Heading Into Spring... :)

One of the things I'm most grateful for is the great people that I'm so lucky to have around me.  Family... friends.  All of you really do influence me and make me a better person.  I would like to tell you of a seed that was planted by my dear friend Brynn.

The jar from the post right before this...  The XL Brandy glass.  After I bought it and made my super easy craft, I was talking with Brynn when she suggested changing the contents each season.  BRILLIANT!  Talk about the gears turning!  I think mine about came flying out of my head!  Thank you Brynn!  As I contemplated what I could do for each season, I found that summer was my easiest season to figure out.  I haven't thought about  Fall yet, but spring...  The hard one.  :/  I'm strange.  I don't really like pastel colors.  Mix that with baby chicks and even bright flowers..  Yeah, I was having a hard time with that.  I had no idea what I was going to do.  I looked around online to get some inspiration. I found some things that I liked but didn't love.  Hmm...  Sometimes crafting is very hard for me.

In one of my recent trips into Hobby Lobby (imagine that..) I found the perfect wooden rabbit.  I have very high expectation on what rabbits should look like.  I prefer them to look more like a Hare than a fat little bunny rabbit.  Lets say, I like them gangly.  So I will call him, my Hare instead. He may even have a name, soon enough.  Ha ha!  Anyway,  I wanted to do something with him in this jar adventure.  Then I got thinking about the rule of odds in decorating.  I needed at least 2 more containers.  So... I found some.  The brandy glass couldn't hold my Hare so of course he needed one.

Now the weird part. I had to think about how I wanted portray the seasons and I got thinking about The Nightmare Before Christmas..  Yeah totally random. In that movie Jack Skellington  stumble upon "Christmas Town"  When he returns to Halloween Town he is trying to figure out what makes Christmas what it is.  He proceeds to conduct a series of experiments to explain this Christmas thing logically to himself.    So, with that being said, I decided to fill these jars in sort of the same fashion.  I picked all the things I love about Spring.  So it's a sort of Science Experiment display.  The contents are displayed as if I was studying them.

Now, the sad part.  I have three jars.  Two are filled, but I can't think of what I want to put in the last one...  Hmm...  So I'll show you all the containers, even the empty one.

XL Brandy Glass.  I love streams and water. What lives there... Frogs.  The frog had to look somewhat real.  This is what I found. Complete!

The glass dome.  Home for my Hare, who's name I've decided is Atlas the Hare.  Complete with a fern backdrop. What would a Hare look like if he wasn't hiding in the greenery..?

And... the empty one. I can't, for the life of me figure out what to put in it.  I really need to think about it.  It was supposed to be the home of the frog, but he ended up being too tall.  Something small and simple I think...

I usually get all my epiphanies right before I go to bed.  The frog jar came to me last night.  I'm hoping this last jar's contents will come to me soon.

Anyone's Craft

Did you ever see this commercial...



Ornaments do "make good centerpieces" 


Instructions....

1. Find a clear glass container.  Whatever suits your fancy!

It made my chuckle that this vase is called "XL Brandy"  

Maybe I'm the only one that thinks that slightly comical.  Could you imagine someone drinking Brandy from this thing!?

Anyway, Then the next step....

2.  Collect an assortment of discount ornaments... 

3.  Last but not least, fill the vase.

TA DA!!! 

I present, the finished product!

Also optional, add vase filler.  In my case, I used gold curling ribbon.  Easy, cheap, and looks good. 

The End!

80's Night!!

So I had this bright idea that instead of going out to eat with the girls for my birthday, we would have a Just Dance party wearing fabulous 80's workout clothes.  You wouldn't imagine how easy it it to find this stuff. Ha ha!  One place... Forever 21 in the mall.  People actually wear leg warmers!  We bought them as a joke.  Anyway, if you have never played Just Dance, you should!  It's so much fun!  Here are some songs from the new Just Dance 3, that just came out, that we played....

I was the guy in Blue on the left.  Totally reminds me of Michael Jackson!

This one was a blast!  Can't go wrong with a little of the chicken dance.

And then of course there's our old favorite from Just Dance 2....

Anyway, here are some picture taken during this adventure that are quite comical!

Yeah, we had way too much fun doing this!  The plus is that we will always have our 80's clothes for when we want to do it again. Yay!

Christmas Decor of 2011

I don't have many new additions to my collection this year, but here are the few things I did add. The best part!  We actually have a Christmas Tree!  My mom has told me about a tree they had in the shed for the last 2 years and I always thought it would be too big for our space.  This year I gave in because I didn't want to find another make shift option.  Lucky for me, the tree fits perfectly!  It's not the prettiest tree but it looks pretty good with some time and fixing. 

Another plus is that it's pre-lit so I didn't have to mess around with lights.  We had just enough ornaments to get the job done.  I'm proud of our little tree. :)

I decided I want to start collecting nativity scenes.  My friend got our first one from us last year...

This one is a Celtic Nativity

Since we didn't get one the first year we were married, I decided I could get two this year to makeup for it. ;)  Ha ha!  I've found that the best place to go for nativities is Deseret Book.  They always have a huge selection, and they are all very interesting.  Here are the two I bought this year...

This one is called the Mandir Nativity.  It's from Bangladesh.  Very interesting, I love it!

These first two are a bit on the unique side and I wanted one that you had no problem telling what it's supposed to be.  So I got this one.  Still interesting, but very obvious. 

I love the designs in it.  So pretty!

That's pretty much it for the new stuff this year.  The ornament balls are new too, but I figure since they were in my last post I can get away with not posting them again.  I'm so happy we have an actual tree this year!  I can't wait to get my own house and buy a big fat nice one!  But for now, this one is perfect! I'll probably keep it around for future use as a second tree.