Things I Loved Over the Holidays // late-December to early-January

Halfway through January?! It's been a minute since my last post. Our holidays were relaxing, quiet, indulgent, and Covid-free. Who could ask for more? The following is a shit-ton of sweetness that I had planned to share several times and never got around to... until now.

Cake in a cup

Take a peek at this sweet surprise! Piper joined a club at school this year that is a part of a larger, national organization "Cookies for Kids' Cancer" which hosts bake sales in support of  pediatric cancer research centers. She scoped out Pinterest and came across this sweet idea to make a mini-cake trifle in a plastic cup. They turned out very cute and were so simple (though, a little time consuming). With the re-rise of positive Covid numbers this season, keep this idea in your back pocket for occasions when individual servings would be appreciated. They're incredibly versatile with different flavors, toppings, and even baked goods (consider brownies, crumbled cookie chunks, or pre-bought angle food).

The Nutcracker

What a JOY it was to see the Nutcracker this year! I haven't taken the girls to see this show since 2013 when Geneva famously said upon leaving the theatre (in her 7 year old voice), "Ugh. Please tell me we don't have to do THAT again. I can't believe they tried telling a story without using any words!" Ha! Well, with maturity comes a new appreciation. We all absolutely loved the show. It was especially amazing to watch Piper's sweet friend, Mary, in the role of Clara.

Dinner Parties and Gathering with Friends

'Twas the season for dressing up and indulging! After months of low-key to no gatherings, it seemed like everyone was ready to get after it this holiday (pre-Omicron, that is). I certainly was and I did! Thanks to the gracious and lovely hostesses who put on the most delightful soirées --giving me a reason to get out of my jammies.

Can we always just tie our napkins like my friend, Loren?

Lifter Gloss

These have been favorites for a long time --ever since my friend, Gretchen, introduced me. These "holiday" colors were a go-to this season and are honestly super sheer and versatile for any time of year. Here I have three wrapped to gift in a "White Elephant Favorite" exchange I had with girlfriends. Affordable and luxurious. Who doesn't love that?

Telling Her Stories

This girl has always been great at providing a debrief of her day. Here she was on the verge of tweendom and in the second shot, on the verge of 15. She sometimes still confides in me --but for the sensitive stuff, she has her dog. :) In all seriousness, if you're looking to find ways to start conversations with your tweens and teens (or improve conversations with really, anyone) look no further than Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen by my friend, Michelle Icard. It's developmentally appropriate for kids to start pulling away during middle school on their journey toward becoming fully functioning adults --and it might seem like it's easier to just stop trying to talk to them altogether, but they really DO still want you to engage. Figuring out a "new language" and approach for continued and better conversations is what Michelle specializes in teaching parents everywhere.

Anniversary with Michelle

Speaking of my friend, Michelle Icard, in December of 2020 she came to me with a crazy idea: to help her out with her social media platforms. I was like, "I don't do that." And she was all, "Right... but I think you should." It's been such a fun job and my boss is so cool! We share as many laughs as we do strategies and plans and she never (outwardly) expresses frustration when I miss every single typo. Cheers to her continued success --because, as I've already mentioned, parents everywhere gain so much wisdom and insight from her work.

"working"

Holiday Concert

What a pleasure it is to listen to the Myers Park High School Bands perform! My freshman French Horn player is in the Symphonic band and my sophomore flutist plays in the Wind Ensemble. Their band teacher also directs a super impressive Jazz band that is really something else! For those of you listening to your little ones squeak out "notes" on their new instruments of choice, do grit your teeth through the early stages because the quality grows with the kiddos and before long, they will knock your socks off!

The One by John Marrs & Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Wintrop

Here are two quick reads that I found totally enjoyable and entertaining through the holiday break. In The One, John Marrs presents a story in the not-so-distant future where DNA technology allows a simple cotton swab of the cheek to match you with your scientifically accurate romantic match. Sounds too good to be true --but it's not --until it's true but no longer good. I didn't want to put it down. Very Sincerely Yours was a sugary-sweet romance that read like candy and was just what I wanted for the moment. I enjoy a variety of stories and this one fit the bill for light and fun just right!

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Getting Crafty | A Birthday Terrarium for Daddy

The little Jonesies decided that for his birthday, they wanted to make their dad a terrarium for his office. Terrariums are all the rage these days so I thought it would be no problem gathering the supplies we needed to put something together. In fact, I assumed I could find an easy kit that contained all the essential "ingredients." HA!

After finding the BEST online tutorials (there are 7 in this thorough series), I knew what we needed; the trick was in finding all the necessary elements. I had a little driving around to do. The gravel and charcoal were acquired from the pet store (fish department). The jar, pebbles, and rocks came from Michaels craft store. The moisture loving, compatible micro-plants came from the nursery. I found (way too much of) the horticultural fabric at Home Depot. And to avoid having to purchase a huge bag, the small amount of potting soil needed was gifted from our gardener neighbor, Miss Amy.

 I'm not going to go through all the steps because I know I won't do a better job than you can find over at the tutorials. But here is our process in pictures. The girls were very involved and we had a lot of fun getting our hands dirty for daddy.

He LOVED it!

We were sad to see it leave the kitchen table and have immediate plans to make another (with all our leftover supplies) to keep at home.

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Celebrating Dr. Seuss

"You're never too old, too wacky, to wild,

to pick up a book and read to a child."

~ Dr. Seuss

We are a family that loves books and we all read something every day. Naturally, we were excited to participate in the celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday during Read Across America week. The girls' school organized a week of fun days to get the students involved. Monday - Hat and Tie Day, Tuesday - Career Day (we had a spy and an author), Wednesday - Wacky Hair Day, Thursday - Crazy Sock Day (which is practically an everyday occurrence around here), and Friday - Dr. Seuss Character Day.  

The girls immediately decided that they wanted to be Thing 1 and Thing 2. Of course, we didn't plan far enough in advance to locate their size shirts off the rack--so I was presented with the perfect excuse to get a little crafty. All it took was a couple $3 tees, some white felt, black fabric paint, "fur" yarn, and some elastic headbands. (We already had the striped pajama bottoms. Shh… Don't tell anyone that they're Santa jammies.) 

I used a salad plate to trace the circles and then penciled in the letters, referencing some pictures I found online. I outlined the letters with a black Sharpie.

 

After pinning the felt patch to the front of the tee, I hand-stiched it around the edge. I thought I had iron-on adhesive--but shockingly {insert heavy sarcasm}, I couldn't locate any in my craft pile closet and I didn't want to drive out the craft store again.

After the patches were secured to the tees, I outlined and then filled in the letters using the fabric paint. 

The "Blue Hair" headbands (sorry no close-up pic) were achieved by wrapping the yarn around half of the band over and over. This took a ton of wrapping. The yarn wasn't nearly as "furry" as it appeared all balled up in the packaging. A better route would be to purchase a small length of synthetic faux fur fabric from the fabric store and hot-glue it to a plastic headband. 

All said, we had a Seusserific week!

And here's some of our CRAZY hair!

Cheers! And happy reading!

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Harry Potter Birthday Party (Part II)

Here are a few overdue details from our Harry Potter Birthday Party.

I bought the glasses on Amazon and then added a little masking tape around the nose piece.

The pens were used in a couple simple games I had the kids play. These are Crayola markers and colored feathers from the craft store. Turning them into "quills" just took a squeeze of hot glue and a stem of black pipe cleaner wrapped around the spot where the feather was attached.

The cupcake toppers were assembled with cocktail picks, scrapbook paper, black pipe cleaners, a little ribbon (for the snitch wings), and toothpicks (for the broom). In hindsight, I messed up the number of quaffle balls (there should be just one red) and the bludgers (there should be 2 black)--so don't make your set like mine.  

You cannot have a Harry Potter party without wands. I was so happy to find mine from a small seller on Etsy. The price was terrific, the quality was great (detail, sturdiness, variety of colors), and the tips were appropriately "dull" for the age of the kids who received them. 

Crafting and assembling the broomstick bags was the next step. The broomsticks are made from 2 lunch-sized brown paper bags and a little ribbon. I used the wands as the broomsticks.

Once standing, the strips of the outer layer "relax" a bit and take on more of the characteristics of a full and bushy broom.

We stuffed our take-away gift broom bags with a pair of glasses, the wand, and a couple of Harry and Ron's favorite wizard treats: Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

Cheers to your little wizard!

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