Happy Holiday PhotoShoot

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Photography by: Me
Location: My bedroom
Purpose: Holiday Cards

Ni-xox-

To Christmas List or Not?

Every year on my husband's side we all have to provide a Christmas list. At first I thought it was annoying and totally not original. But after years of not knowing what to buy everyone I think it's a great idea. At least this way, you dont really have to think and think and in the end buy someone another neck tie that they dont need, or a movie they already have. I think the list idea is good in the way that you end up getting things that are actually useful to you. Also, the list isnt strict in the way that you HAVE to buy something from it. It could just be inspirational so that you know in what direction to go. It has proved to be very useful.

On my side, I've tried to start to impliment the list idea. So far we just use a list for my brother and his family and my three cousins. My mom sometimes uses our lists for stocking stuffers.

This year, on my hubby's side, we decided to do a gift exchange for the adults. Anyone under 18 still gets a present from everyone, but anyone older has picked a name and only needs to buy one person a gift. In the envelope with the names, we attached our lists. We'll see how it goes. Because we only have one gift to buy, we have upped the budget a little. In the end, buying one gift instead of 14 is much better math in my mind and my bank account!!!

Do you think Christmas Lists are a good idea?

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Canada Post Sucks!

So lately I've been having a lot of trouble with the postal system. I think everyone that works for them is incompetent....at least in the past few months. First I keep getting someone else's mail. Ok, so the number of our addresses are the same but not the same street. But really, cant these people read? Then lately both me and hubby had placed an order on amazon. A couple of days later we both received an email saying that our orders were shipped and delivered.We never got them so we had to email amazon to reship. I'm sure the post delivered the orders to the wrong house and the people who received them were not nice and kept the boxes.




NOW, just to add to my aggravation, I had mailed out three packages of pictures to family in Portugal. I actually went to the post office and had them weighed and everything. The person at the post office put what I thought was the appropriate postage on each package....yeah really? Shouldn't this be their job? Isnt it a no brainer. Just weigh the package, check the destination and add postage. Well guess what? I received 2 out of the 3 packages back in the mail saying that it was insufficient postage...and not by a dollar or anything...by $5.00!! Really? Now I'm just waiting for the 3rd package to come back so I can resend! GGGRRR!! I really cannot stand Canada Post right now. I think they hire idiots. *sigh* And that's it for my ranting.




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Glam Skull Centerpiece Tutorial

Here's what you'll need for this project:
Skull
Silver dish (mine was a plastic one from the dollar store)
Clear Glue
Paint Brush
Silver Paint
A small dish
Silver Glitter (mine was more or a dark grey)
Silver candelabra
Glue gun
Black tinsel garland (Or a black feather boa...couldn't find one for cheap)

First, paint the skull silver. Let dry. Then paint the skull with the clear glue and pour the glitter all over, covering the surface completely. Let dry (preferably overnight).

Heat up your glue gun. Glue the silver plate to the candelabra.

Glue the glittered skull in the center of the silver plate. Then glue the black tinsel garland around the skull (the garland may be too long, just trim off what you don't need). You can embellish with silver spiders if you like.

 

Sorry for the crappy picture, my camera sucks!


And there you have it. A very glittery, very glamorous centerpiece for your table of goodies this Halloween!
Hope you try making these easy DIY projects. I encourage you to embellish and add your own signature look. Enjoy!

Ni-xox

Easy Elegant Halloween Candle Holder Tutorial

I've really been into DIY lately. Unfortunately, with a baby, it's not always easy to make time. What I've learned is to DIY slowly. Don't expect to sit there for hours and craft or bake. Little bits at a time and you can achieve a lot more and make it look great. Here is one of my latest DIY that I created for the Halloween party we're throwing this weekend. Enjoy!



This is what you'll need for this project. (Oh and thin and wide black ribbon which I forgot to add to this pic)

First, heat up your glue gun. Measure a piece of your web ribbon so that it fits around your vase and overlaps a very little bit. Run a bead of hot glue down one half of the vase and stick your web ribbon around the vase.

Do the same with the top half of you vase. If the ribbon 's width isn't exactly half the length of the vase or is longer, don't worry. The ribbon can overlap or be short a little bit as we will hide the seam later. My ribbon happened to be exactly the size of the vase by coincidence. If I would have tried to make it that way, it would have never worked. You know how it is!

Here's where the hiding the seam comes in. Take a length of wide black ribbon that fits round the vase. On the seam side of the vase (I mean the seam going up and down), run a small bead of hot glue and glue your black ribbon around the vase to hide the gap or overlap between the web ribbon.

Then glue a piece of silver ribbon over the wide black ribbon for embellishment. Don't forget to always put the glue on the seam side of the vase so that all the glue lines are on the same side.
After gluing the silver ribbon, glue a thin black ribbon on top and bottom of the vase to finish the edges. Again, always gluing on the seam side of the vase. All your glue should be lined up in the back so that you can turn the vase around and hide all your glue lines. (I know I keep repeating myself, but it'll end up a nicer end product)

And voila!! Just add a small candle in the vase and you have yourself a beautiful addition to your Halloween decorations. Stay tuned for my Glittered skull centerpiece tutorial.

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Styling!!

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Hat!

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What? Do I have something on my face?

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Convent in Mafra

Mafra is a city 15 minutes away from Ericiera. It has a really beautiful Palace. The palace, which also served as a Franciscan monastery, was built during the reign of King John V (1707-1750), in consequence of a vow made by the king in 1711, who promised to build a convent if his wife, the Queen Mary Anne of Austria, gave him descendants. The birth of his first daughter, the princess Barbara of Braganza, made the king initiate the construction of the palace. It is a really beautiful place to visit. There isn't much to say about it that I can think of. One thing to note however, is the massive library. It is sooooooooo beautiful. If you've ever seen the Disney cartoon of Beauty and Beast, it looks like the library the Beast gives Belle. No joke. I have never seen a library so big and beautiful. An interesting fact that I didn't know about this library until this time I visited, is that the reason the books are so well preserved is that bats live in the library. I know that sounds strange, but the little bugs that eat the pages of books which therefore would ruin them, are eaten by the bats that live there. Nobody knows how the bats came to be, but there they are. A true blessing to the library, keeping it preserved and beautiful. The only time the bats can be seen is when they hold concerts in the grand hall of the library. The vibrations make them come our of hiding and fly around the ceiling. That must be a site to see.
Another fact I didn't know, is that the library is still used today. By appointment only of course and under supervision. Also, not to ruin the old pages with the oil of our hands, gloves must be worn. How much would you love to skim through that old library!!  Ok, so basically, in case you didn't notice, the library was my favorite part of the visit!

Library.....awesome isnt it!?!?

Ni-xox-

Boca do Inferno (Hell's Mouth)



On the right of the picture you can see the opening to the cavern.

 A very popular tourist attraction in Portugal is a place called Boca do Inferno, in english Hell's Mouth. It is a site near the city of Cascais (another very popular place that I'll talk about later). Basically its a big cavern in a rock off the coast of the ocean. In the winter when the tides are rough, this cavern fills up with water from the waves. Its a really big cavern, therefore very impressive to see. Unfortunately, because the ocean is so vigorous in the winter, it is forbidden to get close enough to see the cavern fill with water. Many people have crossed over the barriers and didnt live to see the cavern or anything else for that matter. Many other people have also died crossing the barriers, but for different reasons. They died trying to save those other people who broke the rules and got caught in the violence of the ocean.
So, in the summer people go visit the empty cavern. Its still impressive because its big...but I'm sure it would be crazy to see filling up! Not that i'm willing to risk my life! The view is also really beautiful from there. The only thing is that it's always very windy. I've visited this place many times in my life and everytime I think it's more beautiful than the last.



Below is the cavern. If you look closely to the left, you can see the opening of the cavern to the ocean.

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