Operation "Deck the Door"

Christmas is coming! And since one of my goals from my Fall Bucket List is to decorate my apartment, I've been setting aside some time here and there to do just that. I LOVE how my door decoration turned out this year:

It's definitely an improvement over last year's door decor!

This is the angle I usually approach the door from. This makes me so happy! It was a group effort between me, my roommate, and a friend of ours who lives in the same complex we do. My roommate did the bow and our friend hung the tiny little ball ornaments because I didn't have the patience to do it!

The ribbon and the "wreath" (it's actually a 12' garland I wrapped around a few times) came from the Dollar Tree. This red ornament came from Michael's last year and the frame is something I picked up last year and spraypainted.

The "JOY" letters came from Target's Dollar Spot and the ball ornaments are also from there, but I got them last year. The silver ornament is from Michael's last year. Notice the little spider hanging out on the "J"? He stayed there the whole time I was taking pictures and as soon as I was done he scurried away to his home!

I crouched down so I could get a child's perspective of our door. I think it's even better from this view :).

Since I already had most of the materials for this project, the total cost was only $3! You can't beat that! If I'd had to buy everything fresh, it would have come out like this:

$4 - two ornaments from Michael's (with 50% off coupon)

$3 - frame from Goodwill

$1 - little ball ornaments from Target's Dollar Spot

$1 - "JOY" letters from Target's Dollar Spot

$1 - 12' garland from Dollar Tree

$1 - red ribbon from Dollar Tree

$5 - blue spray paint (for frame)

That would make the total $16, which is still really cheap, especially when you consider that you can easily spend that much on just a wreath alone!

When I hung up my door decor, I wanted to make sure our peephole wouldn't be covered by it. I was not expecting this lovely surprise, though - the view through the peephole is so sweet! This was taken at night so the lighting isn't great, but you can at least tell what I'm talking about.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

This is a banner my mom made when we were all really little. It hangs
in my parents' house every year, but I may  "borrow" it this year.

Last year, I think I was working on final papers until just a few days before Christmas and, because I was so stressed out and still recovering from school, I never got into the mood for Christmas. I still had an enjoyable holiday, but that warm, contented feeling that I usually have around Christmas time deserted me. This year, I decided I would do things differently. No matter how stressed I am this month (and it helps that I'm done with school on 12/5 this year), I'm making it a point to get into the Christmas spirit so I can get the most out of one of my favorite seasons of the year. Here are a few of the things I'm doing (and so far it's working!):

1. I'm listening to more Christmas music. In fact, I started listening to Christmas music well before Thanksgiving. I know that's sacrilege to a lot of people, but I felt it was necessary.

2. I'm drinking lots of hot chocolate with peppermint flavor added! Making a cup of hot chocolate every now and then just does it for me.

3. I've started knitting again! Instead of multitasking while I catch up on TV shows, I'm working on finishing a scarf I started over a year ago.

4. I'm making it a point to get up ALL my goal Christmas decor. Last year, I only put up about 1/3 of the Christmas decor in my apartment that I wanted to. This year, I'm purposely setting aside a few hours here and there so that by the time Christmas rolls around, my apartment will be all decked out. My goal date to have everything finished is actually December 12th because...

5. On December 12th, I'm having a whole bunch of friends over to watch White Christmas. And I plan to serve a lot of holiday drinks, including hot chocolate, spiced cider, and mulled wine. Also Peppermint Joe-Joe's. It is NOT Christmas until you've had Peppermint Joe-Joe's :).

I also plan to go look at the Christmas lights in my city, and, if time and opportunity allow, go caroling and ice skating, too! This Christmas is already shaping up to be a lot more spirited than last year's!

High Five for Friday 7/6/2012

1. I got to spend some time with my older sister last weekend. We had so much fun we forgot to take pictures! We ran errands together, went window shopping at Home Goods, Anthropologie, and Urban Outfitters, indulged in salty snacks, and then met up with her husband and our two oldest brothers for dinner and Coldstone!

2. One of my best friends recently started a Bible study for post-college 20-somethings in the style of InterVarsity Bible studies. I can't even describe how good it felt to be manuscripting again. Sadly, I can't attend regularly because my credentialing classes are on Tuesday nights. I plan to attend whenever I can, though!

3. I got to hang out with Mom and my brother Joe while we watched our youngest brother race the 4th of July criterium in Davis. He's one of the guys in the front of the group here, lined up at the start line.

4. After watching the crit, I then went to a friend's house where I got to hang out and relax with my two best friends and a couple guys we were all on IV leadership with. It was so great to see them again and catch up and just have a relaxing 4th of July. We bbq'd kabobs, drank Newcastle (something I drew an inordinate amount of amusement from), and set off fireworks in the street.

5. I was worried about how Cora would do with all the fireworks going off, but she was just fine! I brought her with me to my friend's because I didn't want to leave her alone, not knowing how she would react to the fireworks, but she was completely unfazed. In fact, she even took a nap while everyone in the neighborhood was setting off legal (and some illegal) fireworks. What a dog!

Lots of 4th of July doings in this week's High Five, but I really wouldn't have it any other way. My whole week was great, but these were the highlights. Hopefully next week's edition will include some good news about me passing the CSETs!

And here's a song (with an admittedly bizarre music video) that I haven't been able to get out of my head:

My friends and I have had some extensive discussions about the meaning of this song. If you have any ideas, feel free to comment below. I'd love to read some different interpretations!

Linking up with From My Grey Desk.

Apartment Holiday Decor

I was really hoping to put up some nice Christmas decor in my apartment - even though my roommate and I didn't get a tree (our apartment is too small and we'll both be with our families for Christmas, anyway) - and even though finals & my work schedule did their best to prevent me, I was still able to decorate a little bit! Here are some photos:

(Sorry for the poor photo quality. I lost my camera and have not been able to find it anywhere! All of these photos were taken with my phone, which has an indifferent-at-best camera.)

This wreath made with a frame and ornaments was inspired by this project I pinned on Pinterest. If I have time, I plan to redo it (I think it would look a lot better with the ornament hanging lower) and trim the ends of all the ribbons. But for now, it gets the job done. And with only a few days until Christmas, I'll probably just call it good and do it properly next year :).

This was a fairly cheap project, I got the frame from Goodwill for $3, the ribbon and the little ball ornaments from the dollar tree (less than $2 total because the ornaments came in a set of 9), and the really cool spiky and swirly ornaments from Michael's for around $4 for both. Everything else I already had on hand for other projects, so this one only came to around $9! Not too shabby, I think, especially since almost everything can be reused or repurposed.

This photo shows how badly those ribbons are in need of trimming. I meant to do that, but then completely forget in the excitement of hanging it up and taking pictures.

One other bit of decor I put up in our apartment is this little miniature tree that I've had for a couple years now. Aside from spending $1 on some fresh ornaments, everything here was already on hand!

 I love the little ornaments, especially the shiny silver ones. They really bounce around the light. The skirt for the tree is a bit of a red scarf I've been working on. I put it on hold over the holidays and simply wrapped it around the back of the tree and stuck the needles through the other side to keep it together. I think it adds a really interesting texture to the base of the tree!

Holiday Fashion Guide

In an effort to make December less stressful, I decided to put together some fashion mood boards with ideas of what to wear for different events I plan to participate in this Christmas season. I thought I would share them in case they can be of help to anyone else. Enjoy!

1. Ice Skating with Friends and Family

Ice skating is one of my favorite winter activities and I haven't gone at all in the past two years, but I'm hoping to change that this year. Here's what I'm thinking about wearing:

The red scarf and gloves provide a pretty contrast to the cream-colored
sweater. Boots keep your feet warm on your way to pick up your
skates. Broken-in bootcut jeans let you move with ease and grace.

2. Caroling

Growing up, my family would spend several evenings caroling each December. We surprise caroled our music teachers, close family friends, pastors, and my parents' colleagues. It was always a lot of fun and my siblings and I have some great memories from that tradition. This year, we won't be caroling as a family, but I will be surprise caroling a few people with some friends.

A festive plaid or print scarf adds Christmas cheer to your outfit,
while the wool tights and jacket keep you warm.

3. Open House Holiday Party

Every year, my family has an open house on Christmas Eve and it is so much fun! I think it's my favorite event of the entire year - our house is filled with food, laughter, music, and lots of friends, some of whom I only see once a year at our open house. Since our house is so full, it can get pretty warm, despite California's cool night temperature at that time of year. As a result, I usually opt to wear something less warm knowing that I can always add a jacket if I go outside.

Comfort and ease of movement are key when you're hosting
an open house. A satin-y top, wool slacks, pretty ballet flats,
and elegant but simple jewelry help keep you cool, collected &
gorgeous while you juggle the responsibilities of hostessing.

A Couple's Thanksgiving

This year we will be spending Thanksgiving day with my family at the beach. I am very excited about this because I love, love LOVE the ocean and being on the beach. Plus I always find holidays that center around cooking a huge meal for 10 hours to end up being rushed and chaotic. But a day with family at the beach? The exact opposite. I think this really is a genius plan - skip the traditional feast to instead focus on simply being. As a family.

We also won't be doing a traditional Thanksgiving meal with the hub's family...just spending a day relaxing and playing with the niece and nephews.

But part of me is really missing the idea of eating all the delicious food (despite my protestations above). So I thought, why not make a mini-feast for the hubs and I to enjoy?

And that is just what I am going to do! However, neither of us likes turkey (thankfully! because there is no way I am tackling that kind of a project - I lose interest in things too easily to try to cook a turkey). So we will be forgoing the bird in exchange for some steaks. Oh yeah. I think we will be winning in the end :)

Here is my menu:

Drinks: White and red wine, sparkling cranberry juice

Vegetable 1: bacon-wrapped green beans

These look so delicious. We both love bacon, so of course we have to find a way to work it in! Also I love how crispy both the beans and bacon get in this recipe.

Vegetable 2: baked sweet potatoes

I might make them this way, or I might simply wrap them in foil and let the yams bake in their own juices - they are very sweet that way on their own and we find we don't even need to add brown sugar or butter.

Side 1: mashed potatoes

with garlic and tons of butter...perfection!

Side 2: Crescent rolls

These look really good! I will probably just cheat and use pillsbury dough ;)

Side 3: jello salad

My Grandma makes this every year - and I almost hate to admit it...but it's one of the things I look forward to the most!

Dessert 1: pecan pie

I'm probably not going to attempt this - I'd hate to risk screwing it up - so I plan on buying one from Marie Callender.

Dessert 2: pumpkin cheesecake

I will be making three mini cheesecakes (I've found two friends who love this as much as I do). So excited for this!!! Pumpkin cheesecake is my favorite of all holiday desserts :)

Writing this post is making me hungry! Only two weeks to go :)

Pinterest Challenge: Painted Ornaments

I am so excited to be participating in the fall edition of the Pinterest Challenge (created by Katie Bower and YoungHouseLove)! Seriously I pin waaay more things than I create, so I knew this was my chance to knock out one of my pending projects!

But which one to choose? It was a tough call, because I want to do all the projects I pinned...but I decided on making ornaments! Those who know me know that I have a major thing for ornaments - every single one on the tree has to have a story attached to it. Oh, that wooden bear ornament? Yeah, it reminds us of our trip to Hetch Hetchy - the time we accidentally set up camp in the middle of a bear feeding ground. Sea turtle? Bought on Christmas day on our honeymoon in Maui. Sparkly car? Reminds us of the year we had to repair our cars (as in engines, transmissions, major stuff) eight. times.

For this challenge I was inspired by these gorgeous ornaments made by Alyssa Ruklic

(found on her board here)

As soon as I saw these I was in love! I asked her how she achieved the affect. She told me by putting the paint inside drop by drop, swirling, and tapping the sides to encourage the streaking affect. I knew this was the project for me to try :)

I decided to base my palette off this painting I posted back in September:

(original post with link to the artist here)

My equipment: glass ornaments and Americana acrylic paint

First two drops of paint:

This pic is blurry, but if you kind of squint you can see the cool marbling affect that happens inside the ornament as you swirl. Sadly this isn't visible once the bulb is finished.

Almost finished!

I wasn't sure if I needed to let them dry, so I let them rest for an hour, nervously checking back every few minutes to make sure the paint was sticking. They were fine :)

This one was my first - yellow, gray and white.

The other side has more marbling and less streaking.

My second ornament used all four colors - gray, yellow, white and purple. This ornament is my favorite because it has two distinct pattern variations depending on how you look at it. The subtle purple side:

The bolder side:

Finally I tried a purple, white and gray variation. I was impatient on this one so I'm only going to show you the good side:

And there they are! This was such an easy and rewarding project. It only took about 10-15 minutes per ornament (I'm sure it would be faster once I felt more confident too) and the effect is so gorgeous. It really does remind me of the type of modern art pieces I love.

I am off to buy some more paint colors so I can try more variations - and maybe if I'm patient I can get mine to look more like Alyssa's :)

Feel free to share a link to a project you've recently completed (Pinterest Challenge or not)! I'd love to see what you've done :)

Be sure to check out the hosts of this Pinterest Challenge:
Katie of Bower Power
Sherry of YoungHouseLove
Ana from Ana-White.com
Erin from House of Earnest

Happy Halloween!

Whether you have been planning your costume for months....

or seconds.....

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Whether you tend toward the geeky....

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Or humorous....

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Have a "fintastic" Halloween!

source unknown

(yes, I do feel bad about the pun...but I'm not taking it back :) )

Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

Two weeks ago I shared ideas for Halloween costumes inspired by Singin' in the Rain, Winnie the Pooh, and the Sound of Music. Well, here are some more ideas! I designed these mood boards in hopes that they would provide you with some last-minute ideas - anything here can hopefully be found in your closet or easily picked up at a thrift store.

Schoolteacher/Librarian

Nancy Drew, as depicted on the cover of 

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

Outfit based on the song "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" by Cake

Mood boards created using Polyvore.

Post (Almost) Without Words: Costume Ideas for Halloween

(The costume mood boards in this post were created by Adri using Polyvore)

Singin' in the Rain

Christopher Robin

"My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music