Taylor Made designs

Christmas 08

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We certainly did. It seems so long ago, doesn't it? I'm trying to decide how long I'll keep the holiday decorations up – I'm thinking I should start to put everything away this weekend...but I'm not sure I am ready to do that. When do you begin to put everything away?

Tomorrow starts the new year. I'm actually writing down some goals that I want to achieve throughout the new year. I'm not sad to see 2008 leave. Not that it was a bad year... but I'm excited for a brand new year.

We did have plans for tonight, but seeing that we have about 8 inches of new snow and it's still snowing, we might just stay in and enjoy the evening together. Whatever you do to celebrate, be safe and enjoy!
Happy New Year!

Holiday Card

This year I actually finished our Christmas card during the first week of December. That's pretty good for me! I'm usually designing a card mid-December, staying up late to print and address envelopes to get them in the mail on time. Somehow we know over 60 people who should get cards :)

Well, this year I felt like I had my act together... until the second week of December when I realized I forgot three people... and then I remembered another person, and then realized that a bunch of cards somehow slipped under the front seat of the car and never got mailed till this week. And as I type I can think of at least five other people I just totally forgot to send cards too. Of course William + Davis's cards to their teachers are sitting here on my desk. Oh well. Isn't it the thought that counts? Or does that just apply to gifts :)

If I had all your addresses, you might {or might not} have received a card from us too :) Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday. I have so many photos of all the projects I have worked on, so I'm sure during the winter break I'll post them. Till then... enjoy your family, friends and food! Happy Happy!

Boston Snow Storm!

They were right! We got snow... and a lot of it. We {ok, Neal and the kids} are digging us out from under. We have over a foot of snow and it is still coming down. The kids are just loving it. The snow is soft and fluffy and I do see a snowman in our future.

I'm trying to take advantage of them being outside to get the inside cleaned up and ready for the holiday. We are hosting again this year so the house needs to be cleaned and the final decorations done. I'm also taking the time to go through the kids closets + toys. So many toys that they have outgrown. So off they will go to a charity.

We made another batch of homemade dark chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Later today we'll make a bunch of sugar cookies + some more truffles. For Tuesday, I volunteered to do a craft for William's school. It's for the entire level 1, which is about 75 kids. I decided we will make reindeer food. I'll write up a post so you can see what I did. I think it will be really cute.

Stay warm and enjoy the weekend!

Boxwood Topiaries

Every year I make these boxwood topiaries for my kitchen window. They are really easy to make. For those of you interested here's a very quick breakdown of how to make them.

Buy standard ceramic clay flower pots. Apply gold leaf to them. Cut up floral green foam squares and basically, for the lack of a better term, "smoosch" the foam into the bottom of the pots. Push two sticks into the foam. {the sticks are available at a crafts store like Michael's} then take two more floral green foam squares + shape these into spheres. Before attaching them to the top of the stick soak them in water for about 10-15 minutes. {This way when you put the boxwood into the foam the boxwood won't dry out so quickly.}

The spheres will be wet and heavy. Find the center of the spheres and then push them onto the stick - about 1/3rd of the way. You'll need to use your hot glue gun to secure them to the sticks. Don't worry about making a mess because the boxwood will hide all of this. Then take branches of boxwood {I buy them from the garden center} and cut them into little pieces measuring around 2 inches tall. Start from the bottom + move your way up.

It usually takes me about an hour to make two of these. {I'm usually sitting in my kitchen drinking coffee and watching tv while I do this so you could probably do it faster if you're focused} I then add spanish moss to the top of the pots to hid the green foam. I found the little orange balls in Michael's. They were attached to something, and all I remember doing is detaching them from whatever they were attached to. Make sense? No? Email me and I'll try to try to explain better :)

A Visit to Santa

I mentioned last Saturday we visited the big man himself, Mr. Claus. Here are some photos of William + Davis sitting on his lap and asking for a couple of things. {yup, only a couple of things}

I'm pretty much done with my shopping. Today I plan to finish a bunch of things: our holiday cards, teacher gifts, and gifts for Davis's shopping spree at school. How is everyone else doing? Are you all set or wishing you had another week? I might attempt to make some aprons for the kids since they have been loving to cook with me in the kitchen. We'll see how that pans out. I still have a week or so :)

Don't forget to enjoy yourself despite all the craziness! 

Searching for THE Perfect Christmas Tree

After visiting Santa on Saturday, we ventured out to the local garden center for a Christmas tree. It was a cold and windy evening and Neal was not looking forward to spending lots of time finding the perfect tree. We had just spent an hour outside waiting to see big old Santa. To say we were a bit chilled was an understatement.

Once there, we headed straight to the trees. No dawdling. William picked out several trees, I picked out several trees and Neal said, "great, let's get it." All of the sudden Davis exclaimed, "I found it. The perfect tree! Wait!" and off she ran. Next thing I see, is Davis carrying this little tree in her arms. Ever the comedian, she says, "look! It's THE perfect tree!" and then she sets it down and collapses into a fit of giggles.

It might not have been THE perfect tree, but she is The perfect little girl :)

Teacher Treats

Today is grandparent's day at William's school. Fun huh? My parents are spending the morning with him, learning about his school, what he's been working on etc. It's only a half day, so when they are done they will then go and pick up Davis from her school and then take them all out for lunch. woo hoo!

As much as I love those kids, I am overjoyed with having some time alone! Even Neal is at a client's office for the day... so it's just me and the dogs :) And I already took them for a three mile walk so they are sleeping away. It's so quiet and I am getting so much done. I forgot what it's like to be alone and able to do whatever I want.

Last night, with the help of the kids I made a bunch of treats for the teacher's at William's school. Today there is a teacher appreciation luncheon. Some parent's were asked to bring something for the luncheon. I was thinking of making a soup, but then thought, how much fun is that? So I offered to make some desserts. And being the germ-a-phobe that I've become, I figured instead of a having a big plate of cookies and pretzels, I'd bag them up. This way, all the coughing, sneezing and hands wouldn't get on them. Plus, I think having them bagged and with a little note at the top saying, "big thanks!" felt more festive.

I made double dark chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is from Todd English's cookbook. The pretzels were dipped in a really nice dark chocolate and then the kids sprinkled, well, sprinkles on top. Both are really, really good. Of course I saved some for us. Yum. Don't you just love this time of year?

note: my goodness, I just reread what I wrote and there were TONS of typos + misspellings. sorry about that! I'm not really that dumb :)

Custom Baby Annoucements

Every now and then I forget about projects I worked on. When I finish one project, I just normally move on to the next. Well, I finished these announcements about a month ago for my friend Erin, who happens to be married to my cousin Jeff. Erin wanted me to design baby announcements but also have them serve as her holiday card. Double duty :) I forgot to take a photo of the inside card, but inside is the cutest photo of her two other children holding their new brother. Anyway, I always enjoy working on announcements and invitations. They are fun and creative to work on.

Lots of holiday happenings this weekend. I think we will be getting our tree today, which is always fun. I will finish decorating the house. Yesterday I bought a gingerbread house kit for Will + Davis to do. I love that they are still so young and easy to please. Oh, and I need to finish our holiday card and get those in the mail by the end of the week. Have a great weekend everyone. Thanks for stopping by.

Do You Live in the Boston Area?

I just created this ad for my friend Dava. It's for her beautiful store on Newbury Street called, MATSU. They are having an incredible jewelry sale. I have many pieces from her store and I always get compliments on my necklaces, rings, and earrings. If you live in the area take the time to check out her sale. I guarantee you, you will fall in love with something!

Thank you Rachel Ann!

I tried to take photos of the wonderful goodies I received from Rachel Ann, but the photos came out dark and a bit muddy looking, so I decided to get a little creative and make a little collage. Thank you so much Rachel Ann.Those silver bells and candle holders are perfect decorations for the holiday season. With two dogs in the house, and with all this rain we've been having, believe me, that potpourri makes our home smell heavenly :)

Hey, have you guys seen any of the holiday specials that have been on TV? Tonight is Rudolph. We've been counting down the days till we see Clarissa, Herbie the Dentist and of course the red-nose reindeer. Do you have a favorite holiday show? I wish I could remember the show with the heat miser and mr freeze :)

Homemade Oreo Truffles

Last year I made homemade orange liquor truffles for the holidays. They were really good... but they took SO much time and effort. So when I stumbled upon this recipe for oreo truffles I just had to try them. Of course, they are only as good as the ingredients you use. So don't skimp on the chocolate. I found a really yummy dark chocolate and used Mint Oreo Cookies to give them a more holiday taste. No low fat cream cheese either! Use the real stuff.

If I do say so myself, these truffles are really yummy and they took no time to make. {which makes them even more yummy} Let me know if you try them and how they came out. Happy December everyone!{double click the image above to see/print the directions out... if that doesn't work I can email you them}

Happy 2009

Wishing you all a very Happy 2009!
May the upcoming year bring you nothing but the best.