2015 Gift Giving: Our Families

Shopping for my family is hard. it always is.  I grew up with a bunch of "I have everything"-ers and "oh just a gift card is fine"-ers.  Jackson grew up in a family of hint droppers and list makers.  Needless to say, this year was fun to shop. haha. 

Mom - Calligraphy Supplies & Michael's Gift Card Dad - Keyless remotes for his new car & Amazon gift card Sister - New Converse

MIL (prints), Jackson is going to make pallet frames
BIL - Monogrammed Humidor , Cigar Gift Card
SIL - Harry Potter Books 1, 2, and 3
FIL - New Brown dress shoes  

2015's Handmade Ornament

One of my favorite crafts for Christmas has been making new ornaments.   Last year, I made this ornament from sand from our honeymoon. 

This year, I used our moving announcements to make an ornament for our new home. The little metal tag with our new address is on the way from the same shop that did the one last year. :) 

Here's what you need: 

A cute announcement (babies, moving, save the date)

Scissors

a clear ornament

optional: paint

Cut your announcement into strips

Wrap the strips around your pinky finger

I uncurled mine so I didn't have to have as many to fill the globe, but you can leave them in tight curls if you wish. :) 

Put the curlies in the ornament

Paint your saying on the outside

reattach the top and hang! :) 

2015 Gift Giving: Husband

Since getting married, it has been so hard surprising Jackson for Christmas. I have the perfect solution for surprising the person with whom you share a bank account! I bought a gift card on our grocery order for each of us to use on each other - that way, you stick to a limit and it's a complete surprise! This year was smaller since we did the Xbox as a huge gift, but I still managed to snag some fun items. 

We already got his Xbox One C.O. Bigelow Body Wash and Body Spray I also snagged him this awesome Volunteer Traditions Tervis

10 minutes + $10 = Ugly Sweater

We had an ugly sweater Christmas party for our church class Sunday.  I hate ugly sweater parties. Mostly because I hate buying sweaters and figuring out what is "ugly" and what's not.  Also, side note, Walmart has made a killing on the concept of the ugly sweater. Jackson bought one that had an ugly cat and said "Meowy Christmas" on it.... for $20! I refused to pay that much for mine, so I went the creative route.

  Here's how you can make yours: Supplies Plain sweatshirt Brown paint  (I used two different shades) White paint Black paint (I used gold  for the string of lights but you could use black) Thin paintbrush Jewels Hot glue gun One foot and two hands (you may need an extra hand while both of your hands are covered in paint) Here's How Plug in your hot glue gun to get it nice and hot. First, dip your foot in paint. I used the darker shade of brown. Stamp it toe-side-up on the middle of the sweatshirt.  Wash your foot so you dont track paint through the house. I skipped that step. Oops. Next, dip your hands in brown - I used the lighter of the two. Stamp those as the antlers. Let it dry for just a second.  Use the gold (or black) to paint a string for your lights.  I was artsy and looped it around the finger-antlers. You don't have to get that fancy, but have at it! I started by hot glue-ing a red jewel for the nose because Rudolph... duh... Next, I went from one end of the string to the other gluing "lights". By the time you're done, your foot should be completely dry. Use your thumb in white paint to make the eyeball. I used the tip of my pointer finger to make the black part.  Viola! You have a quick, cheap, easy tacky sweater!! Plus it's kinda cute. ;)

Welcome, Sweet Baby

Monday, I had a trip for work to Knoxville. No big deal, right? Right. Until my best friend texted "Thunder Cats Are Go" which, for all you Juno fans, meant it was baby day! They were going to take her Wednesday for sure until Lou's blood pressure got too high.  I bawled my eyes out because it was supposed to be an overnight trip... enough so that I got to come home. :) I pulled into the parking garage and received the text from Jackson saying she was here! I rushed into the waiting room just in time to see Heath showing the video of when they showed Lou the baby.  Tears, again. After an hour and a ballin' grilled cheese from the hospital cafeteria, we got to see her.... and hold her! :)  

 

Welcome to the world, sweet baby. I am already head over heels for you and can't wait to see you change the world.

Our Christmas Cards

I wasn't going to order Christmas cards this year because we couldn't find time to take a decent picture to put on them.   Then, it came to me in the middle of the night. We took a picture with Santa at Holiday World!   Sure, we were in short sleeves and sunglasses, but hey! There's Santa!! So I logged into Shutterfly and found an adorable layout, plugged our picture in, and ordered them! They even have matching address labels so I don't have to write my address a million times!  

 

I am so pumped! I can't wait to see all of your Christmas Card creations!!

December Checklist

Since it's December, that means it's Winter, yes?  Fall was so busy for us, and I feel like September was just here. Here's to hoping time will slow down a little over the Winter.    

Go to Gatlinburg

Pick our pumpkin from the pumpkin patch

Take fall pictures

Spend time outside

Have our second Friendsgiving

Plant Mums

Burn lots of fires

Decorate the inside and outside

Go to a football game

Make Chili

December Checklist

Put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving

Go see the Opryland Lights

December came and went last year and we just forgot. It's a special tradition for us; it was our first date and where we got engaged. :)

Build a Gingerbread house

Make an ornament

Here is my Savannah ornament from last year

 Get new jammies for Christmas

Watch The Snowman

2015 Gift Giving: Four Legged Friends

Some of our favorite gifts to give are our pets' gifts!! This is our first year with a pet of our own, and we can't wait to spoil him. You know, because we don't do that every day already... 

Rawhides; Wand ; play center; Personalized Coton Colors Ornament for Feeny What is Santa Paws bringing your fur baby?!

2015 Gift Giving: Roomie Christmas

My three best gals and I still do Roomie Christmas. I like to get them all something similar but sweet, so here are my gifts for this year. 
Lotion (1)(2)(3), Mugs (H)(T), Hot Cocoa Jars
What are your best gifts for your best gals? 

That Time we Bought our Groceries Online

A Kroger in Nashville has started "Click List" which is their online grocery shopping.  Score, right? You go online, add anything and everything you need to your list. You schedule your pickup and they give you a rough price of every item on your list.   Pros:  You can schedule pickup for a time that is convenient for you. We can't shop hungry and end up with five packs of Oreos.  We don't waste money on last minute "Oh I need that because I saw it" things. You can add forgotten items up until midnight of the night before you pickup.   When you get there, you press the button like at Sonic, tell them your name, and they ask if you have paper coupons and how you're paying.  They bring your groceries and the iPad for you to pay.    After comparing the prices, I was charged about $5 over what was quoted on the printout you get after you finalize your cart. I was given an organic item which is about $1 more per pound, I was given a different weight, different lean percentage meat which was more than $1 extra.  All in all, it was fun, but I probably won't  be doing it again.  I love our Kroger store and really enjoy grocery shopping.    

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* I was not compensated for my opinion, just wanted to share!*