The *!$%?@!?!! Christmas Card

I know I shouldn't curse when it comes to the Christmas card-- seems sacrilegious, I suppose... But seriously, every year I drive myself crazy trying to think of something "original" to do.  "Original" meaning, not posing in front of the fireplace (sorry mom!).  My own fault, I know.

So this year, even though I knew I'd be pushing it with the move and all, plus not having the computer hooked up, plus having to convince the 3-and-under-crowd that it was important to pay attention and follow directions... I just HAD to run with this fabulous idea that I discovered a while ago (years? months?) while surfing the web.  It just made sense since it reflects heavily on the realities of parenting young children.  What's this hubbub she's babbling about you ask?

After a week of hashing it out with Photoshop late into the wee hours and 30-something odd drafts later, I finally finished "the card" just in time to get it out before Santa came a'calling. Well take a look-see...

It definitely could've used a little more tweaking-- i.e. erase shadow behind Smarty Pants, but in the spirit of all things good, I decided to let it go.  Plus, me with no sleep = grouchy mommy.

Wishing You & Yours Loads of Joy & Cheer. Merry Christmas!

Holiday Decor - Minimalist Style

Since we just moved a couple of weeks ago, decorating for the Holidays is about 10th on the list of "things I must do today"--  Right behind, find all my measuring spoons and cups, which have somehow fallen into a blackhole (or more likely, a mismarked box).

But with dear Smarty Pants worrying that Santa wouldn't stop by our house because we don't have a Christmas tree, let alone a single Christmas decoration, I put aside my unpacking to set up some Christmas Cheer.  Can't disappoint Santa, yah know??

Hmmm... the tree didn't hit the ceiling at our old house.  Oh well, at least it's skinny enough to tuck beside the couch which makes it less of a target for Happy Vee, our ornament stealing bandit.  It's okay if we only used 1/4 of our ornaments, right?  Because the other 3/4's are M.I.A. and I have a better chance of finding them next Christmas.

It really was the perfect tree for our old house though.  Tall enough to fill the nook of our semi-circular staircase and thin enough not to block the hallway.  Maybe one day we can "gift" it to the new owners. See, it fit the old house perfectly...

Usually, I display our Christmas Cards in a more artistic manner, but they definitely warmed up our lean & mean, bare mantle...

Next year I'm going to recreate the "ribbon on the door" Christmas card display of years past...

Yep, so that was it for our Christmas decor this year.  Kinda minimal, but it pleased our Christmas-lovin' preschooler and put us in the right spirit of the holidays.  I have to say, though, it was awesome being able to clean up everything in less than an hour-- maybe there is something to this "minimalism" stuff.

Fun Holiday Foods

I'm not picky, I love almost all food.  And I like food even better when it's presented in a fun or pretty way.

Here are a couple of fun ways to liven up even the most mundane appetizers--

Crudite platter... boring. But crudite arranged like a Christmas Tree, just plain fun!  Okay, I was super busy and asked Dad Tee to take a picture, um, which is why the angle is not quite right.  The white cauliflower (aka snow) should be at the bottom. 

A plate of olives...ho-hum. But olives disguised as penguins with a little cream cheese and some carrot slice accents-- fun!  Would've looked better if I piped the cream cheese, but at least you can tell I didn't buy them. Couldn't keep the kids away, hence the cute, little round eye hovering on the left side of the picture.

Now if I could only convince Smarty Pants to eat my cute, fun food.  That kid makes other picky eaters look like little piggies.  Ah well, I had fun putting it together!