Holiday Traditions Old and New

I love Christmas. I haven't always felt this way but since having kids I seriously get into the holiday spirit. It is exciting making the boys dreams come true and to experience the wonder of Christmas through their eyes.

We have established a few family traditions in the past few years. The first is going to Snohomish the day after Thanksgiving and watching Santa enter the town in his horse drawn sleigh. Snohomish is a lovely little town and has lots of great antique shops. (I'll do a separate blog post on Snohomish in the near future!)

Another tradition is putting the Santa photos in frames and hanging them on the tree.

We always ride the carousel downtown and enjoy the "snow" at Pacific Place.

This year we started a new tradition - cutting our own tree. It wasn't purely motivated by the romance of trekking through the snow to find the perfect tree. We were tired of spending lots of $$ on the "perfect" tree. I happened to see coverage on the local new that with a $10 permit, you can go into national forest and cut your own. There are designated areas, but that being said, I was surprised at how many areas allow it.So this is the tree. At first we were a bit worried since it is much barer than the perfectly dense and shirred Xmas trees we usually get. It has grown on me and I'll have to say I rather love it. It is how nature intended. You can actually see the ornaments on the tree!

The romance of the boys having a wonderful time in the snow diminished rather fast. Luc was pretty miserable after dropping his gloves in the snow.

Liam was a good sport and wants to go back and make a snowman.

We were up on a ridge and the views were breathtaking.

We must have seen dozens of trees and after hiking about a mile......

We decided on this one. The day was not quite as I imagined but I'll cherish it always and look forward to doing it again next year.

Link for cutting your own here!

Jewelry Show this Saturday!

If anyone is looking for something fun to do tomorrow night, there is a fabulous jewelry show and party (oh yes.....there will be lots of wine and food) at Danaca Design in the U-District. Myself as well as nine other talented designers will be showcasing their work. We are raffling off an incredible necklace for only $5 a ticket. Each and every designer collaborated on the necklace by making a bead. Proceeds benefit the Jewelry Art Stimulus Fund which will provide scholarships for jewelry classes at the studio.

We are also featuring many of the artist's jewelry as well as some paintings and stones in a silent auction which will also benefit the scholarship fund. Check out the link for photos of the items!

Following are some of my favorite pieces!

Yes....I have been a busy bee!!!!

Holiday Inspiration

It has been a crazy past few weeks in the Randell household. We have been continously sick with a cold or the flu which explains my lack of blog posts.

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I'm so excited for Christmas this year. Seems like the Fall is flying by and Christmas is just around the corner! I have been perusing the web and found these lovely projects and images I just had to share. . . . . . . .

I think these beaded snowflakes are absolustely lovely.

I'm excited to try making this wreath. Wouldn't it look lovely over a fireplace?

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And last, these beautiful images from tinekhome.

There is definitely a silver & white theme happening here!

Have a lovely day!