Life Beyond Christmas

Taking down Christmas decorations is always a little depressing. Another Christmas over, time to move on and get back to work. This year I decided to keep out a select few Christmas ornaments to re-purpose them until Valentines day. My tree boasted many pink and silver sparkly ornaments this year, so it wasn't hard to find some that fit the V-day theme.  These sprigs of pink and glittery berries (right) were stuck in my tree this year. My mom gave me this beautiful vase for Christmas and I wasn't sure what I'd put in there.... until I took down the berry sprigs. I also filled a hurricane with pink and silver ornaments (I tried to point the top of the ornament toward the inside so they looked more like balls than ornaments), and I hung a few snowflake ornaments from my bedroom chandelier. Lastly, I hung snowflake ornaments, hand crocheted by my grandmother, from the curtain rod in the living room. I love that snowflake decorations can be used all winter.

Are you re-using any deco this year?

Handmade Christmas Part 2

I posted about a week ago about the handmade Christmas gifts that were exchanged in my family this year - but I only made it through about half of them. Today I bring you "hollow books" from my sister and a slew of other items she made me and others in the family including a Give bag for Goodwill items, pink dog statues, and a special new sign for my office!

This Give bag is hanging by my back door - waiting for me to fill it with items to take to Goodwill. A much better method than my previous one - letting the items stack up on my dryer.

She made a few of the men in my family these hollowed out books for keeping whatever secret goodies they may have.

She gave us bird feeders that stick to the outside of a window so we can watch the birds while we wash dishes - and shaped bird feed into these cool eggs below.

She also made laundry bags for everyone --- in my opinion, mine is the cutest! Ruffles and hot pink and damask patterned. I took a second picture back at home so you could see more detail. I want to wear it as a dress!

She painted my mom a birdhouse and hand stenciled and painted the Dorrance sign for my dad on an old piece of barn wood. Below you will see my new "guard" dogs - which my sister spray painted pink for me. We spotted them at the flea market where she has a booth - they were hideously rainbow colored but we knew they had potential. They were a little out of my price range though, and she was nice enough to pick them up for me later. They look great on my newly made custom shelves!

My niece Ava drew and colored the picture above for me. It is a picture of my wedding, with T.J. and I in our gazebo. 

Last, but not least, my sister stenciled and painted the Hems & Haws sign for me to hang in my sewing room (above the cork board). It is also the new header for the blog. I love it! It even has a little sparkle on it.

Maybe next year I can talk them all into a "Made in the USA" Christmas. I think that would be amazing.

Happy New Year!

January First. 2012. Can you believe it? I can't. I remember thinking in high school that graduating college in 2009 (or 2010 like I thought) was FOREVER away! Now I think finishing up my graduate degree in 2015 is never going to come. It is coming faster than I think. Anyway, I thought I'd type up some resolutions, and announce them publicly here so I can hold myself accountable.

But first... the new look for Winter! What do you think? I thought the blue flowers were almost snowflake-esque. I will post about where the header (the part up top that says "Hems & Haws") came from in a couple days...

On with the resolutions...

1. Better Budgeting. This has to be first on the list because it is pretty darn important. Since moving into our new house I haven't been keeping track of where all the money goes quite as well as I used to, so I am going to start back up again. Also, I think it would be interesting to see just how much money we pour into this house in the 4 years we are going to live here. Maybe I can estimate what we have spent so far so I have a close to accurate count.

2. More Teaching Organization. I am teaching the same classes this semester as I taught last semester, so it should be smoother for that reason alone. I can always stand to be more organized though. :-)

3. Eat Healthier. In my opinion this belongs on everyone's list, every year! I can always improve in this area. Maybe a little less baking. Also, I'd like to try a new vegetarian recipe once a week, or maybe more realistically once a month.


4. Tackle Some Challenging DIY Projects. This list includes building a deck in our backyard, making/finding and installing cabinets above our washer and dryer in our laundry room (see this post for my ideas), and painting our kitchen cabinets white. This list may include new wood flooring in our bedroom and foyer and building some unique pieces of furniture.

5. Fabric Purchases. This last one I am afraid to type. I don't want to do it, yet I think it would be an amazing challenge if I could. I have an entire walk-in closet full of fabric... I also have a bit of a fabric hording condition. Could I stop buying fabric in 2012 until I use up what I have? I really don't know. I don't think I'll count this as an actual resolution, but maybe an ideal I could work toward. Buying fabric brings me too much joy to give up, but I know the amount I have will just continue to multiply until my sewing room is completely buried in it.

What are your New Year Resolutions? Anything DIY related?