For this year's Advent Calendar, I let the girls have complete artistic control. We used scrap cardboard and toilet paper rolls which they turned into a mini Christmas village with trees, houses, shops, lamp posts and cars -- so cute! The very last, for the 25th day, is a little nativity scene. Then I was the one who came up with each day's surprise or activity. Kayo and I were away on a trip last week so we haven't been able to open them up with them. Now we're back and the kids are happy we get to do the activities together. Last night was movie night and we watched a classic -- Read More
Instax & Crafts: Felt Mistletoe
There are many stories and versions of how "kissing under the mistletoe" came to be. One of the more popular ones is how it was considered to be a symbol of good luck, friendship and love in Norse mythology which eventually developed into this custom familiar to us all. While I don't particularly subscribe to that custom (kiss under the mistletoe or have bad luck befall you), I do like having meaningful decor that are fun to make. So I came up with this super easy, inexpensive, no-sew felt mistletoe project that doubles as an Instax display, which you can make at home in a blitz if you'd Read More
Christmas To Remember
It's 26 days before Christmas! I hope you feel it cause I do! And I'm loving the cool December breeze we get more often these nights. As we all prepare for the holidays and all the avid memory keepers get ready to document Christmas, I thought it's the perfect time to share my December Daily album from last year. Here are some photos of my favorite pages and I've included a flip through video of the whole album at the bottom of this post. The kids and I had a lovely time looking through these pages again as I was preparing for this post and it definitely puts me in the right Christmas-sy Read More
2016 Christmas Mail Swap
Why am I still talking about Christmas in February?!? I'll tell you why! It's because I haven't had time to sit down and blog so I'm so very late in featuring this one…BUT the things I'm sharing with you in this post deserve to be acknowledged and adored no matter the delay! And I'm talking about the lovely handmade letters and cards I received from the ladies who joined my Christmas mail swap last December. I love organizing swaps because I'm interested in people and in people's original ideas. In having craft swaps, participants are challenged to come up with something nice regardless of Read More
Be Merry, Be Bright
It's that time of year again! Christmas trinkets fill shop windows, songs of merry making fill the air and malls have become more aggressive offering holiday discounts! I am caught by surprise. I can't believe we've already reached this time of year. It's all so quick but also so very exciting and, you know, the excitement cannot be contained! Therefore, we are happy to introduce this year's wonderful Carlos & Veronica Christmas Card Collection! We launched them at the Maker's Pop Up at Kendo Creative last month and I also gave some away to all Craft Camp participants last weekend. Wrote Read More
Hello 2015!
So finally, my first post of the year! Let me begin by saying just how thankful I am for the holiday season that just passed. It zipped by so quickly and a tiny part of me is sad it's over but then, I am also very thankful because my family and I were able to celebrate meaningfully. There were moments of total chaos (e.g. super last minute shopping, keeping the girls from fighting over their new toys on Christmas morning) but there were also moments of pure joy (e.g. Sitting side by side as one family at Christmas Eve Mass, turkey dinner with loved ones). And all of these little moments Read More
Let The Joyful Celebrations Begin!
Just a few more hours to go before Christmas and tonight, we feast! After hearing Christmas Eve Mass, Kayo, the girls and I will go see my family for Noche Bueña and opening of presents at midnight, which I am all excited for. Tomorrow will be another set of fun festivities with Kayo's side of the family. Our Christmas cards also arrived just in time and I'm pretty excited to give them away! This year, we decided to take individual black and white portraits instead of just one with everybody in it. Kayo designed the cards himself and I just love how they turned out! The girls' photos are Read More
DIY Gift: Accessory Clay Plates
Seven days to go before Christmas! It's the final stretch when we find ourselves busy wrapping presents, attending parties left and right, exchanging gifts with loved ones and also caught in heavy, frustrating traffic everywhere we go. It's horrible, alright. I have a number of friends who did all their shopping online to save on gas and precious time. Kayo and I did some shopping online too, but we still hit the stores last weekend and while the shopping itself was not a nightmare, the bad traffic was! I'm glad that I've decided to make gifts for a significant number of people in my list this Read More
DIY Christmas Village Advent Calendar
The season of advent begins in two weeks! I started working on our advent calendar early this year and I would like to share what I made. My inspiration for our calendar this time is to make a little Christmas village mobile using some cardboard and a piece of dried tree branch, very similar to the window charm I made with my kids some months ago (Read Window Charm DIY post here). Again, I wanted to use and recycle items I have lying around the house for this project so I really didn't have to spend anything extra to make it. Here are the materials I used: Cardboard, dried tree branch Read More
The 2014 Christmas Gift Card Collection
Rejoice, rejoice! Christmas is just around the corner and our new Christmas gift card collection is finally here! We introduce four beautiful watercolor designs inspired by chilly December nights, mistletoes and classic Christmas hymns. Php 100 for a set of 12 pcs (3 pcs each design) Specs: 2.5" x 2.5", 220 GSM vellum paper, single fold These gift cards will surely cheer up your wrapping and make your gift giving colorful, fun and extra special. Get yours now! To order, kindly email nica.garcia@gmail.com or text 09228307784 with the following details: full name, contact Read More