Lucy's invitations are printed, and I am LOVING them. Pictures do not do them justice - they are printed on the prettiest pearlized card stock.  I took the file to Staples and they printed 15 4x6s for me (five sheets of paper) for just under $7.


I already had some 4x6 envelopes on hand, but they were just white and well, that's boring. It felt wrong to put something so pretty into something so plain, so I decided to jazz them up a bit.  Ready for the easiest DIY project ever?



I simply went on Google and searched for "vintage lace background," found the one I liked, opened it up in Publisher to the size I wanted it (just slightly more narrow than the envelopes) and printed them off.  Then, using a paper cutter, I cut them down to size.



My next step was to glue my paper and then just slip it in the envelope, pressing it down to make it stick.



The only problem?  Slapping pretty paper on the inside doesn't help the envelope look pretty upon arrival.  So I took my same lace image, opened it up in Publisher, cropped it down to the sizes I needed for return labels and address labels, then typed up the addresses in both.  I printed them off, cut them  out and glued them on with a glue stick.

Seriously - easiest upgrade ever.  Best part?  It was free.  Between designing these invites myself and fixing up some envelopes I already had, I managed to spend less than $7 on a great first party impression.  Hope our friends and family enjoy opening these up!

The only word I can use to describe this year is...whirlwind.  I plan to take some time to reflect properly on 2011, but in the meantime, I feel like I've missed out on enough of this year by waiting for what's next, and I'll be darned if I'm going to miss my favorite holiday.

Eric mentioned to me today that Christmas is really starting to set in for him.  My response to him was basically, "I'm jealous."  Maybe I can blame it on the fact that I've fallen asleep by 9:00 more times this month than I care to count.  Perhaps it's the fact that I finished all of my Christmas shopping early and did a lot online, missing out on the holiday crowds and all of the tinseled stores.  Most likely, it's the fact that I've become some kind of constant doer, devoted to crossing off to-do lists and keeping myself busy every waking minute.

This month in review...

We decorated the tree with all of the traditional ornaments, along with this little cutie Eric and I picked out together last year at Crate & Barrel.
























I took a little time, between all of the rushing to go home for my family's Christmas last weekend, to make some chocolate spoons for an exchange we had.  Actually, minus the mug I gave, I made the whole gift (including the bag) and was pretty stinkin' proud of the result.


Throw in two Christmas parties with 20+ people hosted at our house, and it's no wonder December has passed me by.  Actually, of everything that has gone on, my favorite memory from this month is a simple one. I took a moment to sit and rest in the new glider for the nursery (which was graciously and lovingly given to us for Christmas by Eric's grandma).  I sat down with How the Grinch Stole Christmas, my absolute favorite book growing up (which was graciously and lovingly passed down for Christmas by my "Mimi"); Eric came in and joined me, and although we know the baby shouldn't be able to hear us yet, we read to it.  Man, do we love us some baby.

So I'm taking a cue from this moment over the next few days.  Less doing, more resting...resting in the true reason for the season and taking some time to just express my thanks for God's grace and love; resting with my husband and taking some time to ourselves to hang out together, maybe play a little Xbox Kinect (graciously and lovingly given to us for Christmas by my parents...yes, we've been spoiled rotten this year), and definitely watching a little Elf, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone and A Muppet Christmas Carol.

...and maybe, just maybe, I'll finally reconnect with a little lost friend of mine, the old blog.  After all, it is about time I start documenting this pregnancy.

scarf: knit by me; belt: thrifted; earrings: my wonderful husband

 i hope you guys don't think i'm overdoing it with the cowl scarf two days in a row.  if you do, you're in for some disappointment, because this thing is Comfy with a capital "C" and i have no intention of giving it up anytime soon.  don't worry, this is just what i do.  when i first buy or make something, i want to wear it all the time for about two weeks, and then it disappears for a while.  so on the up side, you only have to endure about twelve more outfits with it.

wanna see what i did with my friday night?  well, about twenty minutes of my friday night; this one's quick and easy, folks.

i went shopping tonight for some random things (including my 30th pick!  yes, i did adhere to my original mustard long-sleeve tee idea, although the search was excruciating, which is a story for another time...) and i picked up this small cardboard block "A" from Joann Fabrics for $2 with a 50% off coupon.



from there, cut your next two pieces to place on either side of the first piece.  after doing so, glue all three pieces in place on the letter.

note:  only use a small amount of glue, and make sure it's spread evenly.  you don't want to create lumps and/or wrinkles in your paper:

this is me faking it.  i am most definitely useless with my left hand.  somebody needed righty to press the shutter.

 flip the letter back over and glue your final two pieces into place:

okay, good work!  you're done! ...kidding.

now flip your letter back over.  at this point, i recommend using a cutting mat, as you will be using the exacto knife.  that is, unless you're doubling your crafting efforts by engraving your dining room table.


yes, that's better.  now cut around all of the edges of your letter:


finally, using your brush, apply a thin, even coat of mod podge (i used a matte finish).  this will help the edges of the paper blend together more and lay nice and flat on your letter.  you may also want to use your fingers to smooth the paper over the edges of the letter.


voila!  now stand back and admire:

that's right, snow day.  in fact, this is a momentous occasion that deserves capital letters *gasp* and an exclamation point.

SNOW DAY!


this morning, Eric's alarm clock woke us up with the most beautiful words i could have expected to hear:  level one snow emergency.  a text from my boss confirmed that the day was mine.  naturally, my heart was happy enough to fall back into a coma for another two hours before waking up to the best kind of breakfast there is:  a husband-made one.  i love that man.

now, because we couldn't go anywhere for the day, there will be no 30 for 30 post.  instead, let me introduce you to a little project that i've been working on.  it was so wonderful to have the day to finally complete it.

remember my post about the silhouettes i made of our two puppies?  if not, it's okay.  i realize this little blog has seen quite a few new followers since then...which, by the way, is awesome.  just click on that link right back there and you can catch up.  in it, i talked about plans that i had for the project as a whole.  since then (really just today), that plan has evolved into something so much better than i had hoped for.  check it out:

the final piece of the silhouette puzzle, made from a wedding day photo (which i love b/c i look super skinny!)

how it fits into the grand scheme of the room.

i'm hoping to add to this wall, which is another reason we centered everything with the wall, not the couch. i also want to do a new centerpiece for the coffee table, make a couple more pillows for the couch, get lighter curtains, and possibly paint that clock white, now that i'm seeing it in this picture (what do we think?)

in other news, i now have fifty followers!  i promise to get back to what most of you came for (clothes...and my beautiful face?) tomorrow.  in the meantime, wish me luck tomorrow as i attempt to trek through this:

last week, John and Sherry over at Young House Love hosted a giveaway from Nella Designs that left me absolutely pining.  as one of only 3,630 entries, i totally thought the odds were working in my favor.  so you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when i wasn't the winner.

can i have one for every room, please?

i would love to purchase a custom silhouette from Nella Designs, but my pockets are a bit shallow right now, at least when it comes to purchasing things for my closet and our home.  so i decided to have a crack at it myself.  surely it can't be hard.  hmmm...now what is it that all of these tools in Photoshop do?

clearly i had no idea what i was doing.  luckily for me, the internet is a beautiful thing.  all i had to do was search for "silhouette in Photoshop" and i was led here.  and when i had no idea how to use the pen tool?  oh, looky here.

after just a couple hours of playing around, here's what i ended up with: