Christmas Joy!

Christmas comes and goes so fast.  That's what everyone says right? I felt like it took forever for Christmas to get here this year, but it sure went fast (especially because my better half was sickened with a nasty stomach bug and cold, yuck!).

We did the usual Elfster gift exchange (if you don't know of elfster and you have a secret santa gift exchange or want to create a wishlist for your birthday, perhaps, you have to check it out) and we ate delicious food, of course, but this year had a few new things. 

My sister and I insisted that we play Michael Jackson on the wii.  It's my most favorite game on the system for multiple reasons! We only had time to squeeze in a few dances (Black or White, Speed Demon (that's what my brother and I are doing in the pictures), and what was the last one? Oh! Thriller... how could I forget since I finally beat Ashley's high score!) Goodness, I love that game! I, sadly, cannot play it at home because my dog would go crazy with me moving around so much, so I try to play it anywhere else that I can, which doesn't happen often. Sad face.

Another addition to this year's festivities was my 5 year old niece purchasing gifts for us that she bought with her own money (I'm not sure how she earned that money. Bribery?).  It was such an adorable gesture that proves her heart is so very big and full of love.  We each took a picture with our present (except I forgot Caster, my dog, in the collage).  My dad (Pop Pop) received a nut cracker, my mom (Grandma) received a coffee mug, Uncle Mike received a toy gun with suction cup darts, Caster received a stuffed animal bone, and the best of all.... Jordan and I received reindeer antlers.  Isabel also picked a pair of antlers for herself so that we could match.  She really put some thought into them (or is that just how kids think?).  We ended up completing a family of reindeer with Papa, Mama, and baby. I love those antlers so much that I wore them until I had to take them off to drive home. They might have been my favorite gift (the dog biscuit maker kit from Jordan's parents was a close second). 

A day with Isabel wouldn't be complete without her making us all laugh a million times, but my favorite laugh caused by her hilariousness was when she opened a gift from Pop Pop and Grandma, then kindly stood up, walked over to Grandma, and said "Now I can tell my secret." We all looked at her a little funny (you never know what will come out of her mouth).  She put her hands on her hips (pictured above) and said, "Grandma, I knew I was getting that because I heard you on the phone asking Shannon if Aislinn would like it, too."  How in the world did a 5 year old keep that secret from EVERYONE for weeks? She just didn't want to ruin Grandma's surprise. I guess Grandma better watch what she says on the phone...

What a fabulous Christmas we had and I'm so glad Jordan was well enough to join us on Christmas day after he spent Christmas Eve evening home in bed by himself (that makes me sound like an uncaring girlfriend, huh? I promise I'm not. I love him very much!). 

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, too!

Christmas Crafting!

I openly admit that I'm a Pinterest addict.  It's like heaven for me.  One place to share, collect, and organize endless data, it's genius!  Sometimes I have to take a break from it because my mind goes on overload with a billion of projects I want to try.  Here is a craft that I stumbled upon when I allowed myself a few hours to get back in touch with Pinterest after a short hiatus...

Glass etching.
As my friend, Amanda, and I found out, the opportunities are endless (pyrex dishes with your last name as Make It and Love It shows, wine glasses as Happily After All shows, and beer mugs as The Yummy Life shows).  For Christmas gifts, I wanted to make beer mugs for the uncles and wine glasses/cocktail glasses for the aunts (I'll get to those later).  Does that give the impression that my family likes to drink?

This was my first attempt at etching and the tutorials I found were great! The tips and tricks helped to get the etching just right, although it's really not a hard thing to do.  The hardest part was finding the etching cream (Hobby Lobby came to the rescue!).

Materials

Etching cream (Armour Etch worked great)
Contact paper (or any sticky paper to make the stencils) or etching stencils
Glass (dollar stores have a lot of glass items, SCORE!)
Rubbing Alcohol
Gloves
Paper Towels

1. Wipe the glass clean with rubbing alcohol to make sure any residue on the glass is removed.

2. Prepare your stencil.  I used a Cricut machine to cut the letters onto contact paper.  This worked really well as it adhered to the glass and didn't allow any cream to sneak underneath.

3.  Once the stencil is applied to the glass, apply etching cream to the glass and allow it to set for 5-10 minutes (I did 10 minutes to make sure I got a good etch).

What can't a droid do?

 4.  Put on gloves and run the glass under warm water to remove the cream.  Peel off the stencil and wipe the etch with rubbing alcohol again to remove any excess cream.

5. Admire your etched glass! Amazing, right?!

Go try it! It's easy and awesome! You can etch the glass on your fish tank, candle hurricanes, shot glasses, beer mugs, wine glasses, everyday drinking glasses, pyrex dishes (no one will ever be able to steal your pyrex dishes at the next party if your name is etched on it), and the list goes on...  Happy etching!