Homemade Handmade Fun!

Alright, y'all all know I love me some artsy-fartsy craft projects. So how could I resist Antique Mommy's Homemade Handmade Holiday Carnival?! This time around: Christmas Ornaments! It's easy... really, it is... and they're super cute!

Here's what you need:
- Plastic Ornaments (Yes, plastic! Michael's, people, Michael's!)
- Acrylic Paint
- Some darn cute ribbon to make bows
- Some plain ole skinny ribbon to make the hangers
- A crafty little paintbrush
- A hot glue gun & the accompanying glue sticks
- Maybe just a dash of patience (which I lack!)

The easy-peasy steps:
Step 1: Pick your ornament.
Step 2: Pick a coordinating ribbon.
Step 3: Pick a coordinating paint color or two.
Step 4: Paint circles ALL around the ornament.
** I hold the ornaments very precariously at the top and bottom so I can paint all of the circles at once. Again, it's that whole lack-of-patience thing. But you could paint half of them, let it dry, and then finish.
** I think bigger circles are prettier, but that's just my opinion. :)
Step 5: Once all of the circles dry, pick a coordinating color to paint an initial, monogram, name, whatever you fancy on one side of the ornament!
** You could also use a paint pen, because sometimes painting letters with a paintbrush makes me want to pull out all my hair!
Step 6: While the paint is drying, make a pretty bow with the ribbon you chose way back in Step 2.
** I originally used wired ribbon, but then I realized that regular fat ribbon works too, because the bows aren't SO big that they lose their shape.
Step 7: Tie the skinny ribbon around the center of your bow so it doesn't come untied. And use that to make the hanger for the ornament.
Step 8: Hot glue the bow / hanger to the top of the ornament, sit back, and admire your artistic creativity... then do it all over again!

Really, they are SO cute. And they're really not that difficult.

Oh, looking for a place to hang your ornaments to dry? I taped wooden skewers to the overhang on my kitchen counter... that's where they hang! And where are they hanging once they're all finished... via safety pins on a hanger in the bathroom window. What?!? I needed storage space!

Christie and Jason are getting married in August... his & hers ornaments!

My friend Erika is the one that possessed me to try this.

(Side note: Why am I always her guinea pig?!)

An Auburn ornament for her hubby and a UGA ornament for E!

I made this ornament for my orange-loving cousin for her birthday!

And, look, a purple ornament... this one has my name ALL over it! :)

For more fabulous homemade handmade fun, visit Antique Mommy HERE! Happy crafting!!

Happy Halloween

From our silly rabbit to yours! :)

Blue Devil Born and Blue Devil Bred!

I feel old. I can't believe it's been 10 years since I graduated from high school. TEN YEARS. Really?! Wow. I had the joy of travelling back to good ole C-town this weekend for my reunion... an event I had certainly been looking forward to. I don't make it home nearly as often as I'd like, so knowing that so many of my old friends would be in the same place at once was really exciting. It was a jam-packed, fun-filled weekend. Friday night we all met up at Loco's for some mingling, then a bunch of us headed down to The Loft to drink the night away. Saturday morning started with a hangover (!) followed by Family Day in the park, where we met some of my classmates' sweet little babies and played relay races that made us all feel like kids again. After fun in the park, we headed across the street to dear ole Columbus High School where we enjoyed a lunch catered by Smokey Bones BBQ in the 'Devil Rock Cafe'. And then we got to take a tour of the school... where we bombarded the band room, gathered again on the stage, and stood in awe of the new Art wing. The reunion festivities were concluded Saturday night with dinner at the Trade Center, which holds so many memories for all of us as that was always the site of Magnet Socials and Prom.

It was an amazing weekend! While a few friends were missing from the action, it was truly so enjoyable to have everyone back in one place. Here's to hoping it's not another 10 years before we all get back together again!!

Apple Orchard

It was a beautiful Fall day in Canada, with just enough crispness in the air to make us wonder when Winter will come knocking. In an attempt to savor the last bit of gorgeous weather until our Spring thaw, we decided to take Savannah to an apple orchard. We went to one in Michigan a year or two ago and got completely ripped off... pay to park, pay to pick, pay for donuts, etc. But I found an orchard that's just a few miles from our house here... you don't pay to park, you pay for your apples by the pound, and there's a cute little country store that sells baked goods and apple wine and the like. Even better, all of the apple trees are dwarf trees, meaning we didn't need a ladder or have to pick Savannah up to reach the trees. Savannah loved it! I think she ate 3 or 4 apples just as we were walking through the rows of trees. She'd pull one off a tree, take a few bites, and throw it on the ground just to grab another. It was adorable!

A few pictures of the fun:

Super Superlatives!

Todd's mom is an elementary school teacher - Grade 2 and Grade 3, I think. She didn't start teaching until Todd was in college, but she has such a passion for it and is so well-suited for the job. "Grandmere" has been buying books for Savannah since before she was born and encouraged us to read to my belly. She's the one we call if we're wondering if the most recent statement out of Savannah's mouth is advanced for her age. She's the one encouraging us to teach Savannah to write her name with capital and lowercase letters, instead of just capital letters. She's our very own, personal educational guru.

So it's no surprise that Savannah's 2-week "summer school" started in the car, on the drive from Tallahassee to Tampa, after Todd dropped her off after her two glorious sand-and-sun-filled days at the beach where her brain literally took a vacation of its own. Todd's mom decided to teach Savannah about superlatives... small, smaller, smallest... big, bigger, biggest... skinny, skinnier, skinniest. And then she got to the superlative that I'm sure will be erased from Savannah's vocabulary for all eternity: F-A-T!

The conversation went something like this...
Grandmere: Okay, Savannah, let's try "fat". Fat, fatter, fattest.
Savannah: Grandpa is fat.
Savannah: Uncle Matthew is fatter.
Savannah: But, Grandmere, you are the fattest!

Okay, so that didn't go as planned!

This is Savannah schooling Uncle Matthew in "Don't Break the Ice".
I'm pretty sure the only thing he's fatter than is the stick he's using to break the ice!

Look Who's 4!

We went to a snazzy little photo studio on July 2, where Savannah was the center of attention for an entire 45 minutes... needless to say, my little ham loved every bit of it! I had to narrow 250 pictures down to these four poses. And then I got crafty with the wallet-sized photos!

Beach Vacation!

Savannah is four and has never really been to the beach. Yes, we went to Myrtle Beach for a wedding when she was 9 months old, but it wasn't exactly beach weather. Remember this picture?

And, yes, Todd's parents live in Florida, but they don't really live near "pretty" beaches. Lucky for us, our dear friend Greg offered up his parents' condo in Destin... better yet, he even offered to join us for the week! So we spent the week of the 4th soaking up the sun on the beautiful white sandy beaches of the Florida panhandle. Seriously, it was like a picture straight out of a Corona commercial!

Savannah was only with us for two days before she headed off for a few weeks with Grandmere and Grandpa. She's not such a fan of the "big lake", preferring to spend her water time in the pool, but she loved playing in the sand. She's an expert water-carrier and foot-burier! :)