DYI Christmas Cards

This year, I had the brilliant (yeah right!) idea of making my own Christmas cards.  I don't know why I got it into my head that I would have time to be crafty, but once I started, I was committed until the bitter end.  Since Adam and I could not send our Save the Dates this Fall, we agreed that a Christmas card that doubled as a Save the Date was the perfect solution.

For my Christmas cards, I used card stock, envelopes included, that I had purchased at Hobby Lobby for practically nothing.  I had a couple different patterns of Christmas scrapbook paper that I cut into small rectangles.  Add a little ribbon and a little sparkle, and you've got a Christmas card!  

For the inside of the card, I had a stamped message and a candy cane.  Super easy.

Adam and I found the perfect template this summer to make our own Save the Dates.  We held off printing them until we were sure we had the perfect picture.  Once our engagement photos were in, we added our favorite to the template, printed them on photo paper, and added adhesive magnetic sheets to the back.  

$9.99 at Hobby Lobby.  I was able to fit about 22 per sheet.

Now our family and friends will have a cute little magnet to put on their fridge : )

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving this year was such a wonderful experience,and I was so disappointed that I never made a post about it! So here it is, less than a week away from Christmas, and I'm still stuck on Thanksgiving.

This was mine and Adam's first Thanksgiving together. We flew out of Little Rock on Wednesday to spend the holiday with my great Aunt Kay and Uncle Greg.  Their holiday dinner is always so special. Kay has had me make a different cranberry sauce each year. Y'all, this year's cranberry sauce was unlike any other. I think she heard about this recipe on NPR and found an article in the local paper as well. The recipe called for grated cranberries and onion, sour cream, horseradish, and a bit of sugar.  No, you read that correctly.  Horseradish and cranberries.  Sounds strange, doesn't it? It was actually really good! And its color had a striking resemblance to Pepto Bismol.

On thanksgiving day, I had the honor of preparing the turkey. This was my first time, and I think it turned out rather well!  Instead of getting up super early, we cranked the oven up to a high temperature and roasted the turkey a little over an hour-and-a-half.  Yes, it was done all the way through, and it was soooo moist!

Adam was in charge of the greenbeans. Don't they look yummy?

The day after thanksgiving, while the rest of the world is doing their Black Friday shopping, we were packing the car with boxes of china and heading to the historic town of Rugby. Kay puts on this amazing tea every year as a fundraiser for the Rugby Historic Society. Adam and I got to help put on this grand event. We decorated a whole army of gingerbread men for the holiday tea!

I failed to take pictures of the actual tea event.....I guess I assumed I had enough pictures from previous years.  

This year, we had 40 people show up for High Tea.

I have just now discovered the Blogger App for iPhone, so maybe I will be posting less sporadically now : )

Happy Holidays!

When in Doubt, Pinkies Out!

Last year, my friend Sarah and I started a new tradition:  a Holiday tea party with our Little Sisters.  Sarah and I are in the Big Brother Big Sister program.  The party was such a success last year that we decided to do it again, complete with our finest china, over-the-top-hats, British accents, and almost-burnt scones.  This year we expanded our guest list.  The more the merrier!
This year, we even had the added bonus of accordion accompaniment. Have you ever sung Christmas carols with an accordion? It's quite the experience--you should never pass on it if you get the opportunity : )