Do-it-yourself Christmas Ornament

I love my Christmas tree. It is a little $17 6ft artifical tree we got at Target a few years ago that fits us perfectly. Its a very country/rustic/primitive tree complete with strung popcorn, red and white plaid bows tied to the branches and (my favorite) a rustic, unsymmetrical wood star at the top. Since I'm a frugal freak and don't like to spend much money on items that aren't absolutely necessary (including Christmas decor) I made a lot of my ornaments, and no I'm not talking construction paper stuff. I have thin wooden shapes I got from Hobby Lobby that I painted and attached raffia to to string them up (they're in the shapes of stars, snowflakes, hearts, and trains). I think its pretty cute. One day I'll have a real tree, but for now, this works. Anyway, My tree is looking a little sad this year. Since we moved only a few weeks ago and then I had a ward Christmas party to put on I didn't have the time to string up popcorn and cranberries for my tree like I normally do, so it looks a little empty. Add to that my young son's fascination with the ornaments and desire to hide them and eat them, the bottom half of our tree is pretty bare at this point (seriously, Trev put a little glass ball in his mouth and chewed it. Chewed it! He only got upset when I took the broken shards out of his mouth!). So tonight Lynette and I made Christmas ornaments together and we had so much fun and I think they're just so dang cute I thought I'd share it with you. They're little sleds made out of popsicle sticks, hot glue, and paint (that's it) that I found instructions for on the internet years ago. They're not the best ornaments to make with kids since you use hot glue- but they sure like to help with the paint. So here's how you make them.

Glue the skinny side of two popsicle together.


Cut one popsicle stick in half at a diagonal.

Glue the longer side of the half popsicle sticks to the two sticks you already glued, one on each side.

Cut two trapezoid shapes out of a popsicle stick, one larger than the other. (The small trapezoid should not be longer than the sled's width- look at the picture below for an explanation).

Glue the longer trapzoid near the top of the sled (that's the part that's supposed to steer.) Glue the smaller trapezoid near the bottom across all the sticks. You'll notice this small trapezoid is just a tad too long, I should have cute it down more...but oh well.

Glue two popsicle sticks standing up on their skinny side to the two trapezoid pieces (this is the delicate part). These are the runners. (you are looking at the underside of the sled)

A side view of the finished product.

Paint! I like to paint one solid color and then add simple little details on the corners (like holly and ivy, wreaths, or snowflakes).

Lynette wants to inform you that this is her magic paintbrush.

I glued raffia to the backside in the loop to hang it from. I especially like it because it kinda looks like a little rope on the front of the sled. So what do you think? Cute, huh. And simple. If an art dunce like me can do them, anyone can- although their paint job would probably look a lot better.

Severing the Relationship

There once was a young girl who had a very close friend.

They were adorable as toddlers.

They played and got tangled up together as children.

Were awkward together in middle school.


Grew and evolved in high school.

Matured but always together.

She was there for the big occassions.

And though people said it was time to move on, they stayed true through college.

When she was married, the friend was pushed back, but still she stayed close, lurking from behind.

Even after the birth of children, the friend still hung around, though their relationship became a bit bland and lifeless.

After so many years together their relationship became strained. Though lovely at times, it was more and more frequently frazzled, neglected, and even ugly.



So much so that the young girl decided it was time to cut her childhood friend loose.

And for the first time in years the young girl felt a great weight off her shoulders.

And was free!

Free to express herself in ways she couldn't before!

Will the friend ever come back? Who knows. But for the time being I say "so long Goldie Locks!"

So what do you think? I got it done as payment from one of my piano students, who's son owns a hair salon. I'm pretty excited about it, though I'm nervous for my initial hair wash and then the try-to-recreate-the-look-when-I-get-home thing. I'm really hoping it doesn't turn into a helmet (big hair like mine has the potential to do that). The reviews at home are mixed. My husband loves it (I knew I liked him), my girl liked my hair long (probably so she could play with it), and my baby didn't recognize me for a full ten minutes but has since come to accept it.

Now, here is the tricky thing about posting this- if at all possible I do not want my parents and siblings to find out about it until I walk off the plane for my brother's wedding to see their jaws drop (in two weeks). Since I'm pretty confident none of my family reads my blog (they're too busy for blogging) this will only get out through word-of-mouth. So, dear cousins, please don't spill the beans. Nicole, I believe I can trust you to keep mum (if Rustin is as involved in your blogging as Michael is with mine then we're fine). I think the trickiest part would be for my soon-to-be-sister-in-law to keep it from my brother. But having been engaged once I know that if you are reading this, Sarah, then it is not unlikely that Ryan is entagled around you somehow- so I understand it if you can't keep it from him- in which case, Ryan, kindly refrain from mentioning it to the parents and the sisters. Although if you must discuss my hair styles with Cameron then I guess I can't stop you. Thanks so much!

Trick or Treating

Ah Halloween. What could be more fun than dolling your kids up in costumes, painting their faces, and making them walk around for hours in the cold, begging strangers for candy? Since Lynette is now three we decided to take her out for her first honest-to-goodness Trick-or-Treating debut. It was a big hit. We were out for about an hour and after the first house she really got the hang of things. She loved going up to each house calling "Trick-or-Treating" we thought it was so cute we didn't correct her. A lot of the people thought it was cute too and she got a couple extra pieces of candy for just being adorable. We made sure she said 'thank you' everytime, although that was harder for her to remember. Poor little Pirate Trevor was in the stroller the whole time and was chilly but behaved pretty well the whole evening. It was a good time had by all, especially the eating of the candy afterward. Can't wait for next year.

Our little Pirate Trevor held by Aunt Rebecca. Sadly I couldn't seem to keep his eyepatch on long enough to get a picture of it.

Cold but happy.

Our little fairy. I'm not that great at art (at all) so her facepaint is a little funky but she's still pretty cute. I was very proud of her hair though, braided into a crown by yours truly. Lynette especially loved it when I put mascara on her- just like mom!

What a trooper. Nice pirate pants.

One day I'll figure out how to get this girl to smile for the camera.

Wings pinned to her coat. She loved them.

Ready for fun.

I went as a witch...again. I don't know if I'll go into too much effort coming up with a new costume for myself every year. Being a witch is good enough for me- although I try not too go overboard on the green pain next year. And I really ought to get a hat that fits.

October Fun!

I think I ought to change the name of my blog to "Catching up" - more fitting don't you think? So here's some fun pictures from October. Enjoy!

Can you believe this pumpkin? Crazy huh? It was so hard keeping the kids from climbing all over it. Later on in the month they carved it to look like a dinosaur head- which, unfortunately, I never got a picture of.

The Halloween costume that never was. I begged and pleaded for Lynette to wear this costume for Halloween, but to no avail. She'd rather be a princess. I couldn't imagine why.

I mean c'mon Lynette- you get to have wings! And a fluffy tail!

And check out that flamingo head! Maybe she'll go for it next year...maybe.

Meet me in St. Louis

Michael's first interview this year was with our old friend Wash U and we were so excited to have an excuse to go back down to St. Louis to see old friends. It felt like coming home again being with those I knew so well and loved so much. The McCoulloughs let us stay at their place- they are saints, really, allowing us to raid their fridge and take up too much time in the bathroom. If I haven't told them enough, thank you guys- your the best. The Robinsons had us over for a dinner and dessert night with more friends. At church we ran around hugging people and I even got roped into subbing as chorister in primary. It was just like old times. Monday morning before we left I went with Angela and Lacie to the Science Center to let the kids run around a bit. I was so sad to leave again- I miss my friends- but what a fun time to see them all again. I'm kinda ticked I didn't take more pictures- but thats just a testament to how much fun I had- I usually forget to pull out the camera when I'm enjoying myself. Oh, and Michael's interview went pretty well- we think so anyway. Keep your fingers crossed for us- we'd love to come back!

Trevor really enjoyed playing with the arch cushions at the Science Center.

Best Buds.

Lynette, Asher, and Ryan at the St. Louis arch- sort of.

Lynette kinda looks like she's running out of air on this one.

Two little monkeys jumpin' on the bed.

I think they were pretend to race cars on the bed.