Christmas Mantel

I'm finally here to update my poor neglected blog with a quick Christmas post!

I've seen some pretty sweet Christmas mantels out there lately. Unfortunately our current abode has no mantel or fireplace or anything cool to hang stuff on. I couldn't have our stockings just laying on the floor though so I had to come up with something.

Enter piece of a 2x4. Me and this piece of 2x4 go way back. It's been in the trunk of my car since I moved into my first apartment. My dad and I went to get some slats to put under the mattress on my bed and there were two pieces leftover about a foot and a half-ish in length. And just in case, I left them in my trunk for years. I mean you never know when a piece of 2x4 will come in handy, right?

I was going to spray paint it, but then it got all cold and rainy and I didn't want to go outside and paint. So I took about 30 seconds to sew up a 2x4 sock to slip over it (made of an old black tshirt). And now we have a pseudo-mantle. (Seriously not as cool as a real one over a fireplace but still much better than stockings sitting on the floor)

We also got a tree and decorated it last weekend so the house is feeling quite Christmasy.

Sorry I've been missing for a while, I had a great time with family at Thanksgiving and had so much fun that I managed to come away with only a blurry picture of my cousin (oops). I should have plenty to share with you after Christmas though since I can show you the handmade presents I've been keeping secret. Anybody else have to hang stockings up in a weird way creatively?

Gifts for guys

Ok, anybody else having trouble thinking of something to get for the guys in your life for Christmas? For some reason I seem to have more trouble coming up with gift ideas for guys than for girls. Actually here are some of the reasons I thought of:

• I'm a girl, so naturally I have a better idea what a girl might want
• Hubs is picky (that probably doesn't apply to everyone, but remind me to tell you the story of the chocolate vs. black dashboard sometime)
• You can't apply mad crafting or sewing skills to most guy presents - I'm fairly certain my Dad does not want a cute headband and my uncle doesn't want a pretty clutch
• Guys are weird

 Most of my guy relatives are pretty much maxed out on knives, multi-tools, etc. (although they would probably say you can never have too many) so I've been on the lookout for different guy gifts this year. I thought I'd share some ideas I've compiled after hours of browsing pinterest. Some are homemade and others are...uh...not.

1. Paracord bracelet - looks tough and could be useful in an emergency (you can unravel and use the 7-8 ft of paracord to hold stuff together or something)

 Tutorial here on my blog

2. Camera lens coffee mug - way more fun than a plain ole mug

$24-30 at Photojojo

3. Astronaut ice cream - how cool is that? (haha, get it? coool?? sorry, I couldn't help myself)

$3.99 at ThinkGeek

4. Turn a fat tie into a skinny tie - I'm keeping this in my back pocket for Hubs someday

 Tutorial at Design Mom

5. iPad case - although may I suggest a slightly more manly fabric and a magnetic snap closure instead of a bow...unless your guy is the bow-liking type

Tutorial at The Polkadot Chair

And for the little guy, I like:

6. Socktopus - cute and cuddly :) and not every kid on the block has one

 Guidelines here on my blog (no pattern, sorry!)

7. Car play mat - doesn't this look fun?? And from what I've seen you don't even have to sew them, just hot glue!

Tutorial at A Girl and a Glue Gun

Hopefully that gave you some new ideas! Anybody else have brilliant guy gift ideas?

Gray Nails?

Anybody mind taking a break from crafts for the day? Oh good, no one objected (at least not while I was typing). I was reading through Real Simple and noticed some nail polish I liked. I've been wanting some new polish for a while, so I picked out a pretty gray color - stormy.

On a side note: I don't know why I haven't been buying quick drying polish all along. That's the only way to go! So I painted and luck must've been on my side because I didn't even mess up my right hand (yay!). I saw this on Pinterest the other day and could totally relate.

 

(from: this pin) 

I really like the color, but Hubs started cracking up when I showed him. I guess he doesn't "get" painting your nails gray...or something. I don't know, but he thinks its really funny. Maybe I should just be glad he doesn't hate it. :)

So have you ever painted your nails gray (or do you spell it grey, I go back and forth)? Is it cute or is it hilarious? (Please don't say hilarious.) What's your favorite nail color?