Decorations

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Crafting Tuesday: Glitter Ornaments

This year my mom has started crafting again more, which is something that I inherited from her. My favorite craft to work on is making Christmas ornaments. I make them out of anything I can find.

Saturday I arrived at my parents’ house for Christmas and Sunday night Mom and I were looking for something fun to do. I suggested ornaments, and she had a great idea to replicate an ornament she’d made her sister earlier. I couldn’t wait.

So, we got creative. We pulled out the clear bulbs, the glitter, and the cricut. And a few other things.

Pause on our project: my mother has so many crafting supplies. I love it, and one day I hope to have as much fun stuff as she has! I’m slowly making my way into building my crafting supplies, but it’s nowhere near all of her cool stuff she’s gathered along the way. I also need to organize mine better because she has hers all nice and organized.

Okay, back to the project.

So, we gathered up our supplies, and here’s how to do it:

Items needed: clear glass ornaments, floor polish, glitter, cricut, stick on vinyl.

Pour a little floor polish into the glass bulb and swirl it around gently until the inside is coated. Try not to make any bubbles. You won’t need that much force. Also have paper towel on hand as you’ll probably have to plug the open end with a finger, so you’ll want to clean off your finger so it doesn’t leave sticky residue on the outside of the bulb.

Next, pour glitter into the ornament. We used Dixie cups so we could make it more of a funnel shape to pour inside. You’ll need more glitter than you think you do, but do bits at a time. Empty extra glitter back into the glitter container.

Finally, choose your words, vinyl colors, and fonts for the cricut and cut out the lettering. Stick the letters onto the bulbs, and you’re done! It’s really quite simple, but a fun little craft.

We’ve created glitter ornaments before, but never placed the vinyl letters on them. They turned out wonderful. I think I may have to bring more bulbs and glitter with me the next time I visit so I can make more, but for now, four is enough. Though, you can never have enough ornaments!

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It’s That Time of Year Again! #Christmasbook

If you’ve followed me for any length of time on social media, it’s probable that you already know this, but I’m a Christmas fanatic. Yes, I’m one of those people who not only has their tree up (Since Nov 2) but my apartment is also fully decorated for the season. We’ll skip the argument of whether this is skipping Thanksgiving and move on to the subject of this blog post: This year’s book is up for pre-order!!

If you haven’t read any of the other books in the Collection (this is #4), that’s perfectly all right. They’re written in a way that you don’t have to read them in any order. I try to do a good job of explaining who everyone is as they enter the new books. This was the first written in a guy’s point of view, and it was interesting. I’ve written in male POV’s before, but this one was just different. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to a Christmas fanatic as the leads for the Christmas books, and Flint is not. He likes Christmas, but he’s sooooo not on the elf level of Christmas loving.

So, why a Christmas book every year? Well, it started with wanting to write a Christmas book (Cause, you know, I like Christmas), and then I realized there was so much to this world that I couldn’t NOT explore it. Then readers began requesting certain elves’ stories (Holly and Jolly) so I wrote those. I’m loving these characters and what they have to offer. Plus, these books make me happy. I love the world they throw me into and to see what happens next. While not my most successful series, I’m never going to stop writing these Christmas books. They are too much a part of who I am at heart. So, with that being said, here’s more about SNOWBOUND CHRISTMAS!

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What’s worse than being friend zoned by your ultimate crush? To Flint, not much, especially now that his Alpha brother has found love for the second time. If that wasn’t hard enough to deal with, Santa wants a polar bear ambassador to join him in Christmas Village, and he’s requested Flint by name. Leaving another new home once again, and this time his pack as well, Flint’s only consolation is that he’ll know one person in Christmas Village.

Even the dragon clan in Christmas Village doesn’t know much about Lizzette. Being a private person, she only has a few close friends, and her newest one is a polar bear shifter. Once they land in Christmas Village, pounding snowstorms land with them, raging through the North Pole one after another. With Christmas already on the line, can this unlikely pair find a way to help the elves dig out while discovering the relationship neither had anticipated?

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZZKVG4R

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZZKVG4R

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Bringing a little #light into your life this #Christmas

Today: My favorite day of the entire year!

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Christmas has always been huge in my family, especially on my dad’s side. It’s been this way for generations. We decorate both inside and outside with so many lights, trees, and other decorations that there isn’t much space for anything else!

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To some, this may seem materialistic, but honestly, I don’t consider it to be such. While we have lots of decorations and some Santa decor around, we aren’t into the consumerism of Christmas. There are plenty of nativities in each of our houses to remind us of the true meaning of the season. Also, I think it’s more about the feel the decorations give off. It’s a mood, from the evergreen tree and garlands, to the gingerbreads, nutcrackers, and lights, it’s all about color for me. There’s just something about strings of Christmas lights brightening up a room or a yard that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

A few weeks ago, I had to pick up some items at my sister’s house, and on my way over, I caught sight of some Christmas lights in a subdivision near her house. When I arrived at her house, in short, I asked if she was busy, she said no, and I told her to climb in the car.

For the next little while, we drove around several neighborhoods to drive by all the houses we could that had Christmas lights decorating them. They were beautiful. All the colors were great, and by the time we finished, I was even more in the Christmas mood.

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Shortly after arriving home for Christmas, all of my family in town for the holiday loaded up in a few cars and drove around searching the small town where I grew up for the best lights we could find. While sometimes few and far between, the ones we spotted were so beautiful. My mom even had my three-year-old nephew chanting, “We want Christmas lights” over and over. It was so funny.

Like I said, it’s pretty much a family tradition to go a little overboard on Christmas decorations, and that includes the outside lights. Right now, I live in an apartment, and the way it’s set up, I can’t really decorate outside. Someday I’ll be able to decorate my yard with as many Christmas lights as I want. For now, I’ll enjoy my parents’ and grandpa’s yards.

They’re beautiful. Pictures don’t do them justice. People from all around town drive by both houses to see the lights. What makes it better, they live practically next door to one another. From Mom and Dad’s side yard, you can see Grandpa’s house and his back lights. I love going outside, walking all the way down the driveway, and staring at my parent’s Christmas lights, and it’s something I look forward to doing every year. They send pictures to all of us as they and my younger sister decorate the front and side yard with beautiful decorations.

These lights truly are a tradition, and I know so many people will be disappointed when these lights eventually go out with time. I know I will be, but I’ve taken every chance I can to treasure these scenes while I have the chance. Not only treasure them, but I continue the tradition in my own life. From decorating, to baking, to singing Christmas carols, Christmas will always be a large part of my life, thanks to those who have gone before me. It is a way to connect to the past and to continue those traditions into the future.

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I love Christmas lights. They’re one of my most favorite decorations of all time. Who knew a few little lights could make someone smile and make their day?

Thus ends my Christmas post. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (for those who celebrate it). If you don’t, I hope you at least got to enjoy the lights near you. Have a wonderful rest of this year, everyone. Please be safe and happy, and my you be blessed in all that you do.

-Heather