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Rejoice Banner

December 12, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: book pages, Christmas, Christmas Banner, Christmas Craft, crafts, diy, DIY crafts, glitter, home decor, Martha Stewart 25 Comments

So, I’ve made, yet, another project using book pages. You can view my Fall banner here and Wreath here. I just adore the way they look, and they’re so pretty to look at! This, of course, is my Christmas banner!

Here’s what you’re going to need:

  • unused book
  • twine, or any other material for hanging
  • marker
  • stencil
  • craft glue, paintbrush
  • glitter, and a pan of some sort (I’ll tell you why later!)
  • double sided tape
  • pine cones for added decor
Start out by ripping out your pages and cutting to desired size. Again, I fish-tailed the bottom of my pages. I wanted to use the word “REJOICE”, so I had 7 pages. I traced my letters using red permanent marker and my stencils. Once I was finished tracing, I used a thin paint brush to brush craft glue onto my stenciled letters. Grab a cake pan (or similar) to use to catch all of your loose glitter. This makes for a much smoother cleanup! I used a very fine Martha Stewart glitter in garnet. Apply a generous amount to each letter and let sit. After a few minutes of drying, shake off any excess glitter and set aside. Do this for each remaining letter. When I was completely done with all my letters, I used a heavy hold hairspray to keep the glitter in place. Now it’s time to add your pages to your twine! Fold over the top of your page about 1 inch and tape into place. I embellished mine with one pine cone on each end by simply hot gluing onto the twine. Let everything dry completely and hang!
This banner is truly eye-catching! The glitter shines beautifully throughout the day and especially in the background of the Christmas Tree lights at night! Hope you enjoy 🙂
 Sharing this project on these fabulous sites!

{ Blog Feature! }

December 11, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: blog feature, blog love, Guest post 1 Comment

I’d like you all to help give a warm welcome to Betsy from Musings of a Museum Fanatic….

Hey All!  I’m Betsy from Musings of a Museum Fanatic.  I’m a later twenty something museum lover from Chicago.  This month Fotini is so awesome to let me hang out on her sidebar all month … sorta like a creeper since I’m hanging out for the month : )

I’m terrible at writing about myself posts, I always feel a bit self-conscious.  So instead of me doing a whole post about myself  I decided to take you to my top three favorite museums I’ve visited ever.  If you know me even a little bit (or have just stopped my blog too) number one is quite obvious … The Field Museum!

I’ve been an intern/volunteer there for almost three years now.  I’m hoping if I’m able to hold out long enough I’ll actually get a job there.  The photo above is actually the view I see when I come in the days I’m there.  It is so awesome to walk past that view!  I love it every time. This is a photo of Stanley Field Hall.  I took this one the first winter I was there waaaaay back in 2009.  This is the coolest museum in the Chicago area and definitely gives you the most bang for you buck!

My second favorite is Colonial Williamsburg.  I know some people might consider it a cheat but it is actually considered an open air museum.  I visited CW way back in the summer of 2007 for my annual family reunion, one of my aunts and uncles lives in Williamsburg.  My absolute favorite part of CW is the fact that the staff are in period dress and they are doing  first person interpretation, acting as if he or she were an actual person from the era or culture he or she is representing.  As someone who always always felt they were born in the wrong time period this has always appealed to me!          



Here are some photos of my parents and I in the stocks!  What can we say we’re trouble makers.  I can’t wait to go back and visit again, there is so much we missed the first time around.  They have historic hotels to stay at, two museums on the property and tons of events that go on throughout the year.  Around Christmas time they have so many historical Christmas events going on it would be the perfect time to visit.  

My final top 3 favorite museum I’ve ever visited was the British Museum I went as part of a school group EF tour to London & Paris the summer of 2003 after I graduated high school.  I had taken French for four years and was really going for Paris but fell in love with London and am dying to go back for a visit.  The British Museum was amazing!  It is a museum dedicated to human history and culture with over 8 million objects in it’s collection.  Check out A History of the World in 100 Objects, a very cool page I found playing around on the website.

The photo to the right is of the Rosetta Stone.  It is an amazing piece of history, it has three different languages written on it, Greek, Demotic script and Egyptian hieroglyphs.  Since all three portions of script say pretty much the same thing this allowed Egyptian hieroglyphs to be translated, which had previously been impossible to do.  The one below is of my good friend Rachel.  Like typical high school students of course when you find something neat you have to act like a dork.  Gotta give the first bump to the large fist of course.  She was not actually touching the object though no worries!!    


Here is a quick look at my top three favorite museums in the world .. I have a feeling there are some pretty amazing ones I have still to visit though!  Thanks so much again to Fotini for letting me share this with you guys!  Please come and check out my other posts on Chicago museums, my love of Pinterest, life and oh so many other things!




Christmas House Tour

December 10, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: Christmas, Christmas house tour, holiday decor, home decor 16 Comments

Welcome! I’d love for you to come in and stay awhile! Follow along with me as I show you our Christmas decor. Somewhat subtle this year since it’s my first time decorating the house. I love decorating with pops of red!

May your Holidays be Merry & Bright!
 Linking up at Jennifer Rizzo’s Christmas House Tour!

Christmas Tree

December 10, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: Christ, Christmas, Christmas printable, Christmas tree, the birth of Jesus

Here’s a super cute printable I made to resemble a Christmas Tree! Do you know the story behind the Christmas tree? Here’s a great representation of what it’s said to signify… “Many pagan cultures worshiped evergreens, saw them as symbols of immortality, and used them to ward off evil spirits. In the early 700’s, Saint Boniface, who converted the German people to Christianity, demolished the Oak of Thor, the mighty sacred tree worshiped by the Saxons. From its roots grew a fir tree which Boniface took as a sign of the Christian faith. In the 11th century, Paradise plays portrayed the tree of Paradise, decorated with red apples. During the 15th century  the faithful began to erect trees in their homes on December 24, the feast day of Adam and Eve. About the year 1500, Martin Luther, inspired by a snow covered fir tree, brought a small tree indoors and decorated it with candles in honor of Christ’s birth. By the 18th century, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree was well established in France, Germany, and Austria. Thus, the Christmas tree represents the original Tree of Paradise, the burning bush which spoke to Moses, the branch of Jesse from which Jesus was born, the life-giving tree of the cross of Christ, and the tree which St. John the Apostle saw in the Book of Revelations whose leaves have medicine for the people and which yields fruit each month for the healing of the nations. Because it is green year-round, the evergreen tree represents hope. Its needles and its narrow crest point upward, turning our thoughts to heaven. Because the tree is cut down and then erected again, it is a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. Lord, may I see Christmas trees as a sign of hope and as reminders of the many trees that figure in salvation history. I thank You, Lord, for turning the tree of Adam and Eve’s sin into the tree of life through the cross of Christ. Because of the tree on which Christ died, You have given us the promise of eternal life. We praise you forever. Amen. “{source}

Sharing this project on these lovely sites!

{ Gingerbread Fun }

December 9, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: 25 Days of Christmas, fun with kids, gingerbread, gingerbread house 7 Comments

Day Five of our {25 days of Christmas} was a gingerbread house and train kit. Each year I normally buy all of the candy and graham crackers individually and we make our own icing, but this year I decided to skip the headache and just opt for a kit! It was much simpler this way, who knew 😉

My husband made the house, Christian made the train and I made the caboose. We had lots of fun constructing the pieces and decorating! Let me just say, my husband is stiff competition, every year he shocks me with his creativity! Too funny 🙂

Do you make gingerbread houses with your kids?

Probably caught him licking the icing at least five times!!

Enjoying the gingerbread man!
So proud 🙂

Fresh Greenery Wreath

December 9, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: balsam, Christmas, Christmas decor, Christmas wreath, diy, DIY wreath, fresh greenery, wreath 6 Comments

Do you love the smell of balsam during the Holidays? Have extra tree trimmings? If you said yes to one or both of these questions, here’s the perfect craft for you! With extra tree trimmings I created a beautiful wreath for my front door!

Here’s what you’re going to need:

  • 18” wire wreath form
  • greenery
  • glue gun, glue
  • ribbon for embellishment
Start with larger pieces of greenery and begin gluing them to the outside of the wire form and holding in place until dry. Now move onto the second inner wire and follow the same process, including the very inner wire. Once your piece if covered, begin going through and filling any parts that seem bare, by simply gluing the bottom and pushing into place. I couldn’t believe how “lively” this wreath became so quickly!
As mentioned is one of my previous posts, I had tons of pine cones, so I wanted to add some to my wreath! I used craft glue on the very tips and sprinkled with silver glitter, let dry. I added 4 total. To add some color, I tied a bow with some pretty, sparkly red ribbon I had and twirled the ends. I also sprayed the wreath with a extra hold hairspray and sprinkled silver glitter throughout.
Here’s three different ways to enjoy your beautiful, fresh wreath! Add some burlap ribbon to hang over a door and keep it simple… or incorporate red to stand out by adding a bow… or keep the natural theme going by adding the pine cones for an outdoorsy feel!
Whatever style you decide on, I’m sure you will enjoy all the beauty this wreath has to offer!
Sharing this project on these fabulous sites!

{ MC: Fun Holiday Projects to do with Kids }

December 8, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: kids crafts, mommy panel, The Mom Connection, time with your kids 73 Comments




I am part of an AWESOME mommy panel organized by Two in Diapers and Naptime Review. Each Saturday, we will bring you fresh new ideas and advice about motherhood.

Coming on December 15th, we will discuss:
Getting your preschooler dressed: Drawing the battle lines
Now on to this week’s topic!

Fun holiday projects to do with your kids

Here is what Mom Connection shared:

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Welcome! I’m Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of 2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest turns 4 on Christmas Eve and my baby is 15 months old. This is a fun holiday project I do with my kids:
Well, if I was Martha Stewart, I would be able to make an awesome Gingerbread house with my daughters. It would be picture perfect and mess free. It would be soundly constructed and be the centerpiece in our kitchen.  However, in the spirit of traditions, I have attempted 2 years in a row and failed miserably at this task.  So I am sticking to what I know best. Giving and Simplicity!
We are making Turtle Bite Cookies and placing them in decorative tins (purchased at the Dollar Store) and passing them out to our neighbors and friends.  Every holiday, we try to bake something EASY to share with our neighbors.  I like Turtle Bite Cookies, not only because they are super delicious and yummy, but they are so easy that my preschooler can help.  Averie helped me place the pretzels on the tray, unwrap the Rolo candies, and even search for the perfect pecan while they were in the oven.  She is a great helper in the kitchen.
Click here to view the entire recipe.
Trust me, you will be a hit with your family and neighbors.

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Hi! I’m Cassie from Two In Diapers, and I’m a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months. This is a fun holiday project I do with my kids:

Well, we have two actually! While I’m not the craftiest momma around, I definitely love to bake and have a killer sweet tooth. Not surprisingly, my kiddos and I like to get into the holiday spirit by doing activities related to sweets.

We definitely always decorate a gingerbread house. I use the word “decorate” because until this point we have always bought the prebaked ones that you “glue” together with frosting and decorate. You can view our latest here. When I was a kid, my mom used to bake these elaborate gingerbread villages from scratch. I would love to do that someday, but for now my kids are little and these things don’t last long around here! We do have SO much fun putting them together and decorating them! Our only complaint is that there always seems to be a large shortage of frosting…

Our other holiday tradition is baking and decorating sugar cookie cutouts to give out as holiday treats to our friends! We actually do put quite a bit of effort into decorating them beautifully, and they are SO tasty! I’ll be posting photos and a recipe after we create this year’s batch this weekend! The kids really enjoy handing them out to their friends and teachers at school as well. The fun time spent in the kitchen baking and grooving to holiday tunes is priceless, and the end result is pretty special too.  

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My name is Tricia from Mama Marchand’s Nest. I am the mom of N (her name on my blog) who will be three in March. This is a fun hoilday project I do with my child.
 Last year, we made salt dough ornaments with N’s handprint on them that turned out pretty cute and ended up being a very special Christmas present for the grandparents. This year, I wanted to do something a little bit different since she’s older and very much into arts & crafts now.  Click over to my blog, here to see the pom pom ornament we made together!
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My name is Fotini! I blog over at Glamorous Affordable Life. I am the mom of ( Isabella 19 months and Christian 6 years).

This is a fun holidayproject I do with my kids: Our latest Christmas project was the “Handy Reindeer”. Isabella didn’t participate in this craft, she was still feeling the -ick from the stomach virus we are getting over.. Anywho, this is a fun project and my son, Christian used his creativity creating one-of-a-kind snowflakes! Click here to check it out. Hope to see you there!

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My name is Kristen from The Mrs. & The Momma. I’m the momma of three girls (ages 7, 5, & 3) and a little boy (18 months). This is a fun holiday project I do with my kids:
My oldest two girls are finally at an age where they can take part in service during the holiday season…and actually understand the significance of it. For the second year in a row, my girls helped bake lots of goodies for their bake sale (happening today, actually) to raise funds for my annual diaper drive. This project not only cultivates a spirit of giving in my children, but also is an opportunity to teach them lessons in money (I let them set the prices and take the donations) and working hard towards a goal (I let them do most of the cooking and packaging). My prayer is that my children can (and will) continue to enjoy this holiday project of ours and take pride in their service to others less fortunate. If they end up being talented bakers in the future…well, that will just be an added bonus!

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Your Turn:
 What fun holiday project do you do with your kids?
Leave us a comment or share the link!

Love to hear from you!

{ Fab Pins of the Week }

December 7, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: fab pins of the week, Pinterest, popular pins 3 Comments

Here’s this weeks most popular pins! Enjoy 😉

1. {source, The Idea Room}     2. {source, Future Southern Belle-Tumblr}
3. {source, Pinterest, Original Source Unknown}  4. {source, Back On Pointe- Tumblr}
Are you following me on Pinterest yet?! If not, click here!

{ Pick Your Plum Giveaway!!! }

December 7, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: Christmas gifts, gift, giveaway, in time for the Holidays, Pick Your Plum 18 Comments

Christmas is quickly approaching… Could you use a Plum Box valued at $25 full of Pick Your Plum goodness?! You could give it as a gift or keep it for yourself or a little of both 😉 I’m thrilled to offer my amazing viewers the chance to win this prize just in time for the Holidays!

Be sure to check out Pick Your Plum on Facebook, they post their deals there before they send out emails!! …Get it before your neighbor!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

{ Wildlights }

December 6, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: 25 Days of Christmas, Christmas lights, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Wildlights, Zoo 6 Comments

Day {four} of our 25 Days of Christmas, was visiting the Zoo, unfortunately that evening was raining so we went the next evening! It was cold but such a beautiful, clear evening to see the Wildlights! We live about 40 minutes away from The Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, which is such a beautiful park! Every year starting the middle of November, they offer the viewing of over 3 Million LED Christmas Lights! It is a truly magical sight to see!

It was my Grandparents from Greece, last night visiting before they headed back to Greece, so we enjoyed the evening keeping warm with hot chocolate, and embracing the beauty around us! My pictures aren’t the greatest, taken with my iPhone.

Christian and Isabella absolutely loved it, which made my heart smile 🙂

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