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At the end of 2011 I did a summary of the best loved details from the year. Thankfully, 2012 was filled with many more...
Favorite Technological Upgrade
Favorite "Darn, I Am Lucky" Moment
Favorite Organizational Project
Favorite Documentation Project
So thankful for all the big and small things 2012 brought to our family...all we could ask for is an equally wonderful 2013.
Another year full of family documentation...pictures were taken at a friend's wedding, on a couple little day trips, before and after graduations, on a 16th birthday, in New York, and just around the house. I love that this silly little project has given me two dozen photos over the last couple years. Hopefully I can add a dozen more in 2013.
And no G3 summary is complete without sharing how far Sean has run...this year it's a total of 1,415.13 miles. Thanks for always being there for me as I marvel at the distance he has accomplished while I am snoring away.
This month...
In year's past I have lost my ever-loving mind the week after Christmas. Decorations have come down right away and I have been know to go on a hairbrained streak of house rearranging...bedroom furniture has ended up in the dining room, walls have been painted, and trips to Ikea have been seemingly inevitable.
Then a shift began last year...there was an attempt to let the holidays linger a little and not stress about making something...or everything...new and fresh. Now this past week has been an immense accomplishment in doing nothing. Mac went to his dad's so it's been quiet around here. Very little time was spent sitting at my desk. Very much time was spent watching college football games. Christmas leftovers were munched on, there were cups of tea, magazines to flip through, evening walks and the fireplace keeping the house cozy. Sean and I actually used the holiday break we are lucky to have...as an actual break.
Today the decorations are coming down and the 2013 calendar is coming together. Today thank you notes will be tucked into envelopes to mail. Today we will restock the pantry. And today I finally get back to sharing here. I am looking forward to reminiscing a little about 2012 and then moving on to the new year.
The calendar cards are from the In A Creative Bubble Shoppe. I also have the files to share from my 2013 planner pages. They are sized to fit into any 8.5"x5.5" binder. Here is each month... Download 2013 Planner Calendar and here are the weekly forms I've been using in some matching colors Download Weekly Pages.
Hope your day is filled with everything you wished for this Christmas.
There's the big mail day, a boat parade on dry land, a pocket to keep all of the 12 Days activity cards in, a sugar cookie recipe that's a new favorite and ice skating. Love that these holiday season details have been documented.
I'm sure I've shared before that December 23rd is one of my favorite days of the year...it's the ultimate in holiday anticipation. We have been lucky to really enjoy these past few days. We kept an eye on the sunset on the shortest day of the year. We've shoved a bunch of 12 Days of Christmas activities into one night...including more ornament crafting and frozen hot chocolates. Mac tried ice skating with his dad. There were cinnamon roll waffles and lots of time spent under blankets with dogs on our laps. We are in a uniform of pajama pants...even at Sears at midnight looking for a trifle dish (don't ask). And we are wrapping the very last gifts.
I wish these cozy Christmas days would last as long as possible.
I know I am not the only one this week who is decorating one package after another. Sean has a secret snowman at work, Mac has a secret Santa on the cheer squad and there are a bunch of other little gifts to get ready too...
I love wrapping gifts a little too much.
Our 12 Days are flying by and making life much more enjoyable. Every week around here should include the three of us sitting down with a coloring book for a few minutes...and sugar cookie baking.
Hope you and yours are getting the chance to have some holiday fun too.
In 2011 I made some decisions about our Christmas card and thankfully I followed through with them this year...no more dozens of homemade details and making sure family photos were front and center.
I designed our card digitally...making a photo collage, picking out colors to piece together a stripe, and using a cute star pattern in the background. I had that printed as 5x7 photos and mounted each onto a piece of card stock. A circle label with a snowflake, a knot of twine and sixty cards later we were done.
I made up fake addresses to show you the matching label. Although when I was little I lived at 1234 Rosewood....I thought it was so cool that my address was 1-2-3-4.
The colors are a little, or maybe totally, non-traditional. I figured that, even though coral may not be Christmas-y, if the card was merry and bright I might be able to get away with it.
2012 will definitely be the beginning of always sending a hybrid digital and paper card. Thank goodness for new traditions that help simplify old ones.
You can see our other cards here... 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.
We have been so lucky to get to have lots of 12 Days of Christmas fun so far. We have baked cookies, painted ornaments, purchased toys to donate and played a little game we came up with...
Considering we live a snow deprived existence here in Southern California, Sean really liked the idea of an indoor snowball fight with homemade yarn pompoms. As I went to gather supplies at the craft store last week I decided that my stack of coupons would instead be used on a few packs of time saving pre-made pom poms and a tin can to try to toss them into. Instead of a snowball fight, call it snowball toss and we've got ourselves a game. It was actually pretty challenging, but Mac and Sean were able to get several of the dozen snowballs into the can. I got all of one. I'll have to practice for a rematch.
I couldn't continue on in this space, sharing about creating things and my little family, without taking a moment to send thoughts to the families that are grieving an inconceivable loss.
I pray that those families are always surrounded by endless care and support. I hope that the power of the human spirit and the truest forms of community can help their hearts begin to heal.
It started tonight...12 days of family activities to celebrate the holiday season. We will tear into these each day to see what the plan will be...
There are also some extra supplies all wrapped up to go along with a few of the days...
As you can see, I had no fun whatsoever putting this all together. I really loved it when we did this back in 2010 and can't wait for another dozen nights of fun.
1. Woke up a little early and stayed warm under the covers watching the news 2. Apparently Mac was really happy on the way to school 3. New slippers 4. Stopped by Old Navy for some gifts 5. Craft supply shopping 6. Clouds rolling in 7. Brunch after errands 8. Preparing for our little 12 days of Christmas activities 9. Switching to red thread 10. Mac and Sean working on homework 11. Making Frito Snack Mix for a dozen of Mac's teachers and instructional aides 12. A little drizzle didn't stop us from our nightly walk
Since it's the last 12, here are all 144 details saved from this year...
And the 12 on the 12th in 2012 project is complete.
Cards went out in the mail this afternoon. Both Sean and Mac have Secret Santa's to surprise with little gifts. I am planning 12 days of Christmas activities. Treats for teachers need to be made for Mac's last day of school on Friday. And gifts are being wrapped...
I really love this time of year.
Back in 2007 I first walked onto the campus where I would earn three degrees. That day I met with a professor to gather information and I stopped by the bookstore for a sweatshirt.
Today I walked onto the campus where I will teach my first class. I met with a professor to discuss the details and stopped by the bookstore to peek in on textbooks since I get to choose which one my students likely won't want to read. That is why I will try my darnedest to find one that doesn't put you to sleep or cost a penny more than it needs to.
The career I have dreamed about since I was twelve years old started today...and to say I am excited is the understatement of the century.
I mentioned the extra tree I just needed to have a couple weeks ago, but never shared it fully decorated. That's because I just finished it this past Friday. I decided in the absence of extra ornaments (although I did have the felt garland we made) I would turn the tree into a scrapbook of Christmas past...
I gathered a holiday photo from almost all of the fifteen years we've been a family, printed out a copy of each, punched some holes in the top and tied some twine. Super easy...or at least it was after I found all the photos.
Then a couple yards of some sweater-like fabric that I discovered on super sale was piled under as a tree skirt...
It was a bit of a challenge to come up with a way to easily decorate a tree, but it was fun to dig into old photos and create something that fits perfectly in our family room.
This year our holiday mantle is as simple as can be. The mismatched letters from the craft store got a coat of unifying red paint. I tried to put other things with them, but for some reason I liked them standing alone. I guess it's all the merry we need.
This weekend includes our neighborhood's annual holiday progressive dinner. Lots of cooking and cleaning will be taking place around here to get our house ready to host the main course. Then Sunday will be Christmas card assembly day. Hopefully I will have our stack of cards ready to drop off at the post office on Monday.
Hope your weekend is full of holiday fun too!
I gathered old Christmas photos for a little project I'll share early next week, but a little collage made it into the book. Then I snapped a quick photo at the mall while doing a little more gift shopping. I thought I was almost done...and then Sean reminded me of four more people we needed to get something for.
Are you mailing Christmas gifts to Iowa and Oklahoma? Did you challenge yourself to try to get useful, thoughtful, and fun gifts for numerous people that all fit into a flat rate box because $11.35 seems like more than plenty to spend on shipping?
Well, that has been what I have been trying to do...and today I finally figured out a way to help make it happen.
Wrap gifts in fabric bags. They won't get torn/scratched/wrinkled the way paper might when you are trying to squeeze everything in. It also really helps when you are trying to figure out how the heck to wrap a Bananagrams game for your seven year old sister.
Now off to the post office in the morning...
So far, so fun. I won't document everyday, but I would love to keep track of all the little bits of celebration this month...even if that just means a quiet day at home.
I also wrote a little manifesto...I liked the idea of documenting what is important to me about the holidays.
You can see the beginnings of my album here.
And for this album (plus many other little crafty projects) I have amassed more 6x6 sized patterned paper than I could use in a lifetime...I just can't resist those cute, darn patterns. I want to share though, so I have packaged up three piles of paper in case you need some like I certainly did. Please feel free to leave a "pick me" and if you have your own December Daily album going too I'd love if you'd share a link to it. I'll do the random drawing on Wednesday evening.
Sometimes I like to imagine I am a graphic designer...usually when I am making party invitations or a house project. I actually have little to no clue what I am doing, but it sure is fun to try. That's why when I needed a little something to hang up for the holidays I tried to make it myself.
And in case you think I'm a decent enough pretend graphic designer I thought I could share the PDF... Download Joy Love Peace Tree. Sean was pretty insistent that, since it was a tree, it needed a trunk so I tried making another version with one... Download Joy Love Peace Tree with Trunk.
I am a way better imaginary graphic designer than he is though.
1. Colorful Glitter, 2. 2012 Holiday Tag-a-Long, 3. happy merry, 4. DIY: Pretty Bows To Wear & Decorate With!, 5. My hand painted, glittered bauble, 6. I had so much fun doing this display at our shop Grandiflora!!, 7. candy cane hearts, 8. Pedlars
Just a couple favorite recent finds...
{Starred posts include recent Flickr Favorites and the blog entries I've found & saved (with a star) in my Google Reader}
