2011 Peace Ornament...

...we're still packing like crazy around here...pretty soon we'll be living out of boxes...

...but I couldn't let the Christmas season pass without making an ornament...or two...or three...to commemorate the year...right?...

...so I sketched out my design...and then went in search of materials...and found these sort of particle board pieces already cut into neat squares in the garage (which we're in the process of cleaning and packing up by the way)...I have no idea what they were used for...but they were here when we moved in...and they were about to be thrown away...there's a whole stack of them...

...so I lined up 4 and traced my pattern on the top one...I think 4 is about the limit I can easily cut through with my coping saw...

...then we also had a couple of tubes of caulk that were about to be thrown out too...and I thought I could use that for some dimensional effects...

...I just squirted a bunch onto the wooden ornament and smoothed it with my fingers...

...then I gave them a quick coat of white primer...and painted the little dimensional cap silver...

...next I painted the body of the ornament blue...

...even the back...

...then with a dry brush...I lightly brushed on some walnut stain...for a little antique-y effect...

...then back to the tube of caulk for some snowflakes...I made a pattern of dots...

...and then using a straight pin...I pulled the caulk to the middle to connect them...

...then I wrote 'Peace' on them (my favorite Christmas word)...

...gave them a quick coat of high gloss...

...sprinkled on some glitter...

...and they were done...

...except for the hanger...which I hot glued to the back...

...it's just a circle of beading wire...

...and now they're done...

...you can win one here...

...Peace be with you this Christmas...

SEW~MAMA~SEW GIVEAWAY DAY!

...it's time once again for the Sew~Mama~Sew Giveaway day...

..Up for grabs we have a few of this year's Peace ornaments...

...I'll post a tutorial tomorrow too...

...Just:

1) Leave a comment below:

- you can say anything really - but one of the tips at Sew~Mama~Sew was for me to give you a suggestion...what was the theme of your favorite ever Christmas ornament?...obviously mine is 'Peace'...

or for a couple of extra entries - I know you're busy visiting a bunch of giveaways today - you can also:

2) Become a follower...or leave another comment saying you're already a follower...
3) Post about the giveaway on your blog...
4) Tweet or Facebook...

I will ship internationally and I'll choose the winner randomly!

Very best wishes to you all!

...AND THEN for a chance to WIN an awesome Digital Scrapbooking Suite from My Memories...CLICK HERE!

My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway...

...this is my first ever commercial giveaway...

...and you know that I would never do that for a product that I didn't absolutely love!...

My Memories offered to give me a copy of their digital scrapbooking software...AND...a copy to give to one of my readers...

...y'all know how cautious I am about online offers...but I clicked on their link and had a look-see at their software...and I was so impressed that I replied yes...downloaded the software and gave it a try...

...and...let me tell you...it was so easy...

...I really didn't think that I would ever become a digital scrapbooker...I've been scrapbooking with scissors and paper for years...but I'm afraid I may be hooked...this was just TOO EASY...and the results...well...I'll let you see for yourself...

...I got started right away with one of their templates...so easy...

...I changed the colours...they have lots to choose from...and different patterned papers as well...I'm doing the Grand Canyon trip...so I'm using mostly desert colours...I love it!...

...uploading and cropping the pictures couldn't have been easier...

...I loved the layout...and it was so easy to add text too...

...I've only been working on this scrapbook about 10 minutes and I have THREE pages done already...

...a few more clicks and another page is done...

...all of the pages are available at the bottom for easy editing too...

...another page complete...easie...peasie...

...next...I went back to their site and downloaded a bunch of free templates...and played with those for a few minutes...

...in no time at all I had created a pretty family Christmas card...sadly we've not taken our family Christmas photo yet this year...but it's super simple to insert a photo...

...and I just couldn't stop there...I downloaded some free Christmas tags and printed those out...this is so much fun!...

...I am so impressed with My Memories Suite software...

...If you've been wanting to try digital scrapbooking software this is your chance...

...BUT WAIT...there's even more...you can use this coupon code STMMMS45453 for an extra $10 off of anything on their site...


For your first chance to win:

1) Visit - just choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout, then come back and comment on which ones you chose...

...and for a couple of extra entries...you can...

2) Become a follower...or leave another comment saying you're already a follower...
3) Post about the giveaway on your blog...
4) Tweet or Facebook...

I will choose a winner randomly next Friday!

Tweet

GIVEAWAY DAY!

...it's coming...and of course I'll be participating...

...somehow...I've missed out on all the hype this year...it should really be a lot of fun!...

...come back Monday for the big Giveaway!...

...also...you can enter the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway...it runs through next Friday...

...Yellow Christmas Cactus...

...it's still really cold and frosty here...and the windows are still frosted...but the sun is shining...

...you've seen my Christmas Cactus before...it's the regular red variety...

...recently one of our parishioners gave us another Christmas Cactus...and it's YELLOW...

...and it's blooming...just in time for Christmas...

...I've never seen a yellow Christmas Cactus...have you?

Hospice Tree Lighting...

...we went to the hospital...

...and stood out in the cold...

...to participate in the Hospice Tree Lighting again this year...the Man did the readings...

...we lit our candles...

...and sang a song...

...this is a lovely and very meaningful...one of the lights on the tree was for Daddy...

...Here and Now...

...we've dipped into the negative numbers as far as temperatures go for the first time this year...-3° F = -19.4° C...

...the windows are frosted...and we're bracing for a really chilly day...

...O Christmas Tree...O Christmas Tree...

...well, I'm certainly a little bit behind...but on December 1st, we finally did get our tree decorated...

...I think this is the only year that we haven't done the tree the day after Thanksgiving...although we did buy it that day...and it was perfuming the house with Christmas-y scent since then...but with all the packing going on we just didn't get it decorated...it's just sort of hard to pull things out of boxes...when you're trying to put things into boxes...

...we have a picture like this of Scout every year...since he was two I think...he's been putting the topper on the tree...of course then he was supported by his Papa...oh...the sweet memories of Christmases past...

...we're really trying to keep things simple (even more so than usual) this Christmas...as we try to get things packed and ready to go to West Virginia amid all of the usual Advent busy-ness...but, we keep accepting invitations...as we know how important all of the good-byes are...so the packing sometimes gets pushed to the middle of the night...and that's sort of fun too...as the Man and I talk quietly while Scout sleeps...and discuss plans for our new home as we're packing...

...New Socks...

...I just realized that I'd not ever shown you these completed socks when I put them on this morning...

...they've been finished for a while...and I've already worn them a couple of times...they go really well with jeans and a lime green sweater my Mom gave me a couple of years ago...

...they're pretty short anklets...and I should have made them taller as I have lots of yarn left over...oh well...

...I still love them and with this melange of colours they will go with just about anything...

...I've started packing the craft supplies so I'm not sure I'll be doing much more knitting before we move...I think I'll just keep out some cotton and make dishcloths...I don't want to start any big complicated projects until after we move...

...and of course I've been searching the web for yarn shops in our new hometown...found a couple too...YAY!

...Happy Chaos...

...that's what's going on with LYO lately...as we near the end of the year...

...we're getting ready for our annual Christmas Caroling Cookie Delivery trip...

...so we gathered in the kitchen to bake some cookies...

..it was loud and warm and lots of fun...

...we made peppermint cake balls too...

...that was new for this year...and the kids had a lot of fun with it...

...we had quite the assembly line going...

...from mixing to baking to cooling...

...and we rotated the 1st years out of the assembly line briefly to make their shirts...we used the same freezer paper stenciling that we've used before...

...and then everyone got to rotate out and make a Christmas card to attach to the cookies...

...we just used a simple stamp and the kids each coloured it in...

...I am going to miss this group of kids SO MUCH!...we've had a lot of fun together...

...Search and Rescue Presents...

...WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CAR GOES INTO THE WATER...

...some very nice gentlemen from the local Search and Rescue did a presentation at our church on just that...

...cars go into the water here 5 or 6 times a year on average...and it's just a good thing to be prepared...or at least have some idea of what you would do in that emergency...it could happen anywhere...remember I-35W...

...they showed us the equipment they use to get to a car under the water...and often under the ice as well...YIKES!...

...some of their advice surprised me...

...did you know?

...your electric windows and door locks WILL almost certainly still work even under the water...

...you should leave your seatbelt fastened so that you won't get disoriented if the car turns upside down...things will still be where you expect them to be if you're fastened in your seat...

...roll down your window or open your door...as you probably won't be able to hold your breath until the pressure equalizes enough so that you will be able to open the door from the inside...

...when you get out of the car you probably won't be able to see...and it might be difficult to determine which way is up...so let a couple of bubbles of air out of your mouth and follow those up to the surface...

...here are a couple of videos:

Inside a Sinking Car

Mythbusters Sinking Car

Mythbusters Sinking Car Episode

Mythbusters Inverted Car Underwater - Multiple Parts

...anywhoo...scary stuff...

...they gave us one of the little glass breaking seatbelt cutting tools...cool...
...you just have to put it somewhere that it won't move around if the car flips...and then remember where it is and not to panic...

...Be Prepared...Stay Safe...