Chicago Weekend + Dare to DIY Features

Last Wednesday night....

Nate:  *hands me a wrapped box*  "You need to open this tonight."

Michelle:  "Ummm.  It's not Christmas. I don't want to open it."

Nate: "You need to open it tonight."

Michelle:  "But I don't want to open it.  Why are you being weird?"

Nate:  "You're being weird. Open it."

Inside was tickets to see Elf the Musical in Chicago.  He had a hotel booked.  Activities planned. The whole shebang. 

Michelle:  "Is this for real?  THIS weekend.  The weekend I have so many very important things today."

Nate: "Yeah. I knew you'd freak out so I'm giving you a few days to adjust.  You'll have fun.  I"ll help with the other stuff."

Sometimes your husband surprises you.  And it's good.  I truly don't remember what all of those "important" things were.  We had a very wonderful, relaxing weekend.  And now I'm going to bore you with it.  Because blogging is good record keeping and my memory is bad.

We ended up leaving Friday night instead of the planned Saturday morning due to a snow storm.  We left after work and managed to beat the storm.  We stayed at the Hyatt (thanks, Priceline) and woke up to this view.  Check out Navy Pier there in the middle..

It snowed the entire day.  We dressed appropriately and loved seeing the city covered in snow.

We started with breakfast at Yolk.  A favorite for both of us.

Yeah, that's cinnamon roll French toast.  I think I could eat it for every meal.

We then decided to walk around downtown.  We stopped at the Christkindlmarket and checked out the store fronts on State street.

Next we hit up Millennium Park for an obligatory "bean" shot. Or three.  Or 60.

That's us in the Santa hats.  I kid.

We watched people fall on their hineys.  I think I could have sat here all day.  Fun fact.  I can't skate.  Any kind.  I am not meant to glide.  But I sure do enjoy watching other people try.  Okay, I think I mainly like watching the failing part.  It makes me feel better about my lack of skating skills.

We ate some Chicago style pizza.  We headed to the musical which was really cute.  The story line is different than the musical. Once we both got over that we really enjoyed it.  It ended up not getting over until 10:45 (we're old).  So we headed to bed. Because we're old. 

We got up early on Sunday morning to grab some Glazed and Infused donuts and headed back to the land of cornfields and lack of amazing donuts.

Fabulous weekend. I truly lucked out in the husband department.  He's a keeper.  

Now it's time to check out some features from this week's Dare to Deck the Halls.  Two of my favorites were the nutcracker door from Desert Domicile.  It's so festive!  I also adore these paper ball ornaments from Nalle's House. I must make some next year!!!

Be sure to check out the other features from Maybe Matilda, NewlyWoowdards and Primitive and Proper!

I have some recipes to share.  Probably sporadically throughout the weekend.  See you then!

5 Minute Wood Bead Garland

Good Thursday morning.  Less than one week until Christmas.  Ahhhhhh. Everyone panic.

Actually I've stopped wigging out.  The gifts are bought.  They are partially wrapped.  There are a few cookies baked.  My only concern is that I have at least 3 holiday movies that I need to get in.  I must get my priorities straight.

Today I'd like to share with you a holiday craft you can whip up in 5 minutes flat.  I had some questions on how to make the wood bead garland from my holiday mantel post.  It's actually stupid easy.  There are Ike pictures to make up for the fact that it is so easy.

Supplies:

• Wood beads (you can find them at most craft stores)
• Twine, yarn, something string like
• Optional:
  • Spray paint
  • 3M strips

Directions:

If painting beads, start there.

String wood beads onto twine.  I used a small piece of tape wrapped around the end to make the stringing easier.  (Similar to the wood bead necklace I made last year.)

Be under close supervision of your furry friend.  Make sure furry friend gets his wet dog nose all over the beads.  (See far right.)

Keep stringing until you have reached your desired amount of beads.  I think I used 55-65 for my strands.

Get an annoyed look from your dog when you tell him to find something else to do other than make wet nose marks all over the holiday decorations.

Get an angry look from your dog when you tell him to stop chewing on the beads.  They are not wooden balls for the dog to play with.  They are a choking hazard for crying out loud.  This is why we don't have children.

Edit:  This project may only take 3 minutes if you don't have "help" from a furry monster.

Hang the beads in your desired location.  I tied mine to the garland.  You could also use 3M hooks.

Easy garland done.  

Does your dog like to make holiday crafts?  What's your favorite quick craft this season?

Lighted Christmas Balls + Outdoor Lights 2013

Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky in the husband department.  I mean, most dudes don't willingly put up Christmas lights let alone enjoy putting up a display like this.

We hang lights instead of shoveling our driveway.  It snows light every other day so we've given up.

There might be some lights thrown in the bushes if I was in charge (which was my job this year).  You would never catch me up there in those peaks.  I definitely wouldn't spend the time outlining the sides of the house.

So instead of thanking Nate, I pull out a quote from one of my favorite Christmas movies.

Michelle: The little lights... they aren't twinkling.

Nate: I know, Michelle. Thanks for noticing.

We are slowly adding lighted Christmas balls to our little tree area.  We made these last year but I never blogged about them.

These balls are easy to make.  We hope to have a big ol' forest of hanging ball in the future.  We added a few more this year.

We were originally inspired by this pin which no longer leads to a valid site.  Awesome.  It did at one time and it taught us how to make these lovely lighted Christmas balls.

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

• Chicken wire
  • We used the 2" kind.  About 2 feet for each ball.
• Wire cutters
• Mini Christmas lights (1 box per ball)
• 3 prong outdoor adapters
• Outdoor Extension cords

Form the cut ends into a cylinder.  Twist the cut ends together.

Close both ends of the cylinder.  Trial and error will get you to a point where the ends look more like a sphere than a square.

Keep fluffing and twisting until you end up with something that resembles a ball.  Wrap the lights around the ball.  (We stuck some inside to help keep in place during the windy/snowy month of December.

To hang, drape an extension cord over a tree branch.  Thread the power cord into the ball.  Loop it up and in and plug into the lights.  It's seriously a stupid easy outdoor light project!   

Do you have outdoor lights?  Are you one of those awesome houses that has the display set to music?