Get creative with your Christmas postards

Is so much better and more meaningful to create your own and original postcards. People know you took the time to make it and that makes it more special. Even better when they're personalized. 

Bill and mom have made these cards for friends and family, they're great!!! I just received mine in the mail today. They will receive one from us too but I didn't want to post it since they are readers of our blog and we wanted to surprise them.  

They recreated the famous painting "American Gothic". They improvised their costume and according to mom it was very quick and easy and a very fun thing to do too. 

Bill, mom, thanks again for the card!!!!!

A little Christmas craft

Yesterday Ella and I made these little Christmas tree ornaments to give to her teachers, she also made one for Abu (my mom). It was a very easy craft, and the best of all is that the main materials we used were a cereal box, a used red gift bag and some old cotton balls. No new materials and a very easy craft to hang on the Christmas tree.

Getting ready for guests

We are going to be visited by three Christmas ghost... Jejeje. Actually we are going to be visited by one of my long time friends and her husband and daughter (who is a charming little girl). They are coming to spend New Years Eve with us so I want them to feel at home and comfortable. I guess now is the time to do around the house some things I've procrastinated for some reason. I made a list of some of these things and others I have to do in order to get ready for that day.

For me is important that when my out of town dear guests arrive I already have: A clean house, food in the refrigerator, extra toiletries, and a plan of how I will be entertaining them, nothing fancy but surely all the conditions to have a good time together.

Christmas planning

For us, the most important thing to do in Christmas is to share and spend time with each other, family and friends. Even though this is the time of the year Ramon is the most busy, he still doesn't miss a family gathering.

TIP: Just don't focus too much on planning parties, dinner or presents, that's all part of Christmas but not the essence. Center yourself in spending great and special moments with your family.

Creative solutions

One of my parents in law greatest talents is their capability to solve problems in a quick, inexpensive and very creative way. I have always admired how in many occasions they solve problems using things they find around the house with no need to go to the store to buy special tools or supplies. 

Yesterday my father in law came to fix the kitchen door that had been broken for some days. The screws that hold the door where loose because the wood in the holes was too worn. This door was practically off the frame. I thought that maybe we had to get a new one but he came up with a great idea. 

 

This is what he did:

First he carved an old piece of wood he found in our garage.

Then he hammered it in the worn holes with some glue (I didn't have carpenter's glue so we used my tacky glue for crafts). 

After that he cut the rest of the stick with a saw and screwed through the hinges on the stick to fill the holes with wood.  

Isn't that a great idea?!

Our recent acquisition

Our two short bookshelves have been decaying with time, besides that they suffered a little damage when we moved. A new bookcase was on our list of things to purchase but we have been looking everywhere for the perfect one, one that was inexpensive, nice looking and good quality, like we would say in Spanish "Bueno, Bonito y Barato". Well... we found one.

Getting ready to ensemble the bookshelf.

Being big enough this bookcase can fit many of our Cd's and books, but we have so many that not even this one could hold everything!  

A warm house in the winter

Even in Florida the approaching of winter is cooling enough to turn the heater on and use double blanket at night. Yesterday was pretty cold, at least for us who are not used to cold weather at all. In the afternoon the house was chilly so we didn't turn the heater on, nope, we decided to bake. Ella and I made chocolate chip cookies that not only warmed up the house but also made it smell very nice.

December is a great time to bake!

Quick art

We didn't want to leave our bathroom frames empty and since we are a little busy with some of our freelance work we decided to put in those frames something provisional. I made a quick abstract drawing for the one on the right. Then, for the second one I decided to frame postcards and remembered I had some in an old box, but then I found in there some pictures I took with the Diana mini a time ago, I combined two of them with blue skies and framed them together.

TIP: Almost anything can be art. Photos, postcards, drawings, sketches, doodles, an ad you liked, a broken piece of paper, spilled coffee, music sheets ...anything.

Plain bathroom needs life

In our house, one of the places that we haven't paid a lot of attention to is the bathroom, in fact, we have totally neglected it in terms of design. I noticed this and wanted to put some details in there to see if I could make it a little bit cozy. We particularly don't like having a very ornate bathroom, we like to keep it simple. Yesterday we bought two 5x7 picture frames for the bathroom but now we have to decide what kind of art we are going to put in them.

Pictures from www.gettyimages.com

I have been searching on the Internet for some ideas of pictures "bathroom appropriate" and found that people usually use nature illustrations mostly flower, illustrations of animals or landscapes most of them look nice but I really would like to have something different, I just have no idea. This is something new to think about or a new fun thing to make.

When do you start decorating for christmas?

Today Saturday 26, just two days after thanksgiving, we began decorating for Christmas. We just finished decorating our Christmas tree and a little detail for the entry door, we don't overdo it.

Our christmas tree. Decorated by Ella and rearranged a little by me.

I know probably for some people this is too early but I had my little one pushing for Christmas and all I could do was take the Christmas tree out of the garage and start decorating it. Plus, I always think that putting the decorations is too much work to display only for one day or two weeks. For me this is a good time to start decorating. When do you start decorating for Christmas?

Stop motion at home

We have been watching many of those Christmas movies for children with stop motion animation. While watching them I felt the need to explain Ella how stop motion works and how simple it is, so I decided to make a little movie for her using some of her toys.

Each photo must have a very slight change in order to complete the movement.

We used Ella's dollhouse and made52 frames (pictures) for this animation. She kind of understands now how it works.

And now, here is the video we made.

We were so excited with this one that we definitely want to make more.

Today's...branch

For these thanksgiving days we have been having good company on our morning walks. Ella has been joining us, since she has no class for the entire week. For her is a fun ride in her old stroller, for us is exercise, but still a nice thing to share together. Today I didn't pick many flowers but the 4 yellow wild ones on the picture. I also found this fallen little branch from a small type of tree that I have always noticed its beauty. It has bright  red tiny rounded fruits which look as beautifull as some flowers do.

Im not sure if these are "Rose hips" but they certainly look lovely.

Artichoke-Parmesan dip

Being such an amateur in the cooking area I will always prepare the easiest recipes. Yesterday I said that I'm turning into a better cook, and I am, in fact, I'll share this recipe I finally master.

I made this is one last night... Scrumptious!

THE ARTICHOKE-PARMESAN DIP

1 Can of artichoke hearts (drained and chopped).

1 Cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

3/4 Cup of mayonnaise. 

1 Garlic clove (minced).

Mix well all the ingredients in a 1quart casserole dish. Then bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Arrange pita bread wedges or garlic bread on a platter.

That's it, an easy and quick recipe perfect to share with friends.  

Thanks Katie for sharing this recipe with me.

Cooking with melodies

I love to listen to music while cooking. That's probably the best way I get good results from my food. Only a few months ago, before we moved to our new house, I was actually a terrible cook, but I feel that lately I have been improving.


I'm daring to prepare new things a little more, and the foods I cook more often are reaching a better taste. Not that I master cooking yet, but I'm getting there. Anyways, I owe this accomplishment mostly to practice and to my  "cooking playlist".

The soundtrack for meat lasagna or garlic chicken breast definitively helps you cook better.
   

Soon I'll be posting some recipes, so keep visiting!

Another post about flowers

Wild flowers are underrated. Today, when Ramon and I went for a morning walk I picked some wild flowers on the road. Is incredible the variety of teeny tiny flowers you can find. I picked one of each I found and made a bouquet of wildflowers for Ella's small flower vase, perfect for these type of flowers. I will make her a bouquet everyday for her bedroom nightstand.

Ella will love these flowers when she returns from school.