Countdown to Christmas Happenings

We've had a busy start to our Countdown to Christmas, how about y'all??!


December 1st found us making our Hershey's Advents.  We always have so much fun with this.  This year we used the Hershey's Caramel Chocolates.  Uh, yum.

On the 2nd we attempted Christmas Shrinky Dinks.  We cut them out, colored, placed them in the oven, and . . . nothin'.  No shrinkin' whatsoever.  

We'd heard about a local Christmas Bazaar on the 3rd, and went to check it out.  It was pretty small, but one of the tables catered to crafts for kids.  For a couple of dollars they could choose any crafts they liked.  The girls chose Christmas Tree Ornaments.



And yesterday . . . . we got our tree!  YAY!  We've been hit with some sort of cold, and haven't been feeling our best, so we weren't sure when we'd get a tree.  But we sucked it up, and got it yesterday.  And it's HUGE.  They look so much smaller out there in the field, don't they?  Our old house had, I don't know, maybe 7 or 8 foot ceilings, but our new house has vaulted ceilings throughout much of it.  So.  Pictures of that adventure coming tomorrow ;)

How are y'all celebrating?  Don't forget to document your happenings, and come back here on Thursday for a link up!

Countdown to Christmas ~ ♥ Week 2 ♥

We are one week closer to Christmas! Oh my goodness how time is flying!!!

We've had another busy week ~ less crafts, more outings. Let's see if I can remember what we've been up to ;)

Saturday, December 5th

** Snowflake Necklaces **

I found the cutest kit at Wal-mart for making candy necklaces. Each packet contained edible candy beads and a snowflake candy to string on stretchy cord to create a necklace. The girls had such fun stringing the candy. {They also had fun eating it!}

Sunday, December 6th

♥ Decorating Nana and Grandpa's Tree & Chili Dinner ♥

I know I already shared this picture, but I love it so much I thought I'd share it again! :) That, and, somehow I managed to erase the remaining pics from our tree decorating/dinner at Nana and Grandpa's!

Monday, December 7th

♥ Decorating Grandma and Grandpa's Tree ♥

Monday was a looooong day, but we couldn't skip out on decorating at Grandma and Grandpa's {Jeremy's parents}. The girls had fun hanging decorations. Kam had pretty much had it by that point in the evening {as evidenced by above picture}.

Tuesday, December 8th

♥ Hot Cocoa, Cookies, and Photos at Grandma's office ♥

This was so much fun! I'm so glad we braved icy cold temps to make it to Geri's office. The tree was the perfect backdrop for some Christmas pictures, and the girls gobbled down some cookies and slurped on some hot chocolate while we visited with Grandma. It was great!

Wednesday, December 9th

** Mini Christmas Tree Decorations **

This was a fun craft idea I found online at Kaboose

You need a styrofoam cone, green felt, glue, and rhinestones or other decorations. Just glue the felt to the cone and attach the embellishments. Voila!

Thursday, December 10th

** White Christmas Movie-Watching at Nana and Grandpa's **

Sierra's been wanting to watch this movie {a favorite of mine and my dad's} for awhile.

Kam found some cookies ;)

And afterward we enjoyed sparkling cider and lasagna! :)

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I can't wait to read about your week! Link up and share :)

Countdown to Christmas is almost here!

Tomorrow is the first day of December!

If you're like us, you're gearing up for lots of holiday fun this month. Tomorrow's project is our Hershey's kiss Advent Calendar. Of course, the girls don't know it yet. They will find out tomorrow morning!

I've posted a couple of ideas for our Countdown to Christmas, and I thought I'd post one more tonight to get y'all started for the week.

Snowflakes

These will be a super-easy craft for the girls to do. I took white craft foam and cut out snowflakes. The girls will decorate them with glitter, rhinestones, sequins, etc. We will then punch a hole in the top, pull string through and hang them from the girls' bedroom ceiling. We always hang white lights in their room for Christmas, so these snowflakes should look darling just twinkling away. If you don't have any craft foam, you could always use white construction paper!

~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~

Please think of joining in! We will be linking up our week's worth of projects, crafts, outings, etc. starting this Friday, December 4th {and again the 11th and 18th}. Snap some pics of your week and share with us! The more, the merrier. We could all use fun ideas to share with our little ones!

Crafty Idea #2 . . . Holiday Hair Clips

Looking for more ideas for your own Countdown to Christmas? Look no further! :)

December 1st will be spent crafting our advent calendars {click here for tutorial}, but here is another craft on my list to be done earlier in the month rather than later.

Holiday Hair Clippies!

{Don't have a little girl to share these with? No problem! I happen to think they look lovely in mama's 'do too!}

You'll need:

I use fabri-tac, but there are lots of great adhesives out there. Alligator clips {you can find these at the craft store. I bought mine on Etsy.} Ribbon {3/8" works nicely}, and embellishments.

First I measure the ribbon to cover the clip. {You can do this by placing ribbon right-side-down and clasping alligator clip on top, then wrap ribbon around the clip to cover it entirely, and measure. I find that I use about 6 inches, give or take}. Then I lay the ribbon flat, right side down and apply a thin line of fabric-tac from end to end of the wrong side of the ribbon. You'll want to apply enough adhesive that it will hold, but not so much that you've got glue oozing out the sides. You'll find the balance ;) Once glue is applied to the ribbon, take the clip again and clamp it down on one end of ribbon, glue side up. Wait a few seconds to let it adhere, then continue to wrap the ribbon around the rest of the clip, pressing down occasionally. Hold for a minute or two to let it set. Fabri-tac happens to set quite quickly. Once your clip is covered in ribbon, you can glue on some fancy-shmancy embellishments.

If you'd rather sew than glue {like me!}, you can cover a snap clip in felt and sew on your embellishments. Not as much mess, but a bit more time-consuming. First, I cut the felt to the shape of the clip, leaving a little more than 1/4" all around. You'll need two pieces ~ a top piece and a bottom piece. Next I poke a little slit in the bottom piece and slide the bottom part of the open snap clip through. Then I snap the clip closed on top of the bottom piece of felt. Lay the top piece of felt on top of the clip and get your needle ready to sew the top and bottom together. I like the look of a blanket stitch, so that is typically what I use. Stitch around the clip, finish it off, and voila! {hint: If you're adding an embellishment, it is easiest to do that before joining the top and bottom pieces}. I recently taught Sierra {7 years old} the blanket stitch, and she does a pretty good job with it, and enjoys making the snap clips. Makenna is a bit young for sewing, so we'll be using glue and alligator clips ;)

Stay tuned for more ideas for your own Countdown to Christmas!

Countdown to Christmas Ideas

We are very much looking forward to Thanksgiving in TWO days {can you believe it?!}. This, of course, means that December is right around the corner. If you've been following along, you know that my plan this year is to have some sort of craft, activity, project, or outing scheduled every day in December leading up to Christmas. Our Countdown to Christmas. This may be something as simple as reading a Christmas story while sippin' on some hot cocoa, or baking Christmas cookies. One day will be devoted to picking out our tree and putting up decorations.

To start we made our Advent Calendar.

I plan to put a slip of paper revealing our activity for the day in each pocket.

This was super easy to make, if you're interested in one for yourself. I used flannel and fleece with felt as pockets, but if you used felt for the entire project, you could get away without any sewing! I was going to applique the numbers, but ran out of time . . . Tulip paint to the rescue!

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Our activity for December 1st will be making another advent calendar. My mother-in-law gave me the idea, last year, as a project for our Sunday school class. It was a hit! Want to make your own?

You'll need:

Saran Wrap {I use colored}

Yarn or string

Hershey's Kisses or some other small treat {24 of them}

24 small squares of paper, numbered 1-24, and hole punched

You may want:

A decorative topper

{We used craft foam last year. Cut out Christmas trees, "decorated" them with sequins and printed each child's name. Then attached a string to hang them.}

What to do:

Take the saran wrap. You'll need a long piece {The length is dependent on how much space you'll leave between each treat. 5 feet should be about right}. Place hershey's kisses in one long line down the center of the saran wrap, leaving an inch or so between each one. Carefully roll up the wrap, then tie pieces of yarn {with numbered square attached} between each treat. Each day, your child {or you!} can untie a string and enjoy some chocolatey goodness, while you count down to Christmas!

More ideas to come!!!

Countdown to Christmas Update

Did ya notice the new button for Countdown to Christmas? Did ya? Huh? Huh? Did ya? It is pathetic how excited I was that I made it all on my own. Pathetic. Ask Connie, she'll tell ya.

I'm getting organized, planning out my December calendar, and taking stock of what I have on hand. Can you believe December is two weeks away??? Where does the time go?

♥ Thinking of joining in? ♥

We'll link up on Fridays starting December 4th. {Again on December 11th, and finally on the 18th}

But feel free to post about your fun creations, projects, outings, recipes every day if you like. On Fridays we can do our weekly recap. With pics {?}

Grab my button for your blog. I worked REALLY hard on it {just kiddin'!}

Most of my projects will be centered around my children, but if you do not have children {or they are too young to participate}, please consider linking up some of your favorite crafts, holiday traditions, recipes, anyway. We all could use some inspiration!

Want to participate, but need some ideas to get started? I'll be posting some of our project plans soon, so stay tuned!

Countdown to Christmas, Kids' Creations

As the girls get a little older and are more capable {and willing!} to help out with crafts and projects, each holiday becomes more fun and exciting because more of us are involved.

This year, the holidays are bound to be more exciting than ever before. We've added another little blessing to our family, and Sierra and Makenna are both old enough to truly understand the spirit of the season.

So, I started thinking. I want to do something special each day leading up to Christmas, starting December 1st. Whether it be a craft, a project, a special outing, baking cookies and other treats, or a simple coloring page. It doesn't have to be BIG, just a little something extra.

I have a few ideas already.

Each year we choose a new holiday outing. Last year it was the Pittock Mansion, the year before we went to The Nutcracker, and the year before that it was a train ride on the Polar Express. This year we're taking it down a notch. I think our plan is to pick up my mom and my mom-in-law to go see the new Disney princess movie. We'll probably dress up the girls, and maybe have brunch. So that takes care of one day ;)

I have several crafts lined up as well. Ornament making, fridge magnets, the usual. And I know we'll be doing plenty of baking. Plus this super amazing project that the gorgeous Jen from Tatertots and Jello posted about. Of course, that will need to be completed before December 1st. Anyway.

Here's where you all come in ;)

Do you have any fabulous {kid-friendly} ideas? Any great crafts up your sleeve this holiday season? And if so, is anyone interested in linking up each week to show off the fabulousness {is too a word} of said creations? Let me know whatchyer thinkin'!