christmas – Rae Nudson

to do lists of the semi-adult: episode 12

Adult Christmas is hard. When you’re little, you basically just have to show up for presents on Christmas morning. Now we have to do the shopping and the cleaning and the cooking all while working full time. If you’re in the middle of holiday stress, you aren’t alone.

Jewels and I are struggling a little to get it all done, but we’re getting there one to-do list at a time. In this episode, we talk about dealing with a crisis around the holidays (everyone’s ok now), when to mail your gifts, and what we do to get ready for the New Year.

In our lightning round, Jewels talks about finishing her amazing Starry Night cross stitch. I have been reading Sex Criminals and ODY-C, and Jewels has just caught up with Serial. We both cooked last week–Jewels made beefy mushroom soup and I made a delicious pasta from Blue Apron with cauliflower and capers.

You can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or by using our feed link. You can also always find them on my Podcast page. You can find me right here at Rae’s Days, on Instagram, and on Twitter. Jewels is at Oven Lovin, on Instagram and on Twitter.

to do lists of the semi-adult: episode 11

In this episode, Jewels and I talk about planning for Christmas. I know–Christmas before Thanksgiving?! But part of being a semi-adult is thinking ahead, so here we go.

Jewels and I love Christmas cards (and most other things about Christmas). Jewels has a Pinterest board dedicated to couple’s holiday card ideas, just in case you can’t find a snowy lodge and perfect winter scene for a photo card before you need to get them printed. Jewels has previously done something like Minted’s Year-In-Review card.

I am really into buying cards because I can’t get it together enough to make them on time. I love Barnes and Noble’s holiday cards on sale. And dollar stores have some good affordable options. I am really, really into the idea of an address stamp (like this one) to make things go faster. Elise Joy recommends the Simon Stamp.

We also talked about making small gifts for our friends (like ugly sweater tree ornaments, coffee cozies, monogrammed coffee mugs and Insta-magnets). I also talked about my family’s cool Christmas camp, which you should definitely do with your family at Christmas. If you have any Christmas planning ideas, let us know!

ugly sweater ornaments

For a tiny apartment with a tiny Christmas tree, I sure do have a lot of ornaments. I can’t stop! They are miniature works of art and I love to look at them on my tree and in every holiday store or catalog. But good ornaments don’t just have to be professionally done. The best part of some trees is the handmade touches from ornaments you can make yourself. So let’s get to making some. And let’s make them ugly.

Ugly sweaters are one of the best parts of holiday fashion, right? People are even throwing ugly sweater parties. And if you’re a little unsure of your crafting abilities, what better way to hide any mistakes than by making something that should be purposefully ugly. Your first step for your ugly sweater ornaments is gathering materials.

I started with a rainbow of wool felt. I like this felt from Purl Soho because it’s high quality wool and comes in really gorgeous colors, but I think any felt would do. Print and use the Rae’s Days Ugly Sweater Template to cut out the shape of the sweaters.

After you have a few blank sweaters, use any materials you’d like to decorate them. I used felt to cut out shapes and hot glue them on. I wanted to use materials I had on hand, but if I had any sequins, you can bet they’d be all over these.

After that, step back and admire your work.

I am no perfectionist, and these sweaters are no exception. I didn’t measure, and I didn’t worry about getting everything perfect. These are *ugly* sweaters, remember? But I have to say, they look pretty cute in the end. One of my favorites is the Santa sweater. If you wanted, you could use this same template to make Santa ornaments instead. All you need is some white felt for the accents, and some black buttons (I used my hole punch again to make the little felt circles). Once you’re happy with your collection, you need to add some string or yarn so you can get them on your tree.

I used some gray yarn I had on hand, and I cut it six inches long. On the template, there is a six-inch ruler you can use to measure your string. Then I made a loop with the yarn and hot glued it into the back of my ornament. The easiest way for me to do this was to use a spare piece of felt and glue that to the back to hold the string in the right place.

You could use any spare piece of material you have. I cut some into circles because I thought it looked like buttons on the back. Then, hang it on your tree!

Pick up the Rae’s Days Ugly Sweater Template here, and get started! If you make any, I’d love to see them. Please share on Instagram (I’m raenudson) or Twitter (rclnudson) with the hashtag #raesdays!

characters’ christmas trees

One year in college I left our Christmas tree up so long it became an Easter tree (complete with Easter egg lights). For a few years in New York I lived in a 400-square-foot apartment, but I always made sure I had room for my boxes of Christmas ornaments.

Right now I have a small fake Christmas tree that’s roughly three feet high. The lights built into it burned out last year–I might need to retire it soon. For now, I just added extra strands of lights (including the Easter egg ones).

I don’t know what I like more: the twinkling lights, the bulbs of bright colors, or the sparkly garland.

My tree is a Doctor Seuss tree. Its ornaments are too large, and too small, and the giant glitter star at the top makes it a little lopsided. I use (and save every year) the tackiest, most colorful garland I can find. I only wish I could fit more ornaments and lights on my tiny tree (and figure out how to take a better picture of my narrow tree in my tiny narrow living room).

I love my little Christmas tree, and I think it does a good job of representing my unique brand of Christmas cheer–more is more and the brighter the better.

After all, your tree is a reflection of your style. Are you traditional? Modern? Minimalist? Tell it to me in Christmas tree. I love seeing my friends’ (ok, and strangers’) trees. It’s a peek inside their holiday brain–and sometimes there’s a bit of personal history in the branches. I assume this is true for fictional people, too, so what would some characters I’ve met this year have on their Christmas trees?

Jon Snow from Game of Thrones. Jon Snow’s tree on the wall would be pretty sparse. They’d have crow decorations and black ornaments. Some books might be under the tree as a gift to Sam, and it would definitely be covered in snow.

Delirium from the Sandman. Delirium’s tree would be a delight–at least at first glance. It would be rainbow, like her speech bubbles, and it would have whimsical ornaments. I have a feeling Delirium decorated until something else came up, and then she promptly deserted her tree in favor of a new distraction. Or maybe she hit the eggnog a little too hard before she got started.

Bernadette from Where’d You Go Bernadette. Once Bernadette was a great architect. She used recycled materials and wasted nothing. Her tree would be made of materials found around her Seattle home, and the blue glass would be a tribute to her daughter Bee’s trip to Antarctica and the glaciers she saw there.

So how do you like your Christmas tree? Whimsical like Delirium’s? Or maybe upcycled like Bernadette’s?

gift-card giving fun felt envelopes

When I was little, my grandpa gave me a gift card to Barnes & Noble for $20.

I thought it was the most money in the world. I remember looking at all the shelves, picking out so many books, so excited at the new stories at my fingertips. When I was done, we went to the cash register, and–shockingly–the total was more than what the giftcard would cover. About $20 more. My generous mother said she would pay for the rest, and I bounded home with treasures from my giant shopping spree.

Gift cards are fun. They can let someone have fun and shop without budget worries. They can help you provide for someone when you aren’t sure of their size or exactly what they need. But sometimes I feel like they can be a little impersonal–it’s a great gift, but it’s hard to be excited about giving someone a piece of plastic.

So to make my gift-card giving a little more fun, I whipped up these felt envelopes. It was super fast, and I think they came out really cute!

I measure a long rectangle of 9 and 3/4 inches by 4 and 3/4 inches.

Then I cut out the felt, and folded it into thirds. I used an iron to help me make the creases. Then I pinned it in place.

Then, for the top of the envelope, I measure a dot in the middle of the felt, used my ruler to make a triangle, and cut to make a point.

Then I used a zig-zag stitch–just for fun–and sewed up the sides of the envelope and to the point. I also have these cool velcro dots in my craft bookshelf, so I added those on and was done!

You could also embroider the letter of the person you are giving it too, or use a ribbon to secure the envelope instead of velcro. I just used what I had on hand. I also wasn’t very precise–you don’t have to be a perfect sewer to make these work. You could even use hot glue instead of a needle and thread. Or colored duct tape! Or any materials you have on hand! Have fun, and be proud to put it under the tree.

Don’t forget in this season of giving that the Newtown libraries have set up a Books Heal Hearts fund to provide books and materials for their community. Like my grandpa gave the gift of books to me, you could help provide for some kids who really need some new stories or comforting entertainment. Read more in my original post on Books Heal Hearts.

christmas dinner keepsake

I love the idea of having a dinner party, now that I have a table that can fit more than two people. And to me, name tag place holders at dinner scream “I can throw an awesome dinner party and my details are more fun than the average entire dinner.” Don’t they say that to you?

I don’t have fancy Christmas plates, or lovely linen napkins. One day, I will, but in a studio apartment it was just impractical for my lifestyle. But this name tag makes me feel like I could throw a fun dinner party that I’m proud of because I put time into an extra special detail. All you need are:

an ornament. I used mini ornaments because I have a mini tree, but I think they would work well at any size as long as you have a glitter-free space to write on.
silver sharpie
gold marker
ribbon

And voila! You can dress up any setting with a fun name tag your guests can take home and place on their tree.

You can use any color ornament, and use gold or silver to write the name and make a design. I think it would also be nice to put the date of the event on your ornament, for a keepsake. Now hurry over! I’ll make dinner as soon as I finish more name tags.

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