Green Horned Unicorn

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye 2011

Nate and I are enjoying our last, lazy days days together before the start of 2012. We were lucky enough to both have 10 full days off together! After recovering from all the holiday celebrations (and messes), I've been busy doing lots of cleaning and organizing, going out for lunch everyday, making lots of homemade ice cream, working on a bathroom makeover project, trying to finish my Holidays Memories album, making plans for 2012 and much more! This is the first time EVER that I've taken this much time from work and not travelled somewhere (aside from a small day trip we took)! It's actually quite nice to relax, something I rarely make time for.

As I intially started writing this post, I thought I was going to do some grand recap of 2011. Instead, I think I'll summarize it in just a few words. In reflecting upon 2011, one thing it certainly brought was change. Especially these last few months. Some of it was hard, some of it was sad, but, luckily, most all of it was for the better. Starting in November, my sister got married, followed by my grandma passing away just two days later. I experienced lots of change at work and am left hoping it is all for the better. The most exciting news is that Nate got a new job! We'll (sadly) no longer be carpooling for our daily commute, because he will now be working from our home. I'm so excited and proud of him for finding and chasing such an amazing opportunity!

Nate and I have many plans and goals in the works for 2012, both personally and professionally. I'm anxious for the new year to arrive and to see where it will take us!

Before I go, I will share with you the last Sketchy Thursdays challenge for 2011.

Click here for product credits.

This photo of Nate and I was taken at my paren'ts home in Nebraska during the first of our three Christmas celebrations. I'm hoping to get my Hoiday Memories album wrapped up soon, so I can share all the stories and memories with you! This week's challenge sponsor is Digi Doodle. I used their Ornaments stamp (the branch with the ornaments) on the top and bottom (fipped over) of the page. The papers and most embellishments are from the 12 Days of Christmas Kit by Jessica Sprague and Heidi Swapp.

I hope you and your loved ones enjoy the final moments of 2011 and wish nothing but the best for 2012! It's going to be a good year, I can feel it :)

DIY Glitter Ornaments

If you're anything like me, you have boxes of clear glass ornaments laying around your craft room all year long. I mean, who can resist those after Christmas clearance sales where you can grab a box for only $2? And, if you are like me, you allow them to pile up year after year and never really do anything with them. Common, you can admit it!

This year, I decided to take a stand and make something with at least a few of the boxes in my ever-growing collection. Enter this post from the Ornament Girl, which I came across while perusing the blogosphere. Lovely glitter ornaments that take only three items and practically no time to create. Sign me up please!

To make these sparkling spheres of joy, you will need clear glass ornaments, glitter and Future Floor Wax. I certainly had the glitter (I used Martha Stewart brand) and ornaments handy, and lucky for me, we just happened to have Future Floor Wax sitting around from Nate's aircraft modeling days. It seems Future Floor Wax has multiple uses in the craft and hobby world. But, what I'm really wondering is, do people really even use this stuff to clean floors? Just curious.

Creating the ornaments is really quite simple. First, remove the top, carefully squirt in a little floor wax, and swirl it around until the entire interior is covered. Pour the excess back into the bottle. Next,pour in the glitter, swirl it around and pour out the excess. Lastly, let the ornament dry and replace the top. That's it! So quick and easy! If you'd like to see detailed photos of the process, see this post on the Ornament Girl's Blog.

Not only are these glittery globes absolutely beautiful, they are also the least messy glitter ornament I've encountered, because the glittery mess is contained on the INSIDE of the ornament. Pure genius, I tell you. I will certainly be hitting up the post holiday sales at my local craft stores in search of a few more $2 boxes of clear glass ornaments to make more of these for next season!

If you're in search of more last minute holiday inspiration, check out my DIY Sparkle Wreath, Scallops & Dot Felt Wreath and my No-sew Felt Tree Skirt. 

Holiday Memories 2011 - Part 1

My Holiday Memories 2011 album is slowly, but surely, coming along. While I haven't photographed or recorded as much as I would have hoped at this point, at least the album is in progress - which was really the point. As long as I'm not throwing my entire album together in a rush at the end of the season, I'm dubbing this project a success!

The first event I recorded was our annual tree decorating tradition, which we typically do during the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

 

 
Product Credits: Holiday Faves Mini Album Kit by Nettio Designs + Star on Top by One Little Bird & Amy Martin Designs

JOURNALING | November 26, 2011 - We kicked off the holiday season with our annual tradition of trimming the tree, listening to Christmas music, eating fondue and watching a holiday movie. This year, after we finished decorating the tree, we enjoyed beer cheese fondue with various breads and apples, while watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Although we ran out of energy before we were able to put up all of the decorations, we did accomplished our main goal of getting the big Christmas tree trimmed - meaning the holiday season had officially begun in the Krajicek-Hennessy household!

There are many memories and events I'm hoping to still capture and add to the album. My list so far includes:

• Christmas celebration with my family
• Christmas Eve with Nate's family
• Our Christmas Day celebration
• Our visit to Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Gardens
• Holiday Decorations (including both trees)
• Holiday Playlist
• Holiday Movie list

If you have any suggestions for additional holiday moments or memories to capture, please let me know in the comments!

Sketchy Thursdays on Sunday

I'm a few days behind in posting my page for the current Sketchy Thursdays challenge, but a little late is better than never, right? As always, there is another adorable sketch this week and a fun prize. Here is a peek at the sketch:

Here is my layout, which was created by rotating the sketch and moving a few elements around:

The papers and elements are all part of Carina Gardner's new Vintage Christmas line, which can be found at JessicaSprague.com.

The photos were taken after Nate and I finished decorating our tree on Thanksgiving weekend. We now have sparkling swirls hanging from the ceiling and a lot of other sparking goodness surrounding the tree. Updated photos will be making their appearance in my Holiday Memories album in the next week or two. 

Are you all ready for the holidays?

DIY Sparkle Wreath

There is just something about objects that sparkle - especially during the holiday season.

Earlier this fall, I was perusing the holiday aisle at the new Hobby Lobby (which I must mention, happens to be situated just between a Joann’s SuperStore AND a Michael’s…crafters mecca!), when I came across a bag of fun, sparkly bag of foam balls, labeled as vase filler.

 
Something drew me to these glittery bags of goodness – I had to buy them! But what could I make? It only took a brief moment for me to decide that these sparkling spheres would become our newest holiday wreath.

Since I already had a foam wreath form in my craft room, I snapped up two bags of the vase filler and headed home to create.

SUPPLIES | The supply list for the wreath is short (and cheap!).

Materials:

• Vase filler (glittery foam balls)
• Hot glue gun/glue sticks (make sure you have plenty of sticks on hand)
• Foam wreath form

THE PROCESS | There was really no method to my crafting madness when assembling the wreath. I basically started grabbing the little foam balls and gluing them on, one-by-one. I mixed up the colors and sizes as I went along. 

  
Should you decide to make a similar wreath of your own, here are a few pointers I picked up along the way:

• You may not think it will (I certainly didn’t!), but this little project will take at least two hours of your time to complete. I honestly thought I could finish it in an hour, but was sorely mistaken. As a result, I was up until 1:30am finishing it!
• Since the balls are made of foam, they are somewhat “squishable”. Use this to your advantage and squish the balls against one another to fill any gaps.
• If you have any gaps you just can’t seem to fill by squishing, cut a foam ball in half and use that to fill the space.
• Don’t let go of the balls to quickly after you glue them. Hold them for a few moments to ensure they’re going to stay. I had a few roll off in the beginning until I picked up on this.
• Be prepared for you, your workspace, your family and your pets to sparkle for at least a week. These little balls shed a lot of glitter!

THE RESULTS | Here are a few images of the finished wreath:

Because the wall area I wanted to hang the wreath in was large and bare, I knew I needed to step up the display just a bit so the wreath wouldn't get lost, or look off balance. I used a large frame and wrapping paper to create a display space, perfect for the wreath.

BUDGET FRIENDLY | As I mentioned, the materials for this project were pretty cheap, especially considering the vase filler was 40% off and the wreath form came from my local dollar store. Here is my (very roughly estimated) cost breakdown:

• 2 bags of vase filler: $7
• Foam Wreath form: $1
• Hot glue: $2
• Grand Total: $10!

That’s right folks, for around $10 I created this glittering, holiday beauty that now graces our walls and adds a splash of sparkle to our holiday celebrations. I must admit, I really love how it turned out!

If you have any questions about my wreath, please leave a comment with your question and I’ll get back to you. What fun holiday crafts are you working on this season?

Ps. If you’re looking for more holiday inspiration, check out my Scallops & Dot Felt Wreath (from last season) and my No-sew Felt Tree Skirt. Also, if you missed out on the template freebie I posted earlier today, you can find it here.

Template Tuesday #45 *FREEBIE*

Like every Tuesday in 2011, there is a cute digital template up for grabs for Template Tuesday over at Jessicasprauge.com. This week, it was created by ME!

Head on over and grab it here. And when you're done, post your creation in the Template Tuesday Gallery. Since my template was based upon a page I made earlier this year (as you can see in the preview), I created a new page using the tempate to share with you.
This photo was taken of my sisters and me just before Molly's wedding ceremony. We're taking the edge off with a little champagne...in plastic cups. Classy, I know! Product credits here.

What are you waiting for? Head on over and grab your free template! :)

Happenings at JessicaSprague.com

There are so many new and exciting things happening over at JessicaSprague.com. I thought I'd take a moment and share information on a FREE Holiday Class (starts Monday!), 35% Off Sale, NEW Classess (which are included in the sale) AND a new Rewards Program. Whew...that's a lot!

The information below is all directly from JessicaSprague.com. If you have any additional questions, head on over and check out the blog for more details.

FREE HOLIDAY CLASS | Are you registered yet? Have you told all of your friends and family about this? If not, you've still got time before class starts on Monday!! This week long class will be super fun and you'll walk away with a gorgeous holiday project to be treasured!! The best part is that is also easy and repeatable so you can make one for every person that you know! Now, that may be a little overboard, but you could *wink* Just click right HERE to register and make sure to share the link with everyone you know!

ANNUAL HOLIDAY SALE | Savings abound at our Annual Holiday Sale!! Don't miss your chance to save 20% off all of the classes that we are currently offering, as well as 35% off all of our digital products {excluding the Project Life products}!! Sale runs through December 31st.

  

THREE NEW CLASSES | We have 3 new classes open and ready for you to get registered!! Digital Art Journaling will run from January 9-29, The Art of Poster Design will run from February 6-26, and the new Photoshop Friday Series will last as long as you choose to subscribe ... 13 issue, 26 issue, and 52 issue subscriptions are available!!

NEW REWARDS PROGRAM | Have you heard about our new Rewards Program? Now YOU will be rewarded for every dollar you spend in our shop. Yes, you read that right ... every dollar you spend gets you closer to a reward!! Here are the details:

1. You will earn 1 point for each dollar spend on classes, and you will earn 2 points for every dollar spent on digital products. You will earn double points for a single purchase of $100 or more.

2. Once you earn 200 points you will receive a $10 gift certificate emailed directly to you!!

3. You can check your reward point balance and gifts received at any time by going to the "My Rewards" page under the Student menu. You will also find all of the information that you need about this AWESOME program!

4. If you are are registering as a new user and choose to sign up for our newsletter, you will receive 50 bonus points at registration!!

5. As our holiday gift, all customers will receive 50 *FREE* points *CHEER*

Holiday Memories Twenty Eleven

Most of you are familiar with Ali Edwards and her annual December Daily tradition. In fact, I've noticed quite a few of my blog friends have posted the start of their albums already (Julie & Kat). While the thought of creating a December Daily has intrigued me for the past few years, I knew I'd never follow through on a commitment to take a photo and document each and every day of December.

HOLIDAY MEMORIES TWENTY ELEVEN | This year, I opted to create my own modified version which, much like the December Daily, will document our 2011 holiday season. However, instead of documenting on a daily basis, I plan on recording all of the events and traditions that surround the season as they occur. This will differ from my Christmas albums of years past (here & here), because, instead of tackling the project at the end of the season, I plan on knocking it out event-by-event, as they occur. My hope is that documenting in this manner will take the pressure off of me at the end of the season and also lead to more meaningful and detailed journaling since I'll be recording memories when they're fresh on my mind.

I also plan on recording special elements of the season, which may not necessarily qualify as an event - things like decor and such.

While I'm not 100% sold on the title, I do know that I want to go with a "holiday" theme, as opposed to using anything with the word "December". The key reason for this is that Nate and I actually kick off our holiday season in November. While I realize there is no law saying I can't include November events in a December themed album, it just seems unfitting to me. I like my titles to fully represent my projects.

ALBUM DETAILS | As in years past, my 2011 album will be all digital. While searching for the perfect digital papers and elements to use, I came across the Holiday Faves Mini Album Kit by Nettio Designs. The concept of the kit matched my album concept perfectly, so I purchased it to use as the foundation for my album. For my papers and elements, I chose the brand new Star on Top kit by One Little Bird + Amy Martin Designs.

Because I decided to print an 8x10 album from Blurb, I had to resize the 5x7 album kit before I got started. So far, I've created the cover, most of the foundation pages and even finished the journaling and photo pages for our first holiday event (which I'll share next week).

Here are a few of the foundation pages I have completed so far:

I'm really excited about this album and the prospect of working on it throughout the 2011 holiday season. I'll be sharing the bits and pieces with you as I go, and at the end of the season, share the entire album.

Are you working on a December Daily or other similar type of album this year?