Thursday, December 27, 2007

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.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

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!

Monday, December 17, 2007

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!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

3 hours.

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


to this:


pictures to come SOON!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

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.

Monday, December 10, 2007

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



Saturday, December 08, 2007

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.

Friday, December 07, 2007

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!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

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.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

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.


Sunday, December 02, 2007

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)