SEE FISH REPURPOSE

by Stefanie

I meant to post this in December but never took the time, but since I took the pictures...well, here it is:

These are some mice I made out of old wool sweaters. I found the idea here: http://mossymossy.com/?p=313

I went to a thrift store and found 100% wool sweaters. Then I washed and dried them a couple of times. On the link above she gives you an idea of a pattern, but you'll have to draw one yourself. I started big and then kept cutting the pattern down for the smaller mice. I made a little bean bag to put in the bottom of each that helps them sit better. Then I bundled them together along with a made-up "Christmouse" game and gave it to a family with little kids. This is something that can spur on your creativity--like why not use the same concept to make bunnies for Easter?

Merry Christmas!

by Julia

I am finally posting on the blog for the first time. My timing has to do with the availability of one of my teenagers to walk me through the whole process. The digital natives at this house tolerate my lack of complete comfort at the computer, as does Candace, who I whine to about it on occasion.

A quick intro: I am the oldest of this clan, I am married to David (we hit 20 years this past summer), and I have four intense children.

Here are the rowdies on Christmas Eve in their new pajamas. Santa and the elves outfit them yearly, along with their cousins. We are the only Fish family members not gathering together this year because our oldest came home from his first semester at college to see us! (And all his friends.)

So here we are with one of T's friends and the LDS missionaries for our Christmas Eve dinner. This meal, a Fish family favorite, is called Raclette. It is the name of the cheese and traditionally is served melted with boiled potatoes, cornichons, and pearl onions. We add shrimp in garlic butter on top of the snazzy machine you see in the middle of the table (Merlin and Pat gifted one to each of our families years ago). This meal also included a green salad, grape tomatoes, artisan bread, various fruits, and brownies with sorbet. Mer would be proud of the artistic cheese tower I made.

Here are the place cards I created for our guests. Yes, I am a calligrapher. I am addicted and I can't stop (that is redundant). This blog may soon look like Julia's portfolio.

The biggest surprise of the day was when we were sitting in church today and it was announced that the Thompson family would be singing a musical number. I had a moment of anxiety as the man announcing looked right at me and smiled. I smiled back, turned to David, and said through my teeth, "what are we singing??" He assured me that I was not expected to do an impromptu performance. Instead, my four children sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in all four parts. They were amazing! G (the nine year old) can almost hold down that alto by himself. I wondered why they sent David and me out for a walk last night. . .

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas.

SEE FISH DECORATE ON A DIME

by Stefanie

In 2008 at this time of year I was in the middle of a remodel and did no decorating for Christmas. It was a relief and at the same time I missed being festive and buying/making fun things for the holiday season. My remodel took my house to a totally different color scheme and style, and I knew my old seasonal decorations weren't going to work for me. So I gave all my old stuff to my brother who had just recently purchased his first home and began brainstorming on how I could decorate really cheap for the next Christmas. (I was feeling very poor because of my remodel!)

The first tip I would like to pass along is to buy your decorations right after Christmas. I know it's no fun because they are picked-over and no use to you for a year, but they are also 75% off! That year I found 3 silver trees and some great ornaments for a fraction of what they were originally priced. It's also a good idea to buy wrapping paper and ribbon. I covered many pictures on my wall making them into "presents." It's cheap and festive.

The next inexpensive

thing I did was make paper chains forgarland. Yes, it was time-consuming initially, but I have saved them from year to year carefully in plastic garbage bags with all of their decorative danglies intact, and they go up quickly every year.

I saw a cool idea in the windows of Anthropologie and thought I would try and duplicate it because, again, it was inexpensive--and, yes, time-consuming initially. I saved packaging from stuff that was mailed to me; I saved white plastic grocery sacks; and I bought some white tissue paper and created all these "puffs." Some I sprayed with glitter spray. Some of the packaging that was thin foam disks I added a few small ornament balls in the middle. I tied all these to my stair railing. Sometimes I've added paper chains and silver, beaded garland and sometimes just lights.

This year I added some decal ornaments to the wall (that I got last year 75% off at a bookstore). My daughter had the idea to "hang" them from some cheap, silver, gift ribbon.

One year I made this table center piece out of a small, dead branch that I spray-painted white, added some origami stars and birds and hung some small, ball ornaments.

I also made some "trees" out of old phonebooks by folding the top edge and corner of each page to the center of the book and then the bottom corner up at a diagonal to meet the first fold and create a point. (I seem to remember making these as a kid with my cousin Suzee when my family would visit my grandparents at Christmas time. I remember it being a long project; it is. Phone books have lots of pages :0)

Well, I've got more to say and show but am so bugged with Blogger and how it places my pictures and messes up my text that I'm going to end. Last but not least, I'm one of the fortunate few that get to have a reindeer hanging on the wall, and yes, he does turn into Rudolf at Christmas time.

Some places I found great bargains were:

*"Dollar" stores--I got some great snowflakes to hang in my windows, wrapping paper, and random stuff to decorate presents with.

*Big Lots

*TJMaxx

*Target--one year I found stockings and ornaments all in my crazy color scheme!

*Down East Home--stockings

*Some higher-end furniture stores and nurseries after Christmas when all their cool left-overs are on sale--Don't spend all your money before Christmas!