New Year Decorations

Jack was still on a "Christmas High" after we put away the Christmas decorations. (I take everything down the day after Christmas.) And even though he didn't have clear idea of what New Year's Eve, Happy New Year, etc... actually meant, he still ran around shouting "Happy New Year!!!" (really loud). So I decided we needed festive New Year decorations. I went by the Dollar Tree and they had a few gold and silver decorations that I thought would be a good jumping off spot. I was a little burned out on red and green. And I knew I wanted to use live cedar and pine, so I put John on that. I mean, he was already out in the woods hunting so why not put him to work?

I used my mercury glass vases on the table with silver snow flakes, pine, cedar and pine cones. John made a haul down at the farm. I had enough cedar and pine to start my own forest.

I wish my mercury glass showed up a little better in these pictures because I love it. They will be on my table for months to come.

This is our buffet. I found the gold/silver hats, garland and horns at the Dollar Tree. It's such a fun place to pick up inexpensive pieces to mix with things I already have.

I filled my jars with silver present packing tinsel. I'm not sure of the proper name, but you know what I'm talking about. It's like thicker, shorter tinsel. Then I hung gold snow flakes from the top of each one.

I believe these candle holders were left over from my sister's wedding many moons ago, but they are perfect! The tiles are gold, silver and copper. And I hung a gold snow flake from each lamp.

I placed a few silver and gold horns throughout the garland... and there you have it! John and Jack continue to think my decorations are festive and that's why I do it. Now I've got to start getting my Valentine decorations down from the attic. I have a lot of ideas so I better get going.

New Year's Day and Eve

The last day of 2011 was a fun day. A full day of family and friends. Our little family of three began the day by loading up and heading to French Camp to have lunch with family. If your ever in that area, stop by the Council House for lunch. It's good!!

Harrison showing his cute shoes to Uncle Ralph.

Jack and Papa walking around picking up sticks and black walnuts. They have an inside eating area and a wonderful outside area. This day was very nice, so we all ate outside. They have a huge yard perfect for playing and exploring.

It was a little windy at times. So we loaned Harrison Jack's Buzz Lightyear hat to cover those cute little ears.

Isn't this tree beautiful? That's fern growing all over the upper branches.

We made it home just in time to unload, change clothes, re-load, and head to the Kimbrough's for dinner and fire works.

Dinner was delicious, but I think the kids (and maybe the adults) enjoyed the fire works the most. What is it about fire works that make adults act like kids?

Pretty girl!

Keeton decided to watch from a safe distance.

Jack! And beautiful mom-to-be Mindy in the back ground. Next year baby Riley will be right there with us.

The entire day was the perfect way to ring out the old and bring in the new!

Finding Scout

Along with Christmas, Jack was also much more aware of Scout, our Elf on the Shelf. Jack really enjoyed waking up every morning and looking for him. And he would be sure to tell us that if we touched him his magic would go. Most mornings, Jack still wakes up asking about Scout. We tell him that he flew back to the North Pole, then Jack will say, "We'll see him next year". We love our elf very much.

I wanted to try and get a picture of Scout everyday, in each new location. It didn't happen! But here a few pictures I did manage to get.

Several mornings, Scout showed up with a gift for Jack. Pj's, candy, balloons, a book. Our elf is very thoughtful.

Our elf cheers for the Dawgs!!

One morning we woke up to catch him driving a tractor of livestock across our kitchen.

He would write Jack notes.

Our Christmas tree was a favorite spot.

Riding Bullseye.

And best of all, Scout loves Jesus!

An early stocking stuffer.

And maybe his favorite spot of all...Jack's graham cracker house!!

Crafty Christmas

The month of December, I had a different "crafty" activity planned for Jack each week. Two of which I forgot to take pictures of before I boxed them up. So below are some of what we did. I even managed to sneak in one or two for myself.

In November, Jack and I checked out a book at the library called "The Candy Maker's Gift". It's about a grandfather who creates the candy cane as a gift for his granddaughter to help teach her, and her friends, about Christ. We all really enjoyed the book. In the back, it gave the spiritual meaning behind each individual part of the candy cane. So, we decided to make a candy cane tree for our foyer. One morning, Jack and I strapped on our rubber boots and went for a walk in the woods behind our house. We found a couple of nice branches to use for our tree and sprayed painted them white. We typed and printed out each meaning and mounted them to red paper. We went to the Dollar Tree and found the perfect plastic candy canes. We were now ready to decorate. When we were finished, we decided to put a small vase filled with edible candy canes next to it for visitors to take one home with them. And below is the finished product. We have decided to keep it out for a while longer. Everyday of the year is a good day to learn more about Christ!!

On a trip to Tupelo, to visit Nicole and Harrison, we were all out shopping (hard to believe I know). In a cute gift shop, we came across this piece of wood that someone had painted "Me and My Elf " on and had glued this industrial paper clip to. There was no glass, no real "frame", but the idea was really cute. They wanted $25 for this chunk of wood and paper clip. I knew I could come home and make exactly what I wanted for much less than $25. And I was able to put Jack and Scout's name on it. (You would not have been able to do that on the $25 one). I made mine for less than $5. We love it! Jack got a big kick out of it. I LOVE finding something in a store and trying to make it at home for less.

And one night, we made our take on the "Ginger Bread House". I knew I didn't want to buy a kit, because I knew we wouldn't use half of the stuff in it. I knew I didn't want us to use the icing to hold it together, because I had been hearing the horror stories of people trying to make it all adhere together. So we used graham crackers and a glue gun. John and Jack had no idea we were getting into this after dinner one night. I constructed the house that afternoon, while Jack took his nap. I hid the house and all of the decorations in the guest room and surprised them after we finished eating. They were both so excited. I let them have at it while I took pictures. I think they did a great job!!

Our house in the making.

The graham crackers and glue gun worked like magic. It took maybe 10 minutes to put this together. I think this would be a great way to make several for a group of kids to decorate.

Our decorations.

Looking Good!!

My mom, knowing I was going to do this, brought us some goodies. One thing she brought was a chocolate candy shaped like a Christmas tree. We stuck it to the platter with a huge puddle of icing. Jack decided it needed to be snowed capped, so he put icing on top. It really looked cute.

Eating the leftover decorations.

Jack's first "graham cracker" house.

I will tell you that the Creamy Frosting really worked great on our house. It spreads really easy. I didn't want something that Jack might have to apply too much pressure to and crack the house. It dried quickly and every piece of candy stayed on.