Late last night I was snuggling into bed when Matt came in and said he had to give me my present then. So I got out of bed and tip-toed into the living room to find…
A homemade Ball jar table lamp!!
A bit hard to see in the dark… but it’s gorgeous and so me!
He made it himself out of metal pipes (just like he did my clothing rack from our rental house)
I’ll post some more photos today!
We slept in this morning and then enjoyed Great Harvest pancakes and presents!
3 flavors: pecan, banana and chia, topped with Cookie Butter and Cocoa-Nut
Chestnut – Christmas appropriate!
Dancer + Prancer
During breakfast we opened gifts that our family sent – got lots of fun stuff including socks + Nuttzo and an Organic Butcher gift certificate from Karen (who is in Alabama with Andrew and her family), some nice body wash + lotions, and quite a few checks that made us very happy!
This is my first Christmas ever without my family and we miss them, but luckily we were able to get some live action via Skype last night!
I was worried it wouldn’t feel like Christmas without my parents’ big old house, but I think we’ve done a good job creating our own fun. And tonight we’re having friends over for a fancy dinner!
There won’t be too much relaxing today because we have a LOT of packing to do! We leave on our vacation tomorrow!
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Yay for being able to connect w family on Skype!
Love the ball jar lamp. Very chic!
Have an awesome day! Where is vaca to?
Merry Christmas! Enjoy that vacation.
If you have a chance at some point I’d really love a tutorial for the lamp making because I’d love to make one too! I love DIY.
Merry Xmas to both you and Matt
! What a thoughtful gift 
Woah! How crafty!!! He should patent that and sell em on open sky!
Merry Christmas! Have a fun filled vacation!
Merry Christmas to you both!
That lamp is amazing; I love it!
I started my morning with pancakes as well but I did gingerbread – delicious. And since I’m away from my family this Christmas too, the Skype call will be later this afternoon.
A very thoughtful gift
Merry Christmas to you, Matt and the family!!!
Ah Skype is the best! Glad you got to see your family. And what a cool gift! Maybe a DIY post from Matt??
Wow that is SO cool! Nice job Matt!! I love Skype as well and use it regularly to keep in touch with my friends and family overseas. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Christmas day and good luck with that packing!
What at an incredibly thoughtful one-of-a-kind gift. Matt always impresses with his artistic talents.
A very Merry Christmas to you and yours, and safe travels to your mystery destination.
Love the lamp! Skyping was fun….My first!
Beautiful lamp! Merry Christmas!
The lamp is great and as you said, so YOU! The best gifts are the ones that really fit the recipient and that the recipient will use…and the lamp succeeded on both fronts.
Glad you and the fam had some Skype time, too
Wow….that lamp is so unique and beautiful! What a nice thing for Matt to do for you.
Very sweet.
Hope the rest of your day is wonderful.
Where are you going??
It’s a surprise!
What an AWESOME lamp! Such a thoughtful and creative gift.
Good luck with the packing! I always have so much trouble deciding what I should and shouldn’t bring.
Have fun on your vacay!! That ball jar lamp is awesome. What did you end up getting for Matt?
a pizza peel! And books, and a beer cap wreath and ornament and his favorite peanut butter buckeye from Feast
That all sounds awesome. I love buckeyes.
What a unique and thoughtful gift – although you may need a bigger table now with the lamp on it lol!! I never thought you and your sister looked much alike before but now I can definitely see the resemblance!
That lamp would look amazing on your new porch, too!
Merry Christmas to you & Matt!!
We hope to move it out there in the summer!
So creative of Matt. He sure “knows” you….
oh, and homemade is the BEST!
Cute present! Merry CHristmas
Yay! Comment 26
Merry Christmas to you and Matt. Has sure been fun watching your businesses grow this past year. Have a wonderful vacation!
Good luck getting ready for the vacation – and ENJOY IT! I’m so excited for you – you absolutely deserve it
Merry, merry Christmas!
Very, very, very cool lamp!! Matt is very talented in the arts.
Merry Christmas! Enjoy your day.
Gorgeous lamp! Such a talented couple
This is our first Christmas away from family, too! But I always enjoy reading your blog b/c I’m a fellow NC girl and your posts remind me of home
Hope you have a great vacation and can’t wait to see where you’re headed!
Vacation, what vacation? Youre still gonna post i hope:)
That Skype picture of everybody is so cute!*
We too are away from my family … Skype actually really helps … incredible all the things that have changed our world.
It was a beautiful Christmas … family was missed … but it was truly beautiful.
Have a great vacation.
I love the lamp!! What a sweet and creative gift to give!! Hope you guys have a merry Christmas with your family! Lots of love form our house to yours
It’s my first Christmas without my family, too, but it’s nice to still be able to talk to them.
Merry Christmas!
I LOVE that lamp! And the fact that Matt made it himself makes it even better.
And I can’t believe how much your family looks like you!
yum…what ans where is cookie butter? sounds fun.
enjoy your vacation. jamie and me are thinking about an impromptu vacation to our wedding site this week. disappointed i missed the bread email notification. we have been with lots of family the last few days. i just realized my phone is still in the car. oops. guess, i’m not taking calls either ;P
pinch…yep, human.
It’s Cookie Butter from Trader Joe’s! AKA Biscoff.
Hope to see you soon!
Very cool lamp & pancakes! =)
What an awesome lamp! That was so thoughtful of Matt!
I’m sorry you didn’t get to spend Christmas with your family – thank goodness for Skype though.
We used it to “spend” Thanksgiving with my sister since she couldn’t make it home then. I love how it’s almost like being with the other person!
I follow, but don’t comment very often…
Three words: best husband ever!
The lamp is adorable! What a clever idea!
Great job for making it a special Christmas with you two:) we thought it’d be weird in Korea too, but we really loved our day~ and the new holiday tradition of kimchi on Christmas Eve:)
Lovelovelove the lamp. Matt is quite the Santa Claus
Love that a Trader’s Joes is coming to town soon. I will make a mental note of this.
LOVE the lamp
What a perfect lamp for you! Can you change the jars for another color if you want? My husband made me a beautiful cedar chest and I gave him a home beer brewing kit. We got it going yesterday so we’ll have to see how it turns out.
Oh Kath… That table lamp that Matt made you is awesome!!! Please tell him he did a great job!
He should make you a chandelier like that for over your dining room table — kind of the same concept as the one I liked on the Web site of all the lamps you told us about
It would be so your taste, and his handiwork combined. What do you think of that ideat? Plus, it would not cost you that much 
It would be hard for me not to be with my family on Christmas as well!
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WOW, the lamp is so creative and stunning!!! Presents that are homemade always are super special… P.S. Your pancakes and set-up are fabulous- great looking food and a festive setting!