Just 5 more days for Christmas Eve and less that two weeks to welcome a New Year…
Can you believe that 2012 is almost here?
This being a super busy week for everyone, I thought I would look ahead a couple of weeks towards New Years Eve. Some of us will be going to parties, some of will be hosting parties, and some of us will be relaxing at home.
Well the wonderful folks at The 36th Avenue have a great little DIY idea that I just had to share. Enjoy!
New Years Eve is a HUGE day for our family!
For me it is perhaps one of the most exciting days of the year.
{ At the end of this post I will explain more thoroughly why}
With the 31st approaching so rapidly I thought to share with you today our
2012 New Year’s Kit!
The Theme!
Every year on New Year’s Eve each member of our family gives a prediction of the new coming year.
Then we write each of them down and see who predicted the previous year more accurately.
This New year’s Eve we are not doing just that but we have chosen a theme for 2012…
…dream BIG!
So of course I had to make a reminder of our theme.
I decided to make this clay keepsake… I think this same technique could be used to make adorable custom gift tags.
It took me less than 5 minutes to make six of them.
It is so simple that the pictures are self explanatory.
{ 1. make a ball 2. roll it 5. stamp it 7. cut it out 10. use a straw to make a hole 11. let it air dry }
Here is a closer look!
The little pieces of paper are to write our BIG dreams for the coming year….
The second thing I did to keep the theme alive during the year is a keepsake box for each member of our family…
kind of like a time capsule.
{ You are going to see a lot of these tin boxes after Christmas for sale all over the place }
The size was perfect… I knew my Saydi would love the red so the only thing I changed was the lid.
I traced a circle on a piece of paper using the lid as a template and then I cut it.
The next step involved Mod Podge.
Make sure you are generous with the amount of Mod Podge.
If you never have done it before trust me it is so simple to do.
Brush the top of your surface with a generous coat of Mod Podge. Then add your paper or fabric and cover the top of it with more Mod podge.
To prevent bubbles I always use my fingers, it helps me to press along the sides and make the final project look as close to perfect as I can.
I added some ribbon to the outside border of the lid and I finished covering the connection of both ends of the ribbon with a button.
Super easy and cute!
Then for the final touch I added some vinyl to the tin container and a I dropped a piece of craft paper in the inside of it…
The little punch of color inside makes it fun to look at!
Here you have it!
For me New Years Eve is like a big Birthday Party.
Literally I look at it as a New Year has been born and we get to see it!
HOW COOL IS THAT!
In many European countries the Christmas Season doesn’t end until January 6th { Epiphany } when the Three Wise Men visit our homes and bring us presents.
New Years to us is part of The Christmas Season.
The lights are up, the Christmas music keeps playing, the Christmas treats keep coming.
I have celebrated New Years since I was in my mothers womb.
Particularly in Spain we have a tradition that dates back from at least 1895 but became consolidated in 1909.
In December of that year, some Alicantines { some of the coolest people you will ever meet } vine growers popularized this custom to better sell huge amounts of grapes from an excellent harvest.
The tradition consists in eating a grape with each bell strike at midnight of December 31st.
According to the tradition, that leads to a year of prosperity and your wish will come true if you manage to have all twelve grapes in your mouth by the 12th second of the new year.
Each grape is eaten with each strike of the bell.
The twelve grapes are linked to the Puerta del Sol tower clock, where this tradition started and from where the change of year is always broadcast.
Now that I am miles away from that bell I get to celebrate New Years twice; one through Skype with my family over seas
and the other one eight hours later here with my four kids and sweet husband at home.
I am so lucky!
I’ll be back tomorrow with Part 2 of our 2012 New Year’s Kit and some more sharing of our family traditions…
I love the Holiday Season!
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