Handmade Recycled Christmas!

Since Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year and I usually go all out, I kinda run out of steam by the time it gets to Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but I'm not usually at my house for the holiday and so I don't decorate very much for it. I love the buying presents part, but I kinda of slack on the rest of it (compared with the Halloween celebrations, anyway).

But not this year! There have been so many good ideas for cute holiday decorations that this year, I'm going all out on a Handmade Recycled Christmas! I've been even more inspired to use things I have around the house, rather than going and out and buying new ornaments. We're having a special Holiday Party that I'll be posting about soon, so I'm trying to get the house festive in time. Here's a few of the things I've started making and plan to finish asap:

Paper Bag Ornaments:

So easy and fun to make! I'm going to hang them over the table in our bay window. I made a few different sizes and may also make smaller ones to hang from the wreath on our front door to tie everything together. I used Trader Joe's paper bags like she used as well and I love the way they look, although I might make some smaller ones out of festive scrapbooking paper I have lying around.

Circular Ornaments:

I plan on making these a little more simple by just using my craft punch and then instead of alternating gluing sides, I'm just going to use a scrapbooking adhesive square to attach each one. Kind of like the ones here, only with more circles!

More fun handmade ornament ideas to try:
String Snowballs
Lots of ornaments to make


Shimmering Stacked Trees:

These are made from newspaper, but I'm also recycling my old magazines that I'm going to throw away.

Paper Evergreens:

I'm also making paper trees like these out of the same Trader Joe paper bags to match the ornaments!

Plastic Bag Pom-Poms:

I think these would be fun attached together to make a garland, I guess I'd just need a *lot* of plastic bags... Target here I come!

Cardboard wreath:

Now I wish I hadn't thrown out my Piperlime box! And here's another fun idea if I only had some fun bottle caps in festive colors.

Other great ideas:
Card Display
Advent Calendar
Fabric Garland


So, I'll be sure to post pics after our party and when everything's all done! Happy Holidays!

Are you ready for the Cuteness Overload?

Christmas vacation was so great! It was so much fun to go home and be with family. And of course to spend tons of time with my niece and nephew! Babies really are the best kind of entertainment! We chilled out at home and took lots of pictures. Here are just a few:

Kirsten and Jack love Aunt Carly!

Sometimes Kirsten is so serious! But such a doll!

Jack was teething during the trip and cracked us up with his "teething monster" antics. Can you believe he could fit this entire thing in his mouth? Check out the video to see more of the teething monster!

With Grandma

Christian gave Jack a "faux-hawk".

For some reason Kirsten pulled her arm out of her shirt like this! We were all laughing hysterically!

Matchy-Matchy! I got Kirsten this little outfit for Christmas, so of course I had to put on my yellow too for a photo.


I got Stuart a table tennis set, which of course took over the dining room table, providing hours of entertainment. Here's Jack and Kirsten in their first match!

And now, if all those pictures weren't enough, now for the videos!


Jack the Teething Monster!!



Like I said, hours of entertainment!

Oh, and if that's still not enough for you (I know I can't get enough), check out my brother and sister's blogs by following the links here and here.

I hope every one's holidays were as great as mine! I'm back in Boston now and starting my new job. After my first day, it's so far so good!