Ornament Swap Numero Dos

In a momentary lapse of judgement, I decided to do two different ornament swaps this year.  

I don't know what I was thinking....

I've never even done one swap let alone two swaps!!!

I kept the same rules - I would not buy a THING!!!

I would only use what was in my craft room.

So this is what I made:

I used plain ornament balls, hot glue, an old book, the end of a thick paint brush,

 and a 1-inch square paper punch.  I punched A LOT of squares out of the old book I had.  Then, I would take the square, wrap it around the end of the paint brush, put a dab of hot glue on the end, and place it on the ball.  I did that A LOT until the ball was covered and looked like this:

If I had had more time (I may or may not have been finishing these 30 minutes before the swap), I was going to add something Christmas to the side of it.  However, everyone loved the way it looked without anything else.  I liked them and was pretty proud of them.

Here is a look at more of my super talented friends and what they shared with me!

From Kim Scott

From Adana Buttrum

From Debbie Holman

From Sarah Ellis

From LeighAnne Dugger

From Jerra Leek

From Ally Rogers

From Aubrey Buttrum

From Janet Sweeney

From Carole Cosbey

From Jana Dugger

I love that these special people will always have a special place in my heart and on my tree.

Time to Deliver the Cookies!!!

When it is time to deliver the cookies, we break into 3 different groups. 

Some groups travel by foot to different houses while others hop in a car to deliver.

The groups have remained somewhat the same throughout the years because some of our older friends like to see how the girls have grown over the years!

Our older friends love it just as much as we do!

LB and I went with one of the walking groups with Sarah and Rachel Grace Hibbett and Allison, Addie and Shelbie Cross.

We loved visiting with the Barbers.

Then we ran into problems....

The others weren't home...

Not just one house...

But two...

And three...

Shelbie and Addie did not understand why no one was home

and why they would not want our cookies!!!

We did manage to give our cookies to people one way or another!

Christmas Cookie Swap VI

The day we look forward to when the Christmas season comes FINALLY came!

We always love the Generational Christmas Cookie Swap and we couldn't believe we have been doing this for six years now!!

I would recommend doing this with any group of people.  It is so much fun and so rewarding!

We always have each family unit to bring 3 dozen cookies along with the recipe.

As the girls and their mothers/grandmothers arrive, we have some kind of craft for the girls to do.

This year we collected mugs from the Dollar Tree and had the girls decorate them using Sharpies. When the decorating was done, we put them in the oven at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

When the crafting was complete, the girls picked up Christmas boxes and began to fill them with some of the goodies that were brought.  These boxes will later be taken to some of our older friends in the neighborhood and from church.

Then, we get to enjoy the treats that were brought and we enjoy just being together.

Now that our bellies are full - we deliver!!!!

Ornament Swap Numero Uno

I am blessed with some FABULOUS friend who are blessed with so many different talents.

One group of friends has gathered together in the recent years to have a cookie/ornament swap.

I was not able to attend this party this year because LB had a basketball game that was rescheduled for that night.

So, I sent my ornaments with my friend Sandy.

Here is my story behind my ornament:

I was cleaning out my craft room and realized I had entirely too many things in it!

So I decided I would not buy ONE thing for my ornaments.

Everything came from my craft room. I found cookie cutters (who has cookie cutters in their craft room?) that I think I had bought for our annual cookie swap.  I had plenty of scrapbook paper and even found silver embellishments to add to them.  I used E600 glue to attach the ornaments to the paper.  Once the paper and glue had dried, I carefully cut it out.  This was MUCH easier than cutting them out then attaching.  Using the same glue, I then attached the embellishment to the the cookie cutter.  Finally, I attached some craft twine to the back in order for my friends to hang them on their tree.

I was pretty please with how they turned out!

LB made this one for a school project.

 Here are the ones my oober talented friends made for me.

Made by Sasha Gott

Made by Kristen Hicks

Made by Lauren Beene White

Made by Sharon Kea

Made by Bonnie Hendrix

Made by Allison Cross

Made by Nocona Canady-Flatt

Made by Ashli Rogers

Made by Ashley Deffenbaugh

Made by Lynne Moore

Made by Keli Westmoreland

Made by Sandy Thompson

Made by Kimberly Gott

Made by Sarah Buckley

Don't I have such creative friends!!!

I am thinking I need a tree next year JUST for ornament swap ornaments!!

Decking the Halls

I usually go all out for Christmas, but, for some reason this year, I was not feeling it.

Maybe it was the fact that every tree I tried to put up had something wrong with it.

Yes, I am sure that was it!

Anyways, despite the fact I usually put up at least 3 trees in the house, we FINALLY got

ONE tree up and that was enough for me!

LB let Carter put the angel on the top.

These are always some of my favorite pictures, and this year he just looks so big!

I know it won't be much longer before he won't need to stand on the chair to

put the angel on top!