A Winter Hike

Go on a winter hike was one of our advent activities. It didn't exactly feel like a winter hike. (We didn't walk through snow) But we finally made it all the way up to the top of the falls. It was beautiful. We went right after the crazy storms and flooding going on around here, so the falls were pretty powerful. Here are some of my favorite pictures. I posted a few awhile ago, and you can see a tremendous difference. So much more water was rushing after all the rain and snow! So this is the hike you guys can experience for yourself if you come visit, it's right around the corner at the state park!

The light was hitting this so beautifully

This was a cool thing, a tree growing out of another tree

This log had a perfectly round hollow hole in it

Here are the lower falls
The Middle Falls

Another shot of the Middle Falls

Some nice mountain views

We finally made it, after a couple hours, the Upper Falls

Wreath from Scratch

Well, this year I decided to make a homemade wreath. We had all this leftover evergreen from trimming our huge forest tree down to size. I thought, how hard can it be? So I got Sam to make the frame for me. This was probably the most time consuming part. So it's handy to have a husband now, because back in my single days whenever I attempted a project like this- the molding wire part would be my weakness- and then it would look kinda shitty-d. I would bend wire myself- but it would probably end up only resembling a circle, and then in turn, my wreath would only resemble a circle. It's just hard to be patient, Sam is such a perfectionist. Another reason my construction would be bad, I just have no patience and like to get right to the fun part.

So you take a wire hanger and bend it into a circle. You can make two circles. And leave the hook part on the outer circle (you can hang your ribbon on this and it won't even show)



Then you have at it. You simply grab a bunch of similar sized branches and take some wire and wrap it around. (It's really handy to have 2 sets of hands for this)


You just keep doing that. We found that it looks best when you use smaller branches and twist more sections of wire. The fuller, the better. If the branches are too long, they get floppy and loosey-goosey looking.

(PS If you look closely in these two pics, you'll see that hideous purple door I was alluding to earlier)

You just go around and around, and voila! A wreath. At this point, you have to hold it up to a door and admire your progress!

Next add berries, a bow, or pine cones. We chose super tiny pine cones. I would recommend wiring in the berries and pine cones. But since we used super tiny pine cones, and Sam didn't have the patience to wire each little guy in, we just nestled and stuffed them in without securing them. This worked ok for us because we are hanging our wreath inside. When you are finished you can wrap the ribbon around the hook and hang it on top of the door with a tack.

A tree and a wreath for $10! It was fun, quick, and easy to make the wreath. Next year, try making your own!

Our Cozy Christmas Home

You can get a good peek into our basement apartment. And the poinsettia Sam brought home for me. He said he thought I could use one! How sweet!

A nice soft picture of our tree, you can even see a few gifts hiding under there!

Here is the nativity set from my brother and sister-in-law

Finished making all the Christmas cards. I was crazy and decided to use up all the stuff I already had, so I made each card unique. That was a little time consuming, but fun. This is the first time we're sending out Christmas cards. They are all signed, sealed, and delivered!

Just had to show the finished wreath. I might have to add some red berries to it, we'll see. Another post to come on the making of our wreath.

My calendar all fixed up for December- the last time it was updated MAY- yikes! I hope I keep up with that!

Here is my newest ornament. I picked up 3 of these Santa cuties, 5o cents each at a thrift store

Here is my pink section in our bedroom. Jess got me that cute little bird.

These 3 santa mugs are also a new edition this year. Bought at the same thrift store as the little old Santa ornaments.

This is Sam's old Nativity Set

Here are two cards, a hint of what my next post will be. It's a project Sam and I have been working on. We've been having so much fun with it.

These are pictures taken last year. But I do have them up in here! They are some stockings I made for us.

I still need to do some baking and make some gifts! Most of the gifts are finished. I really don't understand how people have jobs, and families, and still manage to do all of this Christmas stuff. The lodge has been really slow lately, so we've had some time. I guess it's been hard for us, as we've just moved. We are just now finishing getting all the licensing, insurance, and all that junk under control. We are almost all unpacked. We still need to hang a few things on the walls.

All the Advent Calendars

"Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Luke 1:30-33

Now everyone has received their advent calendars, I can finally blog about them. I made 4 of them. I thought it would be a fun gift. So I made the calendar out of mini muffin tins, filled the pockets with little treats, and I broke out the old typewriter. I typed a fun advent activity for each day. I also have gifts that accompany some of the activities. I'm thinking of making more of these for next year and selling them on Etsy. The only problem is, the shipping. I know the ones I made got a little too jostled around. I definitely will have to improve on the packing skills.
Merry Christmas everyone, and don't get too caught up in the hustle and the bustle, and remember that this season is all about celebrating our Savior's birthday!

A Cozy Winter Day

Am I a big dork for taking pictures of my slippers? Why yes, of course. This dumb, silly blogging thing has me doing some bizarre-o things. But I just had to share my slipper fetish. I don't have a shoe fetish, mainly because I wear a size 11 shoe. And any shoe shopping experience of mine has been an unpleasant hunt for the right pair. I'm always lucky if I can find a decent shoe. Most of the time the only shoes made in size 11 are bright red or gold and usually have a 4 inch heel. Because, you know, a gal with a size 11 shoe definitely wants to be 4 inches taller. Enough whining already. The reason I'm posting these is because I am sharing my love for slipper wearing. Last year I found a bunch of slippers, and I'm currently enjoying wearing them. It's great because this new job means I can wear slippers 80% of the time and that makes me happy! So go find a good book to read, put on some cozy slippers and spend an hour reading by the fire. That's what I'm going to do!

Hallelujah, It's Clean!

Yup, all 6,000 square feet
All 4 floors
All 12 bathrooms
11 bedrooms all ready to be slept in
2 kitchens
2 christmas trees all decorated
-toilets scrubbed, floors washed, sinks and mirrors polished, showers sparkly, clean towels,
clean sheets, vacuumed floors, dusted, all dishes done
All laundry is folded and put away

This is the first time I can say this since we have been here. This last weekend was our first real break with no guests and boy did we need it. Every free minute I've had I've been trying to improve our place. I just start attacking something if I notice it, for example the door to the laundry room where someone decided it was a good idea to spray , without covering the door. A magic eraser, sponge and good elbow grease did the trick one night. The magic eraser has been my friend lately. Our kitchen took forever to scrub! But it's done yeah! It feels so good. The last little place that needs attention is my little artsy craft area. I saved the best for last! So this afternoon I suppose I will do that.

Handmade Ornament

My mom made me a trio of these beautiful felt ornaments for my birthday.
I hung them from the window above my art space.

{Christmas tree love}

I love this little stand. And it's on sale. You need to go

to your local Urban Outfitters, they have the best stuff!

I have so much Christmas stuff. I wonder if I'll go around and use our stuff to decorate the rest of the cabin?The rooms maybe. I would be in so much trouble if I owned this place. It would be the perfect excuse to buy any and every Christmas thing I saw coming my way. Urban Outfitters had some cute trees I would love to get.

I would put this cutey on a table in a room. I would buy one in, pink, silver, and aqua. I would decorate the rooms accordingly. One would be vintage, one modern and young, one woodsy!

I love the color on this green one!

With 10 bedrooms I could do a vintage room, a silver one, a pink one- all with little table top trees- oh wouldn't that be fun? We'll see. And we have this great entry, I really want a big wreath and I would love to line the steps with these rosemary mini trees I saw at Lowe's. They were $10 each

These ones are actually from Red Envelope (a little pricier at $54)

Rosemary seems to grow like crazy here, maybe I could try doing my own for next year? I'm already thinking of next year, crazy me!
Oh and our purple door! You guys have to see it, although I found this turquoise and brown mat, so it's working with the purple. It makes me laugh. Pictures to come! (Once the place is all decorated, which will be soon I hope!)
Have a happy Saturday!