Chicken Scratch

December Daily - Days 6-11

Getting caught up!

Day 6

journaling: This past weekend I stopped by some of my favorite junk/antique stores while at the retreat. I found these old mattress springs (on sale for $1.59/each) and these two red mercury glass Christmas trees ($8.50 and $6.50). I love them and the deals I got on them! I came home from the retreat weekend and immediately set them out on display. I love decorating this time of year! [12.6.10]

Day 7
 
journaling: Today I finished up making my ornament wreath. It took alot more ornaments and time to make it than I thought it would, but I love how it turned out! All my Clancy Lane neighbors love it and want one as well! [12.7.10]

Day 8

journaling: Kaleigh’s fish, Jaws, died yesterday evening but I didn’t tell her until after school today so that she wouldn’t go to bed upset last night. She took it pretty hard (being the sensitive yet dramatic sweet soul she is). I did get a small chuckle, however, when I found this note she wrote and taped to his aquarium this afternoon. [12.8.10]

Day 9
 
journaling: Today I wrapped the first gifts, only to have Belle chew them up while we weren’t home. Luckily she didn’t damage them but I did have to replace the tags. [12.9.10]

Day 10

journaling: Tonight was our Clancy Lane girls Christmas party. The girls have done this party a few years now and this was my first year to be invited. Olivia hosted, we all brought appetizers and desserts, and we did a Christmas coffee mug exchange. It was very casual and we had so much fun hanging out, eating, chatting, and laughing. I have said it several times now, but I’m so blessed to live on a street with such great neighbors who are becoming dear friends. [12.10.10]

Day 11

journaling:
Tonight was our 2nd annual Bogan Yuletide Bash “Christmas Vacation” style! Everyone’s costumes were AWESOME! From the yummy food to the gift exchange to chatting and laughing with family and friends... we had so much fun celebrating a “fun old fashioned family Christmas”. [12.11.10]

Again I'm using the Jolly Holiday kit from www.weedsandwildflowersdesign.com and the font is CK Ali's Hand Official. Additional supplies: Day 10 - Artisan Label Templates No.2 by Crystal Wilkerson (www.jessicasprague.com); Day 11 - Vintage Frame from Cozy Comfy Fall kit (www.digitaldesignessentials.com).

Old Mattress Springs

I went to one of my favorite thrift shops over the weekend and they had a box of old mattress springs for $1.99/each plus 20% off. I grabbed three not knowing exactly what I'd do with them at first but thought they were too cool to pass up. I left and as I was driving in my car I was brainstorming what to do with them when it hit me... I'd put ornaments or pine cones on top. So earlier this week Kaleigh and I went outside looking for pine cones. We picked out 3 good ones, brought them home, and put them on the springs. I love how they turned out. The wheels are spinning for what to do with them after Christmas. :)

December Daily - Day 5

 
journaling: Tonight we went to Mimi and Popaw’s for a family dinner to celebrate their 55th anniversary. We ate Italian food and had yummy dessert. We also drew names for Christmas. I got Lexie and Brendan got Aunt Candy. It was a nice evening to visit with everyone. [12.5.10] 

kit: Jolly Holiday, www.weedsandwildflowersdesign.com - brads: Creating Beauty, www.weedsandwildflowersdesign.com - font: CK Ali's Hand Official - lifted this adorable layout by Kari Ann

Christmas Ornament Wreath

I've been wanting to make a Christmas ornament wreath for a few years now and finally sat down and made one. I bought a bunch of ornaments on clearance last year after Christmas, but I still had to buy some more this year as it took alot more than I thought. Plus you need a wide variety of sizes. And I wanted all glass because I can't stand the seams on plastic ones but, well, as you can see below I had to mix in some plastic. ;) Seems you can find a wider variety of styles and sizes in them these days than you can glass. I started with a white styrofoam wreath and just started hot-gluing ornaments on all over. I even made a few yarn balls to mix in (just wrap some yarn around a styrofoam ball until it's covered). Now I will say I wish I had painted or covered my wreath first with red. I can see tiny patches of white peeking through the balls on my wreath and it's driving this anal-retentive perfectionist nuts. ;) LOL

All that said, here is my wreath. I really do love it even if my post so far sounds cranky. LOL

On a side note, I cannot wait until we replace our front door. I want a black wooden one with windows so bad. The one we have now they painted an ugly shade of brown when we bought our house and it's metal and has dings all over. Drives me crazy! My wreath would look so much prettier, too. ;)

Anyways, thanks for looking!

Christmas Mantle

I put the finishing touches on our Christmas mantle last night. I bought some simple pre-lit garland at Walmart yesterday and added some pinecone and berry garland I already had. I made the red berry wreath from garland a few years ago. It normally hangs year-round in my entry but I moved it to the mantle for Christmas. I had the apothecary jars already and added faux snow I bought at Hobby Lobby and some vintage ball ornaments (some I bought at an antique store last year; the others are from my Freecycle finds last week). Then I hung our stockings with 3M hooks (love those things!) from the mantle top, hidden by the garland. Our stockings are special and all handmade by my mother-in-law... hubby's is his from his childhood and she made mine when hubby and I married and then made Kaleigh's when she was born.

I took this photo last night. It looks prettier in real life when it's only lit by the glow of the lamps in our living room. My flash really brightened it up.

Thanks for looking!

December Daily

It's that time of year again... December Daily! I participated in this project  last year and absolutely loved doing it. I was anxiously anticipating December 1 arriving so I could start again this year. I finished Days 1-4 this weekend.

Day 1
 
journaling: I got out the Christmas decorations this past weekend and unpacked everything onto the kitchen table. One of those items unpacked was the advent calendar I made Kaleigh a few years ago. She looks forward to this tradition every year and has been eyeing the boxes the past few days, (not so) patiently waiting for December 1 to arrive. This afternoon she got to open the first one and got this little green critter eraser. She loves it and can’t wait for tomorrow and the next surprise. I love watching her excitement and anticipation each day. [12.1.10] 

Day 2

journaling: Today I picked up some old ornaments from Freecycle. I love vintage Shiny Brite ornaments and can’t wait to decorate with them! [12.2.10]

Day 3

journaling: I finished stuffing and addressing our Christmas cards today and put them in the mail. I am so excited that I got them done so early for once! [12.3.10]

Day 4

journaling: Tonight Mom and I went to the Decatur Christmas on the Square with our retreat ladies. We had so much fun shopping and watching the parade. I look forward to this retreat and festival every first weekend in December! [12.4.10]

I am using Weeds and Wildflowers Design's *Jolly Holiday* kit and the font is CK Ali's Hand Official.

Thanks for looking!

Freecycle Finds

First, if you haven't heard of Freecycle.org, you need to sign up! Basically, you sign up for a group(s) local to you and then post if you're giving away something or looking for something... all FREE! I've gotten several cool finds over the years... antique cameras, a bookshelf, an old sewing machine table, and too many others that I can't remember right now. And I've given away lots, too. I clean out a closet or a room and post it on Freecycle and someone comes to pick it up. The concept is that we're saving landfill space and helping each other out.

Anyways, yesterday I posted that I was looking for vintage glass ball ornaments (to use in my Christmas decorting) and a lady responded that she found old ornaments in her attic from previous owners. So off I go this morning to pick them up. She had FOUR boxes of stuff for me. Score! I love digging. Also, at the curb were too old suitcases. I happily snagged those, too. ;)

So I get home and unload my boxes. Here's my loot:

These ornaments were exactly what I wanted and worth the trip alone. Love me some vintage Shiny Brite ornaments! Love the tarnishing and patina on them!

Plus I got these vintage bright fuschia ones. They won't work with my general Christmas decor but our bedroom has this color so I need to figure out something to do with them in there.

A cute little Santa. Love the distressing and aging on him. Not crazy that he plugs in and his eyes light up. Creeps me out a bit so I'll probably remove the cord and just let him sit out on display.

I got a ton of old Christmas lights... these four boxes plus another box full of loose strands. I love the old spikey plastic covers (is there a real name for them?) and the foil reflectors. I'll pull those off and use them for crafting somehow.

Some old wrapping paper and gift tags. Might be fun for a craft project.

Old green and silver tinsel garland.

Some vintage (and very plastic) floral pieces.

This is a plastic floral candle ring. I'm going to pass it along to my friend, Stacey. It'll fit her vintage shabby chic decor perfectly. :) It has one stained section, but I think it can be cut off no problem.

And finally the vintage suitcases I snagged from the curb. I had one already at home and was wanting two more to stack and make a side table with. The first one is in great shape. Just needs to be wiped down.

The second one I absolutely love but it may be too far gone to salvage. It's fabric covered with leather trim. The fabric is dirty and scuffed and the leather trim is falling off. The handle was missing, but I found it inside the suitcase. It's made of leather, too, and I need to see if I can reattach it. Maybe a good scrub all over and I can save it. I hope so!

I haven't been junkin' in forever so it was fun today to get a few new-to-me goodies. I can't wait to play with them!

Today I Am...

Today I Am...

Listening to: the Holiday Traditions music channel on Sirius and Kaleigh chatting non-stop! LOL

Reading: Lover Unbound by JR Ward.

Obsessed with: getting my Christmas cards out early for once!

Thinking about: all I need to do to get my new scrapbook site, Scrap Chicks, up and running by the end of this month!

Planning to: start my December Daily album tonight. Love this project!

Dreaming of: a white Christmas. ;)

Enjoying: a Dr Pepper and some cheese and crackers.

Vowing to: stay on my exercise routine! So good, so far!

Working on: decorating the house for Christmas.

Excited about: my girls scrap retreat this weekend at my mom's!

Scrap Chicks

Well, the cat chick is out of the bag. ;) I'm very sad to say that Monica is shutting Scrapfreak's doors the end of this month. When she first told me, while I understood where she was coming from, I was very shocked and sad. Scrapfreak has been my home for the past 4 years. I love all the awesome inspiration and wonderful friendships I've made there. I did not want to lose that so I decided to start my own site...

It will be a scrapbook forum, gallery, and monthly kit club much like Scrapfreak but with my own touches here and there. I hope to have it up and running by the end of the month before Monica closes Freak. I will keep you posted. Until then you can visit my Facebook page here. I'm so very excited and very nervous! I would love your support in my new venture! :)