More decorations... oh, and I have a crick in my neck...

Oy, I've had a crick in my neck for like weeks, and last night it got 10 times worse because I had a fussy boy that had to sleep in the bed with us, and if I make even one inch of movement, then he wakes up... well, you moms know how that goes... so you lay there stiff as a board as to not wake the hysterical baby. Hence, the crick in my neck is 10 times worse today.

OH! and Campbell brought a wretched flu-bug home with him last week, that Ethan and I promptly caught. Thank God Coop hasn't gotten it... and hopefully won't. I think we have pretty much bombed the house with Lysol at this point. Fun times!

OH!!!! and then Ethan spranged his ankle while putting up the rest of the Christmas lights outside. And now he can't enjoy his Thursday and Friday off like he wanted to! Dang, the bad luck. The boy rarely gets days off, and now he sprangs his ankle. :::BLAST:::

***BUT*** we can't complain because really in the grand scheme of things were are all generally healthy, and blessed, and happy, and enjoying this holiday season SO MUCH. How 'bout you guys? We are totally in the spirit.. finally finishing up the decorating and shopping. Going to Christmas plays.. decorating gingerbread houses... baking too many Christmas cookies... we hope to see Santa soon since Cam is finally on the mend. I haven't done the Christmas cards still.

I have to point out these things b/c I hear so many awful stories every day.. and Lord, things could be worse. As the album title says, of a new singer - Sia - that I just discovered via Katie Runnels FABULOUS blog recently, "Some People Have REAL Problems."

I LOVE that. Seriously. Some people have real problems. And thank-you, Katie.. because I'm in love. With Sia. Especially this song and video.

I try hard not to get caught up in the "pretty" side of the holidays. And to remember the real reason for it. And I want so badly to make sure our boys remember the reason for all of this controlled chaos each December. I really want to try and *give* more. I know that is totally cliche to say.. but I don't do it enough. Embarrassingly not enough. How are you guys giving this year? Any charities that you love? I would love for you to link me. I hate that it's only this time of year that we think of giving the most... but I guess something is better than nothing.

How do you instill the gift of giving in your children? What sorts of activities do you do? I would love to hear! :-)

So anyway.. that rant aside... here are some more holiday decor pics. Some pics of my small blue tinsel tree. I had to bring it into a bright room to photograph b/c the room it's in is dark. I love this tree.

 

 

Those cute little plasic baskets are from Bake It Pretty. I love that store! I wasn't sure how I was going to use the baskets, but then they were just screaming to be on this tree. I added some vintage millinery flowers and plastic flower/mushroom cupcake pics...

 

 

There's something about satin ball ornaments i just LOVE. They remind me of the white ones that my grandmother used to put on her tree. Yeh, the little fibers were always pulling off, and after MANY years of use, it was kind of hilarious to deal with them every year (the years we helped her decorate her tree that is)... they were always falling apart. :-) But i love them.

 

This little caged birdy is from a set of these that I found online.. little vintage things that used to make bird noises... not sure exactly what they are, but they're cute. That is the nice thing about Christmas trees.. you can go through your stash and just load up your tree with everything but the kitchen sink. :-)

 

...more fungii...

 

 

 

I found these vintage paper rosettes online as well... i was trying to find something to put at the top of the tree, and this just jumped on. :-)

Ok, off to fold our piles of laundry.

***Just a little note to those that might be interested in the Woodland Stuffies Printable kit I showed you project photos of, that kit will be available tomorrow! I will be showing more project photos tomorrow, including some CUTE CUTE ornaments and gift accents made with the Stuffie artwork by Kitschy Digitals Creative Team Member Gina Masson. If you purchased the Woodland Book-Lover's Printable Kit and are making gifts with it, these stuffies would be a CUTE addition to your gifts! Or use the stuffies alone! Or use the artwork for other ideas you may have.. (for personal use only.)***

Also some links that I didn't have time to add to my post on my living room redecoration:

- Doily Clock

- Patterned Papers I framed from Hambly Screenprints

- Vintage Floral Wallpaper, a gift from Kari at ArtsyMama!

- Print of 2 vintage cameras: The Post Family

later!

Comments

[metrochic]

gorgeous, danielle! i'm in love with that tiny bird cage!

[metrochic]

oh and have you seen this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvd814WG2t4

i adore her.

[elizabeth]

i have four kids and they each (well, not the baby) make a small gift for one of their siblings. an embellished skirt, and hand painted t-shirt, a cloth crayon or colored pencil roll, a small toy. anything really, just so my kids have to think about what their siblings like and then spend some actual time creating something special. then every time thy see their gift being used they feel good about giving it. if they play an actual hands-on role in the creating or preparing of the gift it means so much more to them as they hand it over to the recipient.
have fun!

[lisa]

I sure hope you all start feeling better soon! Have you seen this - www.adventconspiracy.org? Check out the video and be inspired to give! This year, we are only giving three gifts each to the kiddos, just like Jesus received from the Wise Men. And we're making lots more handmade gifts for family and friends. Also, the Santa gift this year is $10 for each of us to give to a charity of our choice. We have little kiddos, so I chose three charities and will let the kids choose where to give their $10. I don't see why Santa has to be the hero every year at Christmas, so we don't let him give the gift that the kids are wanting the most. That is reserved for Mom and Dad to give! With the money we saved making these adjustments, we're giving money to my favorite charity, the International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org), which saves people from human slavery. Hope this gets you in the spirit of giving!!!

love your tree, by the way!!!

[Beth Perry]

Lovely, lovely photos!

[Anita Mundt]

i remember someone telling me once that with her child she had 3 identical money boxes in his/her bedroom.
One was labeled 'keep', one 'give', one 'save'... (i'm sure you could make something similar and fun!)
At the beginning of each year the child made a picture of something they wanted to save for.
Whenever the child got money (for whatever reason, birthday, gift etc) they had to put some money in each of the money boxes, they could decide how much in each box, but at least 1c had to go in each box.
So, they may split 10 dollars as 5 to spend, 3 to save and 2 to give.

At the end of the year the child got to choose where they wanted to give the contents of the 'give' box (to a local hospital, a charity, to the cats home... wherever)
They also got to take the money to the place themselves and hand it over and look around to see how their money would be spent.
After dropping off the contents of their 'give' box they got to go buy what they had been saving up for with the contents of their 'save' box.

Seemed like a nice idea!
anita
x

[Barb]

This Christmas season, we're doing things for people, as well as giving money and participating in several giving tree programs. Also, dd got into a bit of trouble recently, so lieu of punishment like being grounded or losing television/computer, she's donating all of her babysitting money that she's earning in the month of December to a family in our church who is in serious need. She'll also be shoveling driveways for neighbors if we have snow, and doing it for free.

We do the give, save, spend thing too with dd. When she gets money, we split it in thirds. She has to put one third into the bank, one third goes to the charity of her choice, and she gets to keep a third to spend however she wants. Right now her money is going to the local SPCA.

[katie runnels]

Hi Danielle! Thanks for the mention! I've been listening to that song over and over again like a maniac. Isn't she the best!?
YOur tinsel tree is AmAZinG!! I love everything on it-as usual-you have created a wonder!! I wish I could take a photography class from you! xoxo

[Junie]

I love-love-love the blue tree and ornaments!