Christmas Survey

Just for fun! Consider yourself tagged if you want to play along, and leave a comment with a link to your blog so I can read your answers! :)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Silk soy nog mixed with Tazo decaf chai tea concentrate. I'd totally say egg nog but the whole having to be dairy-free thing makes that an impossibility. Perhaps next year I'll be able to have some again.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? According to my mother, Santa is MUCH too busy to have time to wrap the presents for every girl and boy.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Our tree has white lights and our house has colored lights.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes, but since it's hung from the chandelier over our table, it's ornamental only. :)

5. When do you put your decorations up? Whenever we get around to it - we threatened to do it before Thanksgiving but life got in the way. Right now the tree is up, but everything else is still in boxes upstairs.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? My mom's rum cake. Sadly, I haven't been able to have any in a couple of years. I may try to make a gluten-free modification, we'll see.

7. Favorite Christmas memory as a child? Driving around in our 1981 Suburban on Christmas Eve looking at lights while listening to the Muppet Christmas album, then going home and having homemade eggnog milkshakes.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What do you mean, the truth about Santa? My mom always said when you stop believing, he stops coming. :-Þ

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We never did growing up, but my husband's family did. Ours will - it'll be Christmas jammies.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Heavily? It's decorated mostly with ornaments from my childhood as well as ornaments from my husband's childhood as well. The lower 1/3 has plastic ornaments on it.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Since I've lived in Texas and California all my life, I love snow because it's a rarity in both plaecs.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes. But growing up in Texas, I don't associate ice skating with winter or Christmas. Weird, huh?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My Fisher Price orange teddy bear with a blue bib that had an apple embroidered on it, and it squeaked when you squeezed its tummy.

14. What’s the most important thing about Christmas for you? Celebrating the birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

15. What is your favorite Christmas Dessert? Mom's rum cake

16. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? reading the Christmas story in Luke

17. What tops your tree? Right now? nothing. I can't even remember what we have to go on top.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? I prefer giving

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night is my favorite traditional one. I also really love Here With Us by Joy Williams, and Lindsey Lloyd Wallace's This Baby Boy

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? meh

21 Favorite Christmas Show? Veggie Tales Saint Nicholas

22. Saddest Christmas Song? Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. It's so dang irreverent.

23. What’s your Wish for Christmas. That we'll really focus on the birth of Jesus, and keep our celebrations simple.

The {Stamps} of Life New Releases!

Hooray! I'm just a day behind in posting this entry! The first of the month always means a new release of the club member stamps from The {Stamps} of Life. Here are the projects I made using this fun Valentine's Day stamp set!

First up is this card created using the digital brushes from the Hearts2Love stamp set, as well as a few from Holly4Christmas. The background paper is from Memory Keeper by Jennifer Fox at The Digi Chick. The design is based on a Fuss Free: Christmas Greetings template by Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs. The paper roses are made using Paper Roses by The Cutting Files. Now, I have a Cricut (the smallest one, the first one they came out with that cuts 6" x 12", whatever its name is now!), but when I'm just going to cut a few things, I usually end up cutting by hand. It takes just as long as it does to load the software, hook up the machine, cut it out, and then assemble. But having the template still makes it easier to hand-cut the flowers! I added some swirl stickers and some snowflakes I punched out of some pearl paper by The Paper Studio. I cut the scalloped circles with my Nestabilities die and then punched holes in the scallops.

Next up is a re-purposed pillow box that had ribbon I picked up from Target's Dollar Spot. It had the paper inside already, I just traced part of the top onto white cardstock and stamped my design, then adhered it to the paper and reinsert it into the box.

This card uses digital paper from Oh Baby Girl by Basic Grey. The layout is inspired by Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 134.

And finally, I have another altered treat box. I stamped the heart onto a piece of white cardstock and then used a scalloped circle Nestabilities die. Then I inked the edges with red ink. I created an accordion paper flower using a strip of paper from the 12 Days of Christmas paper included in a fantastic grab bag available at The Digi Chick until December 13. Be sure to check out the blog hop that starts here with Kelleigh Ratzlaff! There are some fantastic freebies and great gift ideas that are inexpensive and still pack an awesome punch!