Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Our first movie

The laundry did not happen last night.
But the good news is I stayed up way too late making my first family movie.
**All clips (yes even the stretched out wonky ones) were taken on my iphone and iMovie was used to create the magic.

The boys think they are now famous movie stars.
And I'm not telling them otherwise. That's called bribery folks.
Movie stars let their mom take as much video as she wants to.
And they don't cover their faces or pick their underwear out of their bottoms.
(yes that did happen but didn't make the final cut)
We're still working on our "movie star" etiquette. 
Things like this take time people.

Monday, November 26, 2012

probably not

The holidays are simply my favorite time of the year.
And as the boys grow older I find myself falling in love with their awe and excitement and watching the sparkle in their eyes as each new day of the season unfolds.
Thanksgiving was spent lounging around with family and eating way too much.
From left to right
1. Gentry with cousin Olivia
2. Me with sister Hannah
3. My mom and pops
3. Cooper

We visited the Christmas tree farm on Saturday and I think Isaak asked us at least 10 times if it was indeed Christmas time. 

We even visited Santa Claus, who while waiting for the photographer to get ready, kept prodding both boys to tell him all of the things they wanted for Christmas.
When they each would name one item, he'd ask, "What else?" over and over.
C'mon Santa!


Gentry is full of curiosity noticing that Santa's beard was just a bit shorter this year and asking things like, "Why on earth would some of my friends think that their moms and dads could be Santa Claus?" I took a deep breath, afterall 6 years is too young not to believe! 
He then followed up by exclaiming, "I heard the reindeer on the roof last year mom, so I just know that he's real."
Phew.
The rest of the weekend we spent digging out Christmas decor, hanging lights, trimming the very prickly tree, making big messes, and ignoring the heaping pile of laundry that never seems to go away.
Maybe I'll get to that tonight.
Probably not.

Friday, November 16, 2012

just around the corner

With Christmas just around the corner, I'm beginning to gather ideas for gift giving and exchange parties. Funny exchange gifts are my favorite.
I love these plates from Fishs Eddy. So cute.

And this rug from Urban. Hilarious. I need it.

                                   

These custom wall decal photo gifts from Pinhole Press are totally adorbs.
Everyone needs one.
I spent a long time ooohing and ahhhing over everything they sell.
Go check em' out.

                           

and this kid sized tool set just like daddy's is pretty rad. I scoured the web and found nothing else like it.


What kid wouldn't want to fall asleep in a real life teepee? House inhabit hand makes these. Coolness.


and finally I can't talk enough about how much we love our Kiwi Crate
I've already bought a subscription for my nephews Christmas gift.
It's a craft box subscription that comes once a month. The crafts are amazeballs. 
Our last one contained a shadow puppet kit with mini flashlights.
For some reason flashlights are a slice of heaven for little boys.
Mine will entertain themselves with one for hours.
**If you buy using the link above you get $10 off your first order!!

This weekend we'll be catching up on orders in our shop, having dinner with friends and begin to prepare for our Thanksgving feast.
Happy Friday friends.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

perfect party favor: elastic hair ties

i'm a bit crazy over this next DIY project.
i'll be using these for gift tags and party favors this holiday season.

first i found a cute saying and typed it up in a fun font.
i printed it out on a heavy cardstock that i could feed through my cheapie at home printer.
no fancy computer programs necessary.
i just used Word and figured out a way to print three on a page.
next I cut the cardstock and tied my elastic strips to make the bands.
i know you can buy fray sealer, but it was 10pm at night and i wasn't going anywhere.
so i improvised and used a lighter. very safe, i know. :)
easy and stinkin' cute!



i buy my glitter elastic here, but i'm sure you can find it locally at a craft store too.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Thrift Store Lamp Makeover

It's friday. And almost Thanksgiving. My favorite!!
I thought a fun tutorial was fitting for a lovely fall day like today. :)
I purchased a cheap brass lamp and plain shade at the thrift store for $6 total. And I forgot to take a picture. :|
I have several burlap sacks leftover from a previous project.
I started by cutting those into about 2 inch strips. (but i by no means measured)
I think I used about three burlap bags. ALOT of burlap!

I then just folded them kind of in half and scrunched and glued with a hot glue gun. Over and over and over again. :)

You can kinda see the ugly shade peeking through in the photo above.
I spray painted the brass base with a white flat spray paint first and then used a high gloss salmon colored spray from Lowes for the final coat. 
Here are some close ups of the final result. 




And here is the pic from Instagram. Follow along with me @joyjustbecause
Happy Friday friends!