Martha's Invaded my Christmas Spirit

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I know you've heard me bitch and moan about the holiday crowds, the pushing and shoving and the unnecessary rush to spend more money than you would like on holiday presents. But, once the retail stores have shut their doors, the last ornament is finally hung and the ribbon on your final gift is tied, you realize the real reason behind the season of giving is that moment when you can feel the warmth this crazy holiday brings us at such a chilly time of year.  Being able sit down in your coziest chair, grab one (or maybe two) of santa's cookies, sip on your eggnog with a bright tree in sight makes you realize the true meaning behind this season.

With pictures of beautiful gifts and expensive presents flooding my Instagram feed I decided to post, not  any of the amazing gifts I received but, I wanted to show you what I decided to make as part of my boyfriend's present.  Even though, like myself, he's a sucker for over -priced luxury items, this year I decided to buy a vacation for us to the west coast of Canada and made him a gift basket with his favorite wine, candy and... a personalized mug that lists just some of the reason's why I love him.  Even though my man is not a coffee drinker he is an ice cream connoisseur so, I decided to let my Martha out and make him a new Ice Cream mug.

All you need are Sharpies (I bought a pack of 24 on Amazon for $13!) and a mug (I bought a set of 2 for $12 also on Amazon.)

Once you have your design drawn on the mug all you need to do is bake at 350 degrees for half an hour and... 

Wallah...

If you make a mistake don't worry! I am NOT an artist by any means and needed to re-write everything a bunch of times.  All you need to do is to keep baby wipes near by and wipe away any mistakes you make. 

Merry Christmas!

The Wrapping High

Mmmm...your nose really knows its Christmas when you start to smell that frost in the air, the pine from the pine trees, and in my house the glue from the wrapping paper... err... I mean wall paper.

While, I started wrapping some of my Christmas presents last night it started to remind me of the Christmas morning's me and my sister had as kids. Nobody's family is normal, but thats what makes it fun.  And, I guess I never realized how abnormal my dad's wrapping procedure is until I told other people about it.  My dad is a typical breed from the 1940's and doesn't throw anything away, nor would he ever waste anything. And I mean ANYTHING. Even if he has no purpose for it, and if he found out somebody else was going to throw something out that seemed perfectly fine, well my dad was the one who would rescue that item from the sanitation department. 

Anyway, one way or another my dad came across some UGLY red and green wallpaper, definately too ugly to fit in anyones decorating plans so my dad decided it would be just perfect for our Christmas presents.  From the time I can remember every Christmas morning my sister and I would be there covered in shredded paper, intensly focused on our new toys and now that I think about it, I can't figure out if it was because the toys really kept our attention for that long, or because we were in a glue high from all the wall paper that was posing as wrapping paper.

Now, that I think about it I laugh! Because who does that?! LOL Hmm... how can you not cherish Christmas memories like these?!