Christmas, Clean-up, and a Card

 

Christmas is long gone.

Another year. "Another Baby's First."

 

Celebrating at home was special in so many ways:

 

1. It was our first Christmas ever in 12 years of marriage to do it alone.

2. The days before were spent in Keystone on snow covered peaks.

3. Henry's first Christmas made a very merry occasion!

4. It was our first Christmas in Colorado.

 

We did, however, miss our family-

but we had a nice Skype visit with about 10 of them in Arkansas Christmas afternoon.

 

 

Before opening presents, David read the kids the Christmas story.

Harbor is starting to really understand it.

He is always so concerned about Jesus in the hay.

From being on the farm with my parents, he understand fully how itchy hay is!

Ha!

 

And they both reveled in all the pretty paper and sparkling lights.

 

With Henry still crawling, we didn't put out any gifts until the night of Christmas Eve, after the kids had gone to bed. Seeing their little faces at the shock and wonder of it all was precious!

 

Harbor helped Henry with his gifts.

 

In fact, Harbor helped everyone with their gifts!

: )

 

And I set up the tripod and video camera and let it roll non stop.

For about three hours.

: )

 

I was super excited to find these new pans under the tree!

 

We made a full Christmas dinner alone.

I made stuffing from scratch and deviled eggs.

David tackled the rest.

 

 

And a few days later, more gifts from Arkansas arrived on our porch!

 

Including this homemade Arkansas pillow!

Love!

{I joked that I needed a Michigan and Colorado pillow to finish the set.}

 

We had several big family breakfasts at home courtesy of Daddy.

 

We're so abundantly thankful for his new job here.

He has had every single weekend home with us- both Saturday and Sunday.

This was unheard of in Michigan.

Breakfast tastes better when he is home.

: )

 

And then the mass exodus of Christmas cleanup began.

 {David promptly settled into the couch and a Tupperware bin with a movie!}
Ha!

As did Harbor!
{I love their help, but honestly, work better alone, so it was a good plan!}

 

After Christmas was put away,

I felt extra motivated and created New Year's cards for our family.

We were even invited to a New Year's party with friends from church.
There must have been close to forty people there.
So many children for Harbor toplay with.
What a blessing to us!

 Valentine Day decor is already up.
Henry's first birthday is in a week.
Today, Harbor and I started back to homeschool preschool
with a new and improved schedule.
Gymnastics start back tomorrow.

Nothing like hitting the ground running to make you realize how much you over ate!
: )

Happy 2014!
Hope your holidays wrapped up nicely, too!  

Ornament Swags: A Tutorial

The last few years, we seem to get asked a lot of questions about our Christmas tree and how we are able to create such a "full" look.   This tutorial is to show the step-by-step process we use to create ornament swags.   We start with a garland we use as a starter chain. You can use any multitude of store bought garlands, but the longer and thicker, the better.   Our garland is about four feet long. You will also need about 30 ornaments and small clear zip ties {ours are from Lowe's}   Start by zipping the very top of your garland right under the hook. This is to make it strong enough to carry the weight of thirty ornaments. Then, add another zip tie onto the first one to use as a "hanger" so you can work free handed and allow the garland to hang. Hanging it while you work helps you to see the form.   

 

We like ornaments of different sizes and textures: glossy and matte work well paired together.

 

After Christmas sales usually have the smaller ornaments marked down upwards of 70% or more.

And most people pass over these small ones- but buy them up!

 

After they're swagged together, they make one big beautiful ornament!

 

Start at the top and zip a small sized ornament at the very top under your initial zip tie.

Thread the zip tie through the actual hook on the ornament.

 

 

Begin by adding additional ornaments on the opposite side of the garland.

 

You will see the zip ties going down the garland in a row.

 

Use wire cutters to snip the extra zip ties off after you have pulled them tight.

 

We like to spread our ornament selection out where we can see all we have to work with.

 

Alternate sizes and colors and work down both sides of the garland,

keeping the ornaments pulled tight and close!

 

Letting the garland free hang as you work really helps you to see the form

and helps you decide what color or pattern to use next.

 

When you pull the zip ties tight and keep the ornaments snug, they will pop out on the sides.

 

We clip the excess ties right at the clasp.

 

Keep at it until it begins to look nice and full.

 

Enlist helpers if you have them!

: )

 

We like to have our swag be over half way full before we call it quits.

Remember,

your goal is to use mainly swags when you put your tree up

{if you're going for this "full" look}

and not have to spend three hours putting on single ornaments.

: )

 

And with only a few ornaments remaining, David calls it good!

 

This is the final product!

 

When you're done, simply snip the zip tie you used as the hanger,

but make sure not to snip the first one you used to add strength to your strand.

 

They are so easy and so beautiful.

Imagine nesting a full one on a mantle in a fresh bed of holly.

Or outside over top of a doorway.

The possibilities are endless.

: )

 

We first add deco mesh to our tree and then add our swags.

We have six of them.

 

To give you a bit of perspective, our tree is nine foot tall

and a single swag fills a good portion of it.

Now, imagine having five or six of them.

 

Tree decorating is quick and fast and clean up is easy!

Simply remove six swags and that's it!

 

Because our tree is large and our ceilings in this room are 20 feet tall,

these long full swags make a great impact in filling the space.

 

And again, you create them with the cheaper, smaller ornaments

 most people brush over at the after Christmas sales.

: )

 

We store all six of them in large clear tubs with tissue paper between each one.

 

And there you have it!

 

Some deco mesh, six swags, and a few large orbs..

and you're done!

 

Let me know if you give it a try next year!

 

Happy "after Christmas day ornament" sale shopping!

: )

  {I'll add this post under the "Tutorials" tab at the top}