New Year Give Away!

I promised you that December would have ONE giveaway and here it is..... ( if you have previously won a giveaway on this blog you are ELIGIBLE to win this giveaway as well).

I am giving away a special treat from LUSH!  This is one of my most favorite stores, EVER.  They just recently put one in close to my house.  All of their products are fresh and handmade.  They have such yummy treats!  

I thought this little treat would be especially nice to giveaway after the Christmas season.  I am sure there are a lot of people who need to relax in a long hot soak and start the New Year off right.

French Kiss Bubble Bar: The fresh herbal fragrances of lavender, rosemary and thyme with essential oils from the hills of sun-soaked Provence go into our swirly love letter inspired by the warmth and beauty of the French countryside. It's even topped with a sprig of lavender. Lay back and relax into serene purple waters and soak up all of its relaxing benefits.

Enter to Win By.......

1.  Placing your name and state in the comment section below
2.  You must enter by 12am EST on Friday December 4, 2013

Good Luck!  I can't wait to give away this LUSH treat!

Mary

"Don't be frightened Mary," the angel told her, "for God has decided to bless you! You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.  And he will reign over Israel forever, his Kingdom will never end!"  Luke 1:30-33

Mary repsonded, "I am the Lord's servant and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true."   Luke 1:38

"Oh, how I praise The Lord.  How I rejoice in God my Savior!  For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation will call me blessed.  For he, the Mighty One, is holy, and he has done great things for me." Luke 1:46-49

So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there.  He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying, "Lord, now I can die in peace!  As you have promised me, I have seen the Savior you have given to all people.  He is the light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel."

Joseph and Mary were amazed at what was being said about Jesus.  Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, "This child will be rejected by many in Israel and it will be their undoing.  But he will be the greatest joy to many others.  Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.  And a sword will pierce your soul." Luke 2:27-35


Did she know all of the story when she met with the angel who told her she would bear the Son of the Most High and call him Jesus?  She praised the Lord and rejoiced in God her SAVIOR.  But scripture says she was amazed at what was being said by Simeon about her child, Jesus.  Could she fully grasp the meaning of his words in verse 33, "Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.  And a sword will pierce your very soul."

She knew standing at the foot of her son's cross, when Jesus himself acknowledged her standing next to the disciple he loved.  He said, "Woman, he is your son."  And he said to the disciple, "She is your mother."  And from then on this disciple tool her into his home.  John 19:25-27

Mary trusted God enough to bear his son.  She may not have known all of the pieces to the puzzle.  But she had enough faith to know that she made a promise to the Most High and she stood by her words "I am the Lord's servant and I am willing to accept WHATEVER he wants." Luke 1:38.

Aren't you thankful for Mary?  I am.  Today, I ponder her life and her precious walk with the King of Kings, Emmanuel!

Angels

Tonight we had a time of prayer and remembrance for the children and the school workers who lost their lives on Friday.  Amelia and I made 26 angels today and wrote each person's name on an angel.  Tonight we hung them on our tree as a family.

My heart is heavy for parents who lost greatly on Friday.  My heart is heavy for families who Christmas seasons will forever be marked by the death of their loved one.  The best way I know to honor these lost lives is to pray for their families and to remember their loved ones as angels on our family tree.

Matt read the lyrics to O Holy Night before we hung these angels on our tree.  These words seem so fitting for a time like this.

O Holy Night!

The stars are brightly shining,It is the night of our dear Saviours birth;Long lay the world in sin and error pining, 'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;

Fall on your knees,Oh, hear the angels voices!O night divine, O night when Christ was born!O night, O holy night,O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand;So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,Here came the wise men from Orient land.The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,In all our trials born to be our Friend;He knows our need, To our weakness is no stranger. Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;His law is love and His gospel is peace; Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,And in His name all oppression shall cease.Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,Let all within us praise His holy name;Christ is the Lord,Oh, praise His name forever!His powr and glory evermore proclaim!His powr and glory evermore proclaim!

Easy Burlap Christmas Tree Skirt

We have a slim line tree who's home is right beside our patio door.

With 2 little ones and 2 huge dogs, someone is always running in and out.

I needed a tree skirt that could get "messed up"

or a better way to put it....

kid and dog friendly"

So I made this 

Easy Burlap Christmas Tree Skirt

My Favorite Aspects of this skirt....

Less than 30 minutes to make (perfect naptime project)

Less than 10 dollars to make 

If it gets messed up....OH WELL (I can whip out another one)

Kid Friendly

Dog Friendly

HAPPY MOMMY!

You will need:

A long piece of burlap (will really depend on how big of a skirt you need to make)

Scissors

Yarn

Floral Wire (because I did not have a knitting needle)

Cut a super long piece of yarn and tie it to a piece of floral wire

Then start sewing

It does not have to be perfect to be beautiful

"The Nester"

Yours should look like this.

I promise this is not a long project

When you get to the end start cinching it up 

by pulling the string taught through the fabric

Should look nice and tight when you have fully cinched the fabric

Take it over to your tree and start positioning

I tied a knot at the both ends of the burlap string

Then I just fluffed the burlap a bit and made it look nice

View from the top

Yes some of my lights are out.

Gotta get the hubby to find the blown fuse

View from the bottom

Nice, tidy, pretty

and most importantly....

Part of our KID FRIENDLY CHRISTMAS!

Whimsical Gift Bags

My kids and I were invited to a Happy Birthday Jesus party yesterday.  Many thanks to my friend Ashley who hosted a fun kid friendly party.  I took these little treats with me for the mommy friends.

I took a white paper sack and folded the top over

I punched two holes side by side at the top

and secured a pom pom to the top

through the two holes. 

I taped a card to the front...

and there you have it!

Something cute, fun, whimsical, and kid friendly too!

Kid Friendly Christmas Tree

Our tree this year is filled with handmade pom poms, pinwheels and foam reindeer and is draped with colored lights.  Our family tradition is to get a real tree.  I love how each year our tree has different character.  This year is no exception.

In my POM POM Wreath post I told you about my second born chunking an ornament across the room and me scratching our memorable/sentimental ornaments from going on the tree this year.  Here is what we ended up with this Christmas and I must say.....it feels like home!

I made these pinwheels out of scrapbook paper

My kids love them and call them "stars"

No one has attempted to take the "stars" off of the tree!  SCORE!

I bought these foam reindeer at Micheal's years ago.

I found them while cleaning out my closet last year 

and decided to make them an art project for my first born.

The reindeer were a success!

And because I made so many pom poms.....

the tree is adorned with green and white pom poms

Here are a few pics of our tree.

Simple and Kid Friendly.

Someday we will pull out the sentimental ornaments

but for now.....we will enjoy Christmas

with our children!

I linked this post to

http://honeywerehome.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-tree-link-party.html

Christmas Mantel 2012

 For the last few years I have searched high and low for the perfect stocking holders

and......I finally found them!!!!

In my previous post on the POM POM Wreath, I told you that I secured 

them to my "glass wall" with clear M3 hangers.

So the other night while laying in bed, I thought,

"Why not secure clear M3 hangers to the top of my mantel and hang our stockings from them"?

I tried it! 

I LOVE it! 

And I saved a TON of money!

They are easily disguised and will not fall off and hit my kiddos in the head.

To me they are part of a Kid Friendly Christmas!

Yes, each of our doggies have a red stocking.

We LOVE doggies!

My husbands favorite Christmas song is 

O Come O Come Emmanuel.

So I used my cricut to fill in this frame for the Christmas season.

Love the Holy Family under these words.

See...M3 hangers easily hidden

These guys I have had for several years.

I love the way I can bend them to fit the mantel each year. 

I linked this post to

 http://www.tenjuneblog.com/2012/12/rustic-glam-christmas-mantel-mantel.html

Pom Pom Christmas Wreath

This Christmas I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 16 month old. 

Christmas has to be shatterproof and kid friendly.

I unpacked a lot of my Christmas decor to pack it right back up.

Especially after my second born pushed a kitchen chair over to my slimline kitchen tree, 

climbed up on the chair, grabbed an ornament and CHUNKED it across the room.

Thankfully....it was a shatterproof ornament!

That experience led me to making a lot of decorations this season. 

Boys are so different from girls.  My first born was satisfied with a simple 

"No Don't Touch. Just wave Hi to the Tree" last year.  My son....NOT SO MUCH.

Over the next two weeks, I will share with you some of the things I have made

to help get me through this season.  I do miss our memorable ornaments but not enough

to sacrifice them!  I am proud of the whimsical touches of kid friendly items that

mark our Christmas season this year.

Here is one of my first projects.

POM POM Wreath.

I owe all credit to this idea to my sister.  When I saw her at Thanksgiving she was

making POM POMS hand over fist.  I decided to make red, white, and green POM POMs

as well.  And after I made A TON I decided to put some red ones on a wreath.

I thought....if it falls off the wall....it won't break

And....if I don't like it next year....I can take the POMS off  use the wreath for something else.

SO here is the TUTORIAL should you choose to make one of these POM POM WREATHS!

ENJOY!

Supplies: Wreath/Push Pins/Scissors/Yarn

Wrap the yarn around your hand

I wrapped mine around my hand 40 times

Pull the yarn off of your hand and hold together like so

Cut a piece of yarn to tie around the middle of the pom

Here is what your POM should look like after you tie the middle

Slip your scissors up each side of the POM and cut

This is what it looked like after I cut the first side

This is what it looked like after I cut the opposite side

Use a push pin to secure it to your wreath

Here is what it looked like after I secured the first POM

Gather the rest of your POMS and start pinning. 

The number of POMS you will need will depend on the size

of the POMS you make.  The smaller your POMS the more

it will take to cover the wreath

First, I pinned a front layer of POMS around the front of the wreath 

Then I pinned a top layer of POMS around the top of the wreath 

Then I pinned an inside layer of POMS around the inside layer of the wreath

Here is my end result.  You may have to trim a little

once you get your wreath made.

I made two wreaths and hung them on two glass windows

that separate my living room from my sunroom/playroom.

I secured them to the glass with clear plastic M3 hangers.

They are great touch to our home

and best of all.....

ARE SHATTER PROOF!

ENJOY!

Let me know if you end up making one!

I Shared this post over at......
http://www.thenester.com/2012/12/the-best-christmas-diys-and-crafts-ever.html