Merry Christmas!

I went after-Christmas returning(/shopping) with M and she mentioned this blog.
Almost forgot about this. A wee bit late... but hope you have had the
merriest of Christmases!

I stepped into Anthropologie today and saw these snow globes.
Last month, my housemate and I were brainstorming holiday crafts we could make and sell at our city's craft fair. Oh how time flies!

Nothing materialized, but snow globes was one of the few items we both liked. 
Did they take this DIY straight from Martha Stewart?
(like we were planning to do)

Initially, $18~40!!!
Currently on sale.
But really, easy DIY.

My Christmas consisted of eating dim sum with siblings at the nothing-closed-on-holidays Asian shopping plaza. It was so open for business it took an hour to get a table. Playing Uno and Trivial Pursuit before siblings have to go back to their own homes. Making lettuce wraps an whoopie pies for dinner guests. Watching Arthur Christmas... twice. (Great family movie!)

My new years resolution is to dress nicer.
More dresses and less alternating between two pairs of jeans all week.
Maybe if I look more presentable I will feel a bit more ready to take on the day.

(In college I would dress up for tests.)

Do you have a resolution? Or two?

DIY Christmas Cards

Why do people charge so much for greeting cards?

Remember when you were little and used to fold a piece of loose leaf paper in half, wrote your message in big letters and doodle some stick figures with smiley faces and their name underneath (so they can identify the characters) and hand it over with a big smile? Is this no longer acceptable?

This year I've been in a crafting mood and decided to make my own Christmas cards.

I figure most people don't save their cards so I should make something fun, easy and cheap so I can make them while watching something netflix and don't get terribly sad if I see it in the trash. You know how that is.

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{Goals}

*under $10 

*texture/3d elements

*one-sided

*each must be unique

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Wandering Michaels and digging through my craft bag, this is what I came up with.

{Supplies}

$2 - Michaels - 2 sets of $1 bin cards, 8 cards each (find something with a nice print)

$3 - Michaels - 2 sets Xmas decals (paper cutouts in fun shapes)
$3 - Michaels - Foam double-sided stickies (in tape aisle)
$1 - Michaels - Rhinestone stickers (guessed on price, I had these leftover. I bought some shiny rhinestone stickers for a stocking project and they only rang up for $0.01! Who knew a penny could buy you anything these days.)

{Other supplies}

$1.79 - Walmart - Xmas stickers (optional)
Paper cutter
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1. Cardstock. You could use regular cardstock, but I wanted something with a print and a glossy feel. I like the cards in the dollar bin at Michaels. They are 8 for $1 and the cardstock is pretty thick. I found theses red ones with a fun pattern and rounded edges. 

2. Postcards/Tags. Since I wanted something more like postcards I used a paper cutter to cut the cards down the crease so now I have 16 cards instead of just 8.

3. 3d. I used the foam stickers behind the cutouts to make them pop out. You can stack the foam stickers on each other to make them stick out more. If you are using multiple cutouts on one card you can vary the number of foam stickers behind each to give more of a 3d image.

4. Texture. Place stickers/rhinestones/etc. for unique fun designs. This is a good opportunity to use up leftover stickers.

Total: $9 for 32 cards

Not bad. I don't think I'm giving out 32 gifts but I wouldn't mind hanging these around my room for decoration.

Do you see what I see?

I think I'm sick. There is the sore throat, occasional cough, overall soreness and general lethargy. No fever or runny nose (yet).

Can you tell who is keeping me company?

She is shy but has a stomach of lavender goodness.

 Yup! It is my cozy hugs hippo. I rescued her from Border's when the store was closing. I got someone else one for Christmas. Not only is she soft and cuddly but she smells oh so good (especially if you stick her in the microwave for a bit). Strange to think of microwaving toys. I think my friend is old enough to know not all toys go in the microwave.

I can't imagine a hippo being in the barn on Christmas so I picked out a lamb. Baa!

Harry potter christmas?

Anyone else notice similarities between Harry Potter and Jesus?

HP was born and voldemort tried to kill him when he was a baby. Herod wanted Jesus killed and thus had all boys under the age of two in Bethlehem killed. Jesus's family fled from the area for their protection. HP's parents were killed and he was sent to live with his muggle relatives. The fate of the parents are a bit different, but the idea of a mere baby posing a threat to some great power, surviving murder attempts and through their survival bring hope to all people is similar. People rejoiced over the births of both.

Also, later on both are tested through trials with the evil one and arise victorious. Both had supporters and people who doubted them along their journey. HP was imperfect, prideful and often had to be bailed out by friends. Jesus was denied by his friends, crucified, suffered a very painful death, paid the price for humankinds sins and rose again after 3 days. Oh and HP was penned by a muggle from England named JK Rowling in volumes that get progressively lengthier. Jesus's birth is written about in Matthew and Mark in a couple chapters of the Bible and I can't imagine those two becoming incredibly wealthy for those writings. I didnt say they were identical... just similar in light of the current holiday.

Merry merry CHRISTmas to all!

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