sadie – Page 7 – emerald city diaries

happy christmas!

we hope you all have a very merry, happy christmas this year wherever you are celebrating!

i worked with tiny prints this year & LOVE our cards. tiny prints has such a great selection of cards that i had trouble picking just one! {they will also stamp & mail your cards too if you have no time!} i have always wanted to send out a christmas letter to update our friends & family about the happenings of the lower family, but every year i sit down to write it it sounds like the cheesiest, most narcissistic thing i have ever. hence why we have never had a lower family christmas letter. but, then i found this card that had the highlights of the year & it was perfect! i like the idea of doing a version of this card every year.

i hand addressed each card with a little fauxligraphy & used our address stamp to make the envelopes a bit more festive.

do you send out christmas cards or letters each year?

happy christmas!

a pinterest christmas: paper tree forest.

welcome to the third week of a pinterest christmas! {see the first & second week posts}

this is a project that i completed over thanksgiving weekend with amanda during our crafternoon date. {see amanda’s tree forest in the blog links below}

{original pinterest link – handmade christmas trees}

the original tutorial mentions that you don’t have to buy the paper cones, you can make your own from cereal boxes {i used both} but there is really no instructions. it is pretty straight-forward, but i am a visual person & like to see pictures of the process!

{flatten out a cereal box* & cut off the sides & bottom}

{start to roll in from one corner & gently bend the cardboard}

{unfold the cardboard & add glue – i used hot glue – to the edge & fold the cardboard in}

{once you have a cone shape & the glue is dry, cut the bottom of the cone so that it will sit level}

*you don’t have to use chex cereal boxes, but they are thin enough to bend without buckling.

tinsel tree:

this tree was the easiest tree to make. you just add lines of {hot} glue around the cone & stick the tinsel to it. then trim the excess tinsel. i especially became an expert at making this tree since i had to make two {see explanation below}.

feather tree:

i followed the tutorial for this tree, but found it much harder to make than it looked. plus, be aware that there will be feathers everywhere after this project. {thanks amanda for letting me feather up your craft room!} see finished pictures below.

newspaper tree:

i followed the tutorial for this tree & found it to be pretty simple & straightforward. instead of bookpages, i used newspaper. see finished pictures below.

cloth tree:

i followed amanda’s lead on making my cloth tree as she finished her cloth tree first. i just lined up the fabric the way i wanted it to wrap around the cone & added lots of {hot} glue. then trimmed the excess fabric. be sure to double-check where the cut edge will be before you cut because amanda & i both ended cutting a bit too short! see finished pictures below.

when i first got my trees home i set them up on our entertainment stand. we didn’t have many decorations up at that point, so it was fun to have something festive up!

then we came home from work following the long thanksgiving weekend to find this:

apparently sadie didn’t like the tinsel tree which she told us by tearing it to shreds. she also started into the cloth tree but didn’t completely destroy it before we go home. the interesting thing was that these were the two trees that were made out of chex mix boxes. that dog is way too smart for her own good sometimes!

i re-made the tinsel tree & set up my paper tree forest on our sideboard to celebrate the holiday season!

{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 – christmas tree forest

{tuesdays} sally@ chacha and mogo – a stocking for mogo & kendra @ The Gilbertson Family – diy yarn trees

{wednesdays} – michelle @ this grey house – yarn trees!

{thursdays} –maggi @ Greg, Maggi, & Rodney – odds & ends & abbi @ The Pena Family – pinterest christmas

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

my weekend in pictures.

{sadie got a christmas scarf & was posing in front of her christmas stocking.}

{it is fun to get packages in the mail this time of year that aren’t christmas presents!}

{got my stocking stuffer shopping done on friday night at the u village, including a stop at madewell. boy is it hard to walk past cute things for me that are 30% off when i am supposed to be shopping for other people!}

{the christmas cards keep rolling in – love it!}

{aaron made a delish pizza on friday night – half veggie, half bbq chicken.}

{there was lots of wrapping of presents this weekend.}

{on saturday we took a family trip down to ikea! it is amazing how fast you can get thru the store if you don’t stop & look at everything.}

{this is how sadie spent her time while i worked on some pinterest christmas crafts.}

{the holiday party we attended on saturday night included a “bite” contest – this was the first round. yum!}

{this 10 foot santa was quite the sought-after present at the greedy gift exchange. we lost the santa, but came home with a snowman right out of the 80s.}

we had a busy weekend filled with last-minute holiday errands & lots of holiday socializing with friends in town. we had a blast, but need another few days to re-coup! luckily this is a short work week for both of us. can you believe that christmas is next week? where did december go? how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{apparently malia obama & i have the same stylist: see here. even though this anthro coat was a steal i found last year, i still adore this coat!}

{aaron ice etching at his company holiday party.}

{a & m forever!}

{i think i found a chandelier for our bedroom! just kidding, this guy was about 15 feet tall.}

{we played some craps. & by played i mean watched for an hour & still have no idea how to play craps.}

{o’ christmas tree! he needs a few more lights, but we have a picture perfect christmas tree window!}

{we lunched at elemental wood fired pizza with my mom who was in town this weekend.}

{sadie snuggling in her sweater while i worked on christmas cards.}

{these are the newest additions to our christmas tree – an adorable whale & pig from crate & barrel. thanks mom!}

{when sadie gives you this face it is really hard to get anything done!}

{we wore the mustaches i won at a white elephant gift exchange to my company holiday party. #imustacheyouaquestion}

{i won rookie of the year at my company holiday party. that bottle of champagne was my trophy, apparently.}

{christmas cards done & done! #weknowthismanypeople?}

{only the best weekends end with a trip to target.}

the holiday season is definitely in full swing with no less than five holiday parties to attend this weekend! my mom was also in town which was a fun treat. we have been enjoying the holiday festivities, but are trying to balance that with a bit of rest & relaxation. how was your weekend?

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?

my weekend in pictures.

{late friday afternoon pick-me-up. hello weekend!}

{lazy dinner on friday after a long work week. a perk of living in the city – zeek’s pizza is right around the corner!}

{sadie was already missing us as we left to run some saturday morning errands.}

{we bought a nest this weekend – sorry, terrible lighting! – as our little old house is already very cold.}

{sunday morning just isn’t sunday morning without french press coffee.}

{finally hung the beautiful wooden utensils we picked up on our trip to peru.}

sorry for the lack of pictures this weekend. we had a lazy, but also productive weekend – does that even make sense? – as the work week was long with aaron working all week at a conference for work. we have lots of house projects lined up for the coming weeks & i am already envisioning our house in christmas lights! {i know, one holiday at a time. i waited until the day after the election to start listening to christmas music, & will wait until thanksgiving is over to deck the halls in christmas décor.}

how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{on my friday evening commute it was pouring rain. yes, my kate spade loafers were full of water. boo.}

{sadie patiently waiting for us to go on a saturday morning walk.}

{there were lots of hanging leaves on our walk.}

{it is definitely fall in the emerald city.}

{saturday brunch at café campagne at the market with ben, sarah, aaron’s aunt susan & her new husband duane}

{we visited the ballard locks.}

{the lake washington canal, since 1915.}

{me, aunt susan, & sarah watching the locks move the boats.}

{we took our out-of-town guests on the theo’s chocolate factory tour in fremont. highly recommended!}

{highlight of the chocolate tour: you get to wear hairnets. yes, i am donning two hair nets as one was not sufficient to cover my top knot.}

{a blurry but beautiful shot of the emerald city from the famous kerry park. no, the space needle is not in the middle of downtown, it just looks like it from this viewpoint.}

{dinner during a movie at iPic in redmond with my grandmother. we saw flight which was pretty darn good. sad but good.}

{my grandmother in her adorable stripey jacket & christmas lights at redmond town center!}

we had an action-packed weekend with lots of family & friends. fall is definitely in the air as the leaves are turning beautiful colors & falling all over. luckily it appears our leaf raking will be minimal this fall! we are enjoying the new season thus far (especially the extra hour of sleep this morning!) but would be happy to see the rain go away. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{we have been cooking from pinterest a lot recently.}

{attempting to catch up on my back-log of vogues.}

{yep, it is officially hot water bottle season in seattle.}

{we saved the seeds from two pumpkins to roast this weekend!}

{sadie waiting patiently for aaron to get a latte.}

{ordering my sandwich at which wich in the u district.}

{really joann’s? christmas stuff? it isn’t even halloween yet!}

{spray painting with my go-to chalkboard paint.}

{we debuted our halloween costume at ben & sarah’s annual ghouls near greenlake party.}

{me & mary alice at the party – aviators were borrowed.}

{we met up with ben & sarah for sunday morning breakfast at wholefoods. apparently my husband erik ordered my latte this morning.}

{sadie was a cuddlebug on sunday morning.}

{thanks amanda for hosting crafternoon – it was so great to see you, george, & madeleine!}

we had a fun fall weekend, but as always, it went way too fast! how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{and my legs are too short to use the footrest on the bus ride home from work.}

{a solo friday night when your husband is out of town: redbox & mani.}

{saturday was chock full of running errands.}

{i needed a pre-brunch pick-me-up. salted caramel mocha, yum!}

{saturday brunch at george’s in kirkland with meg, melinda, & jeff.}

{i finally got a wreath for our front door. joann was having 60% off halloween & fall decorations to make room for christmas stuff.}

{a solo saturday dinner when your husband is out of town: whole foods.}

{sadie was ready to go for a walk pretty much the entire weekend. we were able to cruise around the neighborhood between rain showers.}

{i am pretty sure sadie was chasing squirrels this weekend so she could she them her new halloween collar!}

{the annual halloween parade. our neighborhood. 5:46 sharp. be there or be square!}

{yum-o. aaron made lobster tails for dinner.}

i had a quiet solo weekend just trying to knock a few things off the old to-do list. both saturday and sunday morning were gorgeous: crisp fall air & sunshine! though we also had some serious rain showers & there was snow falling in the mountains. how was your weekend?