Welcome to a new year and the beginning of a new century! I'm full of hope that 2011 will bring many wonderful blessings to you and your families.
Christopher is still home from college. He leaves on the 9th to go back to Ohio. It's been wonderful having him home for such a long period of time. It's also time for me to return back to work after having almost two weeks off myself! I've so enjoyed not having to get up early every morning and I was just getting used to sleeping in late (7:00 is late for me!). We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas together with family and friends and we even had a blanket of snow on the ground giving us a beautiful, white Christmas. The tree is down, decorations safely packed away for yet another year and now I need to focus on losing a few extra pounds from all the savory treats and hearty cooking we've enjoyed over the holidays.
I thought I'd share a couple of things we did this Christmas, under our tight budget. Gift giving doesn't have to be costly with a little bit of imagination coupled with a little bit of craftiness.
*******~~~~~~~~~***********
I was wanting to give two of our youngest nephews something that they could build themselves with a little bit of help from their dads. Many of us in our families enjoy feeding and watching the birds so I thougt a bird feeder might be just the thing! I looked online and found bird feeder kits that could be built with kids in mind, but they were all very small and kind of pricey once I included in the shipping cost. My hubby took a couple of hours and cut out two, very easy and sizable bird feeders that our nephews could build. We went to the store and found some paints and a screw driver and of course we included some bird seed in with the home-made kits.
This is the completed bird house. My hubby pre-drilled holes so they could be screwed together and then we took them apart again and labeled each piece so they'd line up properly.
I hope the boys will have fun building and painting their bird feeders and enjoy watching the birds for years to come!
One thing I always do at Christmas time is make candy treats for everyone. I made peanutbutter balls, fudge and toffee as well as little mini loaves of sweet bread. We also gave homemade zucchini relish and pickles. I forgot to take pictures of the relish and pickles all "dressed up" for giving but here's a couple of pictures of the treat bags and breads I made.
The tags were made using stamps from PaperTrey Ink. I can see myself using this stamp set a lot as I love to give homemade goodies for any occasion.
I also made my mom a couple of penny rugs for her side tables in her living room and for my sisters and MIL I made some homemade lotion, soap and lip balm. I put together two soap making kits for one of my nieces and nephews so they can try their hand at making their own soaps shaped like sea shells and flowers. I don't know about you, but I love giving and receiving home made gifts best of all!
I also wanted to share a major change that took place in our living room. After I took the tree down I always think the living room looks bare. The furniture in the room has remained the same for a few years and I've been wanting to try something different in the line of furniture arrangement. Amanda and I spent one afternoon moving and placing and moving stuff again. I'm still trying to decide if I like it but it's staying this way for now.
Here's a couple of before pictures:
Our living room is very long so I thought I'd try to cozy it up by making two seating areas.
I moved the love seat to the left of this little sitting area rather than having it in front of the window like in the first picture above.
The mission rocker came out of the corner to in front of the window with the other chair. The table in the middle is the one I found at a yard sale and refinished this summer.
I moved the sofa table behind the love seat to break up the room and moved the blanket chest that was in front of the other sofa to the space where the table was.
These picnic baskets are in the corner where the mission rocker used to be.
Some things didn't change at all, like the commode under the blanket shelf. That's my grandmother with some of her letters she received while in college. She's been on the sofa table for a while. Maybe It's time to change some of those things too next time I have the time, energy and inspiration. We'll be getting into our busy season at work so I most likely won't be able to post as often as I have been [not that I've posted that often].
Well, I guess that's all for now. Thanks to those of you who stop by and read my blog and take the time to comment. You add sunshine to my day just by dropping by! Hugs to you~ Birgit
.JPG)
