That's Life Kid!

Well, we're finally ready for Christmas around here. Gifts are bought, wrapped and under the tree. Santa's cookies have been baked (Santa is coming tonight to our house this year). We've made salt dough ornaments, snow globes and paper gingerbread men. We've had Christmas parties to throw and attend and goodies to bake for neighbors. All this on top of our everyday lives. It's so easy for the real meaning of Christmas to get pushed to the side. Easy to forget about the sacrifice Jesus made to bring us truth, love and hope. Last night at church, we sang Oh Holy Night which is on my top 3 list of Christmas songs along with Silent Night and Mary Did You Know. "A thrill of hope. The weary world rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees." Beautiful words that probably don't even begin to touch the night when Christ was born. Praise God for sending His only son for a broken, hard and cruel world. 

We had a church party last night and I was wanting to make a cider bar. Of course, Pinterest helped me pull it off. I wanted to share this idea in case you're looking for the perfect cider set-up for your Christmas get together! I wish I had taken a picture before the party when I had more cups stacked on the counter below the "cup tree" and my pot of cider sitting there. Also, there were more apples stacked on the plate before my girls got into them. : ) Here is the link for the cups:  http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/post.cfm/diy-la-dolce-vita-party-candy-cup-with-carry-handle

Thanks to Pinterest, I have gotten extra crafty this year. I think that's a good thing...... I wanted to share some links to the tutorials I found this year. These thrift store glass vases were painted with white enamel glass paint. Tutorial here:  http://www.sugarandcharmblog.com/2011/01/easy-and-beautiful-enamel-painted-vases.html My iphone camera takes terrible pictures, so I apologize. But these coffee filter trees were so easy. Pin some coffee filters onto foam cones, hot glue some buttons and you're done. I will warn you that the foam cones are not cheap, so bring your 40% off coupon if you're going to buy them. Tutorial here:  http://craftsbyamanda.com/2010/12/coffee-filter-christmas-tree.html I loved the idea of this rustic, Pottery Barn-ish wreath for the front door. Once again, cheap coffee filters play a part in making the cute, ruffly flowers. Tutorial here:  http://www.carlykmyta.com/carly-kmyta/2011/11/make-it-yourself-monday-christmas-wreath.html ...