I’m Elise Blaha Cripe and I have been keeping a personal & craft blog for almost six years! I blog about all sorts of things, but the main focus is documenting my life & DIY projects. I frequently share tutorials and recipes as well as my triumphs and trials of running a small business. And my small business is a mis-match of different things. I teach online workshops (my most recent was a crash course on web designing for bloggers) and sell paper projects like prints and journals through my online shop.
Lately, I am most inspired by the Pinterest. My husband and I will be moving to a new townhouse soon and I love that I can search things like “mirrored walls” and immediately find inspiration images to see how other people have dealt with similar decorating challenges. Coming up with decorating ideas for our new space is my favorite pastime right now.
This holiday season is a tricky one for me. My husband is currently deployed and not scheduled to return until early spring. A big part of me wants to just rush through the season because it means I’ll be a month closer to having him home. But the more practical part of me knows it’s better to just appreciate what we have. I am looking forward to spending a relaxing few weeks with my parents and younger brother – it will be just like the old days.
Elise is generously offering up one holiday mini-book to a lucky reader today!
To win a copy, simply comment below telling us your favorite holiday tradition!
For extra entries:
+ follow Elise's blog in a feed reader, and let me know in the comments
+ follow Elise on Twitter (@eliseblaha)
+ follow this blog via Google Friend Connect (in the right-hand sidebar)
+ become a member of the Ravelry community for this blog
Winner will be announced on Monday November 14!
Is eggnog a tradition? If so, then let's go with that! If not, then decorating the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving night is always the dreamiest. :)
ReplyDeleteFollowing your blog with GFC!
ReplyDeleteWe have many traditions in our family as we have have children but a couple of my favourites are the following:
ReplyDeleteLight Night: We all pile into the car (or truck atm) with thermoses of coffee and hot chocolate and simply drive around looking at all the Christmas lights either the town or people have put up.
Baking Day: Everyone gathers in the kitchen and bakes all the treats for the season.
Santa: Christmas morning my husband sneaks downstairs before everyone is awake, makes sure the house is warming up, turns on the lights on the tree, starts a pot of coffee and dons his Santa hat, so when we all come down the house is warm, sparkly and smells wonderful!
Following Elsie on Twitter!
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/#!/dawngwimes
Following Elise's blog (oops, mistyped her name above!) with google reader. :)
ReplyDeletei love putting up the christmas tree with the family. we spend the whole day getting it just right and selecting the best ornaments to display and we listen to christmas music. someone usually makes sugar cookies too!
ReplyDeleteOh that is easy! The holiday baking...most definitely the baking...be it with my children, sister, or friends the whole process is fun...from picking the recipes to eating the final results!
ReplyDeleteI started a new tradition last year for my kids. I wrapped 25 Christmas and holiday books and let my daughter open one a day to read that night. This year I need 50 books because my 15 month old won't want to be left out. It is a nice way to count down the days until Christmas.
ReplyDeleteGetting together every year with my mom and baking cookies all day long!!
ReplyDeleteI love drinking hot spiced wine at the christmas market!
ReplyDeleteand I follow Elise on twitter :)
ReplyDeleteI love baking Grandma's Christmas cookies with my sister.
ReplyDeleteGwyn
just found your blog and am so excited!! I'm new to knitting and can't wait to see what kinds of tips and tricks I can pick up from you! I love doing our advent calendar.
ReplyDeletehusband and i exchange xmas pjs....i love it!!! ashley.theshineproject@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteMy favorite holiday tradition is my family's annual Christmas party the first Sunday of every December. It's like a fun kick starter to the holidays!
ReplyDeletecbtran92[at]gmail[dot]com
To be honest, my husband and I don't have any family traditions (yet). Last year we were travelling to Northern Ireland and the year before we found out shortly before Christmas we were expecting. My favorite tradition that my parents have is Christmas crackers. Which is just a cardboard tube, wrapped with paper. Two people pull on the cracker and whoever wins gets a wee prize and gets to wear a paper crown.
ReplyDeletemummytocharis[at]yahoo[dot]com
Follow Elise on Twitter (@mummytocharis).
ReplyDeletemummytocharis[at]yahoo[dot]com
GFC follower (mummytocharis).
ReplyDeletemummytocharis[at]yahoo[dot]com
Subscribed to Elise's blog in my Google feeder. Note: I LOVE her blog [as well as yours].
ReplyDeletemummytocharis[at]yahoo[dot]com
My husband and I don't have any traditions around Christmas yet, apart from always spending it with extended family. Now that we have a daughter, I'm hoping that our own traditions will develop.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, my 3 younger siblings and I would always share a room on Christmas Eve, we'd read the Christmas story, then wake Mum and Dad up at 7am with a cup of tea before we were allowed to open our presents.
I'm also now following this blog via Google, which amusingly I'd done before getting to the bottom of this post. Today I'd planned to start loading the blogs I enjoy onto Google so that I don't have to wander all over the net to find them.
I just joined the Ravelry community, and my username is crtnytrn09.
ReplyDeletecbtran92[at]gmail[dot]com
I am following your blog through Google Friend Connect.
ReplyDeletecbtran92[at]gmail[dot]com
I love the candlelight Christmas Eve service at my parents' church...so quiet and moving.
ReplyDeleteI follow Elise's blog in a reader, and I also follow her on Twitter (I'm @katiengibson).
Eggnog cocktails! ;)
ReplyDeleteI love that Christmas for my husband & I is just the 2 of us. We usually shop at the Japanese grocery store and have a nice quiet dinner :)
ReplyDeleteI also follow Elise's blog & follow her on twitter :)
ReplyDeletefavorite tradition: buying a real tree (growing up, we always had artificial ones and now I can't go back -- I love the pine scent too much!)
ReplyDeletePS: i follow Elise on Twitter + her blog too.
My favorite holiday tradition is sipping on holiday blend coffee with my guy! It's kind of our thing, and I love it! XO
ReplyDeleteOh, how cool! I just love Elise's work and her blog!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite holiday tradition is my family's Cookie Day where we bake dozens and dozens of batches and go home with a huge assortment.
ReplyDeleteI follow Elise on Twitter as well.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite tradition is that my husband always wears the paper hat out of the cracker for the rest of the day - it's so sweet and whilst others often takes them off after about 5 minutes he really gets into the spirit of it - bless him x
ReplyDeleteCutting out paper snowflakes with my kids and taping them ALL OVER the house.
ReplyDeleteps - I also follow Elise's blog via Google reader and her Twitter feed!
ReplyDeleteFavorite holiday tradition is giving and receiving new pajamas for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite holiday tradition is eating strawberry shortcake for X-mas bkfst. Thx!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite tradition is cinnamon rolls on christmas morning after we open our stockings and before we open presents!
ReplyDeleteI follow elise on twitter!
ReplyDeleteElise is a great inspiration and I love her mini books! Thanks for a chance to win one.
ReplyDeleteThis year's holidays will be the third ones since me and (now) my husband live together and that means the third special (= that represents our past year) ornament on our x-mas tree. Can't wait :)