All I Want for Christmas 2012

Here are my few material wishes for this Christmas. Honestly, coming up with my wishlist this year was harder than most years. My birthday and Christmas are pretty close together and I already got so many nice things for my birthday (for which I'm very grateful). But I do have a few things that I'd really like to have for the holidays.

Exclusive gray chevron scrapbook album from Archiver's
So daily V2 buttons from Evalicious
Seasons of Rules of Engagement on DVD
Wedge desert boots
Monogrammed Clutch Purse from White House Monograms
Alice in Zombieland by Gina Showalter
Illusion by Frank Peretti
Project Life Seafoam Kit designed by Elise Blaha Cripe

I'm hoping to unwrap a few of these goodies this Christmas... just maybe. Ian and I had our Christmas gift exchange a little early last night and he got me the sweetest gift:

He got me this gorgeous opal pendant with a pink sapphire in a teardrop setting. (It's my birthstone!) I love it because it looks like a raindrop and raindrops are always so inspiring to me! Lots of my journal pages and paintings feature raindrops and now I can wear one around my neck. :)

What's on your Christmas list this year? 4 more days!
<3
E

3rd Annual Gift Wrapping Party

Dear other bloggers, has anyone ever experienced internet issues that prevented you from blogging for awhile? Our internet at home has been mostly down and otherwise patchy & unreliable for 2 weeks. I haven't been able to get a solid post up since the Blog Party which is trés frustrating! I've been sneaking wireless access at work to post a few Facebook statuses and Instagrams, but otherwise, I've been MIA. Not even Pinterest in almost 14 days. YIKES. Well I've found a (probably) brief window of opportunity in strong signal, so I'm here to report that I'm not dead! ;) This post was supposed to go up over a week ago, so here we go!

Every year before Christmas, Ian and I set aside one night for Christmas movies, hot chocolate, and a full night of wrapping pretty gifts for our friends and family. To be clear, I'm rubbish at wrapping gifts, so Ian wraps and I decorate/embellish! ;)

These pictures are complete crap to be honest, but I really wanted to share all the pretty supplies we used to wrap(above). This year we went with a mixture of kraft, gold with silver glitter polka dots, and brights. I was pleased with the assortment of combinations that we turned out.

Love those metallic peppermint gift tags I got.

For gift tags, I actually used some gridded 3x5 cards from my Project Life kit! I have tons of them, so I put them to use by stamping the person's name on the bottom & hole punching them. I like the effect.

Everything looks so beautiful now with packages under the tree! (Except that the lights on the top half of our tree have burnt out for the FOURTH TIME this year. Different strand of lights each time, but that's another story.)

There's nothing more magical than all that mystery wrapped up ready to bring happiness to someone! All to celebrate Christ's birth!!!

In other news, because of the internet shortage, I haven't been able to post the winners of the Blog Party giveaways! So without further ado, I give you the lucky ladies:

Tags and Gift Bags from the Pretty & Lucky Etsy shop: Janel!

Mini Pillow from Arrow & Ink: Ash!

Congratulations, ladies! Your goodies will be on their way to your door promptly!
<3
E

The Many Uses of Kraft

photo by pipii, text by meKraft paper is a beautiful thing. I've been obsessed with it for about... 6 years now? If you haven't yet discovered how amazing it is, you are MISSING OUT! This holiday, make it a kraft Christmas! Pick up a cheap roll of kraft at your office supply store and see how many uses you can find! It's pretty, environmentally friendly, cost efficient, challenging, and crafty! Here's some inspiration:

envelopes and letters

gift wrap!

glitterly mobile

kraft as a table cloth! Drawing on the place settings would be SO much fun.

Give your potted plants and mini trees a "fresh from the nursery" look with a kraft wrap on the base.

disposable holiday wall hanging

book covers to give your shelves a rustic holiday flair.

cone tree love

photo ornaments with white gel pen accents

star packet advent calendar

bold and graphic gift tags
What are you going to make? I want to try my hand at either some kraft snowflake patterns or gift wrap goodness. Either way, make it happen! You'll be glad you did!
<3
E

P.S. We had some technical problems with a few of today's posts going live, so I've decided just to skip those 2 posts and give them to you later this month as a fun holiday treat. Don't worry-- it wasn't any of the giveaways! More of that coming up, so stay tuned!

Guest Post: Tori's Peanut Butter & Chocolate Candy Recipe

Hi everyone! I'm Victoria (aka Tori) you've probably heard Elaine mention me before. She's my best friend and I'm so excited she asked me to guest post for her Merry and Bright blog partaaaay! So lets get to it! This recipe is super yummy, super easy and super quick because it doesn't even require using the stove - just a microwave. It's a great addition to your holiday party spread or makes a special handmade gift to give to anyone.

What you'll need:
1 package of almond bark (usually 1 lb.)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 extra crunchy peanut-butter

Place almond bark in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Stirring frequently, microwave until almond bark melts (about three minutes.) Be careful because the bowl can get a little hot.

Stir peanut-butter into melted almond bark until completely mixed.

In another microwave-safe bowl melt the chocolate chips the same way as the almond bark. However, the chocolate chips don't take as long to melt, and will over cook and get hard quickly so keep a close watch!

Thinly spread peanut-butter mixture out on a large greased/buttered baking sheet. I promise there is enough mixture to cover the bottom of the baking sheet. Dollop the melted chocolate over the peanut-butter mixture and with a small spatula or butter knife, swirl chocolate evenly throughout.

Pop that baking sheet into the refrigerator and allow to chill for a couple of hours until the candy hardens. Then break into smaller pieces. The candy won't melt at room temperature so it's okay to set out for parties. Store in an airtight container in a cool place or even in the refrigerator. I think you could even add extra chopped peanuts if you'd like an even crunchier candy or try using peppermint bark swirled with the chocolate! Yum!

To give as a gift, I picked up some clear cellophane bags from the baking isle at my local craft store. I made tags with kraft paper and washi tape, and tied them on with some gold-flecked, red ric-rac.

And that's it! I told you it was super simple and I hope you enjoy the recipe! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! xo

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Side note: Tori is going to be re-launching her blog starting the beginning of January 2013, so I'll be sure to link you up when the re-launch happens! She's going to have lots of inspiring things happening and you'll want to be in on it! :)

Comment Chat: Favorite Holiday Traditions!

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This post is going to be a little different. I wanted to have a space for everyone to share their favorite Holiday traditions that go on in your families! Everyone has at least one and it's fun to hear how everyone celebrates the holidays differently. I know this sounds so cheesy but after I married my husband, I realized how different familes are in the ways they get in the spirit and get their "festive" on! I wanted to share a few of my own and hear from you all!

My family is huge on traditions and togetherness in everything we do, so we have several:

*Every year when we put up the tree, we would listen to the Alabama Christmas album. Now any time I hear the song "Thistlehair" around the holidays, I get a really nostalgic feeling. :)

*Santa always brough mine and my sister presents of our own, but there was always one gift for us to share and it was always a board game. We LOVED family game night and the gift game from Santa every year was a huge deal. These days, Santa still visits us at ages 22 and 25 respectively, but now he brings us a Cricut Cartridge for scrapping to share instead. HA!

*My Nana has this VERY vintage paper reindeer mobile that she hangs each year and I love it so much. It's got Santa's sleigh and all the reindeer that are pinned together with thread and brads and they cascade down into this paper mobile shape. Beautiful. Such a neat piece of family history! I secretly hope I'll inherit someday.

*For about a period of 5 years, my Mom lost our traditional Christmas stockings that we always used. It was slightly tragic and the strangest thing. We couldn't find them anywhere! She didn't want to buy more because those were THE STOCKINGS and it would be a travesty to replace them. So instead, she instituted a replacement solution: everyone go throughout the house and find a reasonably sized "container" to serve as your surrogate stocking for the year. We came back to her with everything from galvanized buckets to easter baskets. So much fun. We finally DID find them, weirdly enough, but those few years were hilarious!

So... what are some of your traditions!? Use the comment section as a chat space to share!
<3
E

Holiday Geekery

a Sheldon-worthy Christmas bulb
2 words for you: Christmas. Nerd. I'm a total Christmas nerd. I can't get enough of all this geekery that they make for the holiday season these days! I want an entire separate tree for all the cheesy nerdy ornaments I can find. I think that would be adorable. Check these out. Seriously:

nerdy sight chart print!

Death Star lego ornament

math wrapping paper. so cool.

TLR camera vintage style bauble

the ultimate techie greeting card!

Quidditch anyone!?
Not to mention, most of us crafty gals have nerdy husbands who would eat this stuff up. These would make great little stocking stuffers for the men in our lives, no? I say yes. Let's get our geek on, ladies.
<3
E

Top 10 Stellar Winter Dates

During the winter months, sometimes our relationships take on a certain "seasonal effective disorder" of their own, am i right? We get stumped for things to do on dates; for romantic places to go and cute things to do. I made a little list of my own to keep on the brain for this winter!

1. Create a DIY mason jar snow globe from a photo of the two of you.

2. Drive around to "judge" holiday light displays and give a $5 prize to your favorite house. So much fun.

3. Go holiday treat taste-testing at local cafés & bakeries around your town.

4. Decorate a bush or tree along the main road in your town with bright baubles.

5. Host a holiday movie film festival in the comfort of your own living room. A fun twist would be to borrow a laptop projector from a friend!

6. Shovel someone's walk like a "rake & run" to do something kind for your neighbors.

7. Make hot chocolate cocktails. Add in some devilish liquor to a pepperminty chocolate mixture for a little extra "holiday spirit!"

8. Have a gift wrapping party to get all your pretty packaging done together.

9. Recreate a childhood snow day. Do all the things you use to do on a day off of school when you were kids!

10. Gather up all your photos together from the year and make an album. You could reform this and make separate family albums for mom gifts.

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Go grab your sweetie and say: "Baby, it's cold outside!"
<3
E

DIY: Tissue Confetti Ornaments

Oh how I love all the magnificent things you can do with tissue paper! These ornaments practically came to me in a dream after I saw some delicious ones from West Elm. Afterward, I couldn't get them out of my head! So here I am with a tutorial so you can make your own tissue confetti ornaments!

Supplies:
1. Glitter paper
2. colored tissue paper
3. double-sided tape or glue stick
4. raw kraft ornaments
5. scissors
6. Sharpie or pen

Step 1:

Cut a bunch of 1 inch strips of tissue paper of each color to use for your fringe. Trim the length of each strip down to be slightly longer than the width of your ornament.

Step 2:

Fold a strip in half length-wise and start snipping to create fringe.

Step 3:

Start at the bottom of your ornament and work upward. Tape or glue across the area to stick your first strip. (Full disclosure: I found that glue stick works best for this step because it's quicker, cheaper, stickier, and much stickier!)

Place your fringed strip across the adhesive area with a slight overhang on each side.

Step 4:

Slightly above the first strip, tape or glue again. Adhere another color of tissue to overlap the previous.

Repeat steps 3-4 until your entire ornament is covered.

Step 5:

Use your scissors to trim the excess tissue around the perimeter of your ornament.

Step 6:

Use glitter paper to create a monogram. Map out the letter on the backside using a marker and then cut them out.

Step 7:
Adhere your monogram to the center of your ornament using tape or glue.

You can use these ornaments all year round and for so many different things! Hang them on your Christmas tree, a doorknob, bedpost, or make a big one for your front door!

Also, you can always use tacky glue and loose glitter if you don't have access to glitter paper. It requires more steps, but the effect is the same!

I love the way these look. They're very on trend and there are so many different color combinations I'd love to try out!

Have fun with this and go crazy! These holiday ornaments sparkle and shine enough to make the season bright!
<3
E

Christmas Card Idea Roundup

+We've officially got less than 3 weeks to get our Christmas cards prepped and sent out and I'm officially uninspired this year. I started browsing through Pinterest and Blogland and found lots of very cute ideas. Inspiration strikes with a festive vengeance!

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So many pretty things. *sigh* Ian and I are planning on taking our 2012 Christmas card photo this afternoon, so hopefully we get a cute and equally inspiring results. I love Christmas. End of story. :)
<3
E