Happy Holidays...

From my cats to yours.

I'm really happy with how this year's cards came out. The photoshoot we did, was, errr, painful to say the least. But we did manage to get some good shots out of it. One thing I'd like you all to know is do not start a kitty-cat photoshoot without treats. That was our amateur mistake this year. As a result they were uncooperative and miserable. Despite the fact that Oliver looks adorable in his Santa hat, I nearly lost a finger putting it on. AND once it was on, it only lasted about a minute. YOU HAVE TO WORK FAST PEOPLE when dealing with cranky pets. HAHA. Last year we had treats and catnip to keep these boys happy. I'll never do another photoshoot without them again.

But enough with my creative woes, Happy Holidays (again).  

(Check out last year's cards here.)

GUESS WHAT?

Today marks the start of my THIRTEEN days off.THIRTEEN STRAIGHT DAYS! I'm so excited I might pee myself. It also marks the start of my visit-everyone-and-their-mother week. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Nope, not one bit. In fact, I'm so excited it hurts. Like literally hurts. I get to see...my sisters, Sara, Mari, Eva, Juliette, Yalissa, Steve, Erik, Meredith, Momma R and Papa R and ALL OF MY FAMILY. Aww YEAH! I can't wait to see all of these faces...

 Bring it on Christmas, bring. it. on.

XO.

A Lady Did Christmas Presents: Co-Worker Gifts

I love making little tasty treats for my co-workers as holiday gifts. Here are some ideas I found on Pinterest to inspire you to do the same! And if they don't inspire you to be crafty, just give your co-workers a bag of marshmallows minis with the poem:

You've been bad

So here's the scoop

All you get for the holidays 

is snowman poop.

See? Pure poetry.

XO.

{Tasty homemade bread}

{Totally cute!}

{I actually made this back in 2009! I made the peppermint hot chocolate mix! It was so cute!}

A Lady Did Christmas Presents: Pom Pom Garland

As I mentioned the other day, I made pompom garland. I also might have mentioned that Bruiser ripped it down with a savageness I've never seen before. Well, since most of you don't have a Bruiser, here are some instructions on how to make your own pompom garland should you want to. 

Here's what you'll need...

I got all of my supplies at Michael's for about $10. I got the LARGEST needles I could find! Keep that in mind. 

Next up: 

Create a patter with your pompoms or DON'T create a pattern. This is your project, so do what you please, but I went with the red, white, and green theme. 

What's not pictures is probably the most important {tisk, tisk, Katie} but I want you tell you how to actually tie your pompoms onto the string. What I did was tie about 3-4 pompoms onto a piece of string & then snip that piece off, and set it aside. This garland gets tangled QUICK, so creating smaller segments and then tying them together later is the way-to-go. I threaded a bunch of pompoms onto the string. Then I slide a pompom to the side and knotted it into place. Then I slide another pompom over, keeping the spacing in mind, and tied that into place. I did that one more time and then SNIP SNIP SNIPPED. Not going to lie, but I'm kind of obsessed with the end result. The best part is that it only took me a 1/2 hour! Booya!

{he literally hovered near me during the entire project!}

{See the savageness I was talking about!?}

Outtake

So, I made pompom garland the other day.

It was promptly ripped down by the BRUISER MONSTER. 

I'm going to post the instructions regardless, because I'm sure that some of you don't have Bruiser Monsters to contend with. 

Stay tuned y'all.

A Lady Did Christmas Presents: Mason Jar Rolls

There's something about Christmas that makes be want to go above and beyond. I want bake. I want to wrap. I want to decorate my home with nutcrackers and twinkle lights. I feel like a spaztastic Super Woman or something. In the true holiday season, I want to share some of the ways that I'm making Christmas more personal & homemade. FIRST UP, are these Rosemary Rolls BAKED IN A MASON JAR! Umm, can you say adorable? I'm not going to lie, they take a bit of time, but the end result is worth the wait. I seriously considered not telling my family that I made these beauts so that I could eat all 12 myself. They are light and fluffy and simply lovely. Enjoy!!!