And also, layouts!

I've had a backlog of layouts to scan since my scanner decided it wasn't compatible with Windows 7. Their differences were apparently irreconcilable and I had to get a new scanner, which is much faster and also has clean, adhesive- and glitter-free glass.

I love, love the Life Stories line from My Mind's Eye.


And also Pink Paislee's Amber Road collection.


Using the last of this wonderful Chatterbox line from about two years ago. 2010's resolutions include using more stuff and buying less. Blah, it sounded more fun in my head.

Playing catch-up

I'm not going to even mention my lack of blogging. Just pretend like I've been here every day, providing you with interesting, inspiring, and funny content, and let's move on. Our holiday season was derailed a bit by the Blizzard of '09 and by our being trapped in a Maryland hotel for three nights. I'm blaming those events for the fact that I didn't get my cards mailed until December 26, and also for our totally forgetting that we had purchased (not cheap) tickets to see the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes show in Richmond. The show was on December 23rd, and I was so excited about it, having heard from friends that it is an amazing show. On the 27th, I was sitting at my mom's house and suddenly realized that we had forgotten to go. I am additionally going to blame that one on my obviously perimenopausal state, which--who knew?--apparently makes one dumb as a box of rocks.

I didn't do a whole lot of homemade gifts this year, but I did make this house on a gift box, which was heavily inspired by Melissa Phillips. Mine is much simpler than hers, but I love it and the recipient seems to as well, or else she is just very kind and a good actress.



Annamarie and I made several kinds of sweet and spicy nuts for teacher gifts, during which project I burned $30 worth of almonds to a crisp (see aforementioned box of rocks). We made candied pecans, chipotle honey peanuts, Mexi-cashews, and cajun spice pecans, and now my mouth is watering.



Every year I intend to send handmade Christmas cards, and even though they were late getting in the mail, I actually did it this year! These cards are so sparkly and glittery in real life.



Last but not least, I promised to post a better photo of the banner and window frame I made. I haven't decided whether I am going to remove the banner and photos and redecorate the window, or whether I'll put it away as is for next Christmas.

Nester's Tour of Homes

Hey, y'all! I thought I was getting a head start over here so I'd be all ready for Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes, but that tricky Nester started a day early. No telling whether I'll get any visitors being so far down the list, but if you made it this far, welcome and rest your tired touring feet...uh, fingers.

Somehow we ended up with a cute little itty bitty tree this year, which is a result of either a) waiting until all the 7-8 foot trees are gone from the lot, b) letting people under 5 feet tall select the family tree, or c) both. Every time I walk past the living room I giggle ruefully, because it is such a wee little thing. It smells divine, though, and that's the most important thing to me.



This paper angel has topped our tree for 16 years, since my mom gave it to us the year we got married. Her halo is a little crooked, but heck, so is mine.



This is one of several nativity sets that grace our living room. My mom bought it for about five bucks when the kids were small, and it has remained intact.



Here's another one that sits on the coffee table. It was a gift from one of my Sunday School students years ago.



This is the "main" nativity set, from Jim Shore's Heartwood Creek collection, which my hubby gave me a couple of years ago. I cannot tell a lie: This photo was taken last year, but it looks just the same this year minus the garland in the background.



Our fireplace is gas and has no mantel, so for years we have hung our stockings from pushpins stuck into wood shims wedged under the TV. We are very fancy over here. This year I finally stuck some of those 3M Command hooks on the fireplace and the kids wanted to know where our "regular hangers" were. You get used to a certain standard of living and it's hard to let it go.



Here's my Hoosier cabinet in the kitchen, stuffed full of Christmasy stuff. It's maybe a little busy, but it makes me happy when I eat my cereal.



This is the living room area that's just inside the front door. It's mostly the same as last year, except for the ladder which I picked up recently at a cute antique store and the relocated cookie cutter garland which is no longer looking over Bethlehem.



We are trying something new this year called "Not Spending More Money Than We Have," which has required me to not buy any new decorations. I did, however, buy $4.99 worth of mixed evergreens when we bought our tree, and I split them between a wooden caddy on the Hoosier and the two arrangements shown below. I like to think that Nester would be proud of my thriftiness and shopping my house for the other stuff.





And finally, I bought this window really cheap at the same antique store where I got the ladder, added a banner I made using scrapbook supplies, and several years of Christmas photos. This will hang on the wall as soon as I can track down some picture hanging wire. I'll take a better photo of it then too.



Merry Christmas, and thanks for stopping by!! I'm off to visit the other homes on the tour.

The agony of defeat

Thanks so much to all of you who voted for my layout in the Queen of Paradise contest. I didn't win, and didn't even make the top 4, but I was inspired to create several pages that I really like so it's all good. Thanks to the design team at Croppin' Paradise for hosting a really fun contest. I posted my first two challenge layouts earlier, so here are my submissions from rounds 3, 4, and 5.

Challenge 3: Create a page about the person you'd want to be with if you were stranded on a desert island.


Challenge 4: Scrap your favorite book.


Challenge 5: Use only products more than six months old.