DPP: Day 12

Apparently, the correct spelling of Christmas is debatable.   Perhaps this is the orthodox version: Christ Mass.

DPP: Day 11

Our beautiful little Christmas tree.  Little because it's only about as tall as I am, just over 5' 3" but the boughs are nice and full!

DPP: Day 10

Made this nifty star at work with my ladies today!

DPP: day 9

I missed 2 days, they were hectic, with the death of a dear family friend and an impromptu visit from my MIL, but today, we're getting our tree!

DPP: Day 6

Got this awesome first gift from my secret santa at work!

DPP: Day 5

It got to be 10:00pm, and I thought I hadn't taken a photo today...but I did, early this morning, of our girl in one of her birthday outfits (not to be confused with her birthday suit!).  She doesn't hold still for long, though, there's a great, wide world to explore!

DPP: day 4

Our girl has coxsackie virus, so we're doing a lot of snuggling these days...

DPP: Day 3

Driving Miss A.

We got a new ride-on toy for our birthday! 

Ladybug Party

Yesterday, we threw a ladybug themed birthday/baptism party for our girl.  I did it on a budget, and I hate buying useless overpriced decorations and paper goods, so I made what I did buy disposable count.  I thought I'd share some of what I did with you!

 

 Ladybug cups:  Red paper cups from the dollar store.  

Round white labels leftover from another project run 

through the copier at work with the lid open=black spots.

 If you have a girl, jumpers are super easy to make.  

I just traced one onto doubled fabric, sewed up the sides and the shoulders.  

This perfect fabric was from JoAnn's.  I used less than a yard.

 I whipped up this bib last thing, 2 pieces of white flannel stitched together.

A number 1 cut out of jumper scraps, sewn on.

Ribbons attached at the top to tie on.

 Red tablecloth + back plates and bowls = ladybug tables.

Those are plain white napkins in the center.

I think the colored ones don't work well, and white 

fit in with my color scheme.

 

Guestbook:  Red stamp pad, sharpies and a  blank page from her scrapbook.  

(Plus baby wipes for cleaning off thumbs!)

We did a similar guestbook for our wedding, but the thumbprints were leaves on a tree.

 

 Ladybug cupcakes:  Red frosting (for some reason it looks orange here) 

Spots = upside down chocolate chips pushed into the frosting.

Another idea I had, which I will certainly do again, was to put a bunch of prints of photos out on a table for everyone to sift through and help themselves in lieu of favors.  This  was especially nice for grandparents who don't quite get the concept of a photo sharing website.  We always order multiple prints to share, but don't have a great way to share them efficiently with family.  This worked out great!

I didn't go overboard with decorations, as you can see, but the theme was evident, and nobody really notices decorations anyway, in my opinion.  If you're wondering about a menu, I served:

• Chili (which, unintentionally, fit the theme, as I use black beans in a red sauce!)
• Butternut squash and black bean soup 
• Coleslaw
• Apple Waldorf Salad
• Corn muffins
• Appetizers: Taco dip, buffalo chicken dip, artichoke dip, and a veggie tray.
• Dessert:  Cupcakes (chocolate and vanilla), apple pie, cheesecake.
• Drinks:  Boxes of iced green tea with honey and lemonade (from the grocery store) and a jug with a spigot of water from the grocery store.  

DPP: Day 2

This girl turned 1 today, and got baptized!

We are so blessed!

December Photo Project-Day 1

On the eve of my girl's first birthday, I am finally coming back to this space.  It's been a whirlwind year!  To try and reconnect with blogging, I've signed up for the December Photo Project 2012.  I'm going to (try!) to take and post one photo a day for the first 25 days of December! Here goes nothing!



Day One:

 My girl received this wonderful bell carousel as 

an early birthday gift.  I'm mesmerized 

by the whirling colors and 

relaxing bell tones.