Tag : gifts

6 posts

T Tuesday: Christmas wrap(up) edition

Hello and welcome to another edition of T stands for Tuesday! You may have noticed that I’ve been gone a while. I talked about my back saga in the previous post so we are moving on to something more festive and fun!

Since we were hosting Christmas (because I love it!) I had to lean on the rest of the family to do all of the heavy and not so heavy lifting.

Even the simple things like getting a cake in and out of the oven.

The past few years I’ve made a rum cake for Christmas but this time I went for a Fireball Whiskey cake. It was so good. I forgot to take a photo of it with the icing…likely because it wasn’t very pretty.

We had overnight guests on Christmas eve…Mini-me gave up her bed and slept on the couch. Of course, this meant that she was up even earlier than she usually is. She is my early bird kid.

It was a long wait…even with me making all kinds of noise in the kitchen.

This was my favorite present under the tree…it’s hard to wrap arrows. Mini-me needed a new set for archery season which is just days away.

Marvin had to be a part of the chaos…bows are his favorite.

I suppose the whiskey cake could have been my “beverage” for T stands for Tuesday but instead, I thought I’d share the tiniest cocktail I’ve ever seen. My BIL brought this over. It wasn’t anything I cared for but the can sure was cute.

I’ve been working on purging my rubber stamps. I was so frustrated digging through them trying desperately to find a Happy Anniversary stamp since I had promised my MIL that I’d make her some cards. I had a bunch of bases completed they just needed a sentiment and the also requested “shiny butterflies”. Thankfully I have a very crafty neighbor who is willing to share. Thanks, KW!

The “shiny butterflies” have the big wow factor but are pretty easy to make. I stamped each butterfly on white card stock with black Staz-on ink. I used watercolor paint to colorize each. After completely dry, I fussy cut each and placed on a non-stick surface. I coated each one with Diamond glaze. As they dry a slight curl happens quite naturally giving them an even more “lifelike” appearance.

I have now looked through every single one of my stamps and alas…I never even had a Happy Anniversary stamp. ugh. Well, now I do…I bought a set of sentiments at Michaels. I’m sure you’ll be seeing some cards in the near future with these words.

Today is Mini-me’s 17th birthday. I can hardly believe it. 

I was planning to go out and get her favorite meal… Chipotle…but we are getting a snowstorm. It remains to be seen if we venture out or not.

Speaking of crazy storms and slippery conditions….have you seen this video?

The video was taken a few miles from our house. Mini-me had friends on that bus heading to a girls’ hockey tournament.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: the birthday continues edition

Days like today (and yesterday, for that matter) remind me how I seem to forget or perhaps had grown complaisant in my suburban bubble thinking that my world is very small. For years it really was small. Being a SAHM for nearly 18 years definitely narrows your bubble. Over the past 24 hours I have had the most wonderfully joyful experience realizing that my bubble has expanded more than I ever thought. Texts, social media greetings, cards and emails have come my way. Not that I need acknowledgment to find my place in this crazy world but I’m not going to lie…it feels good. 

At school today I received these lovely gifts as well as a couple of hugs and genuinely lovely birthday greetings. I’m a people person, so it was really great! You can check out yesterdays post for the lovely handmade book Elizabeth sent me too.

It also happens to be staff appreciation week at school so we started our morning with donuts, bagel and coffee (sorry no photo). Not bad for Monday morning.

In addition to celebrating my birthday over the weekend we were in full winter/summer change-over mode as well as getting ready for J to come back from college. Lots of purging, organizing and switching stuff around. Friday, Mr. G and I will go get him and all of his stuff. Then we will definitely be packed to the gills around here. I have to put my sewing machine (which has lived on J’s desk) back away too.

Since I knew this was pretty much the last time I had for a while I made another stack of embellishments.

Then I still hadn’t had enough so I made a few more at my craft bench sans stitching, just glue.

This week will go quickly I think especially with Friday off.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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Gifts

Today is my birthday. We don’t get too carried away with birthdays around here. The birthday girl or boy gets to choose their meal of choice whether that is out or “mom-made”. I decided on sushi, of course. I love sushi!!! We actually had it yesterday since our favorite sushi restaurant doesn’t open until 4:30pm on Sunday’s. I just didn’t want to wait that long.

A couple other gifts came my way for my birthday, the first was a handmade gift from my dear friend Elizabeth. 

We really are terrible at getting gifts to each other…it’s become a big joke between us about how bad we are at it.

But just look at the lovely handmade book she created. I love the real bird feathers. The texture of the fabric paper is awesome.

Thank you Elizabeth!!

I gifted myself with something I stumbled upon as well.

This lovely ring made from reclaimed glass. So cool. When I read the story behind it I knew I had to have a piece of her jewelry.

It’s so pretty! It is made from a pink depression glass plate rescued from a glass dump site. I love it!!

Speaking of not getting too carried away with celebrations…a couple weeks ago we quietly celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We went out to eat and reminisced about our elopement to Las Vegas. Towards the end of our meal we noticed carrot cake on the dessert menu. We knew we had to buy a piece to have later that even just like we did on our wedding night. The fancy restaurant we ate at that night gave us a complementary piece of carrot cake as our wedding cake.  Sweet memories.

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Christmas wrap up

Christmas has come and gone but we still have our decorations up. It seemed like such a short time that I can’t bear to take them down yet. I love the soft glow of the Christmas tree lights…they feel somewhat magical.

The only thing that has come down are the Christmas cards and photos. We received so many photo cards this year that I had to start a second row around the kitchen/living room archway.

I always enjoy handmade cards and was lucky enough to get two in the mail this year. The first was from Rita of SoulComfort’s Corner.  We’ve been pen pals for a couple years now…although, truth be told, I’m a really crappy pen pal.

Next I got a special envelope from Elizabeth of Altered Book Lover. Each year she makes a tip-in. This year I was also lucky enough to also get a lovely quiltlet or wall hanging…whatever you prefer. I love fabric and mixed media so this is right up my alley.

I think perhaps I’ll include the quiltlet into my December Daily. I think it would be a nice and unexpected addition to the journal.

Speaking of December Daily…I’m woefully behind. I didn’t really think through the fact that my new “journal station” happens to be the desk in J’s room. This is fine when he’s not home but…he is…and will be for another 2 weeks. Not that I’m complaining at all but I just haven’t figured out a good alternative space to spread out but not have it be in the way. In the meantime I’ve been creating some embellishments to add to my journal when I get a chance. You can read more  about those in another post.

Back to fun Christmas gifts and memories. First I had to show this gingerbread house I bought for the kids, especially J. J has always been a huge fan of Mario. The kit cracked me up when I saw it at Michael’s so of course I had to get it for them to create.

I received some really fun gifts from co-workers at school such as this t-shirt.

And this……the BEST GIFT EVER.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram have already seen it but I don’t care…it bears showing again.

It was a really good Christmas. Friends, family and fun.

Today is Mini-me’s sweet sixteen! She is spending time with a friend…bowling, snacking and laughing just to name a few. I’m in awe of the fact my children are growing up so quickly.

 

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T Tuesday: a second look and goodies edition

Two posts are colliding this week as T stands for Tuesday and Second on the 2nd fall on the same day.

collage

Thankfully Elizabeth gave a little heads up at the end of her post that reminded me before I finished writing up my post. Time to switch gears.

We’ll start with the fun packages in my mailbox from two fellow T stands for Tuesday bloggers.  So fun to get mail…friend mail, not so much on the bills or junk mail. A little while back I had commented on Krisha’s blog about the winery she had visited. She was so kind to offer me some extra wine labels they picked up as collage fodder. I was so delighted to see an envelope in my PO Box the other day. Look at the great craft fodder and lovely card. Really love that card!

happy mail day

This package helped inspire this journal page.

beginning to blossom

Thank you Krisha!

I also received a box of goodies along with a 3rd anniversary ATC for T stands for Tuesday from Patty @ Magpie’s Nest.

happy mail day

She knows my love of bottle caps.

happy mail day

So many fun bottle caps and a bunch I’ve never seen. Too fun. Patty also included some bits of collage fodder as well. Can you see the beautiful ATC that precipitated the package in the first place?

happy mail day- patty's atc

Isn’t she lovely?!?  So many tiny details. I keep noticing more and more little things that I didn’t see the first time around.  Thank you Patty!

And now for the Second on the 2nd portion of today’s post.

Three years ago I took a quick photo of a hostess gift I was bringing to our annual Independence Day gathering. Little did I know this post would eventually become the most visited post on my blog. (More on the at the end.)

Take a look…eyes

July 5, 2013

We spent Independence Day, as we have the past several years, at a friend’s house along the parade route in town. It’s always a great time.

I wanted to do a little something extra for our hostess who puts so much time and effort into making sure everyone has a good time. She’s a big fan of Rum and Coke. It ended up being a centerpiece on the buffet table.

Rum and coke

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I’ve seen over the years that the re-pins of this image on Pinterest have multiplying but it wasn’t until an update in their software did I notice that all of the re-pins now count up on the original. Check out this screen shot I took last night.

run and coke cake

Amazing! When I look at my blog analytics it definitely shows that people are visiting from that pin as well.  Not 24,000 pages loads but a significant amount especially given the fact that this is a 3 year old post.

For today I’m going to try and stay cool while running an errand or two. I really need to do some baking and canning but…ugh…not in this heat!

What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: Japan edition

Tuesday again already….T stands for Tuesday with Elizabeth sneaks up so fast. Especially when life has gotten so busy as of late. That’s ok…I’m not complaining. It’s just an adjustment for me.20140318_4520Twice now I’ve mentioned gifts brought back from Japan. I’m finally getting around to posting them…geesh.

Little J heard that there were different flavors of Kit-Kat candy bars in Japan and asked her Uncle if he’d bring some back.20140302_4361These were strawberry flavored. She loved them…I thought they were ok…but I’d rather have chocolate.  She also got this package of sweet puffed rice…we still aren’t sure if its for eating or if it’s just to be left out as an offering of sorts for a custom that is to bless couples with a new relationship…or something of that sort. I’m really not too clear and my future sister-in-law is working so I can’t ask her. (They got engaged while in Japan)

20140315_4517Her uncle also had this custom drawing made for her…so cute.

20140315_4505Continuing on the food… Mr. G’s new kaiju is holding a snack mix we are afraid to try even though the package tells us to “please enjoy tasting”. (click on the photo to enlarge…there are tiny whole dried fish in there)

Big J got a t-shirt with a map of the Tokyo subway system and a funny headband….neither of which I can seem to find this morning.20140315_4511I got this super cute washi tape holder…already have it loaded with a few rolls.

20140315_4512And a couple packs of beautiful papers…they even saved a fun shopping bag that they knew I’d use. :)

In addition, they brought us back a refrigerator magnet…which is something we ask friends to buy us when they travel. We have magnets from all over the world…it’s nice to have well traveled friends.

I’m off…have to go work my half day but I’ll be back later to visit my blog friends and their T Tuesday posts!

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