Here’s a tip! To save room in your storage, you can wrap some rope around the tree as you pack it together. We have very little storage room and when we got this tree, it was in a big bag that took up lots of space. Hopefully this way we’ll be able to save a little, and it will be easier to take down next year row by row! I didn’t have any rope or twine handy..so ours got some unused ribbon that was close by!
My parents are both really good at crafts. I enjoy watching them come up with things to make, I guess that is where I get it!
Mom and I saw this little bow and arrow at a Craft fair earlier this year, and knew it would be easy to make! I can do a tutorial if anyone would like. I think it’s my son’s favorite present. He immediately stuck the arrows down the back of his shirt and started shooting them off. I am amazed at 3 how well he does it! He says “look mom!, I’m Robin Hood!” (One of his favorite shows right now) next project is to make him a quiver!
Dad whipped up some little PVC doll furniture as well for my niece. Mom sewed all the fabric stuff. We just don’t have the room right now, although, I think my daughter does need this little bed! I am also digging this one on anna-white.com though. We’ll see!
Stroller for baby dolls, and a chair for the toddler! Dad made these for me and my 3 sisters when we were little too..we had a bunk bed for our dolls though.. future project!
My present are some Card Holders. Mom came up with the plan last Christmas, and dad whipped them out! He had a tall order this year. I’m going to be painting mine! :)
I love my wreath! I’ve been wanting a nice big one for a while. I enjoy my little ones too, but for Christmas I wanted a nice one to put on my door!
These bulbs are round, but flat. I cut the picture and rolled it up. Once it was inside I had to use a tool to flatten it out a little, but it turned out great! The second ornament..well, it was actually a toy that I screwed and eye ring into the top of. I wrote my son’s name and 2010. This was his year for Toy Story for sure!!
Baking and making goodies!
Truffles and Spumoni cookies among other yummies!
The kids, mostly my son, enjoyed pulling the presents in and out over and over all day long. When my husband told him to open them, he looked at me with a funny look and shook his head and said “nooooo, we don’t open presents till Christmas time!” hehe.
J got his PS3 wheel as a Birthday/Christmas present. He built the little table himself and has been having a blast!
…for this year..and to start in future years! I will likely add more or change things up in the future, but I want to document so I remember them! :)
Leading up to Christmas:
Advent Calendars
Elf on the Shelf
Treat plates delivered to friends (and caroling w/it when the kids are older), a night to go look at Christmas lights and open pj’s that night so they can enjoy them through the Christmas holiday.
Christmas Eve
Chinese dinner! (I forgot my camera though) J’s family tradition, my families was a fish fry w/french fries (Fish and chips..is what the Savior ate) But they have fish and fries at the Chinese Restaurant..so it’s a total WIN WIN!
Christmas Eve watch “Joy to the World” or read Luke 2. Have a Birthday cake and maybe sing Happy Birthday to Jesus while the kids are younger.
Christmas morning:
All go into the Christmas tree together singing “Here we go in to the Christmas Tree, the Christmas Tree, the Christmas Tree. Oh here we go into the Christmas Tree so early Christmas morning!”
IN OUR PAJAMAS!! (Very important.. ‘cause growing up, I always had to be dressed for the day before we got to go down to the tree!)
Cinnamon Rolls!
WHAT ARE YOUR TRADITIONS??!!!
Chili Blanco (White Chili)
*Saute in a big pot:
1 TB. Oil
1 onion, diced
6 Garlic cloves diced
*add:
2-3 cans (15oz) White Beans
6-8 C. Chicken Broth (6 if you want the chili chunkier..8 for creamier)
*Simmer for at least 1/2 hour
*Add before serving:
1 can (4oz) diced green chilies
4 tsp. Cumin
2 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
4 C. Chicken, cooked and shredded
1 C. (8 oz) Sour Cream
2-3 C. Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (mozzarella works fine as well)
*Stir until cheese and sour cream are melted completely.
*Serve w/corn bread or tortilla chips.
*This is mildly spicy, I suppose if you want more spice you can add more green chilies or Cayenne Pepper!
* Enjoy! YUM YUM!!
I guess that is what I will call it! So, I have a couple friends that do this “Project 365” where they take a picture every day. One a day, every day for the whole year. They upload them weekly to their blog. CUTE pics..anything from kids, husband, good hair day, home, sports, activities..anything! I enjoy looking at them..the poses, etc..and hope to one day be a much better photographer myself, but that is not what I am doing! I have decided on a different twist…
SO, MY GOAL in this “Project 5/52” is to create 1 Digital Scrapbook page/day -5 days a week for 52 weeks (@least)! Only 5 days because I need to give myself a day or two leeway in case I am too busy..I’m not just snapping a quick picture.. this will take a little more time. But I can also do 2 or 3 in a day and get ahead too! I will upload them once a week to my blog. I hope I can keep it up. Then, by the end of one year I will have 250 pages of my scrapbook done and ready for printing! I have been married about 4 1/2 years and am WAY behind... about 2 kids worth! I probably won’t be doing the pages in any order..I’ll jump around a bit. Hopefully I’ll get it all caught up in a year!! So, here it goes.. Wish me luck!
I use Adobe Photoshop for creating, and I think I will be using Blurb.com for printing. There are tons of digital scrapbook papers and embellishments that can be found online, many in kits and MANY for free..here are a few of the new (new to me) sites I have found that I love! The Blog Trains are FANTASTIC and FREE!! You just have to visit a number of blogs and download a portion of the kit from each, but by the end you have a HUGE kit that is color and theme coordinating. Or, if you choose and LOVE a kit enough, you can buy them too.
If you don’t know where to get started..jump on this journey with me, and I can answer any—well most-okay, some questions you have. I’m not a pro at Photoshop either, there is a LOT to learn, but I am excited about it! Lets learn together!
If you know of any other GREAT digital scrapbooking sites, please share in the comments!
WEEK 1
*Step one would be to decide what size you want to make your book. What printer company you want to use and what size books they have available/what cost you want to spend. I think I’ll be doing mine a 12x12 Hardbound.
*As you create your pages, make sure you give yourself about 1/2 inch on the side of the page that will be tucked into the book for binding.
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Trying to decide if you want to switch?
My Pros vs. Cons:
I LOVE to paper scrapbook. It gives me a chance to get out of the house and have fun with friends, some “me time” and that is why I have not switched before. But I have come to realize, time and money are not always available and that is why I am not keeping caught up. Also, storage SPACE is an issue, with all the other crafting I like to do as well. So, this is all contained on a {little} external hard drive that I have. It’s fabulous! AND it’s cheaper (after your initial purchase of Photoshop, and the occasional printing of your book) since I won’t be having to buy all the paper and embellishments and machines, etc.. Although I know from time to time I’ll still be pulling out the paper-I’m still not ready to give it up completely. I do like the look of paper scrapping better, the 3D and all, but that too takes more space, besides w/digital, the paper and colors are endless because you can adjust them to whatever you wish! Also, you can {fit more}pics on a page as you can just adjust the size and crop to whatever you want..not just your 4x6 or 5x7 or 3.5x5. Besides, my lappy is portable, I can still go to my friends/or have people over to sit and scrapbook together!
My friend and I made these last week! I put a couple pieces of candy..1 for each kid, and an activity for each day inside the little box!
Boxes ordered from papermart.com. In bulk but a great price!
The boxes are 2” square. Cover them with paper a 2”x2” piece of paper and use a paper circle punch to punch out the tab. I used embossing, vinyl and paper for the numbers! and arranged the numbers as you can see…spelling some out, regular numbers, roman numerals and a combination of some! The boxes are able to slide in as drawers to a long box made of cardstock and then covered in contact paper so it will hold up against little kids!
Ideas:
1. Make homemade Hot Cocoa
2. Make Christmas Ornaments
3. Reindeer Candy Canes
4. Play with Little People Nativity and talk about Jesus
5. Gingerbread House
6. Christmas Caroling
7. Make cookies for Santa
8. Wrap Presents
9. Go for a drive to look at Christmas Lights
10. Ring a Bell for Salvation Army
11. Play in the Snow! Snowmen and Snow Angels
12. Make Snow Globes
13. Make Christmas Cards for Grandparents and Great-Grands
14. String Popcorn
15. Make Gift Tags
16. Make Napkin Rings for Christmas Dinner
17. Silverware Stockings
18. Pictures in the Snow
19. Visit Santa at the Mall
20. Make Paper Snowflakes
21. Make gifts
22. (Jesus
23. Watch a Christmas movie
24. read Luke 2
25. Letter to Santa
I helped with the Baby Shower of 2 of my friends last week. They are both having little girls!! Here were my gifts!
One’s nursery is Purple and White to celebrate K-State.
The other nursery is Black, White and Yellow!
I wrapped each diaper individually and tied it, then tied them together in groups. 6 for the top, then 6 for the bottom..set up some more diapers and tied another 12 around the 6 for the bottom. Had a few left over that I just shoved in anywhere I could, which helped make it a little tighter! The “lollipops” are a washcloth rolled and tied, then I put the spoon on the back and wrapped some saran wrap over it and tied it. I also added a travel size baby powder, travel formulas for emergency, and a little rattle toy. In the past I’ve also included q-tips, nose bulb, clippers, thermometer, butt paste (which I personally prefer over desitin)..more little necessary stuff. But the price can add up quick! It was nice to make two, that way I could share cost between! I also always like to include a little goodie for the mom. After all.. she DESERVES it for all her hard work!! :D
My friend and I started a monthly “Crafternoon” group..except we didn’t meet this month due to Super Saturday, and we won’t meet next month w/Christmas and our husbands in finals and ..just busy busy busy-ness.. anyway..In October though, we did these “HOME” projects that have turned out way cute! We only did the HME letters and then 3 months worth.. a Ghost for Halloween, Pumpkin for Thanksgiving and an ornament for Christmas. We’ll get together again early January to work on some more for the next few months! Get ready ladies and let me know if you want to come! There is a small fee, and I do need to know before hand so we know how many to cut out as well :D
October:
November:
Next Months:
{will go here}
I don’t have a fireplace and mantle, but I have a shelf that I enjoy using to decorate my home with. This is it for this month!
I do a Tasty Tuesday on my “family blog”, but I think I’ll start doing it here too! I’m not good about doing it EVERY Tuesday, but when I have a good recipe, I like to share!
This recipe I came up with from a few different recipes I combined. We LOVE it!
Chicken Cordon Bleau
Ingredients:
**Chicken breasts (large can be cut into 2), so..however many you need to feed your family! **Dijon Mustard **Swiss Cheese **Deli Ham **Egg Wash (egg and water) **Shredded Parmesan Cheese **Basil **Oregano **Ritz Crackers **Salt and Pepper
Instruction
*Pound chicken flat..to about 1/2 inch or so thick. If you pound them too much they will start falling apart, so be careful! (Then cut in 1/2 now if needed)
*Spread small layer of Dijon Mustard. Lay the 1 slice of Swiss cheese and 1-2 slices of ham (depending on thickness). Roll chicken and stick it with a toothpick (or 2 or 3 or 4!) to hold it together.
*Mix together about 20 crushed ritz crackers-crushed, 2-3 Tbsp grated parmesan Cheese, sprinkle of Basil, oregano, salt and pepper. I’m sorry, I don’t have exact measurements, I just go till it looks/tastes about right. (You don’t need too much salt (if any), ‘cause the crackers are also salted, and the ham is salty too.) and if you run out, just make up some more.
*Dip the chicken rolls in the egg wash and then in the cracker crumbs. Roll until chicken is coated in the crumbs.
*Lay on greased cookie sheet. Bake 350* for about 25 min. until Brown and chicken is cooked through.
What are your Family Christmas Traditions?
Here is one we will be starting in our home this year!
Have you heard of the “Elf on the Shelf”? Well, I have actually never read the book, but the idea (as I understand it) is that when the elf is done with his preparations at the north pole, he comes to visit the children, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and stays for a while. He watches the children each day to see if they are being “Bad or Good” and then each night he comes “alive” and reports to Santa. He quickly returns in time to make some “mischief” around the house and to hide in a different place for the children to find him the next morning!
I am SUPER excited to start this tradition, as my son is 3 now and SOOO excited and into the “being good ‘cause Santa is watching” idea - it’s kinda’ nice, and now I understand what it’s really all about ;) :P.
The following links are a couple places that I read about this idea, and they have the elf story books/and elf dolls for sale ~kind of pricy though if I do say so. In saving some money..I made my own elf! Using a Dollar Store baby, I made some clothes and a cap. Not a professional job, just my guessing, but it turned out okay. I can do a tutorial if anyone wishes. I still want to add some “jingle bells” to the cap and boots!
I know I blew up the picture, but don’t look too close! ;) This Dollar Tree baby doll ($1) has two right hands..lol. I guess they ran out of lefties and just turned a right upside down :). When they get back in stock, I’ll get a different one…maybe..lol!
Since my kids are 1 & 3 and don’t look at my blog! Here is something I’m working on for them for Christmas! Puzzles!
2x2 from Home Depot “Orange” was about $1.70ish (will get 2 puzzles from it!)
Calendar f/Target dollar bins $1 (..can get 2 if you cut right!) Here are some of the options. They also have a Pixar which (shockingly) my son did not pick..he chose the Madagascar instead.
Total Project: about $4 with paint and mod podge.
1. Cut blocks w/Miter saw to square: 1 1/2”x1 1/2” and sand! Cut as many as you need for how big the pictures are. For smaller kids, you may want to find smaller pictures, or a bigger piece of wood for bigger blocks somewhere, the calendar pictures I found will use 25 blocks.
2. Paint blocks. You could just paint all the edges, but I painted the whole block. I figure the wood will soak up some of the paint, so the mod podge would work better, rather than soaking up some of the mod podge!
3. While waiting for those to dry, pick your 6 most favorite pics. from the calendars. remember you will be cutting them down, and a little off the edges, so make sure your picture subject is somewhat centered!
4. Cut. Cut off the top (calendar hole) first.
Then you’ll want to cut the whole picture down to size. Measure you blocks first. I found my pictures would need to be measured at 1 3/8” square..since it is 5 blocks across..I need to cut the whole picture to 6 7/8” Square.
Then proceed to cut your 1 3/8” squares. should end up with exactly 25 – 1 3/8” square squares..be careful not to mess up and cut wrong!
Easies to cut strips first, then back to squares. You can cut one pic at a time and mod podge it on, or cut all 6, just make sure you don’t mix them up or you’ll have 2 pieces of the same pic on one block and that would mess the whole thing up!
5. Mod Podge the pics to the blocks! One picture at a time! Using the Mod Podge as the glue.
**Hint, for easier puzzles, keep all the blocks in order (ie… top left corner of ever picture on same block, etc.. For Harder puzzles, mix up the blocks or turn them for every puzzle!**
I don’t know what the difference is between the different types of Mod Podge, but I used the puzzle saver kind.
When done Mod Podging all the pics to the 6 sides of the blocks, run a light coat of Mod Podge over the top of all the pics on all sides of the blocks!
You could also do this with family pictures. I think you would just need to mod podge the back to help it stick..not the front of the picture..but I haven’t tried it to find out.
