O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I must say, I get a little giddy when the tree is up and all decorated. It just makes me feel like a kid again. In the evenings when all is quiet, I like to sit by it for a few minutes and look at the ornaments and remember where and when we bought them or think about who gave them to us (this drives my husband crazy because if he's anywhere near he has to hear the story of each ornament for the 100th time!).

I am not a color-coordinated-fancy-Christmas tree kind of person. I love a tree full of memories and sentimental ornaments. So with all that said, I'd love to share my tree with you today...(and be forewarned--it's picture overload today. I sort of got carried away. Sort of.)

my tree

I love my huge star!

And, look! I even have some presents underneath!

Now, on to some favorite ornaments......

Joseph, Jesus and Mary

a tiny stocking from a great-aunt when I was three years old

Vince gave me this cottage the first Christmas in our first house
(that house also had a red door!)

a memento from the beach this past summer

a NYC taxi cab from our first trip there together

an ornament from my parents' trip to England this past summer

Razorback Santa--Whoo Pig Sooie!!

(Vince's) Darth Vader

a giant peppermint handcrafted by my sister

a favorite Father Christmas--I love that he's wearing a blue coat!

this is one of several *vintage postcard* ornaments on the tree

a souvenir from a vacation in DC

a Blue Willow teacup

Well, I could go on and on (don't tempt me--I have more pictures!), but I'll be kind and let you go visit some more blogs today (hehe).

Visit There Is No Place Like Home for some more fun show & tell!

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...

my blessed life

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