Oh, Happy Lull

A drive through Holiday Park (with the wrong camera setting- oops!)

 SANTA ICECREAM CAKE! / (Following belly ache not pictured)

 Christmas cutie

I hope you all are enjoying lots of holiday cheer! This last week has been beautiful and hectic and lovely. Long car rides, visiting with family, and an overwhelming amount of toys have us a bit tired and run down. We are resting with grateful hearts, enjoying the abundance.

We are taking in the quiet, enjoying the lull, and remembering how nice unscheduled days (just the three of us) feel.

Deck The Halls

Fa la la la la la la la la....

DIY: Paper Wreath

This paper wreath has been one of my favorite recent diy projects. It's really simple and can easily be made "seasonal" with more traditional winter colors. I made mine a few months back so it has a bit of an autumn feel, but with some dark greens, reds, and golds you've got an instant holiday piece.

What You'll Need:

Cardstock Paper (in at least 3 different colors)
Foam Wreath
Thick Ribbon
Push Pins

Step 1: Wrap your ribbon around the blank wreath, pinning along the way. You want to make sure to cover all of the wreath without bulking it up. Just wrap and pin until you can no longer see the foam.

Step 2: Cut your paper into leaf shaped pieces. You will need many pieces for an average size wreath (50+), so just this is by far the most labor intensive part of the project. Feel free to make them different sizes and slightly different shapes so as not to drive yourself crazy from repetition. I did this part while drinking some wine and watching Mission Impossible III. I highly recommend it. 

Step 3: Begin at the base of your wreath. Fold a leaf slightly in the center (you know to make it "leafy") and pin it into the wreath. Continue this around the wreath, alternating colors until you come full circle. This part seems really straight forward, but it will probably take you a minute to get the feel of folding and placing. Take your time and have fun with it! You're making a holiday wreath after all. You're a total badass!

 

And that's it! You now have an awesome wreath to show off at your holiday party (or if you're hermits like us, to your cat)!

Happy wreathin'!

Tara

Our Advent Calendar

My mother gave us a beautiful wooden Advent calendar for Ezra to use this holiday season. It is a tradition I absolutely love and something I was excited to share with our little guy. In the weeks leading up to December 1st Kellen and I searched for little (non-choking hazard) toys and trinkets to fill each day with. And although I wish I would have planned the gift to activity ratio a little better the whole thing has been a lot of fun so far. Fortunately Ezra is too young to realize the days that I forgot to plan something or are without a "surprise". Yay the short memories of toddlers! He's still too small to really understand the concept so every day we use the calendar is an awesome surprise in and of itself.

Although Ezra doesn't completely understand the advent calendar yet, it has definitely put the "grownups" of the house in the holiday mood. Every morning Kellen and I are giddy to see what's behind that day's door! (It seems we have short memories too!)

This has already been a very special first holiday season in our new home and this looks to be the beginning of a very fun and festive tradition that will bring us memories for years to come.

Namaste.

Tara

Sleeplessness and Eggs

Unfortunately there was very little rest in our home this weekend, but what we lacked in r&r and was made up in adorableness.

Ezra is still too small for chocolates and candies, but he sure did seem to get a kick out of bunnies, eggs, and gifts. I had no idea how captivating plastic eggs could possibly be until watching him with one for 20 minutes. Due to sleeplessness (crossing my fingers it's just another phase) Ezra spent a good portion of his day campaigning to be mayor of Fusstown, but with enough distractions and some good, fresh air I think he ended up enjoying himself quite a bit.

I have decided our new Easter tradition should be vegetable lasagna, gifts and fun for the little guy, and some park lounging. It was low-key and sweet, exactly as it should be.

I hope you guys had a great weekend!

Tara