the daily X

Adios 2011

It's been a great year. 

We have had our share of good and bad in 2011 and in the end we have become stronger, closer and happier. I can't complain...life is filled with difficult things but I truly believe in the magnet on our fridge - everything will be okay in the end and if it's not okay, it's not the end. We have a million things to be thankful for in 2011 and few things that kinda sucked. I look forward to a new year and a new beginning. More possibilities, more adventures, more laughter, more love, more happy times, more peace.

Happy New Year!

Gifts

One final Christmas post for the year. I wanted to share my favorite gift I received this year. Snowmen salt and pepper shakers handmade by my little brother and sister...

Soooo cute. I'm thinking of keeping them out all year.

One of my favorite gifts we gave this year was this ornament from Lisa Leonard Designs. It was beautiful and it's actually on sale right now! Perfect time to stock up for next year.

December Daily: Day 23, 24 & 25

The final 3 days of my December Daily album! Feels good to be done.

I know the music paper is upside down but I needed to change day 22 so it ended up like this. It does look kind of goofy but I'm okay with it.

The photo for day 24 is super blurrrrrrrry but I could not get my camera to work and it just added to the silliness of the evening so after a few photos I stopped trying. 

For the very last page I wanted to include a list of favorites from Christmas eve and Christmas day. There were so many funny things I wanted to remember and creating a list always works for me.

And that's it. Up on the shelf she goes and I look forward to doing it all over again next year!

December Daily: Day 20, 21 & 22

For day 20 I used my phone to take photos of our tree using different filters. I kinda love the out of focus look.

December Daily: Day 17, 18 & 19

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Mr. X and I had so much fun the past two days and feel very blessed for such an amazing family.

Back to December Daily....I'm planning on finishing up my last three days today.

Here is my favorite page of the album so far. Day 17. I woke up to snow and took a photo peeking out our front door. Love how the photo has the black space for the snowflakes.

December Daily: Day 14, 15 & 16

Merry Christmas Eve! I have been keeping up with my December Daily album but I have not been keeping up with my posts here. Lots of relaxing going on the past few days in preparation for the running around that begins tonight and most of the day tomorrow. Here is a look at days 14, 15 and 16:

Inside the envelope is a little note I wrote about what we've been doing and other stuff about our year.

Tastes Like Christmas

If you are looking for a last minute gift or a super simple cookie recipe...here you go:

Great Aunt Mary's Peppernut Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp dark karo syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp anise oil
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda

Cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs, syrup and all seasonings. Mix well again. Add flour and baking soda (you can use your hands or the mixer). Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325. Roll dough into long, thin logs about as thick as your little finger. Cut into 1/4 or 1/2 inch pieces. Bake for 8 minutes and cool for 2 minutes. You can freeze dough or rolls for later use.

Like I said, these are super easy to make and the dough freezes very well. I made a few batches yesterday that I have put in jars for gifts and I have some dough in the freezer that I will make for New Years. And they really do taste and smell like Christmas. Enjoy!

Making + Baking

I love this time of December when I start to finish all the holiday projects I started in November. I spent the weekend finishing up some handmade gifts and a few things for our house. This year I have Pinterest to thank for all the amazing ideas. The glitter flower above was made with a TOILET PAPER ROLL! I know. Next year I want my entire tree covered with these. You can see how to make them here.

And this...I don't even know what to call it but I LOVE it and I'm now on the hunt for burnt out light bulbs. These were purchased super cheap at the True Value Hardware going-out-of-business sale in our area. It was quite challenging to make but it was fun having Mr. X help. I'm thinking of a tree topper for next year. You can see how to make them here.

Finally, I spent the weekend baking up a storm for my brother and his girlfriend in Portland. Round 2 starts Thursday. Stay tuned for the best recipe ever.

5 Days + 50% To Go!

It's the final stretch for my brother's Kickstarter project...

THE SKY SCRATCHER!

Check it out here and help him reach his goal.
Every little bit helps and is truly appreciated!

December Daily: Day 11, 12 & 13

Have you seen this? The Portable North Pole. I did one for Mr. X and it was pretty funny. I took a photo of the computer while he was watching it.

And on the back I added the email I received from Santa. For day 12 I used photos I took with my phone. 

Here is the back of day 12 and the front of day 13...

LOVE the pocket. Inside is a photo I printed from my phone and added a story to the back.

December Daily: Day 7, 8, 9 & 10

It is definitely starting to feel like Christmas around here. The weather is in the upper 20's/lower 30's, our tree is up and the house is decorated. We attended my work holiday party and I went to see the Nutcracker over the weekend. Holiday traditions that are always fun.

I decided not to add any journaling to day 8 and just have photos of some decorations around our house.

For day 10, I simply punched holes in the program and added it to the album.

December Daily: Day 4, 5 & 6

Oh the joys of documenting the holiday season! I have loved rummaging through my stash and finding Christmas stickers and green and white baker's twine. Here is a look at the past three days...

December Daily: Day 3

For day 3 I did a one page layout with a photo and some words. I spent the day with a friend and I simply documented what we did and included a photo from the day. Simple, simple.

December Daily: Day 2

The 'Hello, holidays' is from a Madewell catalog I received in the mail. I loved the font and the color and thought it went well with my HELLO DECEMBER theme from day 1. I cut it out and sewed it to a piece of patterned paper.

The main page for day 2 is a 5x7 photo of Mr. X. Friday night we went to a local nursery to buy paperwhite bulbs and look at Christmas trees and decorations. I went to this same place last December with my mom and I guess it has become a tradition. After we stopped for pizza and beer.

On the back is the story from our evening and a photo from the day. We had our tree trimming party at work and I wanted to include a photo of the ornament I made.

December Daily: Day 1

LOVE starting this album. I knew that I wanted a photo of Mr. X and I on the first page so I grabbed our Mini Instax camera when I got home from work on Thursday. The theme for the first day was HELLO DECEMBER.

On the back I added a photo from earlier in the day. I saw this when I went to get my allergy shots and had to laugh because we will be buying a real tree soon.