Little wishes

Good afternoon everyone! I just finished typing up this very special post and it comes directly from my son. He figured after spending some time on my computer and doing internet searches on my phone, he knew exactly what he would like to get for Christmas.

He is quite the little guy, who has just started giving hugs to other little people like him. How sweet is that? And have I mentioned how good and helpful he was all year, there's the proof. He was also quite a trouble maker, at times, but he is a boy after all. He gave me a little warning this morning, when he deleted the skype app off my phone. This is what happens, if you don't get me what I would like mama.

Here is the list. Doesn't my little munchkin have great taste? Hope you like it. 

1. Wood Block Set, 2. Little Blue Truck & 3. Little Blue Truck Leads The Way, 4. Leap Frog Tag Junior, 5. Thomas- the tank engine, 6. Melissa & Doug- construction puzzle, 7. Kettler Bike, 8. Grumpy Bird, 9. Lego Duplo, 10. B is for Bulldozer, 11. Boo Hoo Bird, 12. Plasma Car

After finishing this, I realize that I have some more shopping to do. Might have to fight the crowds tomorrow. Have a great evening everyone! 

Out with the old

Last year at this time, my little munchkin wasn't one year old yet, so I didn't do too much, but I did make a little stocking for him. Here it is.

I made this last year, before I learned how to sew on the sewing machine. Please don't make fun of me, but I put it together with fabric glue. I really wanted to make it for him, but didn't have a sewing machine and wasn't going to let that stop me from making one for him. A year has gone by and now, I am sewing pillows and loving it. So, I ordered some felt and off I go. I cut the stockings and now have to decorate them and sew them up.

This is how I will be spending my afternoon. Will share the new and improved stocking soon. 

Have a great afternoon everyone! B

My Christmas Wishlist

Christmas is a little over a week away and since I know that my hubby is a 'buy the gift the night before' type of guy, I took my sweet time putting this together. My hubby definitely needs the list, since... I better not tell you what he gave me one year for Christmas (he might get upset). Here is my list, but really first and foremost, I would really really love a white Christmas. There is nothing like having fresh snow on Christmas day. Otherwise this is it.

1. Sephora's Bestsellers, 2. Roots Olivia bag, 3. Cheap Chic, 4. Kitchenaid Food Processor, 5. The Homemade Home,  6. Shelf

I wonder what Santa will bring me. Have a good night everyone! B

Mini Christmas Decorations

Good afternoon all! Hope you are all doing well and enjoying some yummy eggnog. Last week, I was on the road and had a chance to travel to Toronto. What did I do there? Well, I did some shopping and picked up the cutest little kids Christmas tree decorations that I just have to share with you.

And what better place to put them then in our little house.

Some of the ornaments, I made, (the heart and the blue and red birds), which I made for my little munchkin. I have decided to make a different felt ornament each year and give to him to put on his tree, as a very simple family holiday tradition. Hope he will like it. 

My son loves a cartoon called Pingu, (a penguin) and he has a seal friend, so when I found this penguin and seal felt ornaments, I knew I just had to buy them for him. Now, every time he sees them, he says, Ping, in other words he is trying to say Pingu.

There is also Santa, overlooking the whole gang and making sure that everyone is on their best behavior. 

I just love that little dinosaur. Roar. You should hear my son trying to roar. Hilarious. 

I just love this little felt Santa. I made this one, but West Elm sells one exactly like it. 

I am off to find a mini Christmas tree, since my little guy cannot wait to put them on his tree. And here he is snatching up the decorations, as I am trying to take a picture of the house. 

Do you have a mini Christmas tree for your little one? I was planning on going out and getting one, but the weather here is horrible and I think we will opt for dry and warm, instead of cold and wet. Maybe we'll do some baking. Have a great day ahead everyone! B

Oh Christmas Tree!

Good evening everyone. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying this wonderful season. We have been on the road for a couple of days and spend the weekend recovering from a busy, busy week.

I, unfortunately have burned my arm this weekend and my burn touches the computer when I type, ouchy (like my son says). I also hurt my neck while driving and have been walking around like a robot all weekend, but I did manage to finish decorating the tree.

Here are a couple of ornaments, that I picked up this year.

I did manage to give my little deer a makeover and still have a couple of crafts on the go, which I hope to finish soon. Wishing you a great week ahead.
B

Christmas Sea urchin

A little earlier, I told you that I managed to make a little Christmas decoration this weekend. Voila.

This is my little sea urchin that I made over the weekend. What do you think? And please be honest. Would you put this guy on your Christmas tree? 

It all started when I was looking at this ornament on our advent calendar. (below)

It reminded me of this post that I saw on apartment therapy's craft at Anthropologie, (link here). All you need is a foam ball, toothpicks, dye or spray paint. They recommend you go around the ball (equator) and then perpendicular to that and last you fill the empty spaces (or quadrants).

I figured I would make the craft and then spray paint the toothpicks and add some glitter. I spray painted mine white, but you can paint yours any color, silver, gold. They dyed the toothpicks in the post, but since I wanted mine white, I had to spray paint them. 

I am not 100% sure if they will stay on the tree, but I will see how it looks with all the Christmas decorations on. Hope they are not too big for our tree. Would love to know what you think of these on a Christmas tree. B

Magazine Recycling

Good evening everyone. I mentioned to you this morning that I managed to get a couple of things done around here over the weekend. One of them was to sort through my piles and piles of magazines. My husband was giving me an ultimatum, so after some sorting and organizing, I had a couple of magazines left over and I had big makeover plans for them.

I took this:

And transformed it into this:

This is what I have been looking at all night. I love how they look.

Aren't they cute? Of course, mine are not as perfect as Martha Stewart's (below), but they are pretty cute. And I recycled my magazines into Christmas decorations, which will be used for years to come. I made a couple of them and we will see how many I manage to do in the end.

Martha Stewart - Magazine Christmas Trees

If you would like to make some magazine Christmas trees yourself this holiday season, you can find the instructions here. Have a great afternoon!

B

Advent Ready

Advent is less than a week away and we are getting pretty excited over here. A little while ago, I shared a post about a couple of different advent calendars (read more about that here). If you follow my pinterest boards, you might have an idea of what I will be sharing with you.

Welcome Advent. A couple of days ago, I added my final touches to our advent calendar. I wanted something natural and simple. So when I saw Katie's from Bower Power, I knew exactly what I was going to make for this year's advent calendar.

It is a really easy project to do and the cost is very small. I really love how mine turned out and I love the fact, that I can always use the board after in our office. 

What did I use? 

- a corkboard, linen fabric, spray glue, pins, and tags. + Christmas decorations. 

You cover the board with spray glue. Next, you secure the linen to the back of the corkboard with staples. (For the linen, I used a thinner linen material, that I originally was planning for some pillows. I wanted to give it a very smooth look.) You pin the tags to the board and arrange the decorations to your liking. Voila.

See, I told it was going to be easy. 

Here are some more shots of what ours looks like. I cannot wait to be putting these up on the tree with my little guy, who is stuck on number 2. I cannot get him to say one, no matter what. He has been eyeing the decorations, but hasn't tried to pull any off (yet). 

Here are some of my decorations, a diy ornament, some Brian Gluckstein and some Ikea love. 

Gold is really in now and since the last couple of years have been red and blue, we decided on gold, silver and white for this year. I cannot wait for us to buy our Christmas tree and have that wonderful smell in the house. Where do you buy your Christmas tree from? Do you go to a market, farm or good old Ikea? Have a wonderful day! 

B

Christmas Potato Craft

Over the weekend, my little munchkin and I tackled a very simple and easy project. We had a couple of minutes before dinner was ready and I figured since we had some potatoes and paper lying around we should get our hands dirty. This is what the final product looked like.

This year we are going for a silver and gold color scheme, so we needed some gold and silver wrapping paper. I had some gold and silver paint and here is our wrapping paper.

I really love how it turned out. It is simple, but I know my grandmother will love it. Especially since my little munchkin made it. I think handmade gifts are the best, since they come from the heart and you know there was thought and love that went into making it.

 I added these little glitter snowflakes instead of a bow,  and the neat thing is that you can hang them up on your tree after you unwrap your present.

Do you create your own Christmas wrapping paper or do you buy it? I am headed to Ikea later today and will be looking to see their selection of Christmas wrapping paper. Will keep you posted on what I find.
Have a great day everyone! B

Christmas Is Coming...

Christmas is coming, and time is flying by. What have I been up to, you ask? Well, this past weekend I tackled some Christmas projects, and my sewing machine has been hard at work. Today I will share one of them with you and it comes from Scandinavia. (You know my love for Scandinavian things!).

And now, we have a little elf in our home.

Isn't he cute?  He is called a tomte in Swedish and is an elf. My little munchkin has been cuddling with him at night and it is so cute how he wants to put tomte to bed too.

I have been admiring these little elves or pixies for years and have been wanting one for a while.

 Aren't they adorable? The tomte is a household fairy who brings good luck and prosperity to a household. Each family has its own tomte who lives nearby in the woods and does chores around the house.  At Christmas time, they don't come down the chimney, but enter through the front door and give presents to the family. Now, who wouldn't want a tomte at home.  Here is the awesome book, Scandinavian Stitches, by Kajsa Wikman, that I came across and where I found a tutorial of how to make one.

I am in the middle of another project from the book and I will write a little more about the book in a couple of days. Do you have any elves around the house? Do you make any special Christmas elves or dolls? Wishing you a great week ahead. 

B

Advent Calendar Round Up

November is here and there is less than a month left until the first Advent day. I am not a huge fan of winter and especially 6 months of it, but Christmas makes everything special. So, speaking of Christmas, I decided to share some great advent calendars with you. Growing up, we had a couple of advent calendars and now, with a little munchkin it is even more special to have one and share this with him.

Last year, we made one, similar to the Martha Stewart sock advent calendar. Here is a picture from Martha Stewart.

This year, I have another one in mind and if you follow me on pinterest, you probably know which one, I will be making. I am waiting for something to arrive in the mail and as soon as that arrives, I will share my advent calendar with you.

But in the meantime, here are some of my favorite advent calendars. Hope you like them.

Row 1, (L to R), Pottery Barn Kids, Pi'lo, Pottery Barn

Row 2, (L to R), Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Kids

I am off to the fabric store this morning to hopefully find some really cute Christmas fabric. Have a great morning everyone! B