A season for forgiveness

So I am totally hanging my head in shame for probably the WORST blog series ever! However with the rumors of major cutbacks at my company I figured my job needed my full attention these last two weeks.  To make up for such a horrible faux pas I hope to have a mass of beautiful posts when we get back from Paris...and maybe a few when we are there as well. For all those out there that did wait 'til the last minute to wrap gifts, or maybe you just like looking at pretty packages here are some favorites I have seen this year. 

{To get this look they used craft paper and decorative foil. You can find the foil at craft stores or stores that specialize in cake baking}

{I realize how much I love the look of craft paper as gift wrap it's simple yet festive. These pompoms where made from leftover yarn. Here is a great pompom tutorial for those like me that cant naturally create beautiful things out of yarn!}

{Here is a more elegant gift wrap option for those that really want to impress, or maybe want to draw the attention away from the gift inside :). Laura Lapin used vinyl wall paper she got at a flea market for the white decorative paper and then red craft paper for the other.  Seriously this Brit is one of the most creative gift wrappers I have ever seen.}

{This little snowman package from dSharp would be a great kids gift wrap option. She used different size circle tags to create the snowman image, but you could use really anything.}

 

{I love these shiny monogram packages!! You can use any font and any paper to personalize it for the person you are giving it to.}

{Ok this is probably the coolest one I have seen. It's vinyl wood-looking paper you can get at a hardware store and homemade snowflakes. I really wanted to do this but I had already bought wrapping paper before I saw this idea...rats!}

{And last but not least for the sewers out there, this is craft paper that is stitched up on the sides and painted to make it look a little more like a gift, perfect for little handmade gifts.}

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas filled with love and peace. See you in the new year!

A Super duper Giveaway!!

I am taking a short break from all the gift wrapping to promote a 12 days of Christmas Giveaway over at Design Mom. If you are not familiar with her Giveaway's, they are AMAZING! Check out her blog on Friday Dec. 12 for your chance to enter 12 fabulous giveaways...Good Luck to all!

All buttoned up

Sorry for being such a slacker, work always seems to get in the way of blogging! I have always been a huge fan of old buttons. Last summer when we were dividing up my grandmothers things there was an rusty old baking tin full of old buttons that I just had to have. There so sentimental to me! Any way here are some fun holiday wrapping ideas you can do with buttons...have fun!

This first idea found on Martha would be a fun craft for kids to do.  Simply attach a button to a cork with double-sided tape. Place plain paper on a piece of felt or a folded piece of fabric (this cushions the paper so the mark will be even). And top with a pretty button tied on with baker's twine. A snap!

This next image found on BHG is a perfect use for all those old buttons! You can make pretty much any shape you want. I recommend sketching the shape on paper and arranging the buttons out as you want them before you start gluing. Happy wrapping!

Say it with letters

Monograms add a special touch to most gifts, but I had never thought of using letters in my wrapping regimen. Here are some great ideas that add a unique touch to your gifts, and they are easy enough for even a novice crafter to try!

This is another dSharp creation (she is so crafty). She used an old house number for the number and a chipboard letter covered in glass glitter for the letter.

This "G" reminds me of a vintage sign you would find at a garage sale...I am now on the look out for letters! Hobby Lobby and Michael's both have a variety of chipboard letters and numbers that will work just fine though. 

Images found on Design Sponge

One of my favorite parts about gift giving...

I love making gifts look pretty, it's almost more important then the actual gift itself. My hope is that people hesitate before opening their gifts this year because of how pretty they are wrapped! So I think I will start my first series  "Pretty Packages" in the hopes that your holidays will be brightened by some unique and creative wrapping ideas. 

To start us off I have chosen a practical and very elegant wrapping idea. Anyone hate to tie bows? Or maybe they just never come out how you want them. Well Denise of dsharp has a very easy solution to this problem.  She has created a series of letterpress buckles and accompanies them with gorgeous coordinating ribbon.  Check out her etsy shop here.

Makin me Happy

I found this image on Oh Joy! this morning and it immediately reminds me of my best friend... I can just hear her saying it right now.  If you can read the script it say "Get in here." Its from Christopher David Ryan.

Etsy picks

I love these rubber stamps on Etsy, but I know nothing about stamping...is it even called stamping, surely someone has thought of a better name.  I'm so tempted to buy them, and make some cute little cards with them.  Has anyone ever made cards with stamps, is it as easy as it looks? These are so cute!

The break up...

Full marathon I am going to have to call it quits. I don't have time to prepare for you, nor do I have the desire to run your 26.2 daunting miles. To put it plainly, I'm just not that into you. Please don't be hurt. Its not you, its me. I don't want to hate running, and you are making me hate it. Half marathon here I come!!!

paper n stitch

Has everyone seen paper n stitch? It's similar to Etsy but on a much smaller scale and it looks like you can submit your stuff for sale and they will promote it on their blog as well. As per their website they are a comprehensive website that will allow users to upload their own information and start promoting their work. The site will include plenty of features and offer something unique for buyers and sellers.  I have been checking out the different artists and there are some very cool things.  Here are some of my favorites, enjoy!

Maybe this will help...

I found this via Lifehacker and thought I would pass it along.  If you are like me you still have a lot of questions about the candidates and the key issues but dont know where to find some answers.  Hopefully this will help a little...

It's hard these days to imagine how elections happened before the web grew to popularity. With all the instant-access news, video, data, and social networking available in a few seconds' time, election season is a prime time to dig in and find out where the candidates are getting and spending money, what's being said by and about them and which of it is true, and how to make sure you get your vote in on Nov. 4. Read on for a roundup of 10 tools to get politically savvy this election season and beyond. 

10. Compare the candidates.

Unless you're working on a campaign, chances are you don't know where each candidate stands on every issue. McCain's take on net neutrality? Barack's stance on school vouchers? SelectSmart's 2008 Presidential Candidate Selector gives you the skinny on the major-topic stances of every candidate, including most of the third-party contenders. Those are the five-minute takes; for a multitude of quotes straight from the candidates' mouths on the issues, tryOnTheIssues.org.

9. Go poll-crazy at FiveThirtyEight.com.

Nate Silver is a total data geek, but he knows how to apply it to interesting topics. He proved that with Baseball Prospectus, which projects performance by players and teams, and he's striking out to do the same for election results. Silver's FiveThirtyEight grabs all the polls it can find, weighs them based on methodologies and past accuracy, projects data for regions where it can't find polls, then runs thousands of simulated elections to come up with a likely outcome. Silver's site currently has Obama walking away with it; if nothing else, it'll be interesting to see, come Election Day, how database projections fared with real people.

8. Get your video fix at YouTube's You Choose '08.

Sure, it's mostly campaign ads, he-said-she-said coverage, and other videos that are, depending on views, reassuring or infuriating. But YouTube's You Choose '08 section is a central source of all attacks, scandals, video evidence of gaffes and quotes, and occasionally, informative video. Bookmark it and feel better about fast-forwarding through the ads when they blanket your television in the coming weeks.

7. Follow the money.

Spending's become a much-debated issue, at least in this part of the race to the White House. Using some cool visualization tools, you can get all kinds of specific data on the wheres and whats of government spending. This Google Earth layer adds pinpoints wherever appropriated money is being sent, although it leans heavily toward military and homeland security bills. The graph-happy folks at Many Eyes have put together a ton of interactive (and usually Java-required) tools, including this earmarks visualization of per-capita earmark spending. Now you're not just mad, you're madly informed.

6. See what the candidates said about your hot-button topic.

Google Labs offers two neat search tools that let you get beyond the basic talking points and read or see the candidates speaking on any topic. In Quotes lets you type a term and see how Obama and McCain referenced it in speeches, interviews, and other places.GAudi, the YouTube-searching audio index tool, does basically the same thing, but points you to specific points in a video where they said it. Oddly enough, neither candidate has said anything so far about Google, Gmail, or YouTube, according to those tools.

5. Find out how and where to vote.

In all the never-ending debate and fervor of an election season, it can be easy to forget that it's all about, you know, actually showing up and casting your ballot. Google's Voter Info Map, run as a partnership with the League of Women Voters, makes short work of finding out if you can still register (today is the last day in New York and others, for example), where you go to vote, where to grab an absentee ballot, and your local board of elections web site.

4. Vote early with a no-excuse absentee ballot.

You probably don't know exactly what your schedule will look like on Election Day, or how crowded your polling place will be. In 28 states, you can skip the early-morning/lunch break/after-work jam and vote with an absentee ballot, no excuse required. The Early Voting Information Center runs down the particulars of getting the jump on your right as a citizen.

3. Track developing stories on blogs and news sites.

Political veterans (or just jaded political wonks) always see an "October surprise" in an election year. See what stories and trends are gaining ground and staying there with two search tools: Microsoft's Political Streams, part of its Live Labs, follows news stories across blogs, portals, and other aggregators, tracking how often, and for how long, it's getting linked and written about. Google's revamped blog search is more specific to blog-generated articles and the buzz they generate. Both are worth checking when you're looking to see how stories are spun, refuted, and propagated across the web.

2 Track fund raising and donations by candidates (and your neighbors).

Want to see what interests, businesses, and individuals the candidates are helping line the candidates war chests? OpenSecrets.org has maps, graphs, and details that can keep you busy for days. But, honestly, it's more fun to see who in your neighborhood is giving to whom. Luckily, you can get just that specific at Fundrace 2008, a Google Map mashup run by the Huffington Post blog network (you'll see their left-leaning post links, but the data is straight-up). You can search donations by street, city, company, or occupation.

1. Get beyond the spin at FactCheck.org.

Run by the non-partisan, non-profit Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, FactCheck.org has been a go-to source for years whenever politicians claims that they, or their opponent, did or didn't do something that just seems a tad bit unbelievable. You can track the latest spins and truths by RSS or email alerts, but the site updates pretty quickly with blow-by-blows after debates, major news stories, and other events that cry out for a little objective double-checking.

A little Cheeky

I found some very clever letterpress cards at Old Tom Foolery, but they are definitely not for the easily offended!

Here are some of my favorites (you may have to click on the image to read the funny part):

 

Letterpress lovely

Last year I really want to find the perfect little desk calendar for my office.  I went back and forth between several I found on Etsy, but when it came down to it none really won me over.  I just saw the Paper Source 2009 Calendar and I think I'm in love!

Here's a little peek...

I have a strong desire to throw out all my random "mugs and kisses" coffee cups and fill my cabinet with these...They're from Crate and Barrel and only $2.50!

Inspired

As we all try to get back to normalcy from the excitement of hurricane Ike, I am find myself with lots of creative inspiration.  I picked up a new embroidery book and some fun new thread.Then I saw this picture on one of my all time favorite blogs. If the resolution isn't good, it's a bunch of tiny french knots all clustered together and then they thin out, so cool!

{making me so happy today}

Mike and I have gotten in the habit of lighting candles lately. I have always loved to have candles around but never was in the habit of lighting them so they would collect dust and I would end up throwing them away. Here are my two current favorites:

Orange Vanilla is so lovely, and never overpowering!




Wild blueberries and Vanilla smells like heaven!



On my wish list for when these guys are all used up:

The sent is called volcano, but is smells amazing...its what they always have burning in Anthropologie when I go there.

Vous voulez parler français avec moi?

I am trying to follow through with some of my New Years Resolutions, and brushing up on my French is next on the list. Mike and I have been talking about taking french lessons for about a year and we finally dove in and bought a program. Its called the Rosetta Stone language program, and it comes highly recommended. I was very skeptical at first, but its what the CIA uses to teach their operatives languages so I figured it was good enough for me :). There are three levels and several sections in each level. And it used visual and auditory techniques to help you learn. There is no memorization of vocabulary involved but a lot of sensory repetition. Our goal is to be conversationally fluent by Dec. when we go to Paris. So next time you see me feel free to ask what I am learning. I get really nervous speaking to people in french so I want to practice on my English speaking friends first :).

In case you were wondering

So I was tagged along with everyone else I know to do this little randomness list. At first I thought there is nothing people don't know that is worthy to be random enough to post on this list, but I think I came up with a few good ones for you!
Here are the tagging rules:
Post the rules on your blog
Write 6 random things about yourself
Tag 6 people at the end of your post
If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

6 Random things about me
-I get nauseas right before landing every time I fly...this is a rather new thing for me probably with in the last 4 yrs. I hope it goes away soon.
-I have HORRIBLE handwriting (I am a lefty) and always envy those with pretty handwriting...of the top of my head this girl has very pretty handwriting.
-I wish that I could draw or paint. I feel like that is a building block to creativity that I am seriously lacking. When I was in college I sketched wedding dresses, and seriously considered moving to New York to go to design school. Looking back I think New York would have laughed at my drawings and sent me right back to Texas.
-i fell off my bike in 6th grade while racing my brother to tennis lessons and fractured my skull, I still don't like to ride bikes that much. And no I was not wearing a helmet...I know tis tis.
-I won't go number 2 anywhere else other then my house. If I am staying at a friends house for a few days I won't go unless its an emergency, and at work you can forget about it!
-When I grow up I would love to live in the South of France (not the touristy side but the other side) and open up a coffee shop or flower shop or both!!
OK I know most people have already been tagged, but I think I can come up with six that haven't:
My hubbs-because last night you were making fun of this little game :)
Catherine Swaffar-because I know you have a ton of random things people don't know about you.
Phil Coffman-I know you've been dying to get into this game just like mike!
Monique-I know you've got some randomness you can't wait to share.
Julie A.-You seriously need a new post, I think blogger might giveaway your web page :)
Erin Wallace- We all need a little new mommy randomness!

Grosgrain

Design Mom beat me to the punch, but I have been wanting to showcase Grosgrain for all my mom friends to see. I have already commissioned this mom to make all of my children's clothes (at least in my head I have), she is amazing!! And she is trying to market herself right now so she is constantly giving away her clothes for free! All you have to do is go to her blog and click on create a link and you are automatically entered to win the featured clothing. Go check her out!!

Plain White Tee...

I want to pass on a little secret my best friend Catherine let me in on a few weeks ago. The men's Hanes v-neck tee is the perfect t-shirt for any occasion. You can dress it up with pearls or other fun jewelry, wear it to workout in, or with jeans and flip flops. Regardless of the occasion you will always look perfectly put together in your crisp white tee. And it only cost $10 for a 6 pack!! I prefer the comfort fit, its a bit longer then the perfect fit. I hope you enjoy this little secret!

The unexamined life is not worth living...

I was thinking about community today, and what my friendships look like compared to what they used to look like. I have distinct memories of my friends knocking on my door when I was a little girl. They would come unscheduled and unannounced and we would play until someone was called home to eat dinner. At the end of our play dates we never took out our barbie planners to schedule next weeks visit, it was just understood that we would play again soon. Where did that simplicity go? I find myself longing for more of the small town mentality that my Brenham friends have where everyone just drops by at the leisure. I hate that my life is scheduled so far in advance, leaving hardly any room for spontaneity. Will it always be like this? How do I make it not like this? Do act, to my friends, like the kind of person that will welcome them in at any given time or day? All I know is that I want my friends to feel like they are always invited to come knock on my door anytime, and I will always love a play date!

The secret is out!!

Alright sit down before you read this as the news could be shocking (not really but at least really exciting!) After two years of serving at Foundry UMC, Mike has decided to take off his worship leading hat for awhile to sharpen his skills in other areas. He has accepted a job at the College of Biblical Studies as their media producer. But even more exciting is that we get to go back to Crossbridge!!! And all though we will miss the friends we have made at Foundry we are overflowing with joy that we get to come back to our Crossbridge family. Ok back to work, I just wanted to share that with the blogosphere...it makes it seem that much more real!! I am counting down the days!

Simple goodness

I'm in my first real week at the new job, and my days are still sort of a blur of information. I know it will be like this for a bit, but I am enjoying it nonetheless. I am trying to take lots of deep breathes in between all the chaos so as not to go crazy! And today I have discovered my very own flavia machine next to my office with all the FREE tea and coffee I could ever want. You maybe thinking "what's the big deal with tea and coffee?" Well flavia has individual packets of interesting teas and coffees (like Kenyan dawn and malawi garden tea) so you can customize your drink to your liking! It's like I am my own Starbucks barista! Today I am trying the raspberry energizing tea. It's a little tart, but pretty tasty! I am thinking about switching to the exotic chai for the afternoon!