Table and Chairs, Plus a Little Learning about Christmas

This last weekend, Chris and I finished up our breakfast bar/dining table and stools. I don't have any pictures of us making the table (regret! I worked that chop saw, and there is no photo evidence to prove it!) But I managed to snap a few while we were making staining the stools, and I took a few after shots of the table. The lighting is really bad, and you can't really see the detail and color right, but you get the idea. 

 

We got the stools from a little furniture shop in downtown Provo. They sell unfinished furniture...it is the cutest little store, and it was perfect for us because we wanted our stools to match our table, but we didn't want to have to make stools...according to Chris, they are a pain to get all of the angles right and make sure the legs are level.

 

So, we sanded them down (they were stamped with "made in mongolia" I think Chris disliked the idea of it telling everyone that he didn't make them....anyway, they are smooth and soft now).

And applied our first coat of stain. It's a dark brown...soo pretty, but you can't really see the color here. There is a lot of graining and fun different highlights in real life. Like I said, poor quality photos, but they're all I've got.

 

Chris gets really focused when he is "doing his crafts" ...He doesn't really like to be photographed, and you can forget about posing. But it's okay...I love his look of intense concentration. So cute!

 Since it is a bar, it doesn't have legs. We have 3 brackets that we've spray painted, and we are going to use them to screw the table into the 40" wall in our tiny apartment. So, for this picture, I just put our table on top of my kitchen table now, so you can get the idea of what it will look like. (side note: I highly recommend making tables for awkward room layouts. Cambridge Court is lovely, but it is NOT table-friendly. We've seen a few apartments, and the tables are either barely there, or take up way too much space and make it difficult to squeeze in between rooms. But if you make your own table, you can measure the space you've got and decide exactly what size you want and how it will fit into the room. Ours is perfect for the tiny space--it is exactly the length of the wall we are putting it on, and since it is a bar it doesn't come out too much. Also, we won't be tripping over chairs, because the stools can slide under the bar. Bonus: we got to pick the stain, the kind of wood we wanted, and the design of the edges.)

 We used molding for the table edges--much easier than a router, and less expensive. We stacked two pieces on top of each other. The top one has a vine and leaves carved into it, and the bottom one is just a simple curvy kinda thing. It makes it look so fancy and cool! When we make more furniture in the future, like bookcases and headboards and stuff, we are definitely going to use molding.

 Show and tell! I asked him to stand still and smile...not quite what I was envisioning, but this is much, much better. So sassy.

 ...and then he just started going over the top. Ever danced with a table? Chris has.
Also, we painted our Christmas Santas! They turned out way better than I thought they would. They don't look much like the ones I remember from my childhood, but not everything in our family will be like it was in the families we were raised in, and  I like these, because they are ours...we painted them together while we ate omelets and toaster strudel, and gossiped about Griffeth's engagement. I've finally stopped looking for the exact nativity we had when I was little, and for the "O Holy Night" Snow globe. Christmas will not be how it was at home in Michigan, and that's okay! Our Christmases will be wonderful BECAUSE they are different, and because we have blended our two families traditions and added some spice of our own. Anyway, here is how our Santas turned out:

Aren't they darling?!

Crafty Crafty Crafty!!

I have been feeling very crafty lately. I want to build and sew and invent every single thing that goes into our house!! Chris got me started on it with the whole "hey let's build our own dining room table" thing...and it turned out absolutely beautiful! It's a rich, dark wood with beautiful graining and knots...and it has carved leaves and vines around the edges. I've never seen such a pretty breakfast bar. (pictures to follow!)

Now, whenever I say, "Oh, we probably need a bookcase" or, "let's get some side tables" or, "we will probably want a headboard or something sometime", Chris says, "Okay, I'll build it for you, just tell me how you want it." ...and it's starting to rub off on me. I found a duvet cover at pottery barn that I LOVE, but it is 500 dollars. ...and THEN I found a pattern online for the EXACT SAME duvet...and the girl who posted it made it to replace her pottery barn duvet, and spent about 50 bucks on materials. Hello, future ginormous sewing project that will look exactly how I want it to and be super fun and save us tons of money!!

I've decided to wait to make it until my schedule is a little more open--besides, Chris and I still have to stain the stools to match our table, and paint some Christmas decorations. (We found some awesome Santas at Michaels, and decided they would be fun to paint. We also found a nativity set that you can paint--so so so tempting!!)

Anyway, we have become very projecty people. It was so fun building that table. I used a chop saw and a nail gun for the first time--it was so fun! ...and we helped Chris' friend do some construction in the basement. He is dividing the basement into 3 rooms, and we built and put up the frames or studs or whatever...anyway, it involved a lot of chopping and nailing and banging things into place. It was cool to see the rooms take shape. I'm really glad I am marrying someone that is so handy--I'm pretty sure if I handed him a picture of a house I wanted, he would hire a plumber and electrician, and build it himself. (I sincerely doubt that will ever happen, but I do know that if we ever decide to rennovate, we will do it ourselves.)

So, right now, we have a big list of projects:

Done: Table
Next: stain 2 stools. paint santas
Future: sew duvet cover, shams, bed skirt, and throw pillows for bed and couches. Build bookcase, build shelves for closet, build side tables, build bed, and any other wooden furniture we decide we want. Paint living room fern green, paint bedroom dusky blue.

I love having projects. It is so much fun to create, especially with Chris--he gets so excited!! ...and it is so satisfying to look at something and know that we made it together, and it is ours, and it is beautiful. I look forward to a lifetime of creating beautiful things with Chris. ...like crafts and stuff. not children. well, not for a while, at least/

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!

The best thing about life is that there are so many things to look forward to. When I was little, I used to think it was silly that stores started decorating for holidays months ahead of time--now I love it!! I love the build up of excitement! I am so excited for so many things right now--I am excited to visit Chris' hometown for a week, and to have Thanksgiving with both of our families the next week in Michigan. I am excited to marry Chris December 18th. I am excited for our first Christmas together. I am excited to finish the semester. I am excited to move to Phoenix for a few months while Chris is on active duty orders. I am excited to build our little dining table together this weekend...I am excited to move in and furnish our whole apartment! I am excited to get together with friends at girls' nights, bridal showers, open houses, and receptions to celebrate and enjoy one another's company. But mostly, right now, I am just very, very, VERY excited for Christmas.

I love Christmas so much. I love listening to Christmas music. I love baking and decorating Christmas cookies with my mom and sisters. I love going adventuring through Christmas tree farms, and picking out the fullest, yummiest smelling, and biggest and bestest and awesomest tree ever!! I love taking the tree home and decorating it. I love all of the old traditions and the new ones...I loved sneaking downstairs Christmas morning to look at the tree and presents, and finding reindeer droppings (chocolate covered nuts) all over the house, and I loved writing letters to our resident elves, Holly, Soot, and Mistletoe (also known as Rachael, Mary Beth, and Ruth). I love new traditions, too--I love making ornaments. Last year Chris and I spray painted a bunch of cinnamon-scented pinecones a shiny gold, and tied them with bright green and red plaid ribbons. My mom, Mary Beth, Elise and I made citrus ornaments and popcorn strings to hang on our Dr. Seuss tree.

This Christmas is going to be very different. For the first time, I will not be waking up Christmas morning to a house full of my sisters. I will be in a little apartment in Cambridge Court, with my married-7-days-ago husband...I will have no rule that I have to wait until 7 to get up. mwahaha!!!

I am so excited to start blending the traditions of our two families together. Chris and I have talked a lot about Christmas traditions. We've agreed to try to alternate Christmas with our families...we've also agreed to open one present, (Christmas pajamas) on Christmas eve, to sleep with the Christmas quilt from my Grandmother Jere and Aunt Ann on our bed (but only after thanksgiving), to continue the reindeer droppings tradition, and to always, always, always have a live, deliciously christmassy smelling tree in our house.

On the subject of stockings, we've agreed to combine traditions (and I'm thinking of adding a few more.) My dad always put some very specific things in our stockings: assorted Lindt truffles, a bag of nuts, fruit snacks, one orange, and a small stocking present--often smart wool socks or a pepperige farm salami. Chris had a similar stocking, but with the distinction of Cracker Jacks (he is very emphatic that we keep this). I also have a few things I think would be fun to add. I really want to put a letter in. Starting out, this would just be a letter from me to Chris, or him to me. But when we have kids, it would be a letter from Chris and me to each of them individually--a letter to them about the little things they do we love, our favorite memories from that year, and how grateful we are that they are a part of our family. I think it would be cool for our kids to have a letter from every Christmas as they grew up...18 years at home. And who knows, maybe we'd continue this tradition after they left?! ...Also, I want beef jerkey in my stocking.

I AM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

A few days ago, I spent about 2 hours trying to guess what Chris was planning for Christmas. I have a problem with surprises...I just HAVE to know. Eventually, I convinced him to list off 10 possible presents, with the two real ones hidden among the distractors, so I could guess which ones they were. He had fantastic decoys, though, and I honestly have no idea what he is planning. I am impressed he has held out so long--I am very persuasive. But then again, he's probably learned from the time I convinced him to give me my birthday present 2 months early, and after he did, I said, "I can't believe you gave it to me."

I am so excited! I've spent the last few days looking up Christmas stockings, tree skirts, angel tree toppers, crafty christmas ornaments, and fun traditions. I've already decided to cut off part of the trunk of our tree, and write "our first christmas tree"" on it, and make it into an ornament for our future trees. I also have decided to wrap up a bunch of Christmas stories and books the month before Christams, and read them as a family that whole month...A Christmas Carol, Christmas Oranges, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Little Match Girl...and maybe a few movies, too...White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, ect.

What are your favorite Christmas traditions? Any favorite memories? What are you most excited about? Share! Share! Share!