2010 review

I love seeing everyone's year in review... what their favorite or most popular posts and projects were.  I figured if I was going to do one I better sneak it in today!!!

#10 Lego Party



#9 Boden Inspired Tube Bracelet



#8 "Somewhere" repost for Mother's Day

Somewhere someone has just found out she is going to become a mother. Somewhere someone has found out she won't. Somewhere a mother is crying for the loss of a pregnancy. Somewhere a mother isn't ready to be a mother. Somewhere a mother is giving birth. Somewhere a mother is sleep deprived. Somewhere a mother is staring into the eyes of a newborn. Somewhere a mother is picking cheerios up off the floor. Somewhere a mother is making sacrifices. Somewhere a mother is watching her baby learn to walk. Somewhere a mother is gently cleaning a booboo and covering it with a band aid. Somewhere a mother is rocking a sick child.

Read more...

#7 Fancy Nancy Party



#6 Give Thanks Wreath



#5 Little Girl's Boa



#4 Clean-Out-Your-Kitchen Banner



#3 Mod Podge Stamp Initial



#2 Jewelry Hanger



#1 Dining Room to Design Room Makeover



Here's hoping that 2011 is happy and fulfilling as well. :)

Linking up at these fun places:

Happy New Year!

I am so excited for 2011.  I love the coming of a new year.  I love starting with a clean slate.  I love getting a new calendar and filling it with grand plans.  There are some really fun, really cute calendars for FREE around blogland.  You should really check them out.

First, we have the Blog Guidebook 2011 offered by Lyndsey and Sarah HERE.  I love, love the graphics in this calendar.  It is SO GOING up in my kitchen!!!

You can download the calendar for free here!

If you prefer something striking yet simple, check this one out from Sprik Space.

Aren't the colors delicious?  You can dowload this one from here.

I downloaded a darling miniature one for one of my best friends, who adores owls.  I found it at My Owl Barn. 

It was so fun to pick and choose which art work she'd like for each month.  In the end I laminated it and put a binder ring through it.  Tied on a fun ribbon and now she has the cutest little calendar for her purse.  Love it.

Scout the internet, I am sure there are more.  Nie Nie has a fun calendar for sale, too. 

It's made of all her seasonal headers, which I love and adore! 

HaPpY  NeW  yEaR!!!

Gesu Bambino

I post this every year.  In the last 4 years it has become the top search on Google for Gesu Bambino!  What started as a Christmas present for my grandmother one year has reached so many people... I am humbled at the thought.  It's just a rinky dink recording in my living room.  If you listen closely, you can even hear the sounds of little people in the background!

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Gesu Bambino

Bells are ringin', children singin'...

...all is merry and bright!

Easy Christmas decor... painted chip board letters in back, and these fun stand up letters from Hobby Lobby in front!  The back letters are just tall enough to peek out over the top of the front letters.  Makes me smile every time I look at them!

Another homemade gift idea...

... this time for the girlfriends in your life!

Inspiration came from Downeast Outffitters.

So simple, really.  I cut this fun accordian pleated ribbon to size and pinned on some ready made corsages I found at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.  Fits the bill for pretty, girly and fabulous.

Homemade for the Holidays

Tatertots and Jello is hosting a fun little linky party for homemade holiday gifts.  I finished a couple just yesterday that were super fun, super easy, super fast, and super economical.  {Super is the word of the day in case you were wondering;)}.

Here's some pictures for now, with tutorials to follow soon!

ALSO, as promised, I redrew a number for the Embellish Kids giveaway and the new winner is Jeske Posse, who said, "Love ALL the pillowcase dresses and the knotted jumpers with the tiers!"  Look for an email from me!!!

Also linking up:

Outdoor Decor for the Holidays

I love to decorate the outdoors for the holidays, especially now that I have a porch! Love my porch. :)  Here are a few ideas I used this year that might inspire some of you who are trying to think of fun new ways to spiff up the outside of your houses this holiday season!

This is a horse trough - yes you read that right - turned over.  I got the idea years ago in some random magazine.  And I love it.  It's very Texas but also very funky.  Anywho, I used some free discarded tree boughs from my local grocer's Christmas tree section, added some large twine balls and a rustic looking bell (found at most craft stores) to the mix, and voila!  Christmas on a trough.

Here's another tree bough combined with a wire star I got from WalMart, perched in one of my chairs... originally the star was black, so I spray painted it silver.  And I hung a bell on the edge of one of the points of the star for a touch of whimsy.  

Here's the whole vignette put together.  I love these red chairs.  They are usually kept on my back porch, but I swung them around to the front this year because I love the red for the holidays.

Since I was tired of flowers and enjoy a few months off from watering, I repurposed this planter for the holidays to include (more) tree boughs, twine balls, and a red tin star I got from Target's Smith and Hawken line (love Smith and Hawken!!!).

On the other side of my porch I've got a lonely bench.  I kept with the same theme by adding tree boughs, twine balls and bells.  In addition is the cute sign I made from a scrap of wood (routed around the edges, painted, sanded and stained, and stencilled with the words "'Tis the Season").  I also got a fun gnome-like Santa Claus last year that looks super cute there.  And a galvanized pail with a bell tied to one of the handles and stuffed with (yet more) tree boughs and a Christmas tree shaped garden stake.  You can't see it as well in this top pic, but you can in the pic below.

Another view.  To include another big tin star I spray painted silver!!!  {As you all can see,  I love stars!}

We've got lights up, too... I always hang a fake evergreen swag along the edge of my roof wrapped in big white globe lights.  WalMart sells the swags for super cheap, and although I hate fake and always use real (silk ivy plants make my skin crawl), from that far away you cannot even tell it's fake.  

This year I also put out some big silver ball ornaments on our tree and looped a couple more strands of globe lights along the bottom branches.  You can't see it as well during the day so one of these nights I am going to have to go out and snap a picture for you all!

Happy porch decorating to all of you!

PS - I am redrawing a name for the Embellish Kids capelet tomorrow... I haven't heard from our original winner and it has been a week!  So, stay tuned. :)  

peace sign pillow

soft, lush pillow from Target for $8 + heat and bond + red felt = my new favorite holiday decoration

 

Christmas decor

Only in blogland does December 7th feel too late to post a picture of your Christmas mantle.  Oh well.  I always did march to the beat of my own drum.  Are there any mantle parties still going on?

I played around with this for a couple hours.  Yup.  I usually keep candles in my sconces but I wanted to give it more height, so I stuck in a fresh branch, grapevine ball and silver snowflake ornament instead.

You've all noticed the mercury glass trend, I'm sure.  Loving that!  So I pulled together what I had... some little bird figurines, a gumdrop tree, a couple candle holders, silver magnolia leaves (did you know you can spray paint leaves???), and stars.   To top things off I tucked in several fresh tree trimmings, a paper chain made with kraft paper and scrapbook paper, and my Ballard Design knock off ornaments from last year.  The stars presented a bit of a challenge, but I think it works.  I really didn't have any other place for them in the house and I really REALLY love them.

I really love how this whole area turned out, actually.  I usually hang every ornament I've ever gotten.  Kind of a sentimental gesture.  Plus I really do love all my ornaments.  But this year I really wanted to do more of a theme.  And I love white (you wouldn't think it looking at my house, there is color EVRYWHERE!).  Since I have 4 messy kids, I just use it where I can for now.  So I went through the ornaments and used only white and neutral colors this year, and I kind of ran with the star theme.  Some of those big stars are usually used in my outdoor decor, but I love the bold statement they make on my trees.

I also added long trailing ribbons.  I've seen Martha Stewart do this and ribbon is huge at Pottery Barn this year.  Love how it looks... 2 of the trees have a goldish ribbon coming straight down the sides, and one has a brown with white polka dots wound around in a spiral.

It all blends in so much more nicely with the rest of my decor this year.  Plus I'ms till on an organic high from Thanksgiving.  Although I have reds and greens already in this room, I didn't want my trees to look gaudy.  I wanted elegant and natural at the same time.  And unlike years past, I didn't have to undecorate any other parts of the room to keep things from looking too cluttered with the addition of 3 Christmas trees.

What's your style going to be this year?

Drumroll, please!!!

The winner of the capelet of their choice is...

#39, Cara F., who said "I love the knotted jumpers!"

Congrats Cara!  Email me your color preference, size and address please! 

If you didn't win, don't be sad!  Remember that My Many Colored Days readers get 20% off using the code LEI2010. 

Well it feels like December alright.  The one month of the year that is fun, crazy, exhausting and refreshing all at once.  I finished all my Christmas shopping, give or take a few small items.  That feels good.  But I still feel like every day is a mad dash.  To where who knows... I've got a daily goal of what I'd like to accomplish and don't get there most days.  *insert crazy laughter*

While the giveaway is going on (GO ENTER!!!) I've been editing photos like a mad woman.  For florists the most busy time of year is Valentine's Day, for photographers it's Christmas.  Wanna see what I've been shooting?  Here are just a few of my recent favorites:

Course, I need family pictures to put in my own Christmas cards, too!  So I hired the lovely Miss Kristen Duke.  Here's a few fun moments she captured:

I've got 6 more families to shoot in the next 2 weeks.  So I'm officially swamped.  Which is a good thing, I love my work!  But I also have so many fun things to make and share with you all.  It's going to be come and go around here for the next little while. :) But  I put some fun music on here for you all to enjoy in my rather sporadic (dis)appearances, so enjoy!