Happy New Years!

No matter how you ring in the new year, I hope you have a great end and a great beginning!

Kisses,

K

(Image by Norman Rockwell)

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Christmas Is Magic

With the tree sparkling with decorations and presents (can you spot the bracelet Husband gave me under the swan on the right?), sometimes Christmas is pure magic!

Kisses,

K

(Image by and owned by Krista Carson, produced using cinemagram)

 

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Christmas At My House

This year Husband and I spent Christmas eve and day by ourselves, he had to work. :( So I wanted to make things as special as I could.

We only ever have a small tree, since live ones take more work than we have time right now. So I strung garland along the ceiling in order to hang all of our ornaments and make it look merry. I also "frosted" the windows with "snow" to make our Christmas seem more white than the actual grey, raining skies outside...

I covered the house in candles to make a warm glow.

Made a festive calendar (making sure to include both Husband's and Baby Jesus's birthdays!), card nook, and took out the scissors to make snowflakes fall softly on windows and presents.

"Taxidermied" a pair of headband antlers, icicle garlanded the stairs, hung my DIY mistletoe, wrapped presents, and proudly displayed my Pinterest inspired DIY wreath.

Used glass jars, cake domes, and crystal vases to create a few very merry vignettes around the house.

Then I sat back enjoyed how all the little details came together.

Husband impressed me by choosing an un-imposed wrapping scheme. Yes. I'm that girl who usually imposes one but he wrapped first this year and created one, all on his own, that I was proud of! So to return the favor I impressed him with my plaid ribbon weaving skills and super fluffy handmade bows.

All in all it was a holiday filled with post work snuggles, sparkle, and cheer!

What's your favorite part of the Holidays? No matter what it is, I hope yours was filled with love and joy!

Kisses,

K

(All images by and owned by Krista Carson, please ask permission before using.)

 

 

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Mr. Fox

 

My Mr. Fox illustration wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I do too!

Kisses,

K

(Illustration and image created and owned by Krista Carson, do not use without permission please.)

 

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DIY Mistletoe

For my Husband's 30th birthday we are going out for a nice dinner but I wanted to have something for him to open too. We'd seen felted mistletoe out and about and both liked it so I decided to make him some.

I gathered all my materials, put on a movie and started. For the faux flowers I used ones that had decorated a wedding shower gift (our 2 year anniversary is coming up) to imbue it with special meaning.

 

(The twisted wire strands DIY pic is four pics down.)

I like to cut the leaves freehand to give them a more organic feel. If you have trouble doing that you can google leaf outline images, print and cut one out, then use it to trace the outline on your felt prior to cutting.

Next your going to need some wire strands to combine with your flowers.

Make as many mistletoe stems as you'd like to use. I only used one stem set of the flowers and one stem set of the wire strands.

 

 

Now you can use all that wire you sewed inside to bend and shape your mistletoe. Play around with it till it's fluffed up and you like the shape!

Merry Kissing!

Kisses,

K

(All images and designs by and owned by Krista Carson, please credit when using and re-posting.)

 

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Happy 30th Husband!

Today my sweet Husband turns 30!!! (It seems so old I know, bit I'm next so I can't make too much fun.)

I started his birthday off with a bang by balloon bombing before he left for work early in the morning.

It was super fun and he was totally surprised!

I blew up a whole bunch of balloons ahead of time and took a bunch of trash bags and cut them open and taped them together so they would fit over the door frame. (You could also use plastic wrap, large rolled paper, or anything else similar.)

Then that morning when he got in the shower, so he wouldn't see or hear me, I went to work. I took the trash bags and taped them to the outside of the door frame, since our bedroom door opens in. Since the only way I could surprise him and make it work was to do it from the inside... I then filled it up with the balloons and quickly shut the door.*

We both continued to get ready for our days and when he opened the door to go downstairs... Bam! Balloon Bomb! Since he leaves for work by around 5:20am most mornings he was fairly surprised. He never suspected a thing and thoroughly enjoyed it! Yay 30!

He and I are big foodies so whenever his work schedule allows (he works A LOT) I'm taking him out for a fancy evening of wining and dining but I couldn't let the day go unmarked without a gift... So I made him a special present and gussied up the gift box by creating the little guy above.

Who wouldn't want a 30th Birthday celebrating Octopi? What's inside the box? I'll share that a little later. :)

Kisses,

K

*(Side-note: this only works if the door opens in and works best if the door is actually shut. The you can pop the balloons between the door and trash bags easily.)

(Cat's Pajamas card by Rifle Paper Co., All other images designed by and property of Krista Carson)

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Florida Christmas Part 2

After dinner at Blue Zoo we drove over to the Wilderness Lodge to see the Christmas decorations and cozy up in front of a fire for a bit. It's one of my favorite places and never disappoints.

(Husband looking dapper for our date night.)

Rustic elegance soaring to new heights.

(The glow of the fire.)

(Me all gussied up for the night.)

 

(A kiss to end the evening.)

Hope you enjoyed the peek into my date night. It was a wondful evening full of Holiday magic!

Kisses,

K

(All images by and owned by Krista Carson, Cinemagram produced using Cinemagram, please ask permission prior to use)

 

 

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Florida Christmas

While in Florida for Thanksgiving in November. My Husband and I snuck out for an evening to have a date night. We hadn't seen each other in months (I was staying in Florida to care for my Baba) and a nice night out just us two was the perfect way to catch up!

We made reservations at Todd English's Blue Zoo at the Swan and Dolphin hotel. It's just across the water from the resort we got married in almost two years ago so it felt especially romantic. The food is out of this worl good! Super fresh and über delicious!

It's a mostly fish centric menu. We started with a Yellowfin Tuna Tartare that tasted as good as its unique liquid nitrogen frozen siracha aioli that slowly melted into a delicious mix at the table. Then Husband had a Miso Glazed Seabass and I had the Simply Fish fresh catch of the day served with warm crabmeat, Dijon mustard and chives. They were sinfully good. For our side we chose the Tempura Haricot Vert witha truffle aioli. It's absurdly good tempuraed green beans. The we finished with a caramelly, vanilla beaned, phyllo doughed goodness of a dessert.

The hotel was dressed in its Christmas finest and it was gorgeous!

(Husband by the tree.)

Winter blues, metallics, and whites exuded elegance all around. An unbelievable tree made of white poinsettias made for a dramatic focal point.

A large train circled the tree carrying Minnie and Mickey along for the ride.

Next we snuck over to the Wildness Lodge for some cuddle time in for t of a fireplace. More to come on that later.

Kisses,

K

(All images by and owned by Krista Carson, please ask prior to use, Blue Zoo images via google)

 

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Osbourne Lights Final Part

The light choreography really upped the ante this year! As always it was spectacular and a great way to start off the holiday season!

 

(My sister.)

 

Disney windows dressed for the holidays!

 

The tree that greeted us on the way in all lit up at a distance on the way out.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I know I enjoyed sharing a little bit of the Osbourne Lights experience with you! Happy Holidays!

Kisses,

K

(All images by and owned by Krista Carson, Cinemagram produced using Cinemagram, please ask permission before use)

 

 

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