this precious life.

I hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas filled with Christ, traditions, {maybe even some snow!!} and warmth.  I'll share a small description of my Christmas morning taken from a letter I wrote to Brooke.

" I woke up to my alarm at 7a and jumped in the hot shower. After dressing, I ran downstairs and plugged all the Christmas lights in before brewing a hot mug of tea. I then went back downstairs by the tree and read Luke chapter 2 and then some of The Scarlet Pimpernel while waiting for everyone else to awaken. 

Very soon, all the little ones came sleepily from their beds-- blankets dragging behind and excited anticipation in their eyes-- to snuggle up on the sofa.

When everyone was assembled, Elaena {the youngest} opened the first gift and then Ellyn distributed the rest.

It was a time full of laughter, gift explanations, thank- yous and excitement. I'm sure you can imagine how the room looked when we were done! The floor covered with wrapping paper, strewn with gifts and pieces of ribbon, and not a place you could walk!

I love big family Christmases!

After a half-way clean up, we headed upstairs to the warm breakfast of strudel and quiche which awaited us."

Some of the most special moments of the morning for me were giving the gifts I made and seeing the pleasure and joy on each person's face! It made it so worth all the time and energy I put into each one! 

Whether your making something for yourself, your living space or someone else, the sense of accomplishment which comes with the trial, error and success of creating something yourself is priceless. This blog post introduces a series of DIY posts that will ::hopefully:: encourage you to start creating!

As I've said before, a lot of DIY " just has to do with seeing something you like and thinking "I could make that!". So you see it, examine it if possible, take a few mental notes on how it's essentially put together and then go home and work with what you've got...tweaking it until you like the result." But on the other hand, definitely Google and browse blogs and websites for inspiration and ideas. I do- lots!! Even when you "copy" an idea, without intentionally doing so you'll tweak it to your style and taste so it will be original to you.

Coming in the next post is one of my favorites. I couldn't wait to try it when I first saw it and I'm sure you'll love it to so check back soon!

p.s. Isn't it craziness that New Year's is just a few days away?! I'm pretty sure the beginning of the school year was just a few weeks ago...or at least, it seems like it!

** I was in such a whirlwind in the weeks leading up to Christmas that setting up good lighting for taking pictures of my projects was not exactly a priority. (I even used flash a few times...which is usually a no-no for me unless I'm trying to get a quick people snapshot) So please don't expect anything outstanding from this photographer for these particular blog posts:)