Our Advent Tree

As far as advent calendars go, this one has been our best by far.  We usually try to change it up every year.  Some years I just buy one from the store or some years I make a small one.  This year Hope keeps saying, "This is our best advent calendar EVER!!"  I have to agree.  Being that it was part of my job this year, I was able to plan out all of the prizes and activities in advance instead of rushing to get things together at the last minute. 

Hope wakes up before anyone else every morning to grab her prize from the tree.  I wanted to do a small one alongside it for Poe, but quickly realized that she's still too small to really understand what's going on.  That's okay by me... doing two advent calendars did seem a bit overwhelming.

There have been a lot of prizes.  Activities are fun and important, but I didn't want to take away the joy of opening tiny prizes or treats.  If you are curious, you can see a good deal of our prizes in the original post for the tree.  As for activities, we've been to the Bass Pro Winter Wonderland, had a frozen yogurt date, baked cookies, and are about to have a hot chocolate/Christmas movie night.  The best part about the activity cards for me is that there is no excuse.  I absolutely cannot get "too busy" because the dates are written out and there's no fudging it. 

I think this might be the tree that makes memories for a lot of years.  This has been a special first holiday season in our new town.  So far, so good.  ;)

Weekly Wears: Winter Garden Gala

Dress: Make the Cut: Atrium Introductions Dress c/o ModCloth;  Belt: c/o Lulu's (similar);  Tights: We Love Colors;  Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens;  Sequin Collar: ModCloth (similar);  Ring: Cookoorikoo 

ModCloth had a "Make the Cut" contest recently, where people were able to submit designs and then fans on Facebook voted to choose five winning designs.  After the winners were chosen, the dresses went into production and are now available to the public.  I love this idea!  It would be so neat to design a dress on paper and then have it chosen to become a reality!  You can read more about the winners of the Winter Garden Gala contest here.

As of yesterday, all of my holiday orders have been shipped!  (Hooray!)  I have a serious love/hate relationship with the handmade holiday season.  It's always exciting and amazing to have a small part in someone's holiday traditions, but every year, no matter how hard I try, I ALWAYS get behind for one reason or another.  I know a lot of you can relate with this.  Even if you are just making handmade gifts for friends and family, the holidays roll around a lot faster than you might expect.  I am happy to report that I'm no longer behind and that weight has been lifted.  Now it's time for finishing up my Christmas shopping and baking lots of goodies!  Oh, and tidying up the studio because YIKES.

Out To Work

Tunic: c/o Asian iCandy;  Sweater: Free People;  Jeans: Levi's';  Glasses: BonLook;  Belt: c/o Asian iCandy; Shoes: UO;  Hat: thrifted

Okay, snapping pictures first thing in the morning (AND SMILING) has proven to be a lot harder than I originally thought.  I just wanted to document my more casual outfits for work, but I can be a huge baby in the morning.  Speaking of babies...

Babies just know they are cute.  I'm pretty certain of this.

If you'd like to see my other "Out To Work" outfits, click here.

Music Monday: Hue and Hum

Hue and Hum

My friend Caitlin shared this beautiful Christmas song that she and her husband recorded.  You can see more of their videos here.
Happy Monday!