A little Tardy to the Party

I came across the world's greatest holiday newsletter this week! Everyone knows what it's like to get the traditional newsletter with news of promotions, accomplishments, trips and greatness of your friends and family. While those can be fun to read, I absolutely love these newsletters from Merry Newsinator (you can click here to see this larger and create your own).

It is basically an electronic mad libs that shoots out a fabulous holiday message that you can post on Facebook, twitter or email to friends and family. And, since I never quite got around to sending out a holiday card, here is mine to share. As you can see it was a VERY EXCITING year in our household as noted in the New in '09 box.


You guys must create one and share with me. I am patiently waiting.

DIY?

Today I came across the cutest site – iDiY. The site is designed for DIY brides, but really a wedding is just one big party, so the concepts work for showers, parties and casual get togethers. Or at least I say they do. And it’s my blog, so I make the rules.

Though I have not been to a wedding in well over a year and I am really not that into shower games, I thought this he says/she says was a cute idea and could be fun. Also, check out pics from the entire shower at the Scoop. It was stunning.

Love these vintage tins? Well, you can make print them yourself for free! These would look great on a table with daisies, a cheese tray and grapes. And when you do that, please invite me over.
I also am in love with this cd cover from Benign Objects. Even nicer, you can download the template for free here.

I am all about simple projects and I love the look of this wreath. It is just ribbon cut and knotted around a wire circle. Easy enough? Well, probably is until I try it. Full details are available on The Long Thread.

I am a huge fan of envelope wraps. Though I have never received one, that doesn’t mean I can’t love them, right? These are available for download for free from LeBlahg.

2010 - coming very soon

What are you doing New Year’s, New Year’s Eve? Well, out of a 1000 invitations we received….we will be totally lame. However, for those of you that are more exciting and ambitious, here are some fun party ideas for you!

Real Simple has some fun playing cards for party goers. You can download these New Year Playing Cards and have guests finish the sentences. Then, gather all the cards, read them out loud and guess who wrote what. Some samples are:

"The bad habit I want to kick this year is ―――." "The good deed I want to do this year is ―――." "The person I want to be more like this year is ―――." "The skill I want to learn this year is ―――."

I love these streamers (Martha, of course). They are just made with leftover holiday paper. For those of us who have cricuts, these would be very simple to make. For those of you who don’t want to make that kind of investment on a New Year’s party, you can get circle cut outs at Michaels.

Centerpiece-wise, this idea from Martha Stewart looks classy and easy enough.

Get festive with your coasters! A set of 8 from Lucky Bee Press will surely entertain your guests. I only wish I had thought of this.

And, since we are getting pretty close and you may not have time to order…check out this printable partyware from PlatesAndNapkins on Etsy (and only $15).

This printable party includes patterns & instructions for the following party supplies:

-Invitation

-Envelope

-Napkin Ring

-Candle Wrap

-Wine Glass Tag

-Hot Cold Cup Wrapper

-Bottle Tag

-Cupcake Pick

-Cupcake Wrapper

-Candy Bar Wrapper

-Snack Tray As for Tommy and I, our New Year's will be much more tame (and not nearly as fun) as last year's party at the Scott's house. There will be definitely less dancing and karaokeing for sure. I do think we might try somewhere new for dinner, so I will give a full review Friday.

Baby it's cold outside

Well, that was an interesting Christmas! 56% of you voted that we would have a white Christmas. Those voters win a prize. I am not sure what it is...perhaps a snowman in your yard.

We had a great Christmas! I am just glad we made it to my mom's before we got all snowed in. We had a nice Italian dinner of shrimp and artichoke linguine and appetizers. There were supposed to be several people over there, but it ended up just being Allison's family and Tommy and I. We missed everyone, but had a really nice evening.

I was a good girl this year and got lots of great gifts. As you guys know, I am a huge fan of Ace of Cakes on the Food Network and Tommy got me a copy of their new book. I am now an expert on all things Charm City Cakes. I think Duff and I would get along great.

Allison had also gotten me the book. She learned I had already gotten it and was sweet enough to take it back and get me this adorable top from The Limited. (You guys will notice a theme here---I heart ruffles.)

I have a Swarovski collection and love adding to it. Tommy got me a new little addition. You guys know how I love owls.

A girl at my work had this jacket below on and I HAD to have it. My mom was able to find it at Macy's. Look at the ruffles! I got it in black and she had it in red. Either way, totally cute.

To go with my ruffle jacket, my mom also got me this ruffle scarf for Simply Vera Wang at Kohl's. They don't have any online, but may still in stores. I absolutely love it. It was so pretty I wore it down the street last night to go to someone's house. I am sure I looked totally normal in my jeans, t-shirt and lovely ruffled scarf.

I am dying to know what fun gifts you had under your tree! Please let me know!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Trying to find a common thread....

This post does not have an official theme which you can follow. I am open for suggestions.

This morning my friend Janie sent me the most clever gift I have ever seen. It is also hilarious. I laughed for about 3 minutes once I figured out what it was. They are smittens (you know, mittens built for the happy couple) from Restoration Hardware.

Last night I had a fun dinner with my friend Megan. While at dinner we discussed her inability to wear a non-matching undergarment set. Personally, I am unmatched all the time. (Probably more about me than you ever wanted to know. Maybe I should do a poll on this...am I normal or is Megan the norm?) I do have a huge issue with not wearing matching socks. However, my sister does not have the same inner issues I do. So I had another giggle this morning when I saw these Little Mismatched Socks featured on the Today Show. She would be the perfect candidate for these socks.
If you are looking for a last minute gift for a little one in your life, you can give them a CurlyQCuties.com gift. This way it doesn't look like you forgot to get them something. Instead, you have a project you can do together. See, it pays to wait until the last minute. Basically, this is like Build a Bear, but instead of stuffing it, you create the features on the outside of the doll.

I cannot for the life of me remember if I have featured these before. (Good chance I have.) These are sculptures made from business cards from BusinessCardsSculptures.com.
Anyone see a common thread here? No? Happy Christmas Eve's Eve!

Christmas Carols

Last week at work we had school kids come in and sing carols for the office and you would be so proud...I didn't cry. (I have some strange pavlovian response to children singing live carols -- tears, everywhere. It actually has not happened in years, but I was in Borders about three weeks ago with my sister and I was crying in the store like a freaking crazy person. I was actually laughing and crying at the same time because it was so absolutely ridiculous. Think sunshine in the rain.)

Anyway, the kids who came in to sing, sang the most catchy Christmas tune I have ever heard, "Children, go where I send thee." When searching for this song on You Tube, it is apparently very popular. I guess 12 years of Catholic school does not teach you gospel music. I searched for probably 30 minutes to bring you guys the perfect rendition of this song, but this will have to do. I am sure the rest of you have already heard this.



I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Baby, it's cold outside. Especially, when they sing in the movie Elf. I also cried the first time I watched this movie. Tommy still makes fun of me. I think there is something wrong with me.



My third favorite modern Christmas song is My Grown up Christmas List. I love it when Michael Buble sings it. However, You Tube doesn't have a version with him, so Kelly Clarkson will have to do.

I also love anything Carpenter's, O Holy Night, and I have always thought the Little Drummer Boy was very sweet to play for Baby Jesus. What favorites am I missing?

An Oklahoma Christmas

This weekend I ventured to Dwelling Spaces in downtown Tulsa for the first time. And, oh my gosh, it was so cute!


With my little Nebraska niece due to arrive in the next few weeks, I had to get her some gifts so she wouldn't forget her roots. Her gift medly includes a I heart Tulsa onesie. Looks like this, only white and a onesie.


Also, when she learns her ABCs she can learn them based off Tulsa references in her new book ABC in Tulsa. (I picked up my copy at Borders. I didn't see them at Dwelling Spaces, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there.)

Since she won't be Okie Grown, I could not get her this tee, but isn't presh?

I also fell in love with these Oklahoma pillows sold by CuddleMonster. She also had the most ADORABLE owl pillows. There were lots of fun products by Oklahoma etsy sellers. One item in particular was a little crayon pouch, but I couldn't find the etsy seller online. I promise, though, it was super cute. You will just have to go there and see.

There are lots of Louis & Cluck t-shirts for adults, too.
Oh, look, this is Allison's friend, Jennifer.

And, you can pick up all of Jack Frank's excellent Tulsa documentaries. (And, he is a really nice guy, too. He was signing films in the store Saturday while I was there.)

Dwelling Spaces is located at 1st and Detroit right next to Yokozuna. Definitely a great place to hit up if you are looking for unique, last minute gifts!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Am I the only one wanting a white Christmas? A white Christmas Eve will do. What do you guys think? (A girl can dream, right?)

In other snow (globe) news...have you ever seen a cuter cupcake than these made by the talented Bakerella? I might die of cuteness.

Really, everything she does is so impeccable it is hard to believe it is food.

These are cake balls she made for the Pioneer Woman book signing in her town. Honestly, you guys, miniature cookbooks. I am in heaven.
And on her home page right now are easy instructions for these cupcakes.

Christmas 2010

Yep, you read that right - 2010. I was perusing my Crate and Barrel Catalog and they have so many cute holiday items! Unfortunately, with Christmas being about one week away there is really no sense in getting any of these full price. So I am getting my fingers all ready for some after Christmas purchasing.

I will eat these before Christmas 2010.

I have loved this pillow ever since my friend Janie told me about it. It looks just like my little Carter and Pudge. I, however, do not like the price tag of around $90. Definitely an after-Christmas purchase.
These adorable ornaments are already sold out. I guess I will have to be a little faster next year, but aren't they cute???

More later!

Just call me Martha Stewart

Actually...don't. Love her. However, I don't have her talents. This weekend we made Christmas cookies at my mom's. I cannot show you said cookies as the results were just too much for this blog to bear.


We did have a very good helper, though.



She really got into it!

I wish I could say our creations turned out like these by Martha.

But, alas, these were as good as it got.

Pudge, Meet Finley

Hmmm, not sure about this. Too much sniffing on the left.

Too much sniffing on the right...

Mom, are you serious???

I think we are going to be best friends.

It is like my own little pony. Only much, much cheaper. And more accessible.

Christmas for the Under Two Set

We had Christmas early this year with Tommy's family, so I thought I would share with you all what I got Baby Max.

It is hard to believe what a difference a year makes. This is Max last year at Christmas at 9 months old.

He has sure gotten to be a cute little man!

This year I got Max a little Picture Me book from Snapfish with him as the star.

I am a little disappointed in Target because the other gifts I got him are not online. But everything else pictured came from there. (Of course.) We got him a little monster tent. Apparently, it is also comfortable for a 28-year old man.

Seriously, Aunt Katie, clothes? Those aren't fun :)!

However, I am so loving the Paul Frank line at Target and he HAD to have these pajamas.

Allison's gift to Max was a huge hit. Just look at that smile!
I am also blessed to have a Godson who is only one month younger than Max. He also had a Paul Frank Christmas.

And I also got him his first set of colors. They are really big so tiny hands can manuever them better.

As for me, we had quite a surpise under the tree this year from Tommy's family:
I am loving it so far! I am a huge reader and the way the screen is set up it is like you are really looking at a book. My first download is the new Jen Lancaster book. Nothing like a beach read in the middle of winter!