wooden doll heads (or dowel caps), acrylic paints, paint brushes, magnets, hot glue gun, paint pens (optional) and clear spray paint (optional).

you can get detailed steps here, but here are the basics:
1. paint 2 coats of acrylic paint on the wooden balls and let dry. i used a brick red americana paint.
2. paint 2-3 coats of acrylic of metallic green in different shapes. i did a square for a christmas present, a small tree, a circle for a wreath, and an oblong shape for an ornament.

3. in a contrasting color, decorate the shapes. i used a silver paint pen to add a bow to the wreath, a star to the tree, a hook to the ornament, and a bow/ribbon to the present.
4. optional step - spray with clear coat when dry.

5. using a hot glue gun, affix the magnet to the back.
6. enjoy them hard at WORK on your fridge! (or gift them to a friend)

all the steps (with photos) are on my kodak gallery project page.

winter wonderland.

as fast as fall left us, WINTER came in with a bang. we got the first real snowfall of the season up here and it doesn't look like it will stop until Thursday!(we rec'd 6 in of snow and are supposed to get another 6 2nite!)

I haven't finished uploading the pics from the weekend, but I dug out some of them for the wintery occasion. they're shots of some of my fave things at mcallister's parents house. i think they're even prettier covered in SNOW. oh, and there's a short video of Lucy playing in the snow this morning. i thought she was trying to dig to china but she was only looking for her rope. happi winter everyone!

an old wagon wheel.

a warm, inviting entrance.

old bench. (garden art)

flower urn and metal chair.

wagon hitch.

lucy digging to china.

elf yourself.

i've been elfed! one of the best parts of my weekend was finding this insanely funny christmas site. i could spend hours dressing people up as elves and watching them dance.

it took a few tries to make sure I got the BEST spot in the elf lineup. (keep watching at the end, I even do an AIR GUITAR move) lisa looks like she's done this before with those hip swirls and jon's got the best neck rolls in the house. mc can't quite keep up with the rest of us (sigh), but his robot rocks the elfin world!

you can watch ours here or create your own elf lineup here.

ps - for those spread the elfin cheer, there really is no science to the lineup order! (boo)

goodbye to fall.

i found the 24 hour XMAS music radio station and i'm hooked. i really couldn't be more excited about the upcoming holiday season. we were away last year taking the most wonderful trip to Europe and i was very okay with being gone for xmas. but now that the holiday cheer is all around me, i'm realizing how much I missed that tradition last year and i'm super nostalgic for a holiday with friends and family.

but that's not what i'm here to talk about. i'm actually pretty bent that fall came and went so quickly. fall is my favorite season and i feel like we were ROBBED. i'm serious! where did it go?! it came late and left early. and even before it was leaving, the holiday music was kicking it out the door. poor FALL. so here's a mosaic to celebrate fall, see ya next year.

burlap or bust.

you just HAVE to check out Sondra's burlap projects. they are super duper cute, especially the tree skirt.

she's not the only one making good use of BURLAP. we brought our herbs in a few weeks ago and i plopped them under a window. they were looking mighty drab until i saw a cute BURLAP idea in Country Home.

potted plant + burlap + ribbon = burlap heaven. i even made a burlap BOW for the Turkey Day wreath. check more pics! happiday.

flippin furnace.

it was awfully nice of our furnace to wait until AFTER the holiday to BLOW up on us. (sigh)

only a whopping 3 days, but much nicer than the thought of NO heat before or during the holiday where we hosted 14 people for dinner.

(the furnace is much kinder than the old stove. some may recall it kicked the bucket two days before Turkey Day years ago)

looking at the warmer side of things, CHEERS to our first fire of the season. my checkbook and i will be welcoming the furnace repair man with open arms later today. and only then will i take my mittens off...

wine cork placecard holders.

for turkey day, we used wine corks as place-card holders. i think they fit the table's harvest theme quite well. plus they're quick and inexpensive to whip up for a large party.

i used this placecard template from martha stewart's website. just download, print and wedge them into a teeney slit on the top of the cork.

here are a few more project pics. enjoy!

happy turkey day.

from our home to yours, happy thanksgiving.

pics from the day are on my Gallery page.

pumpkins.

i haven't given up on my pumpkins yet.

borscht.

my other half is pretty darn creative in the kitchen. he reads a ton of autobiographies and books written by the chefs he likes and then PRACTICES what he learns on moi. (lucky me!) this weekend he ran out to buy a new 'dutch oven' for the current meal inspiration swirling around in his brain.

he's reading another one of anthony bourdain's books - A Cook's Tour. in it, bourdain travels ALL around the world in search of the perfect meal. i guess it's a pretty easy read - he said every chapter is like an episode on the travel channel.

so that's how i met borscht. bourdain talks about it when he was traveling in Russia. it's a beetroot vegetable soup but he put a Russian twist on it adding beef, parsnips, cabbage and potatoes. oh, can't forget the DOLLOP of source cream. yummm.