Painted Wooden Spoons

I gave these to my sister for Christmas!

To make your own:

Wrap painters tape around the part of the spoon that you do not want paint to be on. Then rub sandpaper on the portion of the spoon that you want painted. Once it has some texture to it, apply nontoxic paint to it. Remove the tape and...voila!

Heceta Lighthouse in Oregon

My hubby and I took a trip to the coast on Christmas. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and a shining sun. We took a new turn off and found this delightful trail that took us right up close to the Heceta Lighthouse. We've seen the ligthouse a lot from a different lookout but it was great getting up so close to it.

Christmas Scratch Off Cards

I've been sending out Christmas cards ever since I was a Junior in college. I just love them. I try to do something special every year...and I prefer them to be interactive. This year I got fixated on the idea of a scratch off Christmas card. One night, Nate and I brainstormed how to set it up and then I got to it! It took a long time but it was surprisingly easy.

To make your own scratch off: use white crayon to cover the words then paint over it with a mixture of 1 part dishsoap and two parts acrylic paint. That is it!

Woodcut Prints

 
My brother does word working so I had been thinking about getting him this book for quite some time. When I saw this tutorial, though, I knew that I wanted to make a set of woodcut prints for him for Christmas. Someday when I have the space and tools, I may do my own woodcut prints but for now this worked out great. I almost kept them for myself...

Invisible Bookshelves

My husband made me some invisible bookshelves for Christmas. I love them so much!

Easy Holiday Pretzel Buttons

I made these little pretzel buttons for my neighbors.  Head over here for the easy steps!

Merry Christmas!

A few glimpses at our Christmas...

Cookies!

Skyping with my family!

Stockings by the fire!

Christmas tree!

Dinosaur Nativity!

A Thawing Eugene

Crochet Chain Necklace

I saw this tutorial here and wanted to make my own so I watched this Learn How to Crochet Part 1 video. It is pretty cheesy but very effective! Thanks to the video, I'm now pretty good at the chain (since making this necklace) and am wondering if I'm brave enough to move on to Part 2.... 

A Snowy Day on Skinner's Butte

 

Oh Christmas Tree!

Christmas has officially arrived at our apartment! We went to a tree farm and cut down this Grand Fir over the weekend. When we were waiting to pay, the owner was telling me that it is her favorite type of tree because it smells like grapefruit...and she is so right! Our whole apartment smells like grapefruit now. Mmm!