Getting in the Spirit - Spring Holidays Decor

The crafty person in me is obsessed with holidays, changing seasons, special occasions, etc. Of course I have to decorate for all of them! So what if no one sees them but Matt and me? It just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. 

For my birthday in October my momma gave me a really cool wooden monogram with Matt and my initials. She ordered it on Etsy. Just type in "wooden monogram" on Etsy and there are so many options to choose from. I stared at it for a few months trying to figure out what to do with it. I finally had an idea! Put it in a wreath! 

I got a grape vine wreath at Michaels ($5 or less if you have a coupon) and silver wire balls that I also got at Michaels. I got 2 bags of the wire balls that were about $5 a bag. I attached everything to the wreath with wire from the jewelry-making aisle. I started out turning it into a Christmas wreath! I added twinkling LED lights and a red ribbon. After Christmas I couldn't get myself to take it down though! I took the lights out and left it up throughout January. In February I painted and distressed the monogram with sandpaper and replaced the red ribbon with pink ruffle ribbon and a chevron wooden heart (also at Michaels). I left it up for a while after Valentines day but with March quickly approaching I turned it into a St. Patty's wreath by adding green polka-dotted ribbon (lets just go ahead and say everything is from Michaels...my second home). And after that it's going to be transformed into Easter! I love that it's so easy to change to fit whatever time of the year it is. I attach the ribbon with a little piece of wire. I'm keeping the bows to reuse year after year.

I got a little head start on the Spring decorating this year because my dining room table really needed some love and bright colors were calling my name.

I got the milk cartonesque thing at Michaels. It was originally $16 but it was on sale and I used coupons to get it less than $9. I put the flat moss in the bottom of the container and put brown cord bows (from the jewelry-making aisle) on each glass jar. I filled the jars with clear pebbles and got all of the fake flowers and berry picks at Michaels as well. I'm really weird about fake flowers but these are an exception. I love them! They were also on sale and I used coupons to make them less. The birds I got for $1. Let's just say I got everything at Michaels except for the burlap (got it at Hobby Lobby). Michaels has burlap though. Just discovered that fact and it opened up a whole new world. I'm obsessed with Hobby Lobby but I live in Midtown and Germantown, Cordova, and Collierville aren't necessarily around the corner. I have a Michaels literally 5 minutes from my house. It's probably a bad thing that it's so convenient. Anyways, I love the pop of color and springy feel it adds to my table. Matt, my husband, has been traveling a lot and I made him Valentines dinner on February 22 (the day he got home after Valentines day). The dinner was an EPIC fail but at least the table looked good!

This is just a side note but let me tell you a little bit about this weekend. Matt was out of town on business and I hadn't seen him in 2 weeks. He came home Friday night-Sunday noon (so 1 full day) before he had to leave again for 2 more weeks. Friday night I made him the epic fail late Valentines dinner. Well, my noodles clogged the pipes and nasty sink noodly poo started backing up into the other side of the sink AND my bathtub. I also got a nasty cold on Friday. Perfect timing. So Matt spent his whole weekend home unclogging pipes while I was blowing my nose in the other room. Soon this story is going to be REALLY funny. It already kinda is because everything is fixed and back to normal and I'm starting to feel better. When he comes home in 2 weeks I think we'll eat OUT.

This pic I find hilarious. Just chillin under the house via our secret trapped door in the closet.

So yeah...there was that.

I also started making burlap door hangers. I made a heart (for Valentines of course) and I made my momma a "Go Tigers" one. If you're interested in purchasing one let me know!

Katie Bug Designs

Although I've really been missing Matt this month, February did have some great moments! Both of my parents had birthdays! I'm so thankful for both of them. I couldn't ask for better parents.

On my dad's birthday I hung out at their house all day and decided to shoot some skeet. It just came so naturally. I hit my first 2 on my first try and went on to get 11/13 using 3 different shot guns. My dad, brother, and Great Uncle had their jaws on the floor. Hahaha. I had no idea. Thinking about making it my new hobby. There's definitely no denying that Richard Cave is my father! I woke up today with a MASSIVE bruise on my arm from the kickback on the guns. Hurts so good. Never been so proud of an injury. I think I made him proud on his birthday. Hahaha. Thinking about starting another blog about gun techniques. I need to bring out the Duck Dynasty redneck in me. I ain't no yuppy girl, Jack!

 Matt and I also celebrated our 6 year dating anniversary the day he left. We started dating when I was a Sophomore and he was a Senior in high school. I asked him to a Sadie Hawkins Valentines dance at my school  on February 10, 2007 and we've been together ever since! I've loved every second.

That's all for now! Hope yall had a wonderful Valentines and don't forget to wear your green on March 17!

Boot "Socks"

So I got an idea from Pinterest recently that is weird but awesome. When I showed my 19 year old brother he literally made fun of me for an hour. My response: Haters gunna hate! Instead of spending $20 (give or take) on a pair of socks tall enough to show out of the top of your boots, how about spend $2 on a sweater you find at Goodwill and cut off the sleeves? BRILLIANT! I have a Half Price Goodwill store (Highland and Southern) near me where everything is 50% off regular thrift store prices! It's cheaper than cheap! I just find sweaters that I like the sleeves on and cut them off and they look just like socks! No one would ever know unless you take you boots off...well I guess everyone knows my secret now. Oh well. I have 3 pairs but I need more in different colors. Hope you find this helpful. I just got these new leather boots from Macy's. My new favorite thing in my closet!

Treat Stands

Well...Christmas is over and it's time for the real world again. My last semester of school EVER begins on Thursday (HALLELUJAH PRAISE THE LORD BEST DAY OF MY LIFE). I mean...I love school...ehhhh...Here's the thing...don't get me wrong. I am SO thankful for my education that I had. I went to a wonderful private Christian school (Evangelical Christian School) from Kindergarten through 12th grade. I am so grateful for the opportunity to go there. I wouldn't change anything about it. I made so many life-long friends there and loved learning about God's world from a Christian perspective. I've attended the University of Memphis since I was a Freshman and I have actually really enjoyed it there also. I've never been super involved because I've never lived on campus and I got married summer after my Sophomore year. I wouldn't really say that I've had the "normal college experience". My life has been so different from most of my friends' lives at this age; but again, wouldn't change a thing. Getting married at age 20 was an awesome experience for me. It's weird now that my people are just starting to get engaged and I've been married over a year and a half. Matt and I had been dating 4.5 years (I was a Sophomore in high school when we started dating) and he was graduating from college, had a great job, we had a house, etc...everything just worked out in our favor. Memphis has been a great place for me to continue my education despite my marital status. I'm majoring in Professional Studies with a concentration in Child Development and minoring in Sociology. I've really enjoyed my classes. I love learning about how children think at different stages of their development. All that to say, I've enjoyed my 17 years of education and I'm so thankful for it, but I am BEYOND ready to move on with my life. I seriously don't know what I'll do! No papers, tests, quizzes, presentations...music to my ears. Oh, and the famous question that all of us college-goers get: what do you want to do after college? If I had a dollar for every time I've been asked that...I WANT TO BE A MOM! Not yet, but ultimately that's why I chose my major. It was the closest one to motherhood. When the time comes I want to be a stay-at-home wife/mother. I'd love nothing more. I also plan on continuing my cake business (Katie Cakes). I might get a small job somewhere after I graduate. I do want to do something...maybe work in a bakery? Babysit? IDK....I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

This has, yet again, been a completely pointless paragraph that has nothing to do with this blog post. I know some of you wanted to know what I made this year to give my family for Christmas!! I made them TREAT STANDS!!! These were so easy and fun to make

I went to a lot of different places (thrift stores, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Ross, Target, Hobby Lobby, Garden Ridge, Macys, etc) to find dishes and things (candle sticks make good connectors for stands with 2 plates) to make them with. It was fun being creative with them. All you do is glue the pieces together using E-6000 glue (love that stuff..appx $6 a tube). You can find it at Hobby Lobby and Michaels I know...probably other places too. Once I had my things glued in place I put some textbooks on them and left them overnight to dry. Voila!! So fun!

The possibilities are endless!!! Hope you enjoyed!

Christmas Decor, Crafts & Traditions

I'm sure you understand by now, but I love Christmas more than the average person. The average person is like "yeah, I love Christmas"...I'm like "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY HANDS I'M SO EXCITED BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME WHERE'S MY EGG NOG AND FIGGY PUDDING AHHHHHHH JOY TO THE WORLD I LOVE BABY JESUS HE HAS COME WREATHSSSSSS TREESSSSSSS ORNAMENTSSSS THE OX AND ASS ARE FEEDING!!!!!!!!!!" I'm pretty sure I'm an elf in my other life...that's not a joke. I can't wait to have kids so I can spread the love of Christmas onto my offspring. I may or may not already have an Elf on the Shelf...and his name may or may not already be Chester. I got him for Christmas last year and was so excited. I was going to play with him this Christmas but I didn't think Matt would find it amusing (considering he's a 23 year old man)...and although my dog is a person and is fully capable of human thought and communication, she'd probably steal him and hide him never to be seen again. Having said that, when I am, in fact, with child...prepare yoselves. I already have so many ideas! These are the kinds of things I think about in my spare time all year round...typical elvish thing to do...you know...the usual.

And after that completely pointless but completely necessary paragraph I move on to what this blog post is really about: Christmas decor, crafts, and traditions! 

Because I'm of the elf culture, I go a little crazy decorating my house for Christmas time. I practically put all of my current decorations in the attic and replace them with Christmas trees and garland and anything with twinkly lights and glitter. If it looks like Christmas threw up in my living room, I was successful.  Having said that, here are some pics of my house this year:

 I made the wire tree a few years ago. Probably my favorite Christmas craft of all time.

I got this little hand-carved nativity from Jerusalem when I went to Israel in 2010. We went to Bethlehem too. Incredible experience. If you get the opportunity...GOOOOOO!!

Love my little Christmas mouse

I painted this little canvas a few years ago. Pretty sure anyone can do it. 

 Stockings hung on the entertainment center with care (because we don't have a mantle...Santa comes through the TV on Christmas Eve every year...this is the 21st century! Would you expect anything else?)

I like to decorate everything...including all of my curtain rods. Why not?

These yarn trees are my most recent Christmas craft. I'll tell you how to make them later in this post.

 Yep...my tree has a hat. I also got some red and green polka-dotted ribbon to drape down the sides this year. I just love it. So festive. It just really knows how to put me in a good mood.

 I'm going to try and get an ornament of every place we go together. I have an NYC one from our honeymoon and a San Francisco one from our 1 year anniversary trip. I had no idea I bought 2 different ornaments on opposite sides of the country from the same maker. Pretty cool. I wrote their significance on the bottoms of them.

Yay Matty for hanging lights up outside!! And P.S. Ignore the leaves...those are last on my priority list...all of the crafts come first obviously.

 So where do I even begin? First I'll tell you about some crafts then tell you about some crafty traditions I started last year.

First, my yarn/pom pom trees! Cute, ehh? They're so easy! Even the least craftiest of people could pull these off!

I got these paper mache cones at Michaels along with red and green yarn and this little bag of tiny pom pom balls.

 I started by hot gluing a piece of the yarn under the cone and then hot glued a strand around the bottom...you want to do this first...trust me. Then just start a wrappin!

 I wrapped it around back to where the yarn was back at the bottom of the cone and ended it just how I started it by gluing a little piece underneath the cone. After that I hot glued the pom poms on. 

Ta da!

Another thing I made this year is the wreath you saw earlier. My momma got those wooden initials for me for my birfday in October. I forget exactly where she got them but they have them on Etsy that you can order. I got the grapevine wreath at Michaels for $3 (very expensive) as well as the silver wire balls. I used 2 bags of those. I used more wire to tie each ball to the wreath. I also added a red wire-edged ribbon bow and some mini battery-operated LED lights (also at Michaels for less than $10). I love it! It really stands out on our red door...especially at night when the pretty lights are on!

Another thing I did this year was embroider Elphie's name onto her stocking...yes my dog has a stocking...and yes I actually spent 2 hours of my life stitching her name onto it. Time well spent in my opinion! I got the stocking at Target last year for like $6. It needed a little extra somethin somethin.

The last Christmas craft that I'm going to feature is actually something I made last year but might still come in handy for those looking for a solution of  how to display all of your Christmas cards! It's pretty self-explanatory. I got all of the supplies at Michaels! I attach all of the cards onto the ribbon with tiny clothespins (also found at Michaels)

Matt walked into the living room mischievously and hung a Christmas card up on the holder as if I wouldn't notice...I was like "who's that from" and he replied "Domino's"...What can I say? We love pizza!

Now onto the traditions!! 

2 years ago I started making a felt ornament every Christmas. Weird and random? Yes. Something I would find pleasure in doing? Yes. In 2010 I made an owl, in 2011 I made a tree, and this year I made a half-eaten gingerbread man. They're not the prettiest things but I like that I'll have one for every year. I even stitched the year onto the backs of them. Instead of spending a lot on fluff, I got some of that fake snow stuff at Michaels. It comes in a big bag and it's practically the same as fluff. I used a coupon and got it really cheap. These things use very little of it so I still have a ton left for future projects.

I love Christmas cards! I also like to keep them organized and easily accessible after I take them down after Christmas. This was my solution last year. I got these big binder ring clips (available at Michaels), punched a hole in each card, then attached a piece of paper with the year onto the front. Perfectly organized and something I'll treasure for years to come. Do this every year and you'll have a lot of fun looking at them down the road. I put our card at the top. They're very important to me. I start thinking about what I want them to look like in the summer and order them in October. I like to get a start on my Christmas festivities a little earlier than most...

Lastly, time capsule ornaments!! I'm also making one of these every year. This one was from 2011. I include a wallet-sized pic of our Christmas card (get these at Walgreens) and another pic of us from the year. Don't forget to write the year somewhere in it so you'll know which is which! These will also be fun things to look back on in the future when you have a whole collection of them. I used ribbon as a filler in this one. Haven't completed ours for this year yet. I used tiny bells as a filler in this year's. I get the clear photo ornaments at Michaels in the Christmas or photo frame section. They come apart so it's easy to put things in them. Last year I could only find ones with little holes in them at the top. They're supposed to be there...haven't figured out why yet. Oh well...you get the point anyways!

Now THAT was a lot to take in.

Of course all of these pretty things make me extremely happy, but nothing makes me happier than the fact that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. What a precious gift! Nothing is more beautiful than His love for us. It might sound cliche but HE is the real reason for the season. And I'm so thankful for that.

Thanks for reading! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and remembers the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas.

Happy Christmasing!!!