Our Christmas.

My family isn't the always so on the ball with the Christmas card thing. When Dylan and I were dating... I send out photo cards and everyone loved them. His family especially. So when I read about Shutterfly's blogger promotion (I blogged about it here), I knew I needed to send out cards this year. I hired a friend from high school to take our photos and I even talked Dad, Mom, and Katie in to joining us for family photos. I was pleased with how the cards turned out.

 2010 Williamson Christmas card.

Here are some of our favorite photos from our family Christmas Shoot. *Photo Credit: Sipsy Photography.

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I had a little issue with my promo code so my cards arrived only a few days before Christmas. I decided I would just put them in everyones gift bags. Turns out I still have a ton of Christmas cards, and gifts too that have still not been delivered. Why have I still not delivered Christmas gifts and it's mid January? Well... this is what the week of Christmas looked like in Georgia.

Mom's front yard Christmas morning.

I know all you northerners are probably laughing that this amount of snow shut us down for DAYS... but us Georgia peeps just are not prepared for this kind of weather.

So.. we spent Christmas with my parents and watched my little sister open her gifts & play in the snow. 

Here's what they were up to in the snow.

But for most of the visit you could fine me here:

I LOVE this hammock. It was handmade by a lady in a little shop on St Simons Island, and I purchased it for my parents when I was living on Jekyll island. It's has pretty much became my favorite spot during the nice fall and spring months. I curled up with a hot coffee and a good book Christmas day, and watched Dylan and Katie play in the snow. ( =
I'm glad we decided to have our extended family Christmas dinner early this year {23rd}so we missed the snow. Heres some picts from that party:

After the roads were cleared {the day AFTER Christmas} we were finally able to make it to Dylan's parents house, but couldn't make it over the bridges to visit the rest of his family. We ended up spending the night with Dylan parents so it would be a shorter drive for Dylan to get to work in the snow. After about 3 days the tempature finally got warm enought to melt all the snow. I thought it was over... but then...the first week in January.. My Aunt Cindy came home for a visit from Wisiconsin... and she REALLY brought the snow with her! Here what I woke up to Monday 1/10:

And it's been a week and we STILL have over 11 inches of snow on the ground! I guess that pretty much explains why I still have Christmas gifts in my trunk in mid January.
We haven't got out much but we were able to get together for a cookout with my family to visit with Aunt Cindy while shes in town. We had a great time! Heres some video from the party of the family playing let's dance on the wii. ( =

I'm not sure why they are sideways... I can't figure out how to rotate them... if you guys have any tips.. shoot me a line.
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The plus side of being snowed in so long is that I have finally finished my Hollis Gillespie book. I get horrible behind on my reading... I think I'm ADD sometimes. I LOVE Hollis. She lives in Atlanta you know... I'd love to meet her sometime! I read her first book, who's name I won't say here... be cause well.. you know.. Just click here to read more about/buy it. ( = I LOVED the book and I have already ordered her other 2 books. If you aren't easily offended and could use a good laugh- check it out.

Also while I've been snowed in I done a ton of web surfing. In doing so, I ran across an amazing graphic designer on Etsy that hooked me up with the cutest little stick family.

She made Dylan and I along with Georgia first, and I fell in LOVE with it... So I had her do one with the whole family.

Didn't she do a GREAT job? Not sure what I'll do with the graphic just yet. Maybe address labels or stationary. Any ideas?

What is about "as useful as a pogo stick in quicksand"?

scheduler! Don't you just love old time souther southern sayings? About as useful as a pogo stick in quicksand, a trap door on a canoe, or a back pocket on a shirt. Corny I know, but I'm on a kick... so amuse me. ( =

Back to scheduler.. Thats right. I haven't fell of the face of the earth... my scheduler has just failed to post any of my auto pilot post AND... They've gone missing too. ) =  I guess I'll try to do a quick recap for you.
My December has been "busier than a one-legged man at a butt kickin contest!" (Ok ok.. I know.. I'll stop now.)

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I was excited to hear that my Eco Chic Paper Ornaments were featured in an Etsy treasury titled "Christmas in Dixie." The ornaments were a huge hit this year. Unique, but charming.

I have several different sizes, themes, and variations of these available for sell in my Etsy shop... Not sure if anyone is interested now that the holidays are over... ( Stupid Scheduler! lol)

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You also never got to see this years Christmas tree. We are in a bit of cramped quarters this year (My home temperately became a multi family household last August), but we have made the best of it with our Christmas decorations. Yes- My tree is on top of a coffee table. But it was last year too! It's all in efforts to keep our little shih tzu from having a field day with our ornaments. ( =

Our dog baby. Miss. Georgia Anna Huffington ( =

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I made lots of cool stuff around Christmas time including a ton of sports themed items. I am honored nearly every special occasion when one of my Etsy clients !who is a HUGE PATRIOTS FAN! ask me to create a surprise gift basket for her. Here are some of the things I made for her: If you see something you like... remember... I can use any theme or fabric that you like. ( =

apron that I made from a reclaimed pair of blue jeans. I got this great idea from Kimbo over at a girl and a glue gun. She genius! Check her out for the tutorial.

 Custom gel pens. These were great stocking stuffers, but go over well in party goody bags too. I can put any text or graphic that you'd like on them. I made myself some that say Paperpixiecrafts and my store info to include as thank you gifts in my Etsy orders ( =

Composition notebook cover. Pretty simple- but I plan on making some soon with cute coordinating monograms. My wonderful hubby bought me the Cricut mini monogram cartridge for Christmas and I'm itching to cut out some fabric appliqués with it. Don't you think a fabric appliquéd would be cute on a notebook cover? Yes please. ( =

Easy Fabric Wreath. If you can sew 3 straight lines... you can make this wreath. ( =
I used a 6" piece of fabric. I sewed it in to one long tube. I sewed 2 straight lines down the length of the tube to make a casing (like you would use for a drawstring). The 2 lines are about 1 inch apart. I then fed a wire hanger through the casing and bent the wreath in to shape. Thats it! You can also go around and clip the edges of the tube if you want a frayed rag look... but I left mine as is. The length of the "tube" is up to you.. but the longer your tube... the more full your wreath will look.  I promise this is a REALLY EASY project... but I know my direction were kind of short too... so if you have any questions... feel free to send them my way. 

photo bottle cap badge reel. I've Been addicted to bottle caps lately. I'm using them for everything! I even added them to this cute ID real. Now... If I only knew someone who was a nurse or had a job where they wore an ID.  If I did... I would so wear one of these with my family photo or monogram in it. I guess you could also clip it on your kids school bag with a house key. The stretch cord would let them open the door without taking the key off.. and maybe.. just maybe... they wouldn't loose the key. Maybe it's just me... but I thought it was a cool idea.  lol ( =

Fun football themed memo board.
I used to make these for all my friends when I was in school. We would put our names, picts, ticket stubs, and magazine clippings on our bedroom doors and inside our lockers. I think it could be really cute to do one of the "Today I feel.." with the photos of the kid's different emotions. The possibilities are really endless... I glad I picked up several of these on the clearance rack. ( =

fancy bottle cap necklaces.
Like I mentioned before... I'm in love with bottle caps. I know.. I know... I'm  only a few years behind on that trend... but so what?!? Anyway... I wanted to do a bottle cap set that was a little less childish... so I added some chunky glass beads, a pretty red ribbon necklace and some shiny silver end caps and hardware. I was pleased with the outcome. ( =

Fleece Tie Blanket

Another "throw back."  I used to make these when I was a teen... I made a bigger one for a stadium blanket to include in the Pat's Gift basket. These are SO quick and easy to make... but I alway feel accomplished when I finish one. ( = You should give it a try. It' almost Super Bowl time... and Fabric.com has great prices on NFL fleece!

nifty travel mug that I customized
 to match a Pat's gift basket.
I've been eyeballing all the awesome travel mugs on Etsy, and decided it was time to give it a try. I found the mug in the Christmas isle with a general winter themed paper inside. I used the paper as a template to create a fabric cozy to fit inside the cup. I really liked how this one turned out and went to buy some more... but have been unable to find them at a reasonable price since Christmas housewares have been replaced with Valentines Day goodies. I was a bit suprised to see Valentines day stuff the day after Christmas. Were you guys really shopping for Valentines Day stuff that early? I guess I'm always running late on everything, but I don't know that I even own any Valentines Day decor... um.. sounds like a good reason to craft! ( = 

Here's another something that I altered from the Christmas aisle... Tile coasters. I printed the images on thick textured card stock, and then sealed the tiles with modge podge and diamond glaze. 

One of my favorite supply finds of 2010 would have to be these awesome 2 tone canvas totes that I got for an amazing price. I paired the tote with one of my favorite crafting supplies... heat and bond. I added a pocket to the front of the tote using Patriots fabric, bonded with a hot iron, and Ta-DA! A quick easy gift that any fan would love! An initial above the pocket would look cute too. I have all colors of these totes... I think I'll make some more soon. I'm seeing matching tote, notebook, and pen combo in my near future. ( =

That pretty much sums up the craftiness of the Patriot Gift basket. If you like what you see, and are interested in a themed gift basket for yourself or someone dear to you... I'd love to hear from you!

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This Christmas I made almost all of my gifts by hand... and I managed to squeeze in a few extra projects along the way too.

I finally tried my hand at Crayon Rolls. They ARE easy! I used this tutorial. (Except I used extra thick interfacing that helps these keep their shape. These are now available for custom order in my Etsy shop HERE.

Another slightly overdone, but still awesome project... hair bow holders. I had several  a ton of orders for hair bow holders and bottle cap hair bows.

Hair bows and hair bow holders are available by request only via my  Etsy shop or you can email me HERE with your color and cap image request. Bows are $8 and holders are $6. Spend $25 or more on bows or bow holders and receive FREE shipping!

Ribbon bangles made from recycled ribbon spool forms. I used the big spools because I have a fat hand... but I think the 1/2 spools would be cute too for something more dainty.

For Christmas gifts... I made a ton of Etched glass beer mugs and monogrammed hurricane votives. I can't believe that I didn't get any pictures of them... I made like... 40 something of them. lol
My mom has one... I'll post a photo of it soon.
I also made a ton of gifts for the kiddos... fleece blankets, Rubik cubes, bottle cap jewelry, and crayon rolls.
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post to be continued...
Sorry for the length... but come on... it's been almost a month! ( =

signature ( =

I finally made myself a signature for my blogpost. ( = Simple, I know... but I think it's cute.

Beautiful DIY cake plate and candy dish on a budget.

Craftsbyamanda.com DIY project.

Have you visited CraftsbyAmanda? She has a lovely blog chalked full of great projects. I was inspired by her beautifully thrift-ed milk glass cake plate project. I remember seeing the project months ago and thinking what a great idea it was, and I began hunting for milk glass. Though I never found any milk glass, the light bulb in my head went off last time I was in the dollar tree glass dish isle.
I found a cute clear candle stick holders that I used for the base, and I used a plate for to make the cake plate, and I found a cute patterned bowl that I used to make a candy dish. I didn't have any gorilla glue so on a whim I grabbed the closest glue-ish thing to me... diamond glaze. Which, believe it or not... has actually held up really well, even in dish water.  (=
I'm pleased with how they turned out:
                                                                       Candy Dish

                                                                          Cake Plate

And the best part is... I have 2 beautiful dishes for the holidays that ring up at only $2 each. Fill these babies with some homemade candies or a cake, for a dinner party and let the hostess keep the serving dish. It's a covered dish and a gift in one. Oh how I love the Dollar Tree!

I won! AriseShine Designs Jewelry

How in the world did I not remember to share this with you? 

Last month I won a giveaway! The first one EVER. I've never won anything. Not a scratch off, not a door prize, & never a giveaway. 

Meg from Bug Creator messaged me to tell me that I had won the Arise Shine Designs Jewelry giveaway on Twelve Crafts till Christmas. 

I chose the hope necklace.

It arrived a few weeks ago and I was so excited to open the package.

It was nicely packaged with a pretty bookmark and more information about Arise Shine Designs.

Finally winning a giveaway makes me want to enter them all ( now that I know I COULD actually win.) lol

Have you ever won a giveaway? 

A visit with Miss. Alice Andrea

Now that we are officially over our nasty colds... I finally got to spend some time with Kenessa's new baby Alice Andrea. Her poor mommy had to have an icky gallbladder surgery, so I was babysitter for the day. Alice is adorable! 

The weather here is so icky... the Dr has requested that she stay home until shes 12 weeks old.  Know what that means? No Santa photos. ) = That just won't do. My parents have a Santa suit and I'm hoping that we can find someone to dress up for in house photos. I want to make her a cute little tutu Christmas outfit for her photos. I'm sure it will turn out super cute. ( =

We had a little mini photo shoot during my visit. Isn't she adorable?

Lost overalls finally make it to Etsy land.

Remember this post about trimmed boutique overalls? After moving adventure, and 7 months of life... I finally found them packed away with some crafty stuff. That means that these overalls, and a few of their friends have made their way to my Etsy shop. These are ready to ship, but I also accept custom orders.

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