Monthly Archives: December 2016

Christmas 2016

…

This Christmas was the sweetest to date because of our sweet little blessing, Dwayne Henry.

I worked like crazy in December so the blog has been a little quiet (okay, silent), but I wanted to share our Christmas card with the world since (hopefully) our short list of recipients got theirs in the mail. I only ordered 10 this year – and then a few extras from CVS because I didn’t actually count the people I wanted to send them to first. Mistake.

Next year, I’ll do it differently… hopefully.

front

back

Happy Day!

His First Thanksgiving and Christmas Jammies

…

Our first holiday season as a family of three is off to a really sweet start. On Thanksgiving morning we woke up and had some family snuggles (and photos) before we headed to my parents for the day.

IMG_2011IMG_2013IMG_2028Are they the sweetest? Or are they the sweetest?

IMG_2037IMG_2033IMG_2059IMG_2056IMG_2051IMG_1991

His first Thanksgiving, his first piano playing experience, and his first time falling asleep in his pack n’ play in the workout room at my parents. 

On the eve of December, I put Dwayne in his first pair of Santa pajamas and got out the camera. The photo session didn’t go quite as I planned, but we made it work. 

I posted that last photo on Facebook and got a really cool response from our friend Leah. She said “This is the perfect Christmas card. <3! I love what it symbolizes. 1. I pray when we look at our kids we want them to see us looking AT them not past them as we parent and 2. as we look at Christmas I pray Christ becomes the forefront and the ‘holiday’ dimly glows around the light of Him”.

It’s not at all what I wanted to capture. I wanted him under the tree. Smiling at me. But he wouldn’t sit still and anytime I’d back away he’d crawl straight to the camera. This photo isn’t perfect. The focus is off and I’ve cut off essentially all of my subject, but it’s everything I needed to capture. And I needed that reminder from Leah. Christmas isn’t all about the Santa jams and the light of the Christmas tree. 

Christ is the forefront and the holiday dimly glows around the light of Him. 

This boy is so loved. 

Happy Day! 

DIY Felt Letterboard

DIY Felt Letterboard

…

I mentioned to my sister over the holiday weekend that I wanted a felt letterboard for Christmas (like the one below) but the ones I found online were too expensive for my non-existent decor budget.. So I made my own!

letterboardvia Pinterest

Supplies:

deep frame (hobby lobby)
.125″ wooden dowels cut to size (menards)
hot glue
felt (1/2 yard)
white letters
gilmore girls (optional)

IMG_2074IMG_2076IMG_2079IMG_2081

I started this with a completely different plan than what I have pictured here, but I bought the wrong size dowel for the way I thought I was going to do it. I also thought I’d only use half my felt, but I used every last bit. The lesson here is to be flexible when you’re creating off the cuff. 

IMG_2088

Start by cutting your dowels to the width of the inside of your frame. .125″ dowels are really thin so I simply scored the length and then broke it. Repeat 40-75ish times depending on the size of your frame.

IMG_2090IMG_2091

Now you cut your felt to the length of the dowel and hot glue it. I wasn’t planning on wrapping each individual dowel, but that’s just how it worked out once I realized how tiny they were.

Order your letters! I got mine off amazon when they were on sale for $10. I found them other places for cheaper but the shipping cost was a deal breaker. Free shipping was worth it, but I had to wait 4 days for mine so this letterboard has been finished, waiting to be photographed for toooo long.

IMG_2094IMG_2097

After all your dowels are wrapped in felt you can glue them into the frame. I was extra careful at the ends of mine because they are exposed in the final project, but if you’re using a different type of frame this step would be super quick. You want to make sure the dowels are snug so the letters can pop in and stay put.

Then you add your letters and hang it up! The space between the mirror and the letter board is reserved for something special and I can’t wait to show you! But for now it’s just a blank spot on the wall. 

Oh and guess what? It cost me $40 and I could have saved more if I had bought a cheaper frame.

Is this something you think you could do on your own? I absolutely do! DIY is easy if you start small.. Plus you might end up saving a little money!

1 2