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yesterday the benders had our christmas gift exchange. we're going to chattanooga on wednesday to meet up with our extended family for a few days, so we had our own little pre-christmas christmas. i got so many sweet presents, many of them pertaining to hair treasures, like:

-electric scissors

-a set of 3 titanium scissors

-two embroidered / monogrammed hair treasures tote bags

-a new glue gun

-and this huge vinyl banner for future craft shows:

i got some clothes from modcloth.com and the coat that i wanted (my sister discovered my heart's desire here on my blog!). i got some harry potter movies, a fantastic vintage table runner from my friends jessi and jessica's etsy store, j. emporium, and even a new electric typewriter!

one of the gifts i gave my sister was a headband made with one of my mema's brooches. mema passed away in july, and we all miss her so much, especially at this time of year. i'm glad i could give this gift to my sister:

i ordered a colts snuggie as a gift for my dad because we are all huge colts fans (duh), and i thought it would be funny. but sadly, it didn't come in time, so i had to improvise. one of the greatest moments of the day came when my mom opened a gift from my dad -- and it was a snuggie! now both of my parents can relax in their sleeved fleece blankets together:

(the picture of my dad was the improvisation. i was pretty proud of myself.)

i made a tie for my brother for christmas, and in my next blog i'm going to post some pictures of the tie-making process. it was my first attempt, and i think it turned out pretty well! who knows...maybe neck treasures is in the works!

i'm excited to go to the mountains in a couple days and spend time with my family. it's definitely christmastime.