Christmas-ing Part 2

Christmas with the Armstrongs

Did everyone have a great Christmas?!  We're in North Carolina on the last leg of our three-state, 2 week, family Christmas extravaganza!

 This is a fraction of the mountain of presents at the big Armstrong family gathering. Craziness.

 And here's how our fabric gift bags turned out. Cute, right? They were fun and easy to make. I want to make a whole stash of them so we can have them handy for birthday and other holiday presents throughout the year.

And I've been getting crafty with my crochet hook...a great way to pass all the hours we've spent in the car the past week and a half!

Christmas at Papa's

Beautiful views...

cuddling...

playing...

 

staying in pajamas well into the day...

I looooove Christmas vacation.

Arian : )

Christmas-ing!!

This week is overflowing with Christmas goodness!! So. Much. Goodness : )  We had friends over for a Christmas brunch gathering and it was so yummy and cozy.

We ate good food, had good conversation, and sang good Christmas songs.

And we passed around the two newest babies. So sweet.

 I love our friends.

Right now we are working hard to finish preparations for tomorrow's Christmas Eve festivities!  There are pies baking, Christmas jazz is playing, the sewing machine is buzzing (we're making fabric gift bags this year!) and there are scraps of ribbon and fabric and wrapping paper scattered about. Good stuff. 

                                     

Hope all is well and cozy and happy this Christmas week in your neck of the woods!

Arian : )

Take Courage!

There's a super sweet wife in Australia who commissioned this print for her super sweet husband. They also have a super sweet baby girl who is the reason I made this "Joy" print. I love doing custom prints when I can fit them into my schedule. And, once all the Christmas craziness settles down, I'll be able to take on a few more. So if you're interested in commissioning a print, shoot me an email at arianarmstrong(at)yahoo.com for pricing and size info!

Speaking of Christmas craziness, we have about 48 hours til we head out of town for the holidays. LOTS of cleaning, shopping, packing, and fun events to head to before we go!

I'm really looking forward to the slow pace of the next two weeks...lots of lounging and movie-watching and laughing and memory-making.  I want to read (C.S. Lewis = the MAN) and journal and learn how to crochet granny squares too. Ah, vacation.

Have any fun plans or goals for your Christmas vacation?

Arian

A Feast!

Man, I still love Christmas...but Christmas as a grown-up is A LOT more complicated than Christmas as a kid. Shew! The "to-do before Christmas" list seems to grow, not get shorter.

 Nonetheless, we took time tonight to FEAST and celebrate my mom's birthday. We feasted on sushi (a common fav) and mocha raspberry cake (an experiment that proved successful...yessss!).

 And the glue was still drying on this year's Christmas centerpiece. To make it, I lined the rims of some vintage jars (from my grandparents' house) with bronze and iridescent glitter. Then I arranged them in a vintage letter tray, filling in the spaces between them with polyfil and more glitter. A few candles, a twig from the front yard, some amber ornaments off our tree, and there you go---ambiance!!

 I LOVE eating dinner by candlelight. It's a tradition we have adopted recently since, this time of year, it's dark by the time we eat dinner.

Love my sister and mom too! My sister and bro-in-law are spending 6 months in South Africa starting in January and, for my mom's birthday (it's a special one this year!), we're pooling our money to send mom over there to visit them! She's pumped!!

Hope you're getting your "to-do before Christmas" list done and can slow down and enjoy the beauty of the season!

Arian : )

Cozy Does It.

 There's a pretty, fresh, blanket of snow covering outside which makes everything indoors seem even cozier.

 Tree is up, stockings are hung, and presents are waiting to be wrapped!

And one of my favorite Christmas traditions--the candlelight service! It doesn't matter if there are 30 people in the service, or 3000, singing Silent Night by candle light is always cozy and calm. Love it. Makes everyone feel like family : )

Hope you're warm and cozy where ever you are!

Arian : )

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

(my mom on the right)

My beautiful, talented, adventurous, writer, artist, photographer, musician, world-traveling mom is celebrating her birthday today! Happy birthday, mom!!!

I'm looking forward to celebrating with you all week/year long!!

Love,
Arian : )