Christmas Table

Last year was my first Christmas in my new house and I was super excited to host Christmas lunch for my family!

My overall Christmas theme was black and white and stars - so I carried that into the table setting.  I made my own place mats with black and white card stock and gold metallic paper stars and put each person's name on the place mat.  I kept the centerpiece simple - greenery, pine cones and a mason jar with a white candle.  I found star napkins at Target and I bought black disposable salad plates.

 When I'm hosting - I like to think about all the senses.  I wanted a Christmas scent, so I had these things simmering on the stove and I had Handel's Messiah playing.

To add whimsy (and because I've always thought these would be fun to try, since reading about them in the Harry Potter series) I bought some Christmas crackers at this adorable shop in town: Love of Character.  They each had a toy, a joke and a gold paper crown.

For the menu, I had salad, ham and potato casserole, rolls and my mom brought a chocolate creme pie dessert.

Christmas Cookies for Santa - Quiet Book

For this Project you'll need:

1 sheet of the following colors: dark blue, medium green, light brown, medium brown, yellow, white, red, light green

needle and thread

scissors

sewing machine

velcro

embellishments

How to Flock a Christmas Tree

Each year I've gotten in the habit of coming up with a new look and theme for my Christmas tree.  You can see last year's Farmhouse Black and White Plaid tree here and 2016's O Holy Night/Plaid theme here and if you scroll through the whole post 2015's chalkboard/red theme here.

This year my theme inspiration is snow, white, peaceful, candlelight, "All is calm, All is bright". 

So I started researching how to add snow to my tree.  I owe a debt of gratitude to bloggers I found that tried different methods and discovered if you buy a spray snow can in the store, it will end up looking like spray paint.  My research led me to SnoFlock, which I bought on Amazon - it looks like this and you can buy it here.  I bought the 2 lb. bag and that was perfect (my tree is about 5-6 feet tall and pretty full).

For this Project You'll Need:

a tree (as far as I know, it works on real or artificial)

SnoFlock

a spray bottle full of water

the instructions tell you to use a sifter, but I'll explain below that it's not necessary

a face mask

a throwaway glove (optional)

Something about it seems scary or overwhelming, but it's not - you can do it!  I started with a live tree.  Everything says to do it outside.  Luckily it was nice enough on Black Friday that I was able to do that.  I put the tree in its stand and put it on my patio.  I started with a small amount on a test branch.

 I loved how it looked but it felt like it would take forever.

I also wasn't sure how well the 2 lb bag would cover the tree, so I tried to use it conservatively at the beginning.

I was in a race with the sunset (and dinner plans) so I got braver and early on I quit using the sifter - that really would have taken forever.  I used one hand to pull a handful of snow dust out of the bag and then had the spray bottle in the other hand.  You have to spray the branches before dropping the snow on; then spray the powder as you're dropping it; then spray the top of it.  All this adheres the powder to the tree.  When I got braver, I started grabbing big handfuls out of the bag.  Using your hand really adds precision, you can add snow or build up snow exactly where you want it.

I was loving it - it was turning out exactly how I wanted.  I felt like I was in a snowy Colorado ski lodge!

I thought it was very realistic looking!

I pulled it in through the sliding glass doors and getting it settled some powder fell out but not too much.  I think from start to finish it took me about 2 hours.  

Then I added lights and candle lights and was so happy with it, I considered not even adding decorations.

But I ended up loving the decorations once they were on!  The big white puff balls you see I found in the Target Dollar Spot (for $5 per set) and they were play snowballs for kids.  I used a needle and strung them on fishing line to create a garland.

I'm very happy with it - it's snowy and magical!

Cyber Monday

Happy Cyber Monday!  I made a list of 5 things I use personally and can definitely recommend

1. Remote Control for Plug Ins - I LOVE these for my Christmas lights, but the rest of the year, I use them for lamps!



2. Small Glass Pyrex Dishes - I love glass storage so much more than plastic. I use this size for leftovers - especially leftover pico de gallo or guacamole.  And I use them in the fridge when I have 2 TBSP of butter left from a stick.



3. Roku - I have a roku tv, but I've bought my parents a stand-alone roku - it opens up a great world of watching Netflix on your tv!



4. Katie Daisy Calendar - I love this artist's style and have her 2018 calendar and have loved flipping the page every month to see a new quote and blend of colors.



5. Aveda Style Prep - this is the stuff you put in your hair before blow drying and it makes such a difference.  I have thick, coarse, wavy hair naturally, and most days I plan to straighten my hair and this is the best start to making my hair smooth and shiny.



Comment below - if you could recommend five products, what would they be?

Noah's Ark and Rainbow Quiet Book Pages

The Noah's Ark page was one of the easiest to make - I used Microsoft Word to make a simple pattern for myself.  (I set the page size to 9x9) and then created this pattern with shapes.

For This Project You'll Need:

blue or gray felt - sky

blue felt - water

dark brown felt - middle piece

black felt - for the inside

light brown felt for the boat/roof pieces/ramp pieces - I found this textured felt at JoAnn Fabric

scissors

sewing machine

animals - see below

Sewing steps:

FIRST - sew on the ocean piece (to the sky/background piece) - I sewed around the edge first and then sewed a few wavy lines in the middle and I love that it adds dimension and looks like waves

SECOND - Sew the dark brown middle piece

THIRD - sew the black piece (this will be what shows when the ramp is open)

FOURTH - add the boat and roof pieces - on the boat top, I sewed about an inch down and two inches on each side. to make a pocket where the animals could stand and left the middle open)

FIFTH - sew the ramp, just across the bottom (you cold add felt or a snap, but I just left it plain, felt sticks to each other fairly well)

I had planned to create little, intricate plush or finger puppet animals, but I was feeling the need to simplify where I could, so when I found these felt animal stickers at Michaels, I thought they were perfect.

I wanted to create a rainbow page opposite the Noah's Ark page, since it's part of the story - I decided to make it multi purpose - a zipper to practice and a pouch to store the animals.  I cut strips of felt to make the rainbow and sewed each to an 8x8 background, then sewed that to a 9x9 page background.

Planning to make your own Quiet Book - get started with a felt assortment: