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teresa swanstrom anderson

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Greenwood Village, CO 80111
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teresa swanstrom anderson

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Last Minute Christmas Table & Placecards {tutorial}

December 24, 2011 Teresa Swanstrom Anderson
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We're going to have a full house for tonight's Christmas Eve dinner and mid-day yesterday I realized,
"What am I going to do with the table??"
Any of you that know me, know my favorite part of having guests over is the decorating!
I enlisted help from the boys before bed last night and when they woke up this morning {when it was still dark out...sigh}, Anton's first words to me were {in a whisper}
"Can we work on the napkins now, mom?" Sweet buddy. He loves my projects as much as I do.
So here are some pics to help inspire you to grab things around your house to make a cute table, and a quick little tutorial on the tags I used as place cards.
I promise, you can do this quick...in time for dinner tonight!
How cute are these? I found these printable gift tags at Jones Design Company but click here from my post about Kid's Money Jars for more cute printable tags.
Simply cut out the printable gift tags {or grab ones you have on hand}
I like the look of the hole reinforcers, and since that along with the hole punch are Anton's favorite part, he was assigned that task.
{and yes, he has a rudolf nose. He won't let me wash it off from this.}
Have you seen this chalking technique before?
It's one of my favorites for scrap booking, and really anything crafty that's paper related. It's basically just a smaller stamp pad that you run along the edge of paper to make it look more antiqued.
For this project, Ezekiel used the charcoal and brown colors together.
I then found a glue stick from the kid's art bin and rubbed it along the edges where Ezekiel just chalked, tapping the wet-glued sides into glitter {I loooove Martha Stewart's glitter}
This is what Laith was doing during our little project.
He was obviously only interested in going on an adventure.
And here is sweet little Imani...I can't wait 'till she's old enough to help me with my projects too!
Anton & Ezekiel did such a great job tying everything together
I like how this looks, but thought it was missing something...so I went outside and snipped a couple sprigs from the evergreen in our front yard. I love the finished project!
I hate my lack of photography skills...it looks so much prettier in person
Grab things from around your house to place on the table, I love using my grandfather's old books from the 1800's {which is why I'm using led tea lights from Costco rather than ones that might get wax all over}. Look for anything with texture, sparkle, or even some rust.
Or perhaps something with sentimental value, or history like some old family photos in silver frames.
Don't stick to just Christmas items...be creative!
merry christmas & happy birthday, Jesus!
TERESA
In Holidays, DIY + Tutorials Tags Christmas, diy, placecards, table decor, tutorial
← Easy Bacon & Egg Wreath {recipe} & a big birthday!Crockpot Balsamic Pork Tenderloin & Oven Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts {recipe} →
teresa-headshot.jpg

Writer, speaker, and busy mama of six

2 biological & 4 from Ethiopia

I have a fervent eagerness to build a place where we can get filled up, when we feel like all we do is pour out.

I do my best to be real and honest about life, our struggles, and how God stretches me through (so many) mistakes along the way.

May this be a place of nourishment for an everyday, beautiful life.



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Thank you!


Instagram

Confession: we came to the @denverartmuseum today to see the Dior exhibit...but it’s this one that filled their hearts the most.

As we walked slowly through the incredible works by @jordanmcasteel, they had so many questions about why she used certain colors and why she painted a certain way.

I was surprised they paid that close attention and was thrilled to take the time to explain art and expression to them.

This piece in this first photo was their favorite. We sat on the benches near it for a long time and they swished their legs back and forth as we chatted about why someone would wear a shirt that read “Black is Beautiful”.
.
“Of course it is, Mommy,” Imani said to me with a grin. “But so are all the colors of everybody.”
.
So glad she gets it.
👧🏾💕👩🏼💕🧑🏻💕👩🏿‍🦱💕🧔🏼💕👩🏽‍🦰💕👶🏽💕👩🏻
Excited to tell you that there’s another fun braid tutorial on my IGTV today! Head on over!

@katprostudio seriously rocks
It really is amazing what kids glean from how we live. This morning I came downstairs after blow-drying my hair and found Elsabet cleaning up the kitchen AND this gorgeousness on the countertop!

They don’t have school today so she wanted to make ME a breakfast party (and specifically wanted me to notice she also cleaned everything back up after having cooked 😉)
.
Being a mom is often hard and exhausting so having moments like these is a great reminder of how sweet mommyhood is. Sure love them!!
Have you purchased faux plants that come in a pretty pot? I went through a bunch of mine that just look old and soooo not real (🤷🏼‍♀️😂) and ripped them out so I could keep the fun vessel and toss the fake plant portion.

I’ve loooooved having these flowers in what used to hold faux ferns from @target’s #threshhold collection a few years back. (In case you’re wondering, the stems are pressed into floral foam)

I’m wondering how many more days they can be enjoyed before having to give in and toss ‘em...this part of fresh flowers SO bums me out!

Fresh flowers are the BEST!! But now I’m remembering why faux are my friends, too.
😂
Give me a little 🙋🏼‍♀️ if you have a hard time throwing away your flowers...even WAY after they need to be!
One of these things is not like the other 😂😂
.
Imani won the big prize at school and Elsabet is wondering why hers suddenly looks so small
🤷🏼‍♀️😂😂😂
I’m horrible at creating a Smokey-Eye (you too?!) but tried my hand at it today after @katprostudio and I did a tutorial on it (because Elsabet told me I needed to “dress fancy” today for her Valentines Party 🥰😉).
💕
Head to my IGTV station to watch it and to my Stories if you’d like to Swipe Up and get the gorgeous @beautycounter palette we used!!)
💕
Happy Valentines Day, friends!
🌸❤️💕🎈
.
TIPS:

1. Apply Nightfall over the lid.

2. Go in with the color crown on the center of the lid to add that pop for sparkle!

3. Apply denim in the corner and crease with a blending eye brush( that will be a fluffy brush).
.
4. Then apply bone in above the tear duct area and below the eye brow.

5. Apply your eye liner to your desired look.
false lashes if you would like ✨Boom! You got yourself a fabulous smokey eye!

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Nov 16, 2018

The party is over on instagram

Confession: we came to the @denverartmuseum today to see the Dior exhibit...but it’s this one that filled their hearts the most.

As we walked slowly through the incredible works by @jordanmcasteel, they had so many questions about why she used certain colors and why she painted a certain way.

I was surprised they paid that close attention and was thrilled to take the time to explain art and expression to them.

This piece in this first photo was their favorite. We sat on the benches near it for a long time and they swished their legs back and forth as we chatted about why someone would wear a shirt that read “Black is Beautiful”.
.
“Of course it is, Mommy,” Imani said to me with a grin. “But so are all the colors of everybody.”
.
So glad she gets it.
👧🏾💕👩🏼💕🧑🏻💕👩🏿‍🦱💕🧔🏼💕👩🏽‍🦰💕👶🏽💕👩🏻
Excited to tell you that there’s another fun braid tutorial on my IGTV today! Head on over!

@katprostudio seriously rocks
It really is amazing what kids glean from how we live. This morning I came downstairs after blow-drying my hair and found Elsabet cleaning up the kitchen AND this gorgeousness on the countertop!

They don’t have school today so she wanted to make ME a breakfast party (and specifically wanted me to notice she also cleaned everything back up after having cooked 😉)
.
Being a mom is often hard and exhausting so having moments like these is a great reminder of how sweet mommyhood is. Sure love them!!
Have you purchased faux plants that come in a pretty pot? I went through a bunch of mine that just look old and soooo not real (🤷🏼‍♀️😂) and ripped them out so I could keep the fun vessel and toss the fake plant portion.

I’ve loooooved having these flowers in what used to hold faux ferns from @target’s #threshhold collection a few years back. (In case you’re wondering, the stems are pressed into floral foam)

I’m wondering how many more days they can be enjoyed before having to give in and toss ‘em...this part of fresh flowers SO bums me out!

Fresh flowers are the BEST!! But now I’m remembering why faux are my friends, too.
😂
Give me a little 🙋🏼‍♀️ if you have a hard time throwing away your flowers...even WAY after they need to be!
One of these things is not like the other 😂😂
.
Imani won the big prize at school and Elsabet is wondering why hers suddenly looks so small
🤷🏼‍♀️😂😂😂
I’m horrible at creating a Smokey-Eye (you too?!) but tried my hand at it today after @katprostudio and I did a tutorial on it (because Elsabet told me I needed to “dress fancy” today for her Valentines Party 🥰😉).
💕
Head to my IGTV station to watch it and to my Stories if you’d like to Swipe Up and get the gorgeous @beautycounter palette we used!!)
💕
Happy Valentines Day, friends!
🌸❤️💕🎈
.
TIPS:

1. Apply Nightfall over the lid.

2. Go in with the color crown on the center of the lid to add that pop for sparkle!

3. Apply denim in the corner and crease with a blending eye brush( that will be a fluffy brush).
.
4. Then apply bone in above the tear duct area and below the eye brow.

5. Apply your eye liner to your desired look.
false lashes if you would like ✨Boom! You got yourself a fabulous smokey eye!

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I'm just so thankful you're here. May this be a place where you can sit back and feel nourished...take a few moments for yourself so you may be filled up. No one can pour from an empty bucket.


ForMERly known as HUGS + PUNCHES

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