Super Domestic Upcycling Pinterest Crafty Goddess Christmas Tags

I finally got my craft room/guest room/office reasonably well organized (we won't talk about the academic papers and ministry files), and I have been slowly working on craft projects again.  Did you know that I love to make things?  I have spent so much of the last four years buried in books that maybe you didn't actually know that about me.

Here's a recent Pinterest-inspired project.  I took last year's Christmas cards and made gift tags out of them.  I used Stampin' Up punches and a Sizzix die-cut to get these various shapes.  For a couple, I simply cut shapes out with scissors.  I found images, parts of images, colors, textures, bits of wording, even the small images that are sometimes on the back of cards.  Even photo cards often have small images that are perfect for a gift tag.  I could stamp the other side with a "to: for:" stamp or just leave it blank so I can write whatever I want.  Some of the smaller ones I may use to glue onto small packages wrapped in plain brown or white paper, just to decorate the package.

Here's the original pin, if you want to check it out:  http://www.thegoodstuffguide.com/upcycling-christmas-cards/

Japanese Steakhouse Again!

We love to go to Susumu Japanese Steakhouse in Lynnwood for special occasions.  After all the graduation festivities died down, Mom took us and Rachel and her family there for dinner.  The grandkids were funny and cute, as usual, so here are a few photos.

Amelia's Third Birthday: Gruffalo Themed

We lost our card reader so we couldn't download photos for awhile.  But here are some from Amelia's birthday party in March.  Apparently Darrel took all the photos so he isn't in any of them.  But you will see our grandson John, granddaughter Amelia, daughter Rachel, son-in-law Bryan, daughter-in-law Amanda, and me.  Rachel did a beautiful job of theming all the activities, decorations, and food to the Gruffalo book that Amelia loves so much.

Family Build-Your-Own-Christmas-Tree-Pizza Christmas 2012

For our 2012 family Christmas on December 27 (coordinating schedules is a challenge!), we had everyone over for build your own Christmas tree pizzas.  I precut the pizzas into Christmas tree shapes and stacked them between layers of waxed paper, but it wasn't enough.  By the time we peeled the dough off the waxed paper, it no longer looked like a tree, but it was fun just the same, and everyone chose their own "decorations" for their pizza.  Hint for next time--thoroughly coat the pre-cut dough with flour.

Attendees:  Darrel and me, my mother Marilyn Marchant, my daughters Emily Womelsduff and Rachel Gough, and her husband Bryan and kids Amelia and John, Darrel's kids Jen, Peet, and Andrew Montzingo, Andrew's wife Amanda and in-laws Johnny, Susan, and Kelli Smith, Darrel's parents Lloyd and Eleanore Montzingo, and our niece Megan Montzingo (whose family lives in Thailand now).

Here are some photos from our evening.