Brighten someone's Christmas!

Hello :) I hope everyone is enjoying these last couple of days before Christmas! I know it's a frantic time for last minute gift shopping, decorating, cooking, preparing for visitors etc.

My siblings and I went & enjoyed the Clayton Christmas Parade downtown this past Saturday! Great time for all of us! I got to use a few of my photography skills, make memories with the kids & see a bunch of smiling faces!

Photo collage from the Parade:

To the point of this post:

I have a friend who's boyfriend works in a home specifically for young adults who are severely disabled. She came to me and asked if I would help make Christmas cards that we would hand deliver to them ourselves. This delighted me for two reasons: 1. I'm a sucker for anything crafty & 2. I would do ANYTHING to help bring joy to someone who needs it, especially at Christmas time.

She gave us a small list of names of the kids who are getting the cards -- so we got to work! I even let my siblings join in and make a few themselves. It brought us all together -- while doing something fun and cheap, & THAT is not easy to come by these days! The fact that my siblings were so eager to help after they found out who the cards were for almost brought tears to my eyes! In the end, we ended up making way too many :) I guess that's what happens when you're having fun!

It turns out Christmas cards are very easy to make & I think I will incorporate this into every Holiday Season as a "family tradition" from now on! There are plenty of homes, hospitals, etc. to spread Christmas love to so I encourage everyone to do this little project. It's cheap, easy & very fun. & in our case, if you make too many, you can keep them for Christmas home decor. I plan to put the left overs into frames to hang up every Holiday season!

Supplies:

1. Christmas colored construction paper

2. Scissors, glue, Christmas stencils

3. Christmas scrapbook decor

4. Glitter Glue

5. Pipe Cleaners

6. Googly Eyes

Most everything can be found at your local dollar store. & scrapbook decor is very cheap at your local craft store! You don't have to use the supplies listed here -- you can go browsing and find things you like. Let your mind get creative! :)

Here are some of the cards that I made! I thought of "Christmas-y" things, drew and cut them out and decorated as I saw fit!

I really do encourage all of you to do something similar to this with your family, significant others or even by yourself! It will make you feel good as well as others and that, my friends, is what CHRISTmas is all about :)

xoxo, Tiffany

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas all! :) Thanksgiving and Holiday shopping/decorating have made my life very hectic! So I have some catching up to do!

Let's start with Thanksgiving. For the very first time ever I attempted to cook my very own Turkey Day dinner. I was so excited, I purchased my supplies 2 weeks early. When that day came, I do have to admit, I was sweating bullets. What if I burn everything ? What if I don't time it right and my turkey isn't done?

What if, what if, what if... It all worked out fantastically though. My brothers, boyfriend, Grandmother and I enjoyed an amazing spread of Turkey, Ham and all the trimmings and I encountered no problems what-so-ever. Very successful day to say the least. My heart was so full it could have exploded. My family all around the table, eating the food that I had prepared and actually enjoying it. Smiling, talking, laughing. I stuck to basic recipes and used a lot of pre-prepared food to be on the safe side for my first go-round at our Thanksgiving Feast. Each year I plan to perfect a few more precocious recipes to add to our Dinner!

[Cameron, Joe, Bub - Thanksgiving 2011 -- 3 most important men in my life <3]

Next we'll start on Christmas. First thing's first: DECORATING! I've never really had the urge to decorate anything other than the traditional tree until this year. My mother has gotten fairly crafty lately and I made a visit to her home recently. It was literally like walking through a "winter wonderland". Granted my mother has a ton of money to spend on things like that and I don't. Regardless -- I was inspired! I had very little money to work with so I went to my local dollar store and picked up some ribbon, ornaments, spray paint and candles. A total of maybe $10. I used some candle holders and vases and other what-nots I had at home and turned my dining room into a smaller scale version of a "winter wonderland". I couldn't afford to do the whole house like my mom did, so I chose the room where the whole family comes together at least once a day for dinner!

A few ideas that I used for cheap decor:

1. Gather pine cones, pretty leaves, small branches, etc. -- Also, fake flowers. I think everyone has these laying around the house somewhere.
2. Spray paint them a metallic color -- I chose gold. You can go with sliver, red, blue, green. Whatever colors you're tying into your decor.
3. Buy ribbon -- twirl it, tie it in bows.
4. Use vases and basic candle holders you have around the house -- decorate them with your ribbon, basic Christmas ornaments you already have, and your spray painted "nature" finds.
5. Candles -- they're good for everyday use as well as Holiday decor.

Everything mentioned above can be found at your local Dollar Store. Or if you have a little more to spend, a local craft store would have a broader selection. For me, it's all about creativity. Make it your own in some ways and you'll feel much more accomplished!

My very own mini "winter wonderland" :

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! && happy decorating! It's easy and cheap -- try it! :)

xoxo, Tiff

Hello blog world!

I've been daydreaming about starting a blog for a while now but I never knew where to start, what to say, how to organize it -- and all of that is somewhat intimidating! I knew that I wanted to compile something that showed everyone the beauty that I see in life -- all things lovely. I've seen a lot of blogs centered around one specific thing - cooking ; decor ; photography ; crafts. I love ALL of those things. If it's pretty, I am all about it. I do have to say, my main passion is Photography -- so much of this blog will be focused on that. However, who made the rule that a blog has to be restrained to only one topic? No one! That's why my blog is going to fall into the category of a photography-crafty-home-food-thought-love-life-laughter-quotes-music-beautiful kinda blog :) I'm making my own rules! So here's to a new blog about life in its most beautiful forms captured on film -- "a touch of lovely"

xoxo, Tiffany

"Life has loveliness to sell,

All beautiful and splendid things,

Blue waves whitened on a cliff,

Soaring fire that sways and sings,

And children's faces looking up,

Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,

Music like a curve of gold,

Scent of pine trees in the rain,

Eyes that love you, arms that hold,

And for your spirit's still delight,

Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,

Buy it and never count the cost;

For one white singing hour of peace

Count many a year of strife well lost,

And for a breath of ecstasy

Give all you have been, or could be.”

-- Sara Teasdale