My Top 10 Posts of 2013

 2013 was an exciting time for our family because we welcomed the pitter patter of little feet (which is really more of a romp! romp! romp!) with Lacey's adoption.

Working with Lacey on her behavioral issues took precedence over most DIY projects, including finishing  my garage workshop – again. It was worth it though. Lacey has come a long way in learning dog manners, obedience and a few cute tricks, and is puppy stepping her way through socialization. Lacey still has a way to go with her behavioral rehab and we are looking for a good confidence building sport or activity she will like to do. 

It is a good time to reflect on my 2013 top posts and projects on Condo Blues with the new year and a fresh start right around the corner.
Besides, that’s pretty much all I can do right now because I’m spending my holidays like this.

Nurse Lacey is on the job. She hasn’t moved from my side since I had to stay off my feet.

You may have already seen this picture if you follow the Condo Blues Facebook page.

How to Make Duck Tape Stars

This post brought to you by Duck Brand provided by ShurTech Brands, LLC. All opinions are 100% mine.

Decorating the Christmas tree is one of my holiday highlights.  Every ornament has a story and I try to artfully place each one in just the right spot on the Christmas tree.

This year I switched up some of the ornaments we display. It made  the big holes in between the some of the branches of our Christmas tree more noticeable. Instead of running to the store to buy bigger ornaments, I ran to the garage and grabbed the Holiday Duck Brand® Tape

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Let's Duck the Halls!

No, silly, I'm not going to tape the holes in my tree together.  I'm going to use the Duck Brand® Holiday designs (Seasonal Sweets, Snowmen, Holiday Bows, and Penguin) to make stars to fill the gaps in my Christmas tree.

House of Love Christmas House Tour

I'm teaming up with a fabulous group of bloggers to tour how we decorated our homes for the holidays.

I'm trying to balance my desire to run out and buy all new whimsy fun Christmas decor to celebrate how much adopting Lacey has made us smile and laugh again with a potential tirade from Husband about our current state of Christmas tree ornament overpopulation, uh, I mean being green,  having more money to spoil Lacey with on Christmas Day. (Same eco goal, but sorry environment, spoiling our girl is the truth this year.)
To get my idea machine running, I took the decorations out of storage and grouped them on the floor in mixed up combinations  from the way I usually display them. I played with grouping items by color, theme (all snowmen, etc.) as well as things I haven't displayed in a while.

 I realized I have plenty of Christmas whimsy decor if I change how, when, and where I use it. This year I decorated using red and bright green. It really  sings with the red curtains and lime green accent wall in the living room! I clustered snowmen in the bathrooms, wood Christmas decorations on the end tables, and created my first North Pole Christmas mantel.

And glitter.

Lots of shiny glitter! Because we have more girls than boys in this house now and girls like sparkly things (that I already had on hand and never used together until this year.)

Let's start at the top!

Everything Christmas Mega House Tour!

I just cannot believe that Christmas is almost here!

Join me and get ready to Be Inspired as I participate in the Everything Christmas Tour!

 

What is an Everything Christmas Tour you ask? Well...because it seems as though we are all running a little behind, I thought you could use some Inspiration, Motivation or just help getting into the Christmas Spirit! To do that, I am participating with a few other bloggers, fourteen of them, to be specific, as we spend a week sharing Everything Christmas with you...Mantels, Home Decor, Porches and Wall Designs!

How to Make a Harry Potter House Tie Necklace

Miss 3 of 10 is a magical child. She went to Diagon Alley with her family. Her wand picked her in the Ollivander's show at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Lucky kid!

I wanted to give her a Christmas gift that helped her remember that day (besides the wand souvenir her parents bought her in the gift shop.) Miss 3 of 10's favorite Hogwarts house is Ravenclaw. I made her a Hogwarts house tie necklace for Christmas.

How to Make a Hogwarts House Tie Necklace

How to Make Cute and Simple Christmas Gift Jars

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Duck Brand provided by ShurTech Brands, LLC for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine. There are affiliate links in this post for your convenience.

I made dried pumpkin treats for two deserving and out of state doggies who love to exchange Christmas gifts. Well, their humans like to exchange Christmas presents. The dogs just go along for the ride.

I saved two empty natural peanut butter jars from a fate worse than the recycling bin. The BPA free plastic jars are a good size and will survive shipping, but they are a little plain.  Let's change that, shall we?

How to Make a Ho Ho Ho Christmas House Flag

 I like to hang a flag as part of my outdoor Christmas décor because it helps my guests identify my house in a neighborhood where most of the houses look a like.

I usually go with flying the Dannenberg at Christmas per Danish tradition. Unfortunately, my Danish flag has flown more than its share of holidays and birthdays (another Danish tradition) and needs to be replaced.
Lacey’s first Christmas with us is the perfect time to start a new Christmas flag tradition.

I didn’t say it was a good tradition, just a  new and funny one.

I used fabric I had on hand to replace my nylon flag with a cloth homemade Christmas flag.  I used a little bit of mathematical/scientific/geek shorthand to make Ho cubed because I didn’t have room for Ho, Ho, Ho.

Husband didn’t buy that excuse either.

Then we had a comic in depth discussion on the correct way to Ho, Ho, Ho. I say it should be mathematical, Ho cubed. Husband argued it should be scientific notation H three O three.

How to Make a Geek Christmas Flag

10 Holiday Gift Guides including Food Gifts, Homemade Gifts, and Meaningful Gifts to Give Everyone on Your Shopping List

One of the things I enjoy about the holidays is selecting the perfect gift for my friends and family. I need a few ideas for my hard to shop for people on my gift list and figure since I'm combing through Christmas gift guides for ideas, you might be interested in what I found too.

Easy Lavender Goat's Milk Soap

Tis the season to get gifting, fa-lalala-la-lala-la!

One of my favorite gifts to give (and get, if you are listening Santa,) is homemade soap. This year, I'm putting my lavender bushes to good use. I'm making quick and easy calming lavender soap to give as Christmas gift exchange/teacher/hostess gifts.

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How to Make Lavender Soap