The merriest

We had a merry Christmas.

The merriest in fact.

I got my wish...SNOW. Not a lot, but enough to feel all Christmasy.

                                             the night before writing a letter to santa

                                       getting the fireplace ready for the big guy's arrival

And the boys proved that if you stay on the nice list it can be very rewarding.......

..........thanks Elfie ;)

And the aftermath, which I love and actually have a hard time cleaning up.

It was a beautiful day spent celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Tomorrow: thrifty finds, sneak peeks and guesting :)

Christmas spirit

Have you had your seasonal dose of Christmas spirit?

I've had several.


One of which might as well have been wrapped in paper and tied with a big bow...because it is the best gift I will receive this year.


We went out to eat and look at Christmas lights.


And in the distance heard a train.



A Polar Express train to be exact.


And with that we revealed the surprise, changed the boys into new Christmas p.j.'s and climbed aboard.



A ride FILLED with Christmas magic.


Tickets please, tickets.


All the sugar cookies and hot chocolate you could ever want.








We read the book. Listened to the music. Sang carols.



One of the funniest parts of the ride was when we passed santa's toy shop. The elves were taking a break and doing jumps, cartwheels and handstands. Aven turned to us and said,"They need to get back to work!"


Cracked up the whole cart.


We drove thru a beautiful display of Christmas lights...and then...the grand finale.


The big man.




The first gifts of Christmas were passed out.





And then repeatedly thrown to the ground by this little guy.



We stepped off the train with bellies full of cocoa and cookies and hearts filled with Christmas excitement....and then...

..it started to snow.


Ok.

It was fake snow.


But to them it was as real as...well...the ride they had just taken to the North Pole.



And as far as I'm concerned...that's as real as it gets. :)

Bonus

Here's a little bonus for you.

In Freehand Scraps December kit is a great piece of plaid patterned paper by October Afternoon. It's not actually from a Christmas line, but I thought it could work for gift tags just fine :)

I used my Slice and cut tags from kraft paper and then cut several different icons using the Fa La La design card. I planned on making just one tag. hee hee! I made 9! Couldn't stop--they were so fun!

Typed some sentiments after I used Maya Road Mist in metallic emerald and then put them together with a few embellishments from my stash.

I love how they all look together.

It won't be hard to give these tags away, especially since I plan to only attach them to presents of friends I know will appreciate the effort! :D I found some black and white houndstooth wrapping paper that I think will match lovely.

Speaking of matching....

how cute are these two?

I thought they went well with the Christmas plaid tags I had going on ;)

Give

This month's kit from Freehand Scraps is just too pretty for words.

So I'll let my layouts do the talking ;)

I must confess, this is not the picture that was suppose to go on this layout. I have only a few photos of me from when I was young, 2 of which are in frilly, girly dresses. Either dress photo would have worked, and yet, and I couldn't find either one :( I thought about using a newborn photo of one of the boys in black and white, but I really wanted a photo with a more vintage feel. So this...is my husband :) Isn't he a cutey?

This layout was just fun. No rhyme or reason. Just playing with paint and paper. I cut the camera shape using my Slice and I loved how the chipboard button fit right in. I knew once I saw those frames I would paint some and "hang" them from thread. Appropriate I thought since I am confessing my love of taking pics with my instant camera.

And what december kit would be complete with out a december layout? This was the pic I used for our Christmas cards last year, and as I have confessed in the past I haven't scrapped a whole lot of holiday photos. In fact, bedsides Aven's birthday photo from last month's gallery, this is the first! I like that it's traditional colors in a bit of a funky way. I added a few buttons, jingle bells and a bit of twine from my stash to complete it. And this years Starbuck's seasonal cup sleeves are exceptionally awesome. I knew there was a reason I saved EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. ;)

Finally a card. I do believe if given the opportunity I could make fabric yo-yos all day long. Instead, I just made one and added the girlfriends looking button to the center.

Don't forget to head to the gallery for more inspiration!