Work Christmas Party

One of the most difficult jobs I have even had is being a mother.  While I absolutely love every single second of being on maternity leave with the Boss, this job is definitely not 9-5, nor does it ever let up for a coffee break.  As the Christmas season approached I was feeling sad that I would not have a work Christmas party to attend.  While the government is kind enough to issue a bi-weekly maternity leave cheque, they don't find it necessary to throw a fancy Christmas party.  I thought about all my Mommy friends who would be feeling the same way so I decided I would through a "work" Christmas party.  Last week I invited a bunch of my Mommy friends and their little ones to come over.  It was super fun to get in the Christmas spirit and let all the little ones play together.  I tried to keep it as kid friendly as possible but had to show off my fun sugar cookies to match the fun frosty table cloth I found.

Christmas Table Display

 As our family grows it is harder and harder to get us all around one table at Christmas time so we celebrate a week early to cut down on the Christmas chaos.  As always we had a wonderful time and lots of fun as a family.  We are not foodies in the least, therefore the most important part of the dinner becomes the table decor and food presentation.  This year the seating plan changed to accommodate more people.  The table was moved into the living room, which was a perfect back drop for the whimsical winter theme.

Here is Wendy (my Mom), the host.  Her table is just a teaser of how beautiful her entire home is.

Place cards to show guests where to sit....

...and fun snowmen for the babies.

The best part is she decorated the entire table with supplies from the dollar store!!!  This just shows you that it doesn't cost a fortune to make your table as beautiful as the guests that are attending.

DIY Sheep Ears

This weekend the Boss was a sheep in our church nativity play for Christmas.  Even though she is only 6 months old I was elated that she was going to be a part of it.  After attending the first "practise" I offered to make the sheep ears for the baby girls.  There were three baby sheep including the Boss so I knew I could just whip them up.    I was able to make all three of them for about $1 each!  I got the black fabric from the ends section, cut them into sheep ears and sewed two together to give them some substance.  Then I sewed them to a white stretchy elastic, tide on the yarn and attached a pretty pink bow, of course!  The girls loved them and they look so precious!

The Boss

Me being a stage Mom....loved every second of this big moment in "our" life!

Seating Plan...

With Christmas just around the corner and the addition of two new babies this year, my Mom decided that she needed to get a second highchair.  Since this chair won't be used everyday she didn't want to spend a fortune on it so we went to IKEA and found the perfect chair.  We choose this Gulliver chair due to it's simple, sleek style and great price.

IKEA also has a pillow you can buy to put in the chair to help smaller kiddies sit up better.  This pillow definitely did not match my Mom's decor so we bought some fabric from IKEA and I  recovered the pillow for her.  Here is the transformation.

Needless Christmas Tree

I was visiting my younger sister the other day when I noticed she hadn't put up her Christmas tree.  Since mine has been up for about 3 weeks now, I was shocked (and slightly horrified).  When I asked her about it she said it was so much work for just her and she just wasn't feeling up to it this year. I totally understand.  It is an awful lot of work for just yourself.  So, while I totally understand not wanting to go the whole nine yards, this is no excuse for zero Christmas cheer what-so-ever.  I knew instantly what I needed to do.  You might remember my post about my friend Joel who works for House and Home magazine.  I first noticed his work on this project in the December issue.  Ever since I saw it I wanted to try it but didn't have anywhere for it in my house, I have found the perfect spot...my sister's house!  Here is her new tree that will be delivered and set up tonight!

I used material I had left over from another project, a piece of driftwood for the top, and twine to hang it with.  All items I had around the house.  The only thing I had to buy was the chalkboard paint, but I have been wanting this for awhile anyway!  For Joel's tutorial on how to make your own click here.

West Elm Purchase #1

As you read in my most recent post,  I attended a West Elm and Style at Home shopping party.  I purchased three items to add to my holiday and home decor.   The first item I added is a small hammered metal bowl.  West Elm carries them in a number of sizes as well as in the form of a serving tray.  For the centre piece I had already started I just needed the small one.  So $5 later, I had the perfect finishing touch.

Here is the finished project.

West Elm with Style at Home

One of my favourite home decor stores when living in the States was West Elm, so I was over the moon thrilled when they opened their first Canadian location in Toronto, 60 minutes from my house.  I have visited this store a number of times and introduced all my design friends to this great store.  With all this love for West Elm and love for home decor, you can imagine my excitement when one of my favourite blogging buddies and fellow shopper, Hare Styling,  invited me to a "get in the holiday spirit shopping event" put on by Style at Home and West Elm.

This event was a lot of fun.  I loved seeing the table displays and gaining inspiration for my home, not to mention we felt super Chic to be at such a classy event.  There were food and drinks served for the guests and editors from the Style at Home magazine were walking around.

This sign on the door added to our excitement.  We had to RSVP to this special event.

This picture was taken off the Style at Home blog.  How excited was I to see myself and Mrs. Hare-Styling on their blog.

 We had a wonderful time!  Stay tune to see when these great new items show up in my holiday decor.  Thank you Hare Styling for the fun date!  Can't wait for our next decorating adventure!

A Sweater and a Snowman

If you remember the photo from this post you will remember the cute little sweater below that I picked up on one of my thrifty shopping sprees.  That's right this little sweater cost me $2.75 and since the Boss is way too spoiled and has more clothes than I know what to do with I picked this up for a craft instead of for her.

I started by cutting the arms off the sweater.

Next, I flipped the sweater inside out and sewed the top, the arm holes and the bottom half shut.  Remember to leave a whole at the bottom to stuff your snowman.  Once it was all sewn up I flipped it back to the right side out.

Next I started to stuff my snowman and tie him into sections with twine.  I wanted him to be a traditional 3 ball snowman so I started with the turtle neck for it's head, tied it off,  then made the body tied it off, and finished the bottom.  Once you stuff each section pull on the sweater below the twine to make it tight and play with the batting to make your snowman the shape you desire.

 Once I finished filling him, I sewed the bottom shut and used buttons for the buttons and ribbon for his scarf.  I haven't decided yet if I will add sticks for arms or not.  Right now, it stands well and I think the sticks might get in the way of further decorating.  You could add a face, carrot nose and stick arms if you want to.  I think he is adorable just the way he is.  I have not found his permanent home as of yet but I am sure he will find a suitable one in the next few days.

On the table as the center piece

On the side hutch

 If you try your own please send me a picture.  I would LOVE to see how yours turned out.  I think it would be cute to make a family of snowmen using different types of sweaters.

I've shared this idea here,  feel free to share your ideas here too!