Oh Christmas Tree!

I finally got some bokeh pictures of my Christmas tree! Since I don't have a true DSLR, the Nikon 1 is kind of a mix between DSLR and a point and shoot, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get any bokeh pictures because the camera likes to auto focus. However, I figured out a way to trick it!! I zoom in close to the tree and stand close focusing on a light. Then while holding down the shutter button slightly to "focus" I back away from the tree continuing to lightly press down the shutter button. Then when I'm far enough away and have the desired effect I want I push it down the rest of the way to get my photo! If you know of a better way to get bokeh shots with the Nikon 1, I am not opposed to hear them. This is what I figured out works for me. =)

I'm so excited that Christmas is in less than a week. 5 more days to be exact! And today is my Friday, and then I have a 5 day weekend!! =D Happy Thursday, friends.

Cindy

DIY: Heart Garland

You guys probably don't remember this post where I talked about making a garland of hearts made out of paint samples. I attempted to get the supplies to make it the day I posted it but couldn't find everything I needed, so later that week I created it but I NEVER posted about it. Earlier this week my dear friend Kaitlin sent me a text message with a picture of her own heart garland she had made and told me I was her inspiration and that I need to post about my finished project. And I figure why not post about it now since it's the perfect Valentine's decoration!

To make them: You can use whatever color paint samples you want. For this one I used a wide variety of colors since it was going in our bedroom and I wanted some pizazz. But I am currently in the process of making another with various shades of purple/pink for a Valentine's themed one. Also, any heart punch will work. You can make it thin and long or fat and kinda short like I did. You just need the hearts to be large enough to thread string through. Basically once you punch out all the hearts, you thread your string into a needle and begin "sewing" the thread through each of your hearts. It's really quite simple and makes for a pretty wall decor item!

Ignore the extra holes in the wall. Collin's parents had some stuff up there and they didn't patch up the walls when we moved in. =/ So yeah... there you have a very simple and fun DIY Valentine's decoration project! Or any kind of DIY decoration, since I made it just for an everyday decoration. =) What do you guys think? Fun?

Cindy

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Just wanted to share a few more Christmas-y pictures with you all that I took yesterday. When I walked in the door from work I got inspired to snap a few shots of my in-law's Christmas tree from the foyer and then one from the entrance to the living room before heading down to our little basement apartment.

Also, I promise my recap will come tomorrow. It's tough gathering up all the pictures from the last year in one spot. I was going to do it last night to post today but I decided I'd rather watch a movie with my husband after praise band practice. =)

Cindy

Christmas!

I know most people have already posted their Christmas recaps but I'm just a little late. =) To be honest, I don't really have many photos to post from our Christmas. Yet again I was too busy enjoying myself to be interested in taking pictures. Though I will say, my iPhone makes it quite a lot more convenient!

We had a GREAT day. Collin and I woke up and exchanged gifts between the two of us and then we opened presents with his parents and sister and nephew who were in town visiting. Then we headed over to my parent's house after breakfast for more presents and lunch. We were so spoiled with gifts. Some highlights for me include a pink, fur-hooded vest, some new books, Little Big Planet 2, an awesome bowl set (yellow and white - some with polka dots and some with stripes), lots of clothes, and nail polish! Some highlights for Collin include frisbee golf discs, a frisbee golf disc bag, Metal Gear Solid HD, and Uncharted 3. And I think the best gift for him was the BT box set. I had mentioned it to my mom around Thanksgiving and she got it for him and he was so surprised and excited!!



Unwrapping the present but he has no idea what it is...

Seeing the BT logo but still not knowing what it is.

Trying to figure it out.

Finally realizing what it is.

Looking at the poster of the album art.

Inspecting the book that came with it.

I think I was more excited about him getting this gift than I was about anything. It was something that I knew he wanted but we couldn't afford and he would never ask for because of its price. So I knew it would be a total surprise and an awesome gift!

Anyway... I also want to share with you some other photos taken on Christmas.



Our mini tree with the presents under it.




The rest of the decorations I put up.

Collin and I sitting on the couch at my parents before opening presents with my sister, Kaity, and her husband, Tim.

Sweet Jake fell asleep after we were all done opening presents.


Collin and I with our buddies at my parent's house.







So yes, as you can see, we had a good Christmas! I hope yours was as delightful and full of family as ours was. And I hope that you made out well in the gifts department. But I hope most of all that you kept in mind the true reason that we got to celebrate. The birth of a sweet little baby who saved the world!

Cindy

Christmas Decorations!

Even though I didn't get to decorate too much this year since we don't have much space I want to share with you guys a few pictures I took of our tree and my vase of ornament balls that I love. And I also wanna share some pictures of my mom's house that I took while I was over there last Sunday. My mom is so good with decorating. She just has this natural flair for it and I hope one day I can make my home look as beautiful as hers always does!










And now for some from my mom's beautiful house!





Mom put owls all over her tree this year. She's quite obsessed with owls at the moment. =)

The tree on the back porch with Mitzi enjoying it.

The tree on their sunporch is the snowman tree!








I'm excited to hopefully next year be in our own place so I can do some full out decorating. I have a few other little decorative things out, like our stockings are hung and the piano has snowmen all over it. And our movie/game bookshelf has some stuff on it but I didn't take pictures of them (yet). It's nice though to have a bit of festiveness in our tiny little space. It makes me really happy and brings me so much joy!
Cindy