CHRISTMAS in the crooked house

My house looks so happy and festive right now. I love it so much that I'll probably "forget" to take the decorations down till a month after Christmas. Oops! ;)

daily duds & WIWIW

Happy Monday!

So, I have this problem. My interests are all over the place. I love the fashion blogs, the decor blogs, the crafting blogs, the personal blogs, and the fashionista blogs. It is all so different and interesting. I don't really have a single category that I want this blog to fall into. I have shyed away from posting any "what i wore" photos because I am definitely not a photographer and I am also not a fashionista and I tend to look ridiculous in the photos I attempt to take. But as I appreciate seeing all aspects of blogger's lives, fashion forward or not, I am going to try to share some of my daily outfits here and there. You will probably never see me wearing heels or extravagent outfits or $500 jackets like the bloggers I love to spy on (she is a fave), but I will share nonetheless.

Shirt: Forever 21 - Cardi: Old Navy - Pants: Urban Outfitters - Shoes: Toms

This is my outfit from Saturday. I prepared to go out grocery shopping, but my dear husband called me asking for a grocery list and ended up doing it for me. He is pretty great. At least my intentions led me to get out of the sweats I would likely have stayed in all day had I known I wouldn't be leaving the house. As much as I hate to admit it, sweats are like my second skin.

And here is what I wish I wore (WIWIW):

via Karla's Closet

Love it. Here's to a case-of-the-Mondays-free Monday to you all!

DIY felt phrase garland

This year I have been crafting away as the stores don't hold many holiday decorations that I like. While I would love to just hop on etsy and buy, buy, buy all of the beautiful decor, the money to do so doesn't exist. Last year there was a happy holidays garland I wanted desparately from Anthropologie, but it was something like $120, so, of course, I bought 12! Ha- kidding. No, I was disappointed it was out of my reach, but with all my pent up crafting energy, I decided to make something similar although much less adorned. I chose a line from Joy to the World for my garland, bought a bunch of felt, and crafted away. I'm happy with the result and wanted to share a half-hearted tutorial with you. Half-hearted because I didn't take detailed photos and I stopped taking photos when I ran into the problem of floppy felt and had to run back to the craft store to get foam and then cut foam letters to glue to the back of the felt letters. Hopefully it makes sense even though it is not as complete as it could be. If you have problems completing any steps- let me know and I'll add more photos and more detail. Enjoy!

Supplies needed:

-felt -scissors -pins -sticky backed foam -a computer with a printer -yarn and big yarn needle

1.) Start off by getting on a word processing program on your computer and finding a font you like. Type out the words you would like on your garland as large as you would them to be. I believe mine were size 500. I had one or two per page. Print up your word/s. You will be using the printed letters as a pattern.

1.5.) I didn't do this step but think it would make things much easier than the order in which I did them. You can get some of the foam with the sticky backing and stick it to the pieces of felt you will be using before moving onto step 2.

2.) Pin your first letter to a piece of the felt (that has the foam backing) like you would with a sewing pattern. Hold the felt and paper firmly together so you don't have wrinkles as you cut around the outside of the letter. Do this with each letter until your words are all cut out.

3.) Put your letters in order and thread your yarn. Sew through the top of each letter to string them up. When you are done your garland should look like the top photo.

The cutting takes a while, but it is easy to do while watching a Christmas movie. If you make some garland, please send me a link to the finished product. I'd love to see it!

oh HOLY NIGHT

Merry Christmas! It's been another month of no blogging and limited internet access. The excitement in the last week for me is that my little babe has finally started sleeping in her crib. For the last 7 months she has been sleeping in bed with me. Go ahead, shake your head at me. I shake my head at myself too. It was one of those things where it was okay and convenient in the beginning but then it was habit and I didn't want to bother with training the girl to sleep in her crib because I was afraid I'd be horribly sleep deprived from her waking a million times a night. After one horrible night where she wiggled all night in bed and kept me awake I decided it was time. She cried for a while the first night before falling asleep but then slept through the night in her crib! Oh, the glories of not having to go to bed at the same time as your child because they sleep with you. Uh-huh. I know. It's ridiculous. I'm ridiculous. If I had known the wonders of relaxing after your child has gone to bed, I would have tried to send the girl to her crib sooner. In the last week I have caught up on some e-mails, painted my nails, cleaned the house, eaten Spekulatius and goat milk icecream, and simply rested while baby has slept in her crib. Glorious. Hubby and I had a discussion of the whole new world that has opened up to us without a child in our bed all the time. It is a life changer. All that to say- #1. Let me be a lesson in what not to do with your child. I am much too laid back at times and it ends up biting me in the rear. Or for you nursing moms, it ends up nipping me you know where. #2. Here I sit without the child, blogging in the quiet with a lit Christmas tree and frogs croaking outside. I am happy to have found a time to do so again. So lovely.

--- Photo by Elsie Marley. You must check out her DIY Christmas decor. With all the amazing tutorials out there, I am likely to be crafting Christmas decorations up until Christmas Eve!