Hello Hello!

I am really in the Christmas spirit this season! I feel happy and jolly and excited for what the new year will bring. Thinking about the goals I’ve achieved in 2016 and the new friends I’ve made. How my relationships have strengthened, and how I have become a little more confident. Maybe not %100 sure of myself (will that ever happen??), but I definitely feel that I am on a good path! Feelin’ it guys!

As you guys know we super did up our apartment for the holidays and we are very happy with it!!!! This is the first year (in the 5 years Kevin and I have lived together) that we have a full sized tree.

Look at it glow!
With this tree came new ornaments as well as hanging special ornaments we have received and collected over the years. In the previous years we were apprehensive about hanging our delicate or heavy ornaments because little trees= little branches, but this year with a bigger tree we were finally able to hang them all!

We adopted our dog Lafayette 3 years ago in October and for our first Christmas with her Kevin’s mother gifted us with a make-your-own-paw-print-ornament kit.

It’s an air drying clay, here’s a similar one. It was a wonderful gift and it was super easy! It is a play doh like and you just firmly press their paw into it and let air dry. You can do it with baby hand/footprints too!

BUUUUUUT….when I took it out to hang on the tree you couldn’t even see the paw print from afar because it dries into a chalky white color. This year I decided, why not paint it!!!

I bought some non-toxic low odor acrylic paints at Target for about $2 each. I choose darker tone, Forest green and Brick red in satin finish. And some brushes from Amazon (I used them for my diy watercolor cards). I set up my station in the dining room!

Using a skinny brush I did a light layer of the green, just to have an idea of placement. Then I took a bigger brush and did the red.

I went back with a smaller brush and carefully filled in the red that was touching the green. I did two coats of red and waited for it to dry a little, 30 min. Then I went back and did a second heavier coat of the green.

I let dry overnight. In the morning I added some white silver ribbon (I didn’t keep the original because I didn’t want the two shades of red to clash)

We have a beautiful handmade ornament!

Now we get to hang it on a sturdy branch every year and it’s a standout! It also has a lot of sentiment and it makes me overly happy to see it every day. We even hung it at Lafayette eye level haha I’m a weirdo that way.

But she loves it!!!
Hope you make a keepsake of your furry friends paw! Or your kids! The kit or event the ornament itself can make a great gift!

Love,
B

p.s.
A couple small holiday changes in our apartment.
I filled a cage with bottle brush trees (gifts) and ornaments, placed our dining room decor on a wood plate charger, got a coffee table holiday centerpiece (from the in laws), and added a small wreath to our front door!