Journal Your Christmas/December Daily (in two hours) /  by jen geigley

Last night, I took a look at a sad little pile of papers and pics on my desk and decided I had to tackle this project once and for all. For the past four (or five?) years, I have done some kind of variation of a Journal Your Christmas + December Daily book, but things got a little nuts this year. My 'pile of December' got pushed to the side. I had already concluded that my little tradition just might not happen this year.
If you're like me, after the holidays hit and January begins, Christmas is sooooo over. So I knew I had to do this fast, if I was going to do it at all. Like, in one night. So I cut and glued and made this happen in two hours last night. For realz.
All during the month of December, I had taken pics of the process of holiday magic. I had even snagged one of these rad mini journal kits from my good friend, Jamaica, to make things easy. I had printed photos every week or so from Instagram or iPhoto on contact sheets, so they were small enough to fit on the little pages. So when I finally sat down to work on this, it was actually pretty easy to throw together. (Click on pics to see them a bit larger.)
I didn't use any Christmas paper or stickers (except the ones that were included in Jamaica's little kit.) I didn't put dates on every single page, and I didn't write notes on every single page. But I'm so glad I threw these pics together and that I can stick this book next to the others on a little shelf so we can look back on what made this particular season in this particular year so special. Every Christmas is special. 
 
So, if you're like me ... don't worry. There's still time to throw something like this together. Go print out your Instagrams, Facebook pics or cut up some of that holiday memorabilia that you have collected over the past month. That is my little nudge of encouragement for the day.  ;)

Happy New Year's Eve!

33 weeks /  by jen geigley

Things are going swimmingly and the nesting has begun. We've been gradually getting things set up in the little dude's room and I've been washing up tiny t-shirts and several pairs of Lo's old black and white Converse and Vans. Teeny tiny!
We were so smart to go unisex on a lot of the stuff we bought for her when she was a baby; I love that we have the chance to use it all again. Each time I pull a tiny pair of Vans out of a tiny shoebox, I can't help but let out a tiny squeal. They are so incredibly cute.
The holidays were fantastic and pretty chill, but this week was busy. After all of our family had come to visit, I had doc appointments, another ultrasound and had to pick up a rental car to drive around while my car was in the shop (after getting rear-ended) only to find out I have to take it back to get it fixed again next week. We got Lo a hamster for Christmas and we have discovered that (duh) it's nocturnal. The rest of the fam can sleep through its nightly activities and noisy wheel-running, but it's been driving me nuts and keeping me awake.
The little dude is now the size of a pineapple. Seriously. I can't stop drinking Ocean Spray cran-grape juice, can't stop eating sliced-up pears with peanut butter and I chew Tums like they're candy. I desperately want to fold things and organize things and put things away but at the same time, I know I should be spending these days resting up and enjoying the easy life. Soon enough, we're going to be shaking things up around here. I know what I'm in for (but it's still so hard to imagine.)

bits and pieces of our holiday /  by jen geigley

 Just a glimpse of what Christmas at our house looks like...
 Doughnut/pajama days.
  Letters written.
 Gingerbread house construction.
 Paper snowflakes.
 Amazingly awesome Christmas cookies from our friend, Beth.
 (Have you ever seen cuter cookies in your life? She's good.)
 White Christmas.
 Random decorations on our fireplace.
 And our kitchen.
 Brightly-colored stockings.
 Craft projects.
 Succulents.
 Lo calls these 'mintys.'
 Cookie baking.
(She can almost do everything all by herself this year.)
Tree decorating.
 Advent calendar excitement.
 Ornaments, old and new.
 Ballet classes and The Nutcracker.
 Silver + white.
 Ice skating fun.
Glitter and glue.
A taste ... or two.  
Happy holidays to you!

32 weeks /  by jen geigley

32 weeks, and I've got a four-pound baby boy in there. But let's focus on big sis for a minute here. (Gosh, she's seriously the sweetest.)
Little Lo is my number one sidekick and we have spent almost every single second of her 4.5 years together. We are tight. She's definitely old enough to know what is going on with this new baby-to-be, and it's clear that she's noticing the changes and preparations we're making.
She's very excited to talk about all the fun things she'll get to do once the little dude arrives, but I'm careful to warn her that it's not all sunshine, cuteness and baby powder. That he'll also cry a lot, wake up at night a lot, spit up a lot and poop a lot. That we can't put him back. That I might not have as much one-on-one time to spread around at first. Gulp. We're obviously going to do our very best to make this special for her, too, and to include her in every way that we can. But naturally, I worry about what this new addition is going to do to this thing that she and I have, and it does make me a tiny bit sad. Because what we have is such a good thing. I don't want to break it.
 
But her deep-down sweetness is what assures me that everything will be okay. She's super nurturing, sensitive and wise beyond her years. She's already a natural caretaker. She's gentle and loving and I know she's going to be the best big sister ever. So I try not to worry. It's going to be good. So good.

31 weeks /  by jen geigley

Dude, can I just say ... ow?
I'm officially at the uncomfortable point. Let's be honest. Hips hurt, can't sleep a wink ... and hot dang, this kid kicks hard. The little dude is also breech right now. What exactly is he doing in there? Kickflips and frontside airs? If you looked across the room at me, you'd see my belly jumping in four different directions at any given moment. I know all too well that I'm going to get huge over the next two months and things will be getting even more crowded in there. I still have a long way to go, but I get to have another ultrasound right after Christmas to see how we're doing. (This will be my fourth ultrasound ... or fifth?) I hope he flips back around to where he needs to be. Can we just fast-forward things a little bit?

chalkboard ornament DIY /  by jen geigley

DIY chalkboard ornaments! So much fun. So, I was having one of those days where random craft supplies were jumping into my cart. Calling out to me. Like, 'You don't need me ... but you really want me.' And one of the craft supplies that was tempting me was this Martha Stewart Crafts chalkboard paint. It was right there on the shelf with its cute packaging in my two most favorite colors. So I grabbed it. Along with some plain frosted glass ornaments. And that pretty much explains what's going on here.
It's the easiest of easy DIY ornament projects you'll find this season. (And there's something weirdly soothing about painting on glass ... I don't know. It's just fun?) You'll need Martha's multi-surface chalkboard paint (I grabbed the mint green and light blue, but it's also available in gray and black,) a soft paint brush or sponge brush, a glass ornament and some chalk. I used inexpensive frosted glass ornaments, just because I thought they might take the paint a little better than a regular glass surface. But I'm sure this project would work on normal glass as well.
Remove the little silver cap from the top of your ornament and paint a thin coat of the chalkboard paint over the entire surface of the ball. Don't worry too much if your brushstrokes show a little bit; it will even out as it dries. (My personal drying method is shown above. I had good luck with wooden spoon and spatula handles.) Let the ornament dry for at least one hour, and then paint a second thin coat. Wait until the paint dries completely – another two hours or so – before you try writing on the ornament with chalk.
Then have at it! Make an ornament for each person in the family, or have everyone in your household sign their name and give the autographed ornament as a gift. Bust out the sidewalk chalk from last summer and let your kids draw all over them. So fun, so easy. Happy holidays.

30 weeks /  by jen geigley

30 weeks, and hi there ... I am round. The sweet barista at the coffee shop where I knit told me that I had really 'blossomed' this week. I think that's the nice way of saying, 'wow, you're round!'
I'm grateful to have winter coats that I can still manage to button/zip to stay warm. This is not one of them. My outerwear options are narrowing day by day. But no complaints! Time is going fast and I know the holidays will make things fly by even quicker.
 
This week was kind of hectic. I was rear-ended in my car (but everything turned out okay.) Bo went to Aspen on a snowboarding trip. Lo and I had lots of slumber party/movie nights and went to Ballet Des Moines' Nutcracker. Which was amazing. Christmas prep and random craft projects are in full-swing around here and the hustle is starting to wear on me, but there's still lots to be done (and lots of extra little things I want to do.) How about you?

felt baby shoes /  by jen geigley

Over the weekend, I finished up this quick DIY project from the Purl Bee. Tiny felt baby shoes.
You probably already have all of the supplies, and these are super fast to make. You just need a small amount of wool felt, embroidery thread, a tiny bit of 1/4" wide elastic, scissors, straight pins and the printable template.
I used gray felt and chartreuse embroidery thread, and I'm pretty much in love with how they turned out. How can you not love tiny felt shoes? So sweet. (You should make some.)

sale EXTENDED ... :) /  by jen geigley

Hey, lucky you! I got a few emails last night and have decided to extend the sale through the weekend ... enter the coupon code WEEKEND when you place an order from my Etsy shop and receive free shipping (sorry, U.S. only.) And, all of my Boheme cowls (shown above) are still $10 off. Good through Sunday night at midnight, CST. 'Tis the season to be awesome. Go, now ... go!