Christmas Tour of Homes 2009

I'm joining the Christmas tour of homes this year with just a few hours to spare!  Last year I missed the big day and had to post my own version later, but this year I'm making the official cut...even if just barely!!

So without further delay, Welcome to our home...

Our Front Door and my wreath that says "Hope" in the middle.  I chose that because it reminds me of the hope that we have in the birth of our Savior.

My little snowman that I've had from our very first Christmas together.

"Let it Snow" has a whole new meaning now that we live in Minnesota!

I love to spruce up what we've already got going on at Christmas time.  I added some candles and red beaded wreaths to this piece of furniture, right inside our door.

I demo-ed these at my Christmas decorating talk.  They are so easy and cute...

It's just a canning jar with a layer of sand, coffee beans, and a red candle.  I tied a little raffia around the neck and there you go!  Easy.  These are great to put outside, on your porch or down your sidewalk.  They are cheap luminaries and safe...you can use tealights inside, but I like to choose a contained candle in a little glass jar.  I just slip it in there.

My kitchen sink.  No window, so thus the shelf :) The "blessings" banner is really from Thanksgiving, but I love it so much and it goes with the colors in my kitchen, so I think I'll keep it up.

I love those mini trees!

I put this picture up every year near my sink.  It is so Travis!  He loves to ski and this picture is from a trip he took a few years ago.

These little ornaments are actually place card holders, but I keep them on the top of my stove.

And I always put that Christmas frame out with the little Christmas mouse and my holiday mugs.  I think I'll have to swap the picture out this year though for one of Ava instead!

More of those candles on my tower, looking into our kitchen.

I bought this Church a couple of years ago and it's one of my favorite things to put out.

We don't have a mantle, so this counter in between our kitchen and living room is what we use to hang our stockings.

Our stocking holders.  We've had them for a few years, and I would like to upgrade them soon :)

Our stockings and Ava's first one!  Trav and I bought these our first Christmas

 together, but I have my eye on some from Pottery Barn that I'm planning to get after Christmas.  Ava's is from Pottery Barn Kids.  Next year we'll get her a monogrammed one.

And yes, Ryley has a stocking too :)

Doesn't every family dog have one??

Because we have an artificial tree, I always like to make some arrangements with fresh greens to put around.  I LOVE the way fresh greens smell and red roses at Christmas are my favorite.

Our sole Christmas pillow.

Sometimes I have to read this a few times during the day to remind me not to be crabby!

Candles, candles and more candles across our entertainment center.

Our tree.

A little wreath hanging from a hook.

I usually have my Nativity on our table as our centerpiece, but because I bought fresh greens this weekend, I decided to make a fresh centerpiece too.

And I added candles.

Can you tell red is my theme??

My Nativity, which is my favorite decoration of all.  I love having a candle-lit dinner around it all season.

Everything else is fun, but Jesus is the reason for the season!

And just because I thought I'd keep it real...here is what our living room looks like most days!!  Far from perfect, but we love the mess still.  So thankful to have a little one this year to shake our world up!

Merry Christmas from the Armstrongs!Thanks for stopping by!!

Joy, Unspeakable Joy!

Look at this cutie!  She discovered the dishwasher yesterday...

Whew!  After too much time spent worrying, this weekend is happily behind me!  My Christmas brunch demo went perfectly, better than I'd hoped.   Thank you for praying for me!  I felt those prayers from the minute I woke up on Saturday.  I was at peace all morning and I had such a good time with all the sweet ladies that came out.  I've heard some good feedback about it, which is a blessing to my soul.  Through all my prep time I kept praying that the Lord would give me clarity and the ability to explain what I was doing, well.  It's not easy to show a crowd of people how to do something, while demonstrating it and speaking coherently!  But He was gracious and good to me and He definitely allowed me to fly through everything without any problems, what a relief!  I've heard from a few women who told me they were "inspired" after the morning and even went home and tried some of my ideas.  Music to my ears!  I must have second-guessed myself a thousand times over the last month, so I'm glad to know something was helpful to someone :) Thank you sweet friends for interceding on my behalf....The Lord answered all those prayers and gave me a wonderful morning!

Because the Brunch was the first thing on my mind this weekend, we realized yesterday that we didn't have any plans for the rest of our day and night!  Amazing....that was the best gift of all!  After some much needed naps for all three of us, we spent the rest of they day playing with Ava and enjoying her.  Do you know what I mean by "enjoying" her?  It was just one of those days when our hearts were overwhelmed with the reality of the gift we've been given in her.  She makes us laugh constantly and keeps us so entertained.  She is such a delight to our lives, such a source of joy!  Ever since we went to the Chris Tomlin concert last week, I've had the line "joy, unspeakable joy!!" in my head from one of his songs.  It just captures how I feel this Christmas so perfectly.  God has been faithful to us, faithful to me and I am filled with His joy because of it.

After we put Ava to bed last night, Travis asked me if I wanted to watch a Christmas movie with him.  I'm so quick to say no to movies, because it always kills me to "waste" two hours sitting, when I see a thousand things around me "to do." But last night I said yes and it was the best "date" we've had in awhile!  We sat by the glow of the Christmas tree, chocolate in hand, wrapped in a blanket and watched my favorite movie, "White Christmas."  It was heavenly.  At one point, I looked around, closed my eyes and just took in the abundant blessings in my life...

An incredible husband who loves me.

A precious baby, asleep in the next room.

A darling dog, curled up at our feet.

A warm and cozy home.

A good marriage...

And once again those words ran through my mind...

"Joy, unspeakable Joy!"

God is so good, sometimes I forget to stop and tell Him how grateful I am.  But not last night.
Last night I went to bed a very content and thankful woman.  One day, life will change and this particular season will only be a memory that I carry in my heart.  But for now, it's a gift from the Lord and I don't want to miss it.
He's so faithful and I love Him so much.

I've Been Spammed...

I suppose it was time for me to fall victim to blog spam after 3 years.  I have avoided it for this long, but I think my honeymoon may be over.  In case you haven't noticed, I've been left the most random and unfortunately icky, comments lately. The ones that appear to be written in Korean, lead to porn, so do not click on those.  The one about making money in some business venture is a scam.  And most recently, the one in which I'm called a "sexy lady", also porn.  But I'm not going to lie, if you'd all like to refer to me as a "sexy lady" from now on, it will most likely make me smile and send me into a fit of giggles.  As has already happened today.  When I was in Costco.  By myself.  Hysterically laughing.

I checked my email on my phone and read the weird comment from the English Escort, calling me a "sexy lady" and proceeded to laugh (out loud) to myself for a full 5 minutes.  Embarrassing, isn't it??  I'm pretty sure multiple people looked at me with a puzzled look that screamed, "What is your deal lady??"  I should have corrected them..."What is your deal, sexy lady?"

Ha ha ha...not sure why that strikes me as so funny, but it does!

However, I have now enabled the word verification thing on my comments, so we'll see if that helps.  I'm hoping to avoid the comment moderation thing...I do not need one more thing to manage in my life, but if I keep getting these then I'm afraid it's in my future! Anyway, thanks for the non-porn, encouraging and sweet comments about my thing tomorrow.  I'm actually quite excited about it today and have spent much of my day praying about it.  I know it will be fun.

We are twiddling our thumbs this afternoon, trying to decide what we want to do with Ava this weekend.  We have a rare opportunity to do something with just the three of us, so we're brainstorming about any traditions we want to start.  I know, she doesn't know any better this year, but we do and we're anxious to start something anyway!  So, whatever it is, I'm sure there will be pictures taken.

Hope you have a Happy Friday...

From one "sexy lady" to another!!

Anxious.

Today I spent the majority of my day at Church.  On Saturday, I am speaking at the Women's Christmas Brunch at our Church, doing a little demo on Christmas decorating.  Today I spent most of my day setting up for it.  It isn't a big deal.  It really isn't.  There's nothing hard about doing it, nothing I haven't done before.  But my nerves are telling me otherwise...

I just told Travis a few minutes ago, I have these moments of panic that come over me in waves and make me want to throw up.  Or just cry.  I think crying would somehow make me feel better.  It isn't that I regret saying "yes" to it or that I feel unprepared, just woefully inadequate.  Do you know that feeling?  I start questioning myself and my every decision.  I imagine the nicest ladies, giving me the meanest looks and saying things like, "She is so boring and her ideas are so lame..."  Seriously, what is that??

A few nights ago, I confessed to Travis that I wasn't sleeping well because I can't stop thinking about this thing.  I just want it to be over.  So, like a good husband, he rolled over and put his arm around me and then prayed for me.  Which then simultaneously made me cry and made me feel better :) He reminded me of a nice little saying our Senior Pastor said to him, before he preached at our Church a couple of years ago.  He told Travy not to think of them as "a crowd to be feared but rather a family to be loved."  I never knew that until 2 nights ago, but I like it.  It's true.  There will be lots of women Saturday morning that I dearly love.  Women with sweet faces who won't give me mean looks.  They will smile back at me and make me feel secure about what I'm doing.  I know this.  But for some reason, I have a hard time remembering it when my anxiety comes creeping in...Or roaring in.  Whatever the case.

I know I'll be fine.  I know I'll probably even have fun.  But if you think of it, would you pray for me??  Between this brunch this weekend and a wedding I have next Saturday, I am more than a little stressed.  And I hate to be stressed during Christmas.  Especially when it's Ava's first one...

But, alas, I'm stressed.  And tired.  And hungry.  And sick of hearing the music from Super Mario Bros. coming from our living room.

Is it Saturday yet???

Need a New Computer??

We do!! In the worst way actually.  Check out this giveaway contest on Kelly's blog.  I hope I win, but if I don't, I hope you do!!  Good luck :)

Anybody Feel Like A Snack??

Hmmm...I think I'm feeling kind of hungry.

Is that my tummy rumbling??

I think I have an idea...

Yep, it's a good idea!

Hey Mom, do you want to know what my idea is?

Daddy thinks it's a good idea...

And I'm sure you will too...

I'm just so excited!!

Here we go...

I love my toes!!  They just taste so good every time!

HoLiDaY HoW-To: BoWs!!

I promised a bow tutorial, so here you go!  I hope this helps, I've broken it down, step by step and picture by picture so that you can follow along and try it yourself!  I'll show you two kinds of bows you can make for your trees, or wreaths, or anything really.  My advice is to scroll through the pictures first, before you read the step by step instructions.  That will help give you a whole picture of what in the world I'm explaining!

The first one is a traditional bow, like the one pictured below...

I think the best way to explain this is for you to think of a bow like the letter X.  

Picture the top half of the bow (and X) like the left loops and the right loops and the bottom of the bow (and X) like the left tails and the right tails.  Make sense?  I'll explain...

The essentials are...

-Ribbon with wired edges!  Don't attempt to make a bow without wire in it.  It's certainly possible but much, much harder to work with.  Wire will help you get the shape you want and is more forgiving.

-Wire cutters (nothing fancy, a pair from Home Depot or Target are fine).

-Wire.  24 gauge is a common weight and you can find these spools at Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

When you make a bow, you are going to alternate back and forth from right to left.  So, we'll start with the right tail first.  (Picture that X if I've lost you already!!)

#1- Unravel the ribbon and after determining the length of your right tail, gather the ribbon and pinch it, holding it in your left hand.  This will be your center.  I am holding the center in my fingers above.

#2- We've made the right tail, so we're going to now make the left loop.  If my thumb is in the center, you can see that my right tail hangs down and I've begun to form the left loop.  After making that loop, I will take the ribbon and gather it in the center again, allowing my thumb to hold more of the center.  Do you see the difference between the shiny side of the ribbon and the dull side?  The shiny side is what we want to see, so we're going to twist before every loop, to expose the shiny side and hide the dull side.

See below...

#3- I've got my right tail, my first left loop and now I'll form my first right loop.  I've twisted the ribbon for the right loop in the center, so you can now see the shiny side again.

#4- Now I'm going to bring that ribbon back around to form the loop pictured below...

#5- Bringing the ribbon around, I will gather it in the center to form the right loop.

#6- This would be a basic 2 loop bow if we just took the rest of the ribbon and let it dangle down to form the left tail...BUT, we are going to add two more loops, one on each side :) Stick with me...

Before we make a second left loop, twist the ribbon to expose the shiny side.

#7- Now that the shiny side is exposed, turn it back toward the center, forming your loop and preparing the gather it in the center again.

#8- With one more loop to go, twist the ribbon in the center, exposing the shiny side of the ribbon for the last right loop.

#9- Make your final loop by bringing the ribbon back around, toward the center.

#10- Gather the ribbon in the center, letting the remaining ribbon fall to make the left tail.

#11- While you pinch all the gathered ribbon in the center, grab your wire and twist it around the center to hold the shape.

#12- Now you have your 4 loops. 2 on each side, and your 2 tails.  As you get better with your bow making skills, you'll want to alter the size of your loops.  Make 2 smaller ones toward the center and 2 larger ones for the outsides.

#13- Trim your left tail and there you go!  A bow!

Now, if you're still interested in making a large, flowing bow like the one below, I've got a really easy way to cheat your way through it!

This isn't one big bow, it's 3 pieces put together, to look like one bow :)

#1- Start with your long tail and make a large loop.

#2- Gather your loop in the center and twist it to make one more smaller loop.

#3- Let the remaining ribbon hang down for another long tail.  This is part 1of 3.

Make two more of the same kind of bow, until you have three parts like you see above.

Space your bows apart, with one on each side, as if they are the outer sides of a large bow.

Stick your final bow in the center and then manipulate the loops and tails so that they look like they are part of one giant bow.  It's just that easy...

At least I hope you think that!  It's a great way to add a little drama to the top of your tree and draw your eye "up" so that your tree looks taller and thinner.

Good luck!

I'm not sure if this tutorial helped or confused you more, but I'm hoping it was the first part :)