First Married Christmas: Cards!

I'm hoping that most of you have received your Christmas cards from us by now...and if you haven't--my apologies!

I realized about half way through the process that this project was becoming wedding invitation scale...and I didn't have the time or the cash money to do that. (but Paper Source was calling my name)
SO I chopped the list after sending out approximately 55 Christmas cards. yipes.

I took a lovely shopping trip with a friend, Kylee, to Paper Source last month.  It's the first time I've been to the store and i was in love!  I spent a bit more money than planned but also got some supplies that will last me a while!


Supplies:
Cherry Blossom and Merry Christmas stamps from Paper Source
3 10 packs of khaki cover weight paper
6 10 packs of red envelopes
1 roll + 1 sheet of wrapping paper
70 4 x 6 collage photo prints, trimmed to 4 x 5.4
red ink pad
glue stick
homemade envelope liner template

And yes, i realize that a couple's first Christmas cards are a prime place to show off all those wonderful wedding portraits...but we also went to Italy this year and we wanted to include both!

[By the way, if you're really interested in seeing all of our wedding and honeymoon photos you may have to come and visit in about 3 months when I have the albums finished!]

As I was stamping, gluing and cutting, (and Eric was studying)



I watched some Christmas classics [any guesses?]

And here are the results!












Even on this blog, got to protect the privacy. :-)

First Married Christmas: Baking!

I have so much more to post about when I have a camera!

Between borrowing a camera from work over the weekend, and finding Eric's old camera...we're making do (for now. a camera is still on my Christmas list!)

Last week I had two seminary wives over, Kelli (from DeMotte, IN!) and Rosanna(from Alberta/B.C. Canada) to do some christmas baking.

We had a blast and make dozens and dozens of goodies in 5 hours.

butter cookies:


kelli loved making them with the cookie shooter from Gram




While Rosanna worked on the gingersnaps. Oh heart. I love gingersnaps. Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Spice enough to woo a girl. yummo.





And here's what my kitchen looked like all night:





coconut balls, fannie mae mint bards, almond bars, cookies.  We had quite the spread!

disclaimer: this was taken after 11pm on a work night...after 5 hours of baking. The b&w will soften the blow.

DIY Decor: Bedroom

This concludes last month's little house projects, but I have one more to share with you.

About the same time I picked up the fabric for this project and this project, I also purchased some Asian-looking fabric that correspond with the blues and grays theme in our bedroom, while adding an element of red. I wasn't sure how it was all going to end up, but I just bought for a rainy day.

A few weeks ago, I visited the local Goodwill and picked up some cheap frames (6 for around $10) and a can of black spray paint.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any before pictures...so I'll just list the steps and then show you the result!

I sanded down all the frames and spray painted them with three coats of paint over two days. While they were drying, I ironed the fabric and cut it around the cardboard backing.

Instead of tacking the fabric down (the cardboard was too thin) I just taped the back, placed it in the frame, then replaced the backing.

Here is how one turned out:



and how they look in our bedroom! (they slight crookedness in this picture has been all adjusted...I promise it's not as bad as it looks!)





I love having something on our bedroom walls!

While I'm at it...

I bought a couple of scraps, and used the extra fabric for some bulletin board space on the wall above our little built in kitchen desk.

I bought a set of 4 thin cork boards, and got a 8 x 11 bulletin board from the thrift store and covered them with more material.

Now I use them to hold letters, business cards, coupons, etc at my desk!




(still have plans to paint the frame)

Coming soon: our meager christmas decoration and christmas baking!

DIY Decor: kitchen canvas'

I'm going to try share these projects one at a time so you can see the progress of turning our little [rental] house we love, into a home.

Our budget is minimal, our time is limited, our creativity is lacking, but I'm plugging away!

Shortly after we moved in, we took a trip to Ikea to get bookshelves.  While at Ikea I saw an idea in their little room setups that inspired me to decorate our kitchen.

source

So, months later, we visited JoAnn Fabrics and picked out a couple favorites.
We bought three canvas' from Michael's--24 x 32 I believe, and then one smaller one, about 14 x 18.

Here's how make a cheap, easy wall decoration to brighten up any room!

First, iron your fabric



lay the canvas upside down on the upside down fabric and cut roughly with 2-3 inches on each side.



Carefully fold over about 1/2 inch of the fabric



and fold it up to the canvas frame:



Place a thumb tack




The rest is easy...continue folding and tacking about every 3-4 inches.

...until you come to a corner!



By trial and error I figured out the best way to tack the corner so watch carefully:

Take the point of the corner and draw it up directly over the middle of the corner point of the frame





Now take the little flap on the right side and fold it down straight



then fold and pull over the left side straight up as well



and tack at least twice



repeat around all side...making sure to pull the fourth side HARD before tacking up (you want that baby taught)

and this is what you get!



And then repeat all of those steps twice more, hang them on your empty looking kitchen wall, and enjoy some color!

How to make an apple pie:

Peel 4 apples

and chop

until you get this:

slice each wedge into 3-4 pieces:

pour 1 tbsp of lemon juice over and set aside:

In a separate bowl mix 1 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 c sugar, 2 tbls flour, and a dash of salt

toss with apples

press pie crust into pie pan and flute the edges by pinching a little bit of dough on the outside and pressing your finger in the pinch from the inside

(*secret confession: this is actually my cherry pie crust)

Then blend 1/3 c butter, 1/3 c firmly packed brown sugar, and 2/3 c flour until crumbly.

Pour apple mixture into crust

Followed by crumble topping

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes

Enjoy!

For best results, serve warm with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving from bright and sunny California!