Peek at My Week (Dec. 22-28)

Before the New Year begins tonight, I knew I needed to finish up some business by sharing my weekly peek. These usually go up on Sunday, but I've been so busy just trying to get things done around the house that I neglected taking care of things online. Balance! Perhaps that will be a guiding force for the year to come. Thunking on my goals for 2020 is one of my tasks for today. Anyway, as for the week that was...

On Sunday, Pat, my niece, and I went and saw the new Star Wars movie. I bawled knowing that this piece of my childhood was coming to an end. And, then I tripped in the parking lot and skinned up my knee - which is how I spent most of my childhood too.

Monday was all about getting the house ready for Christmas and doing my shopping. The store was a MADHOUSE! But, back at home, I found a little quiet time to fit in a few minutes of art as I caught up on the Advent activities from Everything Art.

I finished up the last of the Advent prompts on Tuesday before leaving the house for the day.

I then spent the rest of Christmas Eve at my mom's helping her get ready for Christmas. It was mostly about getting our traditional seafood gumbo made.

I helped her chop the trinity that is celery, onions, and bell pepper which starts the gumbo.

Like a kid, I was up before the sun on Christmas Morning. I just can't help myself!

After Pat and I had breakfast and opened presents (apparently, I was very VERY good this year since I got a new DSLR camera and loads of accessories), we headed to my mom's to share Christmas with them.

Of course, we chowed on several bowls of gumbo.

The next day, we enjoyed Christmas with Pat's family (and more gumbo!) before he had to head to band practice. Zoe and I hung out on the couch while she played with the new large tennis ball Pat's brother sent home for her.

On Friday, I worked a little on getting the house back in order and baking a batch of my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for a party that night at a friend's house. We had a great time, and the cookies were a hit.

On Saturday, Pat had a band gig that took him out of the house almost all day. I ran up to the craft store for a few things and picked up materials in the parking lot too. 

I spent the rest of the evening happily playing with my new supplies (the ones I bought, I'm still thinking about the ones above) and watching Downton Abbey. And, that's how I finished the week. 

Let's head into the new year with some inspiration:

• Here's another Paper Rosette tutorial - this one from The Graphics Fairy. I'm going to have to make sure to create some for the tree next year, they always seem to catch my attention. 
• This is Wire Angel Tutorial would have been great for Christmas but could work for any time of the year really. 
• I love me some rainbows and pops of color, so this Rainbow Embassy house created by one artist caught my eye in a big way. 
• The girls at A Beautiful Mess created some seriously cute String Art Ornaments and walk you through how to create your own. 
• Over at Mad in Crafts, Jessica has shared a "She's Crafty" SVG file along with links to other super awesome crafty files you can download. 
• These DIY Rustic Stars could be used any time of the year really!
• If embroidering more is in your plans for the new year, this list of 15 Ways to Embroider Leaves from Sew Guide is a perfect place to start.
• A wildlife photographer has captured Nature's Magical Moments, and they're too cute not to share. 
• Speaking of magic, Dover Publications shared a few Fairy Coloring Pages that you can download and print out for some meditative art in the new year. 

Okay, I'm off to knock some things off the list to finish out this year and prepare for the next. What are your plans and goals for 2020? 

Have a safe and joyous New Year's Eve!!