LilyBean's Paperie

homespun holidays...

December is just around some corners (as my little one would say) and I've created a fun holiday journal for Emma's Paperie that I'd like to share with you and invite you all to participate in a Homespun Holiday Journal of your own.  I created this with the intention of dividing December into 12 days of homespun holiday memories... Inside are 12 pages embellished and ready to contain pictures, notes, lists, recipes, articles, stories, etc...the key here is to center our Christmas around memorable activities that bring us together, don't cost much, and that we will want to include as part of our Christmas tradition from here on out...some could most definitely be flops...but I want to try...I want to focus on the simple things...I want my little girl to be more interested in what we do together than on what she wants under the tree.   So....starting off, every other day starting December 1st, my little one and I...daddy too when he can, will sit down and create....things such as:

• a popcorn and cranberry garland for our tree
• jumbo gingerbread men
• a paper chain to count down the days until Christmas
• sugar cookies for the neighbors
• a Frosty to peek at through the windows...here's hoping we get enough snow for one. 
• making sweater beanie hats (here is a link to the CUTEST, easiest pattern):   http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=58&sid=8464613 
• homemade suckers
• Christmas cards for the cousins

  
  I need to collect more fun ideas for us, but I'd love to hear yours...what are some fun ways you can bring your children or grandchildren closer together for the holidays...how can we teach them the importance of giving, sharing, and of family togetherness?

 
 
 
   I love clipping envelopes in journals...always a great spot for loose odds and ends that will someday be a treasure.  

I want to create one of these each year and someday will have a beautiful stack of them to present to my little girl filled with her Grandma Boley's cinnamon roll recipe complete with pictures of us making them together, pictures of our handmade ornaments with snippets of the fabric tucked into an envelope, her letter to Santa throughout the years, and many more memories as well.

So....will  you join me?  You have all of November to create you journal, then beginning in December the fun begins and you start filling it full of memories to hold dear.

A complete supply list and instructions for this journal can be found HERE on Emma's Paperie blog.

Have a sweet Friday.

Melis
 
 

indulge me...

Just for me....for her too someday....I want her to know how much she is loved...then, now, always...I love her tears, frowns, hands on hips, and stomps on the floor.  She is mine and she is adored and loved unconditionally.  I could never get enough of her.  She is getting her phrases all mixed up right and and I LOVE it....I don't correct her...I just enjoy her...things such as "full as a stump", or "sure bet"...which is a mixture between "you bet" and "sure thing"....I don't want these days to end.     Her daddy is smitten...best of buddies.  They are going elk hunting tomorrow...camping, the whole bit.  She, daddy, great-grandpa, and the mules will head up in the afternoon to set up camp and get dinner going.  I'm excited for them....and am now remembering that he needs a little lesson on how to put her hair in a simple ponytail....this will be good for them :)
 
 
   
 
 
  
  
 
 
    
Thanks for indulging me....

Sleep tight angel of mine.

Melis
 
 
 
 

bake some love...

There is something about baking that I love....yes it makes my house smell delicious, and spicy, and buttery, and warm...but more than that, it speaks love...something about having a homemade treat ready for a hungry 1st grader...a tired daddy...a midnight snack...or to enjoy together around the table.  So today....cinnamon rolls are on the menu....I can't make them worth a darn...but I'm on a quest to perfect them.  Do you love to bake....tell me your speciality....let's share.  I think I want to try some Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls....I think....still on the fence cause the regular kind are so good....but here's a recipe I found to try.

A little basket of goodness that stares at me in my craft room and makes me oh so happy....my trims all tumbled together naturally...some already dipped in tea...some still waiting....and a little peek of a beautiful creamy pink flower that is part of a project I'm working on for Frost it Pink...coming soon.

This is about as organized as I get when it comes to my supplies....I'm challenged in that area, but I'm learning to embrace my organizational dysfunctionality...this is a pretty mess, don't you think?

I love pockets....so fun to stuff and fill with a beautiful surprise... The library pocket is from Martha Stewart, paper and tag from Melissa Frances, and Spring Moss buttons, Scarlet Jewel, Spring Moss, and Ripe Avocado inks, and the Remember and Text Style  II stamp sets are all from Papertrey Ink....I might of gotten a little carried away with my Glimmer Mist on this...maybe...naaah... I love the stuff and sprayed this with Cream de Rouge and Cream de Cocoa Glimmer Mist...very addicting...but it makes a pretty mess too, don't you think?

 

Here's to a beautiful November day...enjoy it.  It's been so warm here....warm enough to go on a moonlit bike ride at 4:30 in the afternoon yesterday...this Daylight Savings stuff is screwy.

Melis