and then, it's usually time for me to take a break from the chaos of the day. (this year, it was time for me to take a break from the 6 1/2 year old looking up his nose with the new eyeclops.)
the thing about hotel on Christmas Day is that none of the guests are actually here. they are at their family and friends' homes, enjoying present-opening and breakfast casseroles of their own. these four hours will be blessedly quiet, and i've come prepared to spend the entire time blogging!!
let's start off with some Christmas presents that we made to share with our family. first up, some *house sparkle.* i found this "recipe" at amy rue last year, and i filed it away in the recesses of my mind. it is, very simply, baking soda and essential oils - a totally natural, yummy smelling cleanser or laundry additive. you might think giving multi-purpose cleanser is an odd idea for Christmas. maybe it is, but could you resist the cute packaging?? thanks to this past year of blogging, i now have an arsenal of ribbon, canning jars (*multi-purpose jars*), graphic design ideas, and inspiration!!
on sunday, we took the cousins to portrait innovations. holy moly, what an operation! in the span of 10 minutes, we had 71 shots to choose from. we walked away with about 36 sheets of photos in 30 minutes - can you say Christmas presents galore for grandparents and far-away relatives?!? you also get a disk of all of the shots. so how could i resist whipping up some ornaments for my sisters (also known as the moms of the cousins.) once again, the blogosphere offered up an amazing idea, this time via jill.
.who was the mom who was baking up cookies at 10 pm last night for Santa? that would be me... a slight oversight on my part yielded NO carrots and only leftovers from the cookie exchange to lay out for the jolly old elf. thanks to all of you baking bloggers out there who inspire me to have a pantry full of staples!
you can see that Santa and his team of reindeer were pretty hungry by the time they got to our house!
when i finally had a chance to sit down and relax in the glow of the Christmas tree, what a joy it was to look over the *other* tree in the room. so many new faces and families and stories represented here. hope you are all having a most wonderful Christmas Day!!
8 comments:
Look at that Christmas card tree! It looks great - I actually need to do a retake on that SPT challenge. I bought a wire wreath card holder after I saw your tree waiting for cards.
We ran out of Christmas baking, and I would have been up making cookies on Christmas eve, but a friend rescued me with an intuitive delivery.
I love your Christmas lights garland! It looks darling! Impressive in remembering snacks for the reindeer - I spaced it and we didn't have much in the house, since we were supposed to be in WA! Also, I am so impressed you've posted already!
Merry Christmas! Glad you get a little break from the chaos of the day. Your card tree looks fantastic all filled out!
Your post reminded me that for the first time we forgot to leave reindeer treats. Hopefully the girls won't remember!
Enjoy the rest of your day!
The house sparkle sounds like a great idea!
Your card tree is so full and beautiful. I bet that makes you happy everytime you walk past it. I ended up having to add two ribbons to the two original ones I put up to hang cards on. So much "posted love"! Is their anything better?
Merry Christmas Lelly, I do the same thing you do. I volunteer to work Christmas Eve so those with children at home can enjoy. Great tradition.
What an adorable Christmas card tree! I used paper clips on some ribbon this year and was disappointed by their constant falling off, but think that I just may copy your idea next year! It's very cute.
Merry Christmas Lelly! I'm glad you had a great one.
I love the house sparkle idea! I may have to do that next year... So nice of you to work on Christmas to give the other employees a break. (and uninterrupted blogging time is not too shabby, either.)
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