A Homey Christmas

Merry (belated) Christmas! I think this holiday season will go down in Bohne history as a pretty great one, namely because it was our first Christmas together as Mr. & Mrs. in our new house. We had a very busy Christmas schedule, but in the best way possible. 

This year I wanted to give the ladies (and gents) of the family a portrait of their homes as our gift to them. This project has 3 easy steps: trace, color, hang. Easy as that. After making my first GIF to show our Christmas tree going up, I thought this project may be even more worthy. Ta da...

Before we get to the how-to of the home portraits (you can skip to the bottom if you just want the step-by-step breakdown), let's do a little Christmas recap. I didn't do the best job of documenting things with pictures, but here's what I have...

On Christmas Eve, John's whole family sans two members (so thats 14) gathered  at his grandparents' house for dinner and gifts.

On Christmas morning, my dad and I woke up at 6:30 to get John's present set up. He had asked for seat covers from a company out of Hawaii called Wet Okole (which literally means wet bottom/hiney/toucas/derriere/touschy). Since we're hoping to get a pooch soon, we thought they would be a good thing to have since they're easy to clean (the seats are actually made out of wet suit material, so they aren't absorbent) and look snazzy.

After that, we headed to John's parents' house for breakfast and presents with them and my brother-in-law and his wife.

Then we were off to my dad's house for presents and lunch with him and his girlfriend.

Filet mignon with homemade béarnaise, roasted asparagus,
and a baked potato. Mmm... 

Chief refused to play with the Christmas toys we bought him, but
he thought the bag of gift wrap trash was the place to be.

Next we met my Mom and her husband back at our house for presents and dinner.

Our very first Christmas tree in our house as Mr. & Mrs.! Too bad you can't
tell my pants were green… we were a very festive pair.

Chicken croquettes, fried brussels sprouts with onion balsamic reduction,
and saffron rice. Of 21 croquettes, 2 cups of rice, and a whole bag
of brussels sprouts, what's in this picture is all that was left!
Hands down my favorite meal. Ever.

Then, back to John's parents' house for dessert and puzzles. Whew! 

Ready for the breakdown on the house portraits? I basically followed the exact same procedure from when I made watercolor maps.

I printed the pictures of everyone's home out and put graphite paper down so I could trace them onto the watercolor paper. I know, it's totally cheating. But let's be honest: I can be crafty, but "artistic" is a stretch. Painting and drawing have always been my least favorite parts of art because I'm terrible at depicting reality (as you will soon see...).

Up first was my mother & father-in-law's house because they're just around the corner and I could get a picture quick and easily. 

I just used a pen to trace over the main areas so I could see which parts I had already done.

This is what was left on the watercolor paper from the graphite paper (the reason the sketch doesn't go to the top of the paper is because the paper was too big and I was waiting to trim it down).

Then... I started painting. The trees seemed like a safe place to start.

Then I moved on to the rest of the house. I wasn't too happy with how things were looking... it felt really drab/sad/boring/monotone/etc.

Luckily, the trees and grass really livened things up. It's certainly no masterpiece, but it was a decent first effort. 

Next, I did my mom's house. I was actually with her when I took the picture--I told a little while lie and said I was using it for my real estate website to show homes in different parts of Austin. Since we're in the middle of winter, the trees have no leaves and their grass isn't particularly green at the moment, so she wasn't all that pleased the image was going to be publicized. Surprise! Let's call this the summer version, rather than the winter version.

I accidentally forgot to take a picture of the final product, but here it is nearly finished (I hadn't completed the tree on the right yet).

Next, John's grandparents' house (sorry it's blurry…).

Then I did John's aunt & uncle's house... boy do they have a lot of trees!

Next I did my dad's girlfriend's condo which was a little tricky because she lives on the second story. I had to zoom in quite a bit... and because I know it's hard to tell--those brown stripes on the right depict her wood siding. It was rough to paint... don't judge.

Last but not least, I did my brother & sister-in-law's house.

Whew. This project was challenging. I'm glad I made a GIF because it really helps show the different steps, which is nice because when you're all done, there's something gratifying about seeing it broken down.

After I finished them all, I got some matching frames from Michael's and wrapped them up in butcher paper and ribbon. I used different fonts to write out who they were to, and luckily I didn't mix any of them up :)

Disclaimer to watercolor portrait recipients: there is no pressure to actually
hang these up! No offense will be taken if they end
up under the guest room bed :)

So what did you do for the holidays? Did you celebrate with family? Make any DIY gifts?

A Gift For Later

I love just about every aspect of the holidays. The weather… traditions... warm blankets… decorations… community cheer… surprise… need I go on? One thing I'm not as fond of, however, is that you get completely inundated with sweets. That may sound strange, but I mean it. I love sweets, and I love eating them, but when I have 17 different options from 17 different people, I end up enjoying them a just a little less because it's sweets overload. Plus, you have to eat them pretty soon after receiving them to make sure they keep. So much pressure!

Something I wanted to do for Christmas was to make cookies to give to people, but I had mixed feelings since I would be contributing to the exact "problem" I just described. So, I decided to do a homemade version of individual frozen cookies, that way those on the receiving end will have the choice of when to eat them without worrying they'll go bad.

I used the cookie recipe that I made recipe art out of last year.

The recipe actually hangs in the perfect spot to reference while cooking!

As the recipe art suggests, the ingredients are:

1 cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 sticks butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 large eggs

1 tsp baking soda

I always get my mise en place ready before I start to make everything quick and easy.

First, cream the butter and both sugars together. Then, add the vanilla and eggs. Last, add the flour and baking soda.

My favorite version of these cookies has white chocolate chips, but knowing that other people may have different preferences, I split the dough in thirds and added M&Ms and chocolate chips to the other portions.

Next, I cut parchment paper into roughly 5"x5" squares.

To make sure each cookie was the same size, I used an ice cream scooper to dole each of them out (I use one that's 1 ¾" wide, but they have a smaller and a larger version at Williams Sonoma).

Just plop the dough down...

Then, sandwich with another piece of parchment, and smush it down a little. Not only does it take up less space this way, I like how the cookies turn out better when they start in this flat shape in the oven rather than in a spherical one (this way they're less cakey).

After I sandwiched all of the dough between pieces of parchment, I stacked them up in 6 piles of 5 cookies each (i.e., this recipe makes 30 cookies).

Next I used some wax-lined tissue paper and a cellophane bag to bundle them up. The wax paper came from The Container Store, and the cellophane bags and paper tags came from Crate & Barrel.

Granted, you can't store these under the tree for any period longer than a quick photoshoot (they're back in the freezer waiting to be delivered), but they sure do make for a cute picture! On the back I'll write the baking directions, which are 10-13 minutes at 350 degrees. I spent a long time combining and tweaking different recipes, and this version is my idea of heaven. The brown sugar makes the edges crisp and sweet, but the middle is still soft and chewy without being too thick or cakey. 

I actually bake these directly on the parchment paper, and as soon as they come out of the oven I pull the parchment & cookie onto my granite counters to cool down just enough to not fall apart. Then I eat them with a glass of milk. Mmm… delish. 

What are your favorite things to cook during the holidays?

Tis The Season for GIF-ting

So, I must say, I was pretty disappointed in my lack of motivation to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving, where I did just about nothing to make the house feel festive. I think it's mainly because I don't have many decorations on hand, and because the fall colors just aren't my favorite.

But now it's Christmas time!! And I do have decorations and red+green=joy. Actually, literally speaking, red+green=brown, but that's neither here nor there. I will not literally mix the colors together, just lovingly place them side-by-side.

The day after Thanksgiving, John and I decorated the whole house. What that really means is that John got the boxes down, sat on his phone refreshing ESPN, and then re-joined the process once we were ready to hang ornaments. As you may see below… I made a GIF. It's the first one I've ever done, and it was actually extremely easy. I just followed this tutorial, and there you have it. Our Christmas tree from start to finish. Please excuse the combination of all types of terrible lighting. Normally I take pictures of the house early in the morning before the sun is casting shadows, but doing real-time pictures makes that a little difficult.

We got our tree from Home Depot with a lot of help from some leftover wedding gift cards. It's a Martha Stewart pre-lit 7.5" tree, and the lights can either be colored, white, or transitioning between the two. It came with a metal base, and the tree was split into 3 pieces. It was insanely easy to put together--we just set out the base and then put each piece on top of the next. We didn't even have to deal with plugging the wires together because they connected through the pole in the center.

Shall we look at all of the other decorations now? Don't mind the mossy concrete… it's only been a year since I last power washed our entryway and driveway, but it's already time to do it again.

Below is the chair that normally sits where the Christmas tree is. We just moved it over to the other side of the room, and I actually really like it there. It's a strange little area because of how the stairs meet the wall, and having something over there is a nice addition. Perhaps we'll get another chair for that spot? But then we'll have 3...

The pillow on the chair looks a little busy, but it was the best spot given the choices. I think bright spring florals and Christmas just don't necessarily mix, but I'd rather have it out than not use it. It also looks a little funny to have those stockings on the door knob (and there are two more on the front door knob), but this is my first Christmas without a mantel so I'm not really sure what to do with them. Any suggestions? 

I just swapped out our usual yellow pillow for a Christmas one from Crate and Barrel that I got a few years ago, and added a picture frame of me that my mom always used to put out.

The picture is of me playing with Mardi Gras beads which were apparently my absolute favorite. We have another picture of me wearing some that went down to my knees! I guess Tulane was the obvious choice for more than one reason.

Some of our art & outdoor furniture is looking mighty Christmasy nowadays. On the couch, I just popped on two holiday pillows and swapped out our normal blanket for a really cozy knitted one. Note to self: need more holiday pillows.

On top of the table you can barely see a little red Santa that counts down how many days/hours/minutes until Christmas, and on the front of the table is a countdown that John got us last christmas. If you look closely, you can see a tiny yellow triangle on a clear plastic hand that's pointing towards the "1" that you move around as we get closer to the big day. 

I even got around to wrapping all of the Christmas presents we've bought for people. John's are the only ones I haven't done yet...

Can you tell we love the Peanuts gang?

This is an ornament I made for a lot of people as gifts a few years back. I just took a styrofoam ball and glued on fake pearls and added a ribbon. It was extremely time consuming (especially because the pearls had a hole drilled through them so they could be strung, so you had to orient them perfectly to hide the holes), but I really liked how they turned out.

This year I went and got some butcher paper to wrap gifts in so I could try my hand at using fun fonts on the exterior. I still need some practice… hence the lack of a closeup ;)

In the dining room I set out a table runner I made a few years ago, some Crate and Barrel napkins, and a ornament tree I made last year.

The table runner is a long piece of felt with slits cut every inch and a half or so. I just ran ribbon through it to make a woven pattern.

The tree is a tall conical piece of styrofoam-ish material that I glued ornaments to. This is the perfect example of a DIY project I should have never done: I saw the finished product somewhere for $50 and through to myself, "I could make that!" So, I went and bought all of the supplies (which ended up being just about $50 because it took a lot more ornaments than it seems like it would) and spent 5-ish hours painting the cone gold (for the visible spots between the ornaments), removing the metal pieces that are on the end of ornaments so you can attach a hook, and hot-glueing them onto the cone. There are a lot of DIY projects I've done that makes me appreciate why things cost what they do!

And, as you may have seen on Instagram, my extensive holiday dishtowel collection. I didn't realize it was so bad until I literally ran out of surface to put them on. The red one on the right with the little Christmas trees is actually sticking out from under my microwave… because I was that desperate for a spot (not to mention that there's a towel directly under that one… can you see it?). It may seem a little silly to just stick them wherever I can, but there's something about our first Christmas together in our house that has taken away all of my self control and editing eye. It's like, if I have it, I'm going to use it. Just because I'm too excited not to. Perhaps next year I'll pare things back a little, but this year we're all-in.

So do you have any fun DIY projects you do for Christmas? And delicious recipes? Please share! Also, if you have any suggestions for where to put our stockings, I'd love to hear them!