christmas – Page 6 – emerald city diaries

a pinterest christmas: reindeer wreath & felted garland.

last year i did a series during the holiday season that was called a pinterest christmas {you can see the first post here and the rest of the posts are under the diy tutorials page here}. i am doing this blog series again this year, but this time i recruited a few blogging friends to join in on the fun {see their blogs & posts below}.

i wanted to make a wreath for our front door this year {you can see there is a wreath theme this week for the blog series} because i didn’t have a wreath last year. i had pinned the felted wreath from west elm {see below} as a {p}inspiration.

{felted wreath from west elm – in white}

this ended up being one of those projects that just wasn’t meant to be. diy-ing can be an awesome way to create something either for cheaper or to be super personalized, but sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. this wreath fell in the latter category. first, this west elm wreath was exactly what i wanted – dare i say perfect! second & probably most important, the supplies to make this wreath would have cost two or three times as much as just buying the wreath. so, alas, i did not make this wreath – i bought it, added a gold ribbon, & it is currently hanging on my front door. i am in love!

so, after that lesson in diy, i was determined to make a christmas wreath this year. i am happy that i found a fun tutorial that satisfied not only my need for a wreath, but also my desire to have a cardboard deer mount in the house.

{original pinterest link – recycling meets rudolph}

supplies:

cardboard – i used an old moving box
red felt, marker, or paper
red cording
2 – 3 jingle bells
wreath – i made one {see below}
black marker
scissors
hot glue/glue
exacto knife
reindeer template – i printed it out on two pages, increasing the size by 196%

{note: this project took a little while, mostly the cutting out of the cardboard, but it was so worth it!}

the instructions are pretty straightforward:

1. cut out the template & trace onto cardboard

2. cut out cardboard

3. glue inside of noses together

4. add rectangular piece across back of headpieces

5. glue on cording to inside of headpieces & sew on jingle bells to cording

6. make noses red – i used felt pieces

7. add black eyes

8. assemble antlers – i glued the pieces in with glue – & attach to headpieces

9. make wreath – i glued holly leaves onto a foam wreath core

10. hang & enjoy – i used a 3M hook

since i was originally going to do a felted wool wreath, i also wanted to do a felted garland.

{original pinterest link – felted garland}

supplies:

wool roving – i bought two packages which made 24 1.5 inch balls
embroidery thread
old tights
big needle

i have never felted before so i opted for the tights-in-the-dryer method as opposed to buying felting tools. yes, my felt balls did have little dents from the knots in the tights (the tutorial posts calls the balls fannies) but i didn’t think anyone would care too much. the process is really easy, i was a little surprised! this would be a really fun project for a kid’s room or nursery too.

{thinking about taking on this project? feel free to leave questions in the comments, and i’d love for you to comment with a link to projects you make inspired by mine.}

ready for some more {p}inspiration? check out these ladies this week and throughout the month of december:

{mondays} amanda @ without a doubt – diy sweater wreath

{tuesdays} sally@ chacha and mogo – diy pom pom wreath & kendra @ The Gilbertson Family – diy pom pom wreath

{wednesdays} – michelle @ this grey house – quick & easy wreath/garland

{thursdays} –maggi @ Greg, Maggi, & Rodney – letter wreath & abbi @ The Pena Family

have you been {p}inspired by any christmas projects?

my long holiday weekend in pictures.

{rather than fix an entire turkey, we made acorn squash stuffed with wild rice & kale risotto for thanksgiving dinner. we ended up hosting a couple of friends for dinner which was fun. our first thanksgiving in the new house was a bit non-traditional, but a success!}

{priming.}

{painting. can you guess what room?}

{more priming.}

{we had so much rain this week & saturday was no exception as i headed over to woodinville for crafternoon with amanda.}

{the best kind of thanksgiving leftovers: pumpkin cheesecake & pecan pie. also, i love all things white & ceramic, can you tell?}

{woke up sunday to aaron making chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes!}

{& more painting.}

{i normally love upsets in college football, but i had to root for notre dame. go irish!}

{you know christmas is right around the corner when you get the nordy’s holiday shopping party invite in the mail! anyone want to join me?}

{cut lots of fabric this weekend. details will be up next week!}

{my two favorite people (well, person & dog) sunbathing on sunday morning.}

{the weekend is not complete without a trip to a hardware store, or two.}

{christmas trees!}

{#tistheseason}

{the first time our christmas tree has been too big to fit in the trunk.}

{aaron spend sunday evening – in the cold – putting up our first set of christmas lights. very exciting. we didn’t have time to trim the tree this weekend, but there she is in our front window!}

we spent the long weekend working on the house – think lots & lots of paint! as exhausting as it was, we are thrilled with the results & will be sharing the details in the coming weeks. we had a great thanksgiving & are looking forward to the holiday season! how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{turns out sadie likes to cruise the kitchen counters while we are gone & chew on the plastic lid to our pyrex dish. #mydogisaninja}

{the perfect saturday night.}

{spent saturday afternoon at lowe’s getting paint for our projects this week. we also got christmas lights. so stoked for this week!}

{sadie is still enjoying the huge bone she got for her birthday.}

{watching the stanford cardinal beat the oregon ducks was glorious! #gostanford}

{enjoying the christmas décor at starbucks as i waited for my gingerbread latte. #isitchristmasyet}

{we had a photoshoot at the house on sunday to film an interview for our realtor about the house. those cameras were pretty legit.}

{aaron started prepping for the big paint job on our bedroom this week by taking off our closet doors. it proved to be a bit of a challenge, but success! #whydidtheypaintthedoorhinges}

our weekend was busy, busy with lots of errands to run. we prepped for our big painting weekend this coming week & are looking forward to some time together to work on the house. how was your weekend?

a pinterest christmas: chalkboard glasses.

you read it right: a pinterest christmas. yes, i know its mid-january. i promise i am not crazy, just hear me out.

this was actually part of my pinterest christmas, but because we gave these to our family as gifts, i didn’t want to post them in december with the rest of the christmas posts since I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

even though we made these christmas gifts, they would be great for any occasion or even just to make for yourself!

{original pinterest link: chalkboard glasses}

supplies:

chalkboard paint
glasses with stems (we used wine & beer glasses)
painter’s tape (we used blue tape & frog tape)
cardboard
chalk

we decided to use chalkboard spray paint instead of regular chalkboard paint to avoid brush lines. we bought ours at home depot.

first step was to tape the glasses. we used frog tape (shown above) on the base of the stem because it gives you a cleaner line. we placed the tape pretty close to the bottom of the stem, but you could paint further up the stem if you wanted to.

then we tapped further up the glass with blue tape. the blue stuff definitely sticks better to the glass which helps with securing the top of the frog tape. you don’t need to add blue tape, but i think it helped ensure that we didn’t get any paint further up on the glass.

then we sprayed the glasses (and by “we” i mean aaron); just make sure you are in a well-ventilated area and keep moving your hand back & forth while spraying. the paint dried pretty quickly, but we left them for a few days to ensure the paint was really dry.

after the paint is fully dry, just peel off the tape! we added a little message on the glasses so that our out-of-town gift receivers knew that these were chalkboards as opposed to just black glasses. we also added a little bag of chalk – i just put three pieces of chalk in a snack sized ziploc bag & tied it with a red ribbon.

{sidenote: just for reference, glasses painted with chalkboard paint should be hand washed & shouldn’t go into the dishwasher.}

what do you think about chalkboard glasses? will they be part of your next get-together?

what happens in vegas stays in vegas.

unless you have a blog.

we found ourselves in las vegas the week before christmas for a family wedding & coincidentally the boise state bowl game (darn you bcs). there are too many pictures for one post, so wedding & bowl game pics will follow.

aaron had never been to vegas before & i hadn’t been in quite a few years, so it was exciting to go together for a little holiday vacation. we stayed at the stratosphere because that is where the wedding was taking place, but we spent most of our free time on the other end of the strip. it was great to see some of aaron’s family in vegas since we weren’t able to make it out to indiana for the holiday this year.

{flying out of boise, idaho}

{at the top of the stratosphere}

{the stratosphere}

{waiting for the bus. yay for sunny weather!}

{aaron and me at caesar’s palace}

{uncle mike, aunt sharon & me at planet hollywood}

{aaron & me at the trevi fountain at the forum}

{the mirage}

{the strip}

{freezing at the fremont street experience}

{aaron & me at the venetian}

{the christmas tree at the venetian. so beautiful!}

{the sun shining at the venetian}

{sitting in the revolution sign at the mirage}

{the wynn}

{old vegas at the fremont street experience}

{a beautiful christmas tree at the wynn where we brunched. i need those curtains!}

{beautiful christmas decor at the lobby of the wynn}

{aaron won $1!}

{the eiffel tower}

{the fountain show at the bellagio}

{store front of the louis vuitton store at the bellagio}

{polar bear at the bellagio lobby – can you believe he is made completely of flowers?}

{the revolution bar at the mirage}

we had really sunny weather during the day, but the nights were chilly. aaron tried his hand at black jack, slots & poker; i shopped at zara (no gambling for me!). three days was about perfect for us as las vegas = over-stimulation, but we are planning on going back at least one more time in the future, mostly to see a cirque de soleil show.

have you ever been to vegas?
M

highlights of 2011.

i love reading the yearly highlights on other blogs & thought it would be especially fun to catch up on the entire year since i didn’t start blogging until the fall.

{via google}

january: we had a mellow start to the new year that was highlighted by starting the last semester of my law school career.

february: we celebrated our 6 month anniversary on the first (cheesy, i know). we hosted a celebration party at our townhouse which included my turning 26 (yikes!), a very belated housewarming & of course, our 6 month anniversary. aaron took me away to whidbey island for a romantic weekend to celebrate my birthday and valentine’s day, and we went to serafina (my fav) for dinner!

march: my last official spring break (probably ever) which was spent studying (papers & oral argument) & working on my Bar application. i submitted my Bar application. we were surprised by the early arrival of baby cambridge: franklin pierre cambridge.

{via cari cambridge}

april: we attended the Barrister’s Ball (a.k.a. law school prom) which was held at the EMP. we drove to ritzville, WA to meet my dad & brought home the newest member of our little family, sadie. we had a date night at The Pink Door during Seattle Restaurant Week.

{taken at photobooth}

{the very first picture of sadie & aaron at the columbia river – taken with holga 135}

may: my last official final exams period: one final, two papers & a project. i painted our office a soothing blue in preparation for my bar exam studies. we attended Baccalaureate Mass at Seattle University & my Law School Graduation at Key Arena. we flew to indiana to see aaron’s family & to attend aaron’s ten year reunion at Culver Military Academy. we continued east-ward to Paris where we spent a week of celebration: graduation & aaron turning 28! we spent our first day in Paris with our good friend jerry who acted as our translator & tour guide.

june: i started my bar prep studies on the first; this marked the beginning of eight grueling weeks of 80 hours a week cramming. aaron interviewed & was offered a program manager position (still at microsoft).

july: we saw Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II at the IMAX. i sat for the WA Bar Exam on July 26, 27 & 28; i wouldn’t have made it thru those three days without my friend miriam, three-evenings-in-a-row massages, jimmy john’s delivery service or the sheraton hotel in bellevue. we got celebratory pedis at my favorite spa Julep.

august: on the first we celebrated our one year anniversary at Rover’s. we dropped off sadie with nanny lisa and headed east for a lower family vacation. we spent the bookend weekends in charlotte, NC with aaron’s brother david & his family, but spend most of the vacation in charleston, SC on the beach at the Isle of Palms. lots of sun, sand & air conditioning. sadie & i drove to boise for a quick trip home to visit my family & to get a haircut (yes, i go to idaho to get my haircut). we waited in anticipation for baby lower who was born shortly after we left NC: landon neal lower.

{via jodi lower}

september: we saw maroon 5 & train in concert at the white river amphitheater. we drove down to salem for a weekend to see old family friends & so aaron could skydive; we saw our friends but had to cancel the skydiving due to weather conditions & miscommunications. we attended a surprise dinner party for sami, one of my very old friends from idaho, who now lives in seattle with her husband, brandon. on the 26th we celebrated sadie’s 7th birthday.

october: i passed the bar exam! we celebrated our four year dating anniversary with dinner at the melting pot. we attended Ghouls Near Greenlake, ben & sarah’s annual halloween bash as aladdin & jasmine. we ate our way thru seattle & bellevue during Seattle Restaurant Week. aaron ran in the warrior dash. i started a little blog called emerald city diaries to keep family & friends updated on the lower family.

november: i was sworn in as an official King County Bar Association member. i was rear-ended. we celebrated the baptism of baby herschel, the son of one of my law school friends. we celebrated thanksgiving with my grandmother & friends in seattle. we bought doug the douglas fir, the second annual lower family christmas tree. aaron took me to the nutcracker for an early christmas date.

december: we celebrated the engagement of our good friends andy & hailey. we attended a champagne brunch fundraiser. we got an SLR camera. we drove to boise in a rental car. i got a haircut. we flew to vegas. we attended the nuptials of scott & kelly at the chapel in the clouds. we cheered on the boise state broncos to victory in the las vegas bowl. we attended a christmas reunion of the CBC (my dearest high school girlfriends). we celebrated christmas! we drove back to seattle.

whew, what a year! every year i think “this has been the best year ever!” and i think this is totally true about my 2011.

how was your 2011 – was it a year to remember or are you itching to start 2012 already?

my weekend in pictures: christmas edition.

{the christmas tree at my parent’s house}

{bentley the beagle on his favorite spot on the stairs}

{and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care}

{white elephant gift exchange on christmas eve with family & friends}

{my sister-in-law decorates the mounts with christmas bulbs}

{skeeter lounging on the couch}

{some holiday baking}

{say “cheese!”}

{the christmas dinner table}

{my christmas place setting}

{aaron got a blister from cutting butternut squash}

{yum, that’s a good looking turkey}

{it is amazing how attentive the dogs are when there’s turkey around}

{sadie loved her christmas pheasant. thanks auntie kelly & uncle jason!}

{skeeter in her new christmas scarf}

{our little family curled up on the couch watching some football}

{aaron & me with the christmas tree}

{the whole family (minus a few)}

how was your christmas weekend?
M

merry christmas 2011!

{the second annual lower family christmas card via shutterfly}

wishing you & yours a merry christmas & a happy new year!
M

a pinterest christmas: gifts for neighbors.

i thought it might be nice to do something for a few of our neighbors for the holiday. i was told by someone recently that if you don’t know your neighbors very well you shouldn’t bake them anything – who was that? – but there were so many yummy goodies on pinterest, i couldn’t resist making something.

i wanted to make something festive, but not too over-the-top. this chex-based mix is really easy, really yummy & really healthy (well, healthy may be a stretch).

{the original pinterest link: snowflake mix}

supplies:

3 cups rice chex mix

3 cups corn chex mix

1 cup honey roasted peanuts

1 cup small pretzel twists or sticks

12 ounces white baking chocolate (i used 10 ounces of vanilla almond bark – the stuff you dip pretzels in)

12 ounces M&Ms (i used the mint ones)

{first, you add the chex, pretzels & peanuts together in a large bowl}

{then, you melt the chocolate in the microwave}

{next, you add the chocolate to the chex mix and gently stir to coat}

{then, you spread the mix out onto parchment or wax paper and add M&Ms}

{finally, you break the mix into pieces after one hour of cooling}

i got these cute little christmas take-out boxes at michaels for about 99 cents a piece. i put in a piece of parchment paper before adding the mix, and then attached a little gift tag.

have you made any yummy christmas goodies from pinterest? do you give gifts to your neighbors?
M

a pinterest christmas: stockings, the sadie edition.

i made a stocking for sadie this year. it just didn’t seem right that any member of the family wouldn’t have a stocking hanging from the mantle.

i followed pretty much the same tutorial as for the other two stockings, minus the ruffled ribbon on the cuff. i also cut the stocking pattern (the paper one) down about a half an inch so sadie’s is a little smaller and narrower.

the main fabric was pre-quilted and i originally bought it thinking it would be the cuffs for the other two stockings (but then i got the idea of ruffled cuffs. i digress.). it was a long narrow piece of fabric, so it worked out perfectly for the stocking pieces of this stocking. the cuff fabric has little scottie dogs on it – adorable! it is a happy coincidence that this fabric was used as part of sadie’s stocking. i originally bought the fabric to make christmas napkins (but it was a really small & narrow piece of fabric) & i originally thought i was going to use sweater material to make the cuff.

i am really, really happy with sadie’s little stocking. truth be told, i like it more than the others.

{sidenote: don’t mind the cardboard over the fireplace that shows up in a few shots above. we have been trying to keep a certain furry family member – i won’t mention any names – from chomping on burnt firewood to ease her separation anxiety.}

do you have stockings for your pets, or are we the only ones?
M