Christmas Card Holders

I made a couple of Christmas card holders this year. the idea came to me one day for gifts for Hunter’s teachers and so I went with it. {I made myself one while I was at it.}

Here’s what I used:

8X10 canvas

scrapbook paper

craft paint

Modge Podge

ribbon

hot glue

The fun part about these is the ideas are endless.

This one I painted green. Once dry I added some bronze glaze I had on hand. I wiped it off with a damp paper towel just to leave a little on it, and let it all dry.

I used my Silhouette and cut out the word Christmas and decorations. I hadn’t received my vinyl yet, so I cut them on cardstock. I used Modge Podge to adhere them to the canvas.

When they were dry, I flipped it over and hot glued the ribbon on for the cards.

This one, I didn’t paint. Again, I used Modge Podge and glued on the green and white scrapbook paper. When that dried, I hot glued the ribbon on top of the edges for the paper, then I glued on the “jolly” I cut from my Silhouette. And the ribbon went on last.

First, I painted this one green and let it dry. I used Modge Podge and glued on the scrapbook paper, and hot glued the ribbon after the paper was dry. The ribbon went on last.

I really love how they turned out, and they were a great way to attach the multiple gift cards for Hunter’s teachers.

New Year’s and all that goes with it…

Happy New Year my friends! I hope this morning finds you with lots of happiness, love, and not bad hangovers.

I will say there was a time there {about 8 years ago}, partying it up on New Year’s Eve in Baltimore with Eric and his college friends was one thing I looked forward to every year.

Not to say that I was always the drunkest one there, but I did partake in a few drinks and loved people watching on the Inner Harbor. Great times!

Now-a-days life on New Year’s Eve is much different. Usually I’m asleep even  before the ball drops at midnight. I try my hardest to stay awake but just can’t do it…man at 32 I sometimes feel real “old”.

But, I will admit that my favorite New Year’s Eves are now spent at home with my favorite peeps. We usually put the kids to bed early and have a “date night” at home. We’ll talk for hours and hours and enjoy each other’s company. We re-connect a little and I just love this time with my hubs.

Last night was no other…kids were in bed by 7:00 and I was making us a nice dinner. We ate and talked and just enjoyed each other. Before we knew it, I was in my chair on the computer and Eric was asleep on the couch…typical night in the Lentz household.

We were in bed by 11 and as hard as I tried to stay awake I just couldn’t…so another year went by and I didn’t see the ball in NYC or the acorn here in Raleigh drop…oh well, maybe next year.

Be that as it may, we did have a busy but good New Year’s Eve. Seeing that it was a gorgeous 63 degrees outside, Eric worked in the yard, and I took down Christmas. It’s all boxed up and ready to put away until next year.

I was finishing up and the kids run inside asking if we had marshmallows. Daddy had pulled out the old fire pit and was commencing to building a fire...what man doesn’t love a fire.

We only had mini marshmallows, but they worked. The kids roasted marshmallows in the fire, and ate a half a bag…needless to say marshmallows ended up being their dinner.

It was so much fun! A great way to end a New Year’s Eve.

As I reflect back on 2011, there are so many things for which I am thankful.

For starters, I started this blog to capture memories we make with our children, and to express my “creative” side through craft projects and yummy recipes.

Lots of bloggers out there are “looking back” at top 5 and 10 posts, project, and parties that they did this past year.

I've decided to reflect on my favorite top 10 “moments”, if you will.

10.  It all started with a shower curtain…

This makes me laugh every time I think about it…typical Shana style. Not meaning for a big project and something as small as a shower curtain can turn into a major project – all while my husband is traveling…welcome home, Honey.

9. New Milestone…

Thanks to my good friend and running buddy, Jaleh, I actually finished a 5 mile race. I’m your typical 5ker…meaning I’m good for about 3 miles. But I overcame my fear and the humidity and I passed the finish line in record time {for me}.

8.The Big Reveal…

I worked long and hard for a couple of months on my dining room and I finally finished it. I loved how it turned out and still love it.

7.Chiggers…

Yes, this one’s pretty gross, but I can’t help but crack up every time I think of this. The looks on my family’s faces when they saw me eaten alive by these critters. Yes, they itched to high-heaven but leave it to me to get them on my butt!

6. In the blink of an eye…

This was the year I thought would take so long to get here and then it was here “in the blink of an eye”. Our little girl started kindergarten. She has a wonderful teacher and is loving school…and that’s all we’ve wanted for her.

5. Mommy's kitchen helpers…

I love cooking and especially love cooking with my kids. It makes me so happy to have them in the kitchen with me making a big ole mess but making so many wonderful memories.

4. Homecoming'…

I loved going “home” with the kids this spring to the annual Smoke on the Water BBQ fest. I ran the first annual 5k and made my best personal time. But my favorite thing of the weekend was watching my big brother and his wife on stage performing and my kids dancing and watching “in awe”.

3. Visiting my bestie and her family…

I love visits with my bestie, Liz, and her family. Whether they come here are we go there, I cherish every moment with her. I miss being close to her terribly and wish I could see her every day…

2. Becoming a Godmother…

I am so honored to not only be an aunt to one very special and adorable little man, but I am now a Godmother, and that is an honor I will cherish forever.

1. Beach time with my family…

We love the beach and playing with my kids at the beach is so much fun! This year was an awesome trip to Oak Island, NC and I loved making memories with them! It was a time that will live in my brain always!

Happy New Year friends. I hope this year finds you health, happiness, and lots of love and laughter. Thank you for reading and following my new “hobby”. I hope you will continue to follow me. Thanks so much! Much love and hugs to all y’all!!!

Bruschetta Chicken Skillet

We tried this the other night and it was a huge hit at my house…I hope it is at yours too.

1 (14.5oz) can Diced Tomatoes, drained

3/4 cup shredded Italian blend chees

1 (.75oz) package fresh basil, chopped

5 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 (8oz) can Tomato Sauce

1 tsp. finely chopped garlic

2 cups small garlic or Italian flavored croutons, crushed.

1. Stir together drained tomatoes, cheese, and basil in medium bowl; set aside.

2. The chicken breasts I had were really thick, so I cut them in half. You want to make them pretty thin.

3. Top evenly with the tomato mixture, pressing onto the chicken.

 

4. Combine tomato sauce and garlic in large skillet; add chicken. Bring sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in centers.

5. Top with croutons just before serving.

{I didn’t read the “crushed” part when it came to the croutons…I think it’d be better if they were.}

Silhouettes

I’m so excited to share the silhouettes I made our moms for Christmas. They turned out so cute and I can’t wait to make myself some.

All-in-all they were pretty easy…time consuming, yes a bit, but pretty easy.

I basically followed a tutorial on the Silhouette SD website. Here we go…

I took profile pictures of my kids before bed one night.

When I uploaded them on the Silhouette program I had to resize them a bit to the size I wanted.

I traced the outline of their head, but with their hair the outline was a little off.

The Silhouette site said all I had to do was pick the “end points”, delete them, and make the lines straight.

{I’ve tried several ways to put all these steps from my Silhouette program on here, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to do that…again, not that computer savvy.}

The Silhouette directions made it seem very simple. Well, it wasn’t hard, it was just very time consuming. There were hundreds of little grey boxes – end points – around the outline. Some were unwanted specs, and hairs, and such…all had to go.

Let’s just say I got real friendly with the left mouse button and the “delete end point” button.

After a while I finally had the outline I wanted…they were perfect.

I installed some vinyl into my Silhouette machine and cut.

Dallas helped me a lot with this project. I made the actual vinyl silhouettes, but she helped with the wood frames.

I had some left over wood from art boards I made a while back. I had Eric cut me four 10x10 boards.

I sanded them real good with the electric sander.

Dallas and I made up a white wash paint by watering down some paint we already had and she went to work.

But once dry I wasn’t completely happy with them.

I painted two with some bronze glaze I bought for some Christmas crafts. It had a little green tint to it. I put it on real thin and when it dried you could see some of the white wash through the bronze.

I mixed up a couple of brown craft paints and added a bit of the bronze glaze and painted the other two real thin as well.

I purchased some 12x12 scrapbook paper and cut them to 8x8. I then used Modge Podge and put them on the boards. When they were dry I took some fine sandpaper and sanded the edges of the paper a bit to make it look a little worn.

After cutting the vinyl silhouettes I placed them in the middle of the paper. Of course Dallas always wears a hair bow so I cut a couple of bows out on vinyl as well and placed it on hers.

They were finished!

They are so sweet and I can’t get enough of them.

I love how the Silhouette picked up every detail of their nose, mouth, hair line, and even eyelashes.

For a more detailed with picture tutorial, see this site: http://blog.silhouetteamerica.com/2011/04/spring-into-silhouette-tutorial-week_20.html

It’s a Wonderful Christmas

Hey there, y’all. I hope this finds that all of you had a wonderful and bright Christmas.

We sure did. I have to say that once I got over the funk I was in, the last week has been fabulous. We have had family in for a week and it was great.

We were so blessed to have Eric’s parents here for Christmas and then mine came in on Monday. We’ve had lots of laughs, good food, and made a ton of memories.

Christmas Eve church service was phenomenal as it always is. We were late to come in and had to sit in the back, but we didn’t miss a thing. I was a crying mess the whole time. Don’t worry, they were happy tears, but there’s something about Christmas songs that just pulls at my heart strings and makes me turn into waterworks girl.

Anyway, that was definitely what I needed to complete my Christmas spirit.

The kids were so jacked up all day that we put them to bed super early. They were exhausted and were just bouncing off the walls. Off to bed they went, but not before snapping a quick picture. And of course we had to leave the reindeer food outside and cookies and milk for Santa.

I could go on and on about Christmas morning, afternoon, night, and the day after, but I won’t give all details, but I will say that Santa {or someone} must’ve thought we were good because we got everything we wanted. When I say everything, I mean everything…check it out.

Hunter’s corner from Santa including the Lego Black Pearl pirate ship and Jack Sparrow dress up set.

Dallas’ corner from Santa including the American Girl, Emily, a pair of PJs for her and a make the faces pad.

If Santa didn’t bring enough for them they each got lots of more gifts…so much for cutting back this year.

Can I just tell you I must have done something really good this year because I got E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G I wanted. I’m still in disbelief. Want to know what it is?

Well, I’ve been wanting these for quite some time now…

Yes, that would be the Canon Rebel!!! I am so excited, I can’t stand it.

Rain boots from my sweet little girl.

I didn’t get a picture but my wonderful in-laws finished out my Christmas dishes I’ve been collecting for a couple of years now. They are simply elegant which is perfectly my style.

When my parents came with a carload of more presents I just couldn’t believe it.

We all received lots of more fun gifts, but I got the last toy I was really hoping for…

A sewing machine!!!

Hooray!!!

I’m so excited. I’ve been wanting to learn to sew for some time now, and now I can.

So needless to say I have been super busy since Christmas taking pictures, finding places for all these new toys, a little shopping, and also sewing!

Today Mama, Dallas and I started and finished my first project, a pillow for Dallas’ bed. We saw the fabric on clearance at JoAnn’s and I just had to have it.

Dallas was a great help, and we had a lot of fun doing this together.

Mama is a very patient and wonderful teacher, and I think I was a pretty good student.

I had little helpers, and we had a great time.

Yes, I even made a ruffle on my first try.

And the end result…

Isn’t it super cute??? I just love it, and so does Dallas. Tomorrow I have to make Emily, her doll, a matching pillow…good thing I got lots of material.

Like I said, I hope y’all had a wonderful Christmas. I just love this time of year…time with family.

I’ll be back the next couple of days to share some craft projects I worked on for presents.

Y’all have a good night.

Christmas mantel

I decided this year that I wanted to change up my mantel for Christmas.

I have to tell you that I was going to show you what my mantel has looked like the past 4 years, but looking back through all my pictures, I never took a picture of my mantel at Christmas. So, I guess I’m going to have to explain it to you and you’ll have to use your imagination…

Here’s a picture after I put up the garland this year…

Remember my wonderful coffee filter wreath??? I just couldn’t take it down. Usually the mirror comes down a big Christmasy wreath goes up. The garland is lit with white lights, and Max sometimes likes to hide there. I also use to put black chunky candle sticks with red candles – two on either side.

It was pretty simple but I liked it that way. This year I decided to change it up and I wanted to make some decorations, so off to Michael’s I went.

And, this is what I bought…

You can’t see, but the angel has sparkly wings and the deer is a little sparkly too. Can’t be too fancy, right???

The first thing I did was paint the J O Y letters.

I found this green glitter spray paint and just had to have it. I painted the letters, but quickly found that the paint was not sticking well. I let it dry and then sanded it a bit. I found some light green paint in the garage and spray painted the letters again…take two.

Once the green paint dried, I lightly re-sprayed with the glitter. They dried and I hot glued them stacking on top of each other.

Cute, huh?

Next I took the small canvas and got an idea from a fellow blogger.

http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-canvas.html

I gathered my things and got busy. I painted the canvas with kaki color first and let it dry. Next, I lightly painted on the bronze glaze and wiped some off with a paper towel.

Once all that was dry I taped off the bottom to make the stripes.

I didn’t want to copy totally the one canvas so I decided to come up with a different saying. I search the Silhouette website and found an adorable way to say “jolly”; and, that’s what I went with….

I hadn’t received my vinyl in the mail yet so I had to go to plan B. I printed out on cardstock and pulled out some Modge Podge.

I had not used it before and was a little nervous, but it worked great. I love the stuff!

And here’s the finished product…

The last thing I made was a felt Styrofoam tree.

First I cut out two different sized circles in cardstock….2 and 3 inches.

I traced the circles on the felt and started cutting.

I heated up the glue gun and once heated I started placing in overlapping pattern.

It didn’t take but a few minutes and it was finished.

And there you have it…three easy peasy craft projects to make for Christmas décor.

Once finished, I added a couple other things to the mantel and it was finished. I’m very pleased with it…and it just makes me happy.