[Christmas round up]

It truly has been the most wonderful time of the year for me. With cookie-exchange parties for hosting and caramel apple cider for toasting and caroling around in the car (albeit a little too late on Christmas Eve....oops), I could not have asked for a better Christmas.

We didn't travel anywhere this season because of Jon's work so I tried to get in the holiday spirit by hosting a cookie-exchange party. It was both delightful and delicious. I made Martha's Tree-Sandwich Cookies (found in the 2008 Handmade Christmas special issue). I only managed to get pics pre-sandwiching but they were loads of fun (Little A went nuts poking holes into the trees with a straw) as well as scrumptious (I used nutella as a filling as well as a friends' homemade pomegranate jam...yummy).

I also managed to finish up the boys stockings...just in the nick of time, of course. Inspired by a wee wonderfuls embroidery pattern I had seen a few years ago, I decided to make my own version using a couple of my illustrations. Little A LOVED that he was a reindeer and Baby O is often called O-bear, so his was a polar bear.

And in the spirit of up-to-the-last-minute, I made pajama bottoms for the boys (I will finish the tops..someday) and the boys were as cute as ever. I had so many other crafty Christmas ideas that will have to wait until next year. I decided it was OK to let some things go and just to enjoy the time with my family. I didn't even go crazy with the wrapping (talk about some serious restraint). I was so relaxed on Christmas day and enjoyed every minute of it. My brother was in town and we did visit aunts, uncles and cousins after opening gifts so we were not completely by ourselves, which made things all the merrier.

Jon gave me some incredible gifts that I can't wait to share with you all in a gift post that will be coming soon. In the mean time I'm going to catch some z's and start making my New Year lists...

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas as well and our enjoying time with loved ones!

[our colorful...]

For one of our advent activities we made a Christmas village (OK so we only have one house done) out of old cracker boxes, butcher paper, permanent and prismacolor markers.

I sketched a loose drawing on the house and Little A had a magical time coloring it in. He's just at the right age to really get into it and I loved watching him. He was especially into coloring in the individual roof tiles and continually asks to draw on his house.

It's been an ongoing project and the house gets more colorful each day we get closer to Christmas.

We ended up placing it behind our little nativity (and vintage bias tape trees) where I think it fits perfectly. It's a scene that makes me happy every time I walk by, reminding me of all the wonderful things about Christmas.

Like you, I've got a lot to fit in this week and will try and post what I'm doing as much as possible. I can't believe the days are counting down so fast! The Christmas season always go by much too fast and we're trying to enjoy every little moment we can.

[knee deep in...]

I'm swimming in wrappings and trimmings and loving every minute of it. Never mind that I was a half an hour late to the Christmas book club party (my sitter was stuck in a Cosco line for 20 min!) or that after giddily wrapping up my book for the giveaway I ended up driving around for another half an hour trying to find the home of the host (my GPS wouldn't register the address). Never mind that I gave up when it was time to put the littles to bed.

I tried not to think about how I would not be able to talk about one of my favorite classics, Jane Eyre. No comparing Mr. Rochester to Mr. Darcy (Mr. Rochester totally wins. Swoon....). No memorable discussion about the admirable character and moral of Miss Eyre. No commiserating over the the hero and heroin's heartache. No talk or drooling over the new all-time favorite cinematic Masterpiece Theater representation of the novel (I made Jon stay up all night watching it with me-they nailed the characters so well! Top of the Christmas list for sure). No, none of these things can bother me for long. I have a pretty package. An additional gift for my list. And many more pretty papers, ribbons and tags to immerse myself in. I'm happy. Christmastime is here. And having it ushered in by Mr. Rochester and little Jane Eyre...well, what more can I ask for?

[the wait is over]

OK, so now the dolls are really in the shop...no really...they are there. And because I've taken such a silly long time to get them there I'm offering up another sale!!
Purchase a little mod rag doll and bring home a print or your choice for free. Just enter the code MODDOLLS and mention which print you want in a message and I'll be sure to ship it off along with your new little darling. The sale will go on all weekend and dolls will ship in time for Christmas (can I just say they make the cutest stocking stuffers!).

(a big thanks to my mini mod models, Little Lucy and Camilla!)

[random...]

I've had a magazine clipping of an advent calendar in my Christmas "genious files" that I have adored for some time. This year I decided that it was time to make one of my own. I also wanted to do something a little different to count down the days. Instead of just goodies (which will definitely be in there on some days) I wanted to add a few small token gifts.

Some of these would be physical gifts, but most would be gifts of self. This year I really wanted us to try to bring the Christmas spirit into our home by giving of ourselves and our time. Each day a member of our family will get something. Most will be simple things, such a kiss under the mistle toe or cuddle on the couch with hot chocolate and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Others will be more involved such as foot rubs and a trip to the Marina del Ray Holiday Boat Parade.

I made little cards that fit into each pocket, waiting to deliver an act designed to bring a smile to the face and a bit of holiday cheer.

If you too are interested in doing something similar I've made these cards available for you to download. Just click here and get started. (You can of course also use these for gift tags, address labels, etc).

I'll let you know how this little idea turns out. Hopefully our month will be bursting with love, magic, excitement and adventure.