December Superlatives: Projects Plus Parties: a house log

We are sneaking in one last look at December, in case there was anything you all missed – and also simply to remind ourselves that we did not spend the whole month in a Christmas cookie-induced food coma. We have noticed that taking a second to appreciate the items that we have checked off the list each month inspires us to get going on even more projects that we have yet to tackle. So it is a pleasant breath of you-did-it-now-do not-stop to keep our Hands-on momentum a’ flowin. And if you want to see more of last year (or even the year before) we have each month summarized right here (in 24 posts instead of about 840 – not bad, right?).

But first, something that we have not shown before: our New Year’s Eve photobooth pic that we took as a family. It is a real old timey photobooth, which is why the photo processing is a bit, um, “vintage.” And by vintage I mean it obscures the fact that I was making a two-zero-one-three with my hands in each frame (get it? 2013?). But at least it is clear that Clara is sporting some major photobooth skills. Check out that range of faces she’s giving us.

Most Undone: Our gradient Christmas tree, which we enjoyed putting together (we even made a time lapse video of it!) but it sadly got disassembled a few days ago. But we are already thinking about how we will dress it up again next year…

Most Improved: The mirror in our hall bathroom, which we framed out with some plain pieces of wood to give it a more polished and upgraded look.

Most Linked: We put up this linky-fest last month for folks to post projects they’ve done that were inspired by projects in our book so that we all could check them out. Right now there are nearly 200 projects to browse!

Most Overdue: Meeting Nicole of Making It Lovely in person, which we were able to (at last!) do in November during our Chicago tour stop. But it was not until December that we got around to sharing the photos that we took when we crashed her striking pad.

ORB Victim of the Month: All of the doorknobs in our house, which we chose to update with a plain coat of our go-to spray paint (oil rubbed bronze by Rustoleum, for the uninitiated). It was a swift way to make our old mismatched doorknobs feel a bit less, well, old and mismatched.

Most MacGyver-y: When we chose to paint our extra-tall sunroom, we devised this system – a paintbrush taped to a pole, fancy I know – to edge around surfaces we could not reach on our ladder. Take that weird area around our ceiling fan!

Most Magnetic: These ornament magnets that we busted out this year for simply about the first time since making them for a local magazine article back in 2009. They would later hold all of our holiday Christmas cards. We photographed them and other random festive decorations around the house for this post.

Most Graphic: This walkthrough on How To Change Your Outlets which we provided entirely in one 2000 pixel tall image (including captions) for straightforward reference.

Most Likely To Want World Peace: Me, as acting Miss District of Columbia for a brief moment when she let me wear her crown during one of our three recent book signings in the Virginia/DC area. This was also the post where we recapped the holiday crafting session that we led at Living Social.

Most Unimpressed: Burger (what is new?). This particular instance of being unphased by a change in our house occurred when we at last bit the bullet and painted the brick wall in our sunroom to go with the rest of the walls that we already tackled. It was awesomely unifying, even if Burger could not have cared less.

Most Back-To-The-Future-ish: The chance that we’d be able to move into our old house and make distinct design choices is fairly slim, but that did not stop Sherry from imagining what she’d redo and what she’d repeat if we were simply tackling our first home’s decor now. It was lively to see what changed and what has stayed the same when it comes to our style all these years later…

Most Giftable: These three holiday gift guides that we put together – including one for kids, one for ladies and one for folks. We’d enjoy to know if any of you ended up giving (or getting) any of the items we rounded up for ya.

Coolest: The homemade play fridge that we created for Clara for Christmas this year. It – along with a thrifted wire cart and some new play food – were a little addition to her much-enjoyed play kitchen from last year.

Most Gifted: Well, simply about everyone was likely feeling gifted in December. We were simply proud not to have to buy any new wrapping stuff this year, thanks to reusing existing bags, paper, and tissue. In this post you will also see our Christmas lights all strung up outside as well.

Most Vertically Challenged (Plant Edition): Our tabletop tree, which we decked out again this year in lively, non-matching ornaments that are special to us (there were even a few Clara-creations in the mix). And this year we brought in a low-cost DIYed window garland from some on-sale felt ornaments from Target last year.

Most Vertically Challenged (Human Edition): Sherry, who was given a covert behind-the-desk box to assist compensate for a certain shortcoming (pun most certainly intended) during one of two live TV appearances that we eked out here in Richmond.

Most Dedicated To Their Craft: Clara and Burger, who had an straightforward time “acting” the part of children stealing Santa’s treats for our 2012 Christmas card.

Most Nervewracking: We sweated the idea of hosting Christmas dinner for the first time ever, but things went fairly darn well – especially since it gave Sherry a chance to break out the cloth napkins and even use magnolia leaves from the front yard for each place setting.

Most Handsy: All of the crafters and artists that we encountered at Richmond’s Handmade Holiday craft show this month. Our hands did not leave empty either – we came home with a few strong things – including these wisdom cards that Sherry loves gazing at while she types away.

What about you folks? What’d you accomplish last month? Or what did not get done in the holiday craziness that you are looking forward to tackling this year instead? We have a certain big girl room that we cannot wait to get a jump on as well as an unfinished basement and sunroom to attend to.