Well, I had good intentions of getting that photo-a-day done, but life got in the way.    It was totally good life getting in the way, though.  I spent lots of holiday time with my family this year.

I hope you had a great Christmas holiday like I did.

On Christmas Eve morning, my brother called to ask me to make a card for him to give to our Dad.

If you know my dad, you know that the card needed to have a chocolate theme.

So I pulled out the cute new Scentsational Season Clear-Mount Bundle and made this "Make Your own Cup of Cocoa" card.

You have the option of adding to your cocoa mug

~ a marshmallow

~ extra chocolate

~ whipping cream (vanilla scented, thanks to the vanilla scented embossing powder)

~ a peppermint stick

I think my chocholic dad will like this card as much as I do.

Day 4

(Day 3 was Presents.  We don't have any wrapped yet so I skipped the day and will make it up later.)

Today is day 4: Tradition

This countdown calendar was made by my Aunt Nori and given to my parents when I was young.  

Every day in December, we would hang a mini ornament onto one of the gold beads on this tree.  

Now I've inherited this calendar and my kids are using it to count down the days until Christmas.

That's 19 days at this point, by the way.  

Need ideas for stocking stuffers or gifts for the crafters and scrapbookers in your life?  

Click the Shop Now button in the top right corner, or feel free to contact me for ideas.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Photo-a-day

So, this isn't Stampin' Up! related, but I've decided to do a 25 day Christmas photo-a-day challenge this December.  I was almost foiled by a severe cold, though!  On the first day I felt too horrible to do anything.  Today I am much better, so I'm posting day one and two together today.

So, here it goes:

Here are the guidelines for the challenge:

Here's my picture for Day 1, lights:

These are the lights on my Christmas tree.  

I wanted to see if I could get them blurry, and I'm pretty happy with this picture.

Here's Day 2: Decorations

This is a simple little nativity I made. 

I LOVE nativities and collect them. 

I came up with the idea for this one recently, and am really liking it.  

They're little wooden balls.  Joseph and Mary are about an inch, the baby Jesus is about 1/2 inch.

See you tomorrow for Day 3!

December Blog Hop!

Its blog hop time again!

This month I am the last stop, so you may have linked here from Jill's blog.

In keeping with the holiday season, our theme this month is gift-ables.

I decided to share these adorable ornaments that I made for a workshop last year.

Isn't that cute?

And its as easy as can be.

You will need:

~ glass ball ornaments

~ Designer Series Paper of your choice

(may I recommend Be of Good Cheer) 

~ ribbon of your choice

(may I recommend this ribbon in Gumball Green, or this ribbon in Cherry Cobbler)

~ jingle bells

1. Cut the paper into 1/2 inch strips using your Stampin' Trimmer.

2. Use your Paper Piercing Tool to curl the paper strips.

3.  Remove the top of the ornament by carefully pinching the wire until it can slip out of the neck of the ball. Insert strips into the top of the ornament.  Paper curls will expand as they settle, so keep this in mind when deciding how many curls to put into the ornament.

4. Carefully remove the wire from the metal cap of the ornament and slip the bell onto it before replacing the wire into the metal cap.

5. Reassemble ornament by pinching the wire slightly and slipping it into the ball, taking care bot to catch the metal cap inside the ball.

6. Cut a piece of ribbon to your desired length.  Briefly expose to flame (I use lighter) to seal the cut ends of the ribbon.  Tie onto ornament wire as desired.

I hope you like my cute and easy Christmas gift idea!

Want more holiday ideas?

 How about a partridge in a pear tree?

Or a sweet tree just the right size for the middle of your table?

For even more ideas, check back often in December.

Happy Holidays!

Didn't make it to all of the stops on our hop?

Well, here's where to go:

1. Maxine Conrad  www.stamptothemax.com
2. Martha Haddock   www.stampinmartha.blogspot.com
3. Lisa Fennewald   www.lisaloostamps.blogspot.com
4. Jill St. Angelo  www.jillsstampingcorner.com
5.  Stephanie Bradley  (you are here)