Cassie Bustamante

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Christmas 2011 in Review and Handmade Gifts

December 26, 2011 by Cassie 23 Comments

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We had what Emmy called “THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER” several times, and I am going to call it that as well.  We had so much fun!  Christmas Eve began with brunch at my parents’ house with several neighbors, even friends from high school and some of my brother’s friends from college.  It was yummy, fun, and the kids all had a ball playing together.  One of my very good friends brought our family hand-crocheted items she made for us!  I snapped some pictures on my phone quickly so I could share….

Sawyer in his new dinosaur hat and scarf.  It has a few spikes on the hat which are SO cool!  He wore this for about 3 hours after he opened it!

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Emmy received a pink, white, and brown monkey had and scarf which are adorable!  She couldn’t get the hat on the right way and I was in the passenger seat and couldn’t fix it, but you get the idea!
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I received a funky floppy gray hat perfect for me….. nice self portrait for you!

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And Chris received a gorgeous blue scarf, but he was driving so I couldn’t get it on him for a picture, but he tried it on as soon as we got home and it is awesome!  She is SO talented.  She takes the train to DC for work and uses that time for her crocheting.

After brunch was over, we headed home to prepare for Christmas Eve dinner at our house, which was a super easy, healthy, and delicious potato soup, bread, my go-to salad of spinach, dried cranberries, apples, walnuts, blue cheese, and a lemon honey vinaigrette.  This was all followed by yummy LOBSTER!  We had my parents, my brother and his girlfriend and our own four all here.  It was so wonderful to spend time all together.

Now our tradition is to open all gifts to each other on Christmas Eve, so that Santa has Christmas morning all to himself.  I wanted to share some glimpses from Christmas Eve and some of the fun hand made gifts we gave each other.

Here are the kids in their matching pj’s! 🙂

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I used a T-Shirt Chris bought me at Hot Topic (his place of employment) to make Viri and Dana this pillow for their house.  Viri loves mustaches, so I thought it would be funny.  She couldn’t wait to use it on the plane ride home today, too!  She planned on using it to talk to the flight attendants…. “Excuse me, I mustache you a question.”

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Sawyer could not be parted from his lego book, even to open other gifts.

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I was here: Christmas 2011!

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And Chris was there, too!

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Viri and Dana gave Emmy her very fist Caboodle complete with makeup and nail polish, so here are the girls talking make-up.

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Sawyer is a big Ravens fan (influenced by peers at school!) and was thrilled to get a football and his first ever real football jersey!

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Emmy also received an awesome princess set from my friend Sandie that she has been using to make bracelets, necklaces, and find fun hairdos for Gramma to try on her.

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After the fun of Christmas Eve, the kids fell right to sleep.  They woke around 7 on Christmas morning, but we made them wait til everyone was awake and coffee was made to go downstairs and open presents from Santa.  I missed the picture of the kids running in…. it came out blurry.  But I asked them to reenact their surprise for me.  Sawyer is a talented actor.

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They had so much fun opening presents from Santa and were happy with their gifts.

I wanted to share some of the handmade gifts we received.  Friends of ours gave us adorable ornaments for the doggies!  The dogs also received awesome new pottery dishes from my brother and Viri from a studio in LA.  They are gorgeous!  Our dogs are spoiled!

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Ali made these new additions for my tree.  The pom pom ornaments says “May 2012” because that is when Ali comes to visit for an entire week and we are all just a little excited about it.  Just a little.

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My mom gave me several hand-made gifts.  She is so talented and creative….

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 I received two of these, one has “A Love Song” on it, and the other is “The Haunted Hour” which will be perfect for Halloween next year!

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This big cheese box is beautifully decorated with roses she rolled out of newspaper!  It will stay in our guest room – it looks perfect in there!

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She made these awesome yarn wrapped trees and matching garland in my favorite colors!

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And check out these fun arm warmers she made!  Don’t look at my bitten finger nails… just look at the pretty green warmers!

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The kids holiday art gallery grew throughout the month as we added all the new pieces.

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These are some of my favorite additions.
This piece was made by Sawyer at school.

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And Emmy made this girl reindeer for me!

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That’s it!  I will see you tomorrow for your best furniture projects of 2011!
And I will ba back later this week to share a year of my own favorite projects!
Hope you all had the Merriest of Christmases, and if you are traveling today I wish you safe and happy travels.

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Comments

  1. Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures says

    December 26, 2011 at 2:25 pm

    I am so glad you had a great Christmas. I enjoyed reading about your day. You all look so cute.

    Reply
  2. Ali Richardson says

    December 26, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    YAY!!! I loved seeing all of those pictures! I’m so happy that you and the fam had a wonderful Christmas! Love u!!!
    MAY 2012 – Oh yeah baby!!!!!

    Reply
  3. Erin says

    December 26, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    Merry Christmas, Cassie! Really enjoyed all the photos you shared. 🙂

    You’re so together to post all this the day after Christmas–our house looks like a tornado hit it with all the Legos and presents strewn about. LOL

    So glad you had a charmed holiday with your family!

    Take care,
    Erin

    Reply
  4. Katie says

    December 26, 2011 at 7:46 pm

    Looks like you all had a great Christmas weekend! I love Sawyer’s re-enactment face! Hilarious!

    Reply
  5. Lesley says

    December 26, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    Fav pic. Your kids acting surprised!! lol

    Reply
  6. Allison says

    December 26, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    It sounds like the perfect Christmas! Adorable photos of the kids and I love the one of you!

    Reply
  7. Carrie @ Hazardous Design says

    December 26, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    I love it! I can see why you had such a fantastic Christmas. Happy New Year, Cassie!

    Reply
  8. Pudel-design says

    December 26, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    OMG;) That looks like a lot of fun!
    Thank you for your lovely comment;)

    Lovely greetings…

    http://pudel-design.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  9. gail says

    December 27, 2011 at 12:30 am

    wonderful post! I always love seeing pics of emmy and sawyer. Y’all look so cute in your hats!
    thanks for sharing your Christmas with us!
    gail

    Reply
  10. Kara @ June & Bear says

    December 27, 2011 at 12:40 am

    we open gifts on christmas eve too. i even had them open them in the afternoon so i had better light for photos—it’s a sickness. love that sawyer re-enacted his surprise so well. so many lovely handmade items in this post. glad you had a merry christmas.

    Reply
  11. Stephanie @ dial m for minky says

    December 27, 2011 at 12:54 am

    She MUST do a tutorial on the trees and garland! And the paper flowers?! I need to learn that because OMG I LOVE!! Btw- I know you replaced the buffet in the dining room, buy what color did you use on the green one? I can’t find it and have a piece that needs to be that color.
    Also I promise I’m not trying to be you.

    Reply
  12. CAS says

    December 27, 2011 at 1:45 am

    Sounds like a most wonderful Christmas! Kiddoes’ hat are so cute!
    CAS

    Reply
  13. Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. says

    December 27, 2011 at 2:18 am

    It really sounds like best Christmas ever! And the handmade gifts are personal and lovely!

    Reply
  14. Andrea says

    December 27, 2011 at 2:20 am

    Wow, it really must have been “The Best Christmas Ever”. My kids said the same thing. Looks like you all had a great time. I love all the handmade gifts! Your son is quite the actor! ha ha .

    Reply
  15. Jacqueline says

    December 27, 2011 at 3:11 am

    Love the handmade gifts, and your phone takes great photos what kind do you have?

    Reply
  16. Rita says

    December 27, 2011 at 3:26 am

    Merry Christmas Cassie and family! It looks like you had a great one and I love the idea of homemade gifts!!! Your house looks awesome and so full of joy!!!
    We had a great one too, only downside was our cat bought in a dead squirrel (again) and put it under our tree. Everyone was screaming. And there were quite a lot of us! At least it’s a Christmas we’ll never forget!!

    Reply
  17. Lisa @ Turning Tables says

    December 27, 2011 at 7:01 am

    Christmas at your house looks wonderful!!!! Love you, friend!!! Xo

    Reply
  18. Megan says

    December 27, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    You guys have too much fun! I LOVE the hats and scarves, that monkey one is freaking amazing!!! That mustache pillow is hilarous! What a great gift!!

    Reply
  19. Good Time Charlie says

    December 27, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    Wow! You have some talented and creative friends and family. Lucky girl! I ADORE that pillow. That is just the kind of funky/kitchy thing I need in my home. “Redouxing” the pillows on my couch and chairs is on the DIY list for 2012. I love those hats, what a great gift, I think I would like a monkey hat for myself. What fun experiences you shared about your family. Truly enjoyed. -K

    Reply
  20. Suzanne@Meridian Road says

    December 27, 2011 at 5:55 pm

    That looks like the perfect Christmas. Those crocheted hats are so cute! I love the mustache pillow and might have to make one myself. 🙂 I’m glad you had such a Merry Christmas.

    Reply
  21. Upscale Downhome says

    December 27, 2011 at 8:05 pm

    Love the handmade gifts from your mom. They are so fun and special. My mom makes me gifts, too. This year I got an apron. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    Reply
  22. * The Design Confidential says

    December 30, 2011 at 12:26 am

    you are adorable and you have such a gorgeous little family! hugs and love my sweet friend! xx rayan

    Reply
  23. Anneke {RustiChic} says

    December 31, 2011 at 1:23 am

    Ok…you’re adorable. 😉

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
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Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

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