Let's Party like its Christmas Eve

I love, love, LOVE celebrating Christmas. The decorations, the music, the snow (some years), singing Christmas carols at church, and of course, spending time with family and friends. We have lots of Christmas traditions and want to start new ones, but one of the craziest and most fun is always the big Christmas Eve party at Bruce and Tricia's. Thankfully, the camera is always out and I can capture just some of those crazy memories.

Cousin Photo!

(This year it is OFFICIAL!)

Random photos...

Our tenth Christmas together!

Memaw needed some Eli time!

With the volleyball celebrity, Lauren!

What is this?

Love it!

This is what happens when Nate takes the camera.

Puppy kisses!

At some point, Nate stole Eli.

And would NOT give him up!

Then, the (Second Annual) Dance Party began!

 

Keeping with tradition, Bruce gave his usual Christmas Eve gifts. We didn't think he could top last year's beautiful Christmas frame. But he did. 

Before this Christmas, it was just a home.

Now, it's a Love Shack!

Best gift ever!

It was another fantastic Christmas Eve... a fantastic Christmas altogether! There's nothing quite like an awesome party to celebrate family and Christmas! 

Christmas in NY

We're back home for the holidays! Since we're going to be super busy this week seeing family and friends, I figured I should post my current Christmas decorations for you to enjoy! Here's what we've been enjoying in NY:

The tree is up and decorated!

(Except for a tree skirt, which I still need to create.)

My nativity scene is safely displayed and nearly complete!

(Max likes to eat baby Jesus and the shepherds, 

so I'm not risking that with Emma.)

All of my snowmen and Christmas decorations are on display.

Emma was very excited for our newest snowman.

Our favorite new decorations are up in our entryway.

(Emma is clearly not impressed.)

Amit put our little tree in the hallway.

I love our sparkly teeth ornaments!

This makes me laugh...
Amit's mini-me has his own mini tree!

And the official pictures of my latest creations.

I LOVE how the pine cones look in my Crate and Barrel bowl!

My cookie cutter wreath looks great!

I'm just praying it doesn't fall apart (again).

So those are the highlights of this year's Christmas decor. I love having enough space to display all of my creations! Maybe we'll have enough time during this visit to make a few more?

My Last Crafts in Massachusetts

It's so weird to look at that title and think that at the end of the week, I will be on the road, heading back to Rochester for the last time. While I've missed Amit, I'm going to miss my school and my friends here so much! (Not going to miss the ridiculously long lesson plans, though.) So, in honor of my last week in Massachusetts, here are my absolute favorite crafts from this semester, just in time for the holidays!

So I seriously don't know how I would come up with craft inspiration, if it wasn't for Pinterest. I found some great fall projects, which actually turned out great. It's been a while since I've  made any big Christmas decor items, so I thought I'd finish my MA crafting career with a bang!

Melissa has a mantle that she decorates every year, so she wanted to make some fun, glittered canvas art for it. I don't have a mantle (yet), but I loved the inspiration project she found - Glitter Reindeer. It just seemed so fun and I knew I could fit it in somewhere.

Our Stencils -

Ready for glue and glitter!

Drying

So while browsing Pinterest for other ideas, I found a few different pieces of canvas art that I really liked. This Confetti Art is based on Kate Spade's dishes, but I loved the idea of gold circles all over my sign. I also loved this light-up sign, but only for the phrase "Merry and Bright" and the idea that I could make it look like snow was falling. So I blended the two ideas and came up with this one:

All lined up and ready for glue!

My two glitter masterpieces waiting to be hung!

(Ignore the mess of glitter - that's what happens when they travel six hours protected by plastic.)

Yesterday was my last craft day with Melissa. I'm going to miss our craft days so much! It just looks like I'll need to come back for some more! We had two big projects to do. First, I found a new wreath idea to try and then we found an awesome way to use up all of the extra pine cones in her backyard!

We decided to try our hand at a cookie cutter wreath.

I think I changed my arrangement a million times, just to get it right.

The gingham bow just makes the wreath!

Once our wreaths were done, 
it was time for some pine cones!
We covered them in crystal filler and glitter.

We made  a lot of pine cones...

Sparkly pine cones!

Waiting to be safely packed to go to NY.
(I can't wait to see them on display!)
They look like they're covered in snow and ice.

I love how my Christmas crafts turned out! Our craft days have kept me sane this semester. I'm now four days away from being in NY, for good! Just in time, too. I am dying to put these pieces up around the house!

Present Highlights

Since we're all grown up and usually give wish lists to my parents for Christmas, we always know the majority of our presents before we open them. Well, the Krueger clan totally kicked butt at Christmas surprises this year!

Krissy found this for Amit's gift. 

OMG! We love it!! How awesome is that? 

It even comes with his dental book!

Bruce gave us this Christmas sign.

I'm so excited to put it up next year!

Oh, Krissy knows us so well!! 

Emma and I can't wait to use our present.

 
And not to leave Nate out...
This is my view while we use the bike trainer he gave us. 
I'm thinking Emma isn't a huge fan of it.
(I love it!)

I feel so productive with my new sewing machine, too.
I made myself a sewing machine cover.
I'm so proud of myself!!

We got some really great gifts this year. Thanks everyone!!!!

Merry Christmas from the Patels!

Better late than never - here we are on Christmas Day, 2011.

Waiting for Christmas Dinner Scraps.

Nate has Max trained so well. He saw my food and started barking.

Didn't even have to ask him to speak. 

I swear, they really do love each other!

It was such a blessing to be able to dance the night away with our favorite people and celebrate Christ's birth with our families. The only thing missing from our Christmas was the snow!

Christmas Eve Dance Party

We had so much fun at the Krueger's house on Christmas Eve! Surprisingly, after a 15 hour drive through the night, a quick nap, Christmas brunch at Dad's, a visit to Amit's parents, and a quick reunion lunch over our favorite nachorama, we were still ready to PARTY! My camera got handed around and I wound up with an interesting combination of photos...

Ready? Here we go!
Photo Op Galore
(Also known as, what happens when drunk Amit and Natey get the camera)

Dance Party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Y.M.C.A

 Quiz: What's Amit's favorite song?
Can you tell by his pose?

That was seriously the best Christmas Eve we've ever had! The disco ball turned the kitchen into a PAR-TAY! Amit did a great job being the DJ and our entertainment - he was hilarious! I can't wait for the next Family Dance Party! I'm thinking this will definitely become a tradition! Maybe next year we'll add a fog machine?