50 Cheerful Christmas Crafts

It's that time of year again! Time for CHRISTMAS! Christmas crafts, Christmas decorating, Christmas baking....I love it all. I look forward to (and plan for) it all year - it's like a crafter's paradise. Here's some Christmas crafts to get your holiday cheer juices flowing. I think I just died of cute and went to crafter's heaven.

                                                1. Baby Sock Advent Calendar          2. Candy Cane Mice         

                                                3. Christmas Cookies in a Jar            4.  Button Snowman Cards               

                                                5. Card Garland                               6. Christmas Flower Gift

                     

                                                7. Citrus Slice Ornaments                 8. Cookie Cutter Ornaments

                                                     9.  Cozy Tea Holder               10. Doorknob Stockings

                                                    11. Embellished Tea Towel      12. Felt Christmas Theme Ornaments
                                                    13. Felt Holly Corsage             14. Felt Purse

                                                    15. Festive Envelopes              16. Framed Inspirational Sentiment

                                                17. Garland Trick                      18. Gift Monograms
                               
                                                19. Gumdrop Pops                    20. Handmade Santa Pillow     
                       
                                                21. Holly Leaf Place Cards         22. Holiday Cookie Mailing Tubes

                                                23. Holiday Coffee Sleeves         24. Holly Napkin Holders

                     
                                            25. Joyful Banner                        26. Mitten Clips

                                            27. Paper Plate Angels                 28. Monogrammed Candle

                                            29. No-sew Holiday Apron           30. Paper Snowflakes 

                                            31. Paper Stars                           32. Peppermint Ornaments

                                         33. Pinup Wreath                                34. Photo Frame Calendar 

                                         35. Poinsettia Blanket                          36.  Pretty Paperweights

                                         37. Pipe Cleaner Candy Canes              38. Pipe Cleaner Snowflake Ornament

                                                39. Snowflake Lights               40. Pretty Pincushion 

                                                41. Snow Globes                     42. Snowflake Tea Towel

                                                43. Sparkling Towels               43. Stamped Sachets

                                       45. Thoughtful Note Card Gift              46. Typewritten Gift Tags

                                       47. Tin Box Organizer                          48. Tinsel Stars

                                       49. Toy Ornaments                             50. Winter Wonderland Candle Trio

                       

There ya have it! I'm totally in love with the No-Sew Holiday Apron, Felt Christmas Theme Ornaments and the Snowflake Lights.Which ones are your favorite?

24 Days of Christmas Surprises

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was super cute, so I knew I had to try it out my own version this season. I'm nearly done Christmas shopping, but I have to say this simple and inexpensive 24 Days of Christmas Countdown is the thing I've been most excited about so far this season. I can't wait for Kenzie to get home from school and not only see all of the little gifts under the tree, but to see her face when she finds out they're ALL for her is going to be priceless. Who doesn't love to watch their child's eyes light up as they open something special? Now imagine how excited they would be that they get to open something new every day until Christmas!

Now, I know what you're thinking: 24 days of presents? There's no way that's budget-friendly. But it totally is! You could also do this with multiple children very easily - just pick things that are share-able and stick to activities everyone can do together.

Here's how I did it:

About half of my little surprises were things that we usually do at Christmas anyway, and the rest were free or of little cost. I made a list of as many fun Christmas themed activities I could, with some of the ideas coming from the original blog poster for this idea. Some of the things I chose were making fireplace s'mores, putting on a Christmas play for Mom and Dad, and baking gingerbread cookies for Santa. You could do as many or as few free activities as you'd like depending on your budget, but I did about half and half. I looked up cute clip-art to go along with each activity then printed them out on card stock and put each in an envelope I decorated with leftover wrapping paper.

Christmas activities:

• Create a Christmas scripture chain (here is the link to the Google Doc, by The Things I Love Most)
• Write a letter to Santa
• Put on a Christmas Play for Mom & Dad
• Go shopping for your Secret Santa 
• Make Christmas playdough (homemade in red & green)
• Sip hot apple cider by the fire
• Create snowflake cutouts and decorate the house
• Homemade hot chocolate  & toast before bed
• Make fireplace S'mores
• Go look at Christmas lights
• Make homemade ornaments (salt dough)
• Bake Gingerbread cookies for Santa

As for the gifts, here's what I came up with:

• Mug decorating "kit" (white $ store mugs, Sharpies)
• 2 Christmas movies (found these in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart)
• 3 $1 Christmas crafts - (I got mine from A.C. Moore)
• Red & Green Nail Polish ($1.38 each at Wal-Mart)
• Gingerbread House (we do this every year, so why not wrap it up? it was on sale for $7)
• Phineus & Ferb Jell-o Mold & Cherry Jell-O (also on sale at Wal-Mart)
• Christmas slipper socks ($2.88 at Wal-Mart)
• Christmas themed Fun Dip ($1)
• Mini Santa shaped chocolates ($1)

I was so excited to get wrapping that I got dumb and forgot to take pictures of all of it unwrapped! Oops. Once I had everything laid out, I numbered each item 1-24. We're a busy family so I even went an extra step and looked at a calendar to make sure the more time-consuming things fall on a weekend if it's before Winter Break for school (such as decorating the ginger bread house). I used the activity  "make a Christmas scripture chain" for Dec. 1, since there are 25 bible verses, one for each day leading up to Christmas.

Can you find the number on the penguin package? 

For the Christmas activities, I simply cut them from the printed card stock and stuck them in some envelopes I'd decorated and numbered with leftover wrapping paper. Some of the gifts I wrapped and others are in bags. The gift bags I got at A.C. Moore 3/$1 and the lunch-sack type bags I got for $0.25/each at Wal-Mart. The numbers are just extra wrapping paper taped to the bags/gifts with a square of card stock that I decorated and numbered. Once I was finished, I put the gifts under the tree and nestled the envelopes within the branches.

One of the things I love most about this project is that you can be as creative or a simple as you'd like. I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did, and I hope your kiddos love it, too!

P.S. Click below to download and print the Christmas activities list. :)
Christmas Fun

Goodbye is Never Easy

Today we said goodbye to our sweet Dixie. She gave Dusty 15 wonderful years of love and loyalty, and we couldn't have asked for a better furbaby to love. My heart will forever have a space reserved just for her. We love you so much sweet girl. ♥

“The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief. But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.” - Hilary Stanton Zunin

Dixie-girl, you were well worth the risk. 

Thirty Days of Thanks - Day Six

Today, on Election day, I'm thankful for our freedom as a country. I'm thankful for those who have fought, those who are still fighting, and those who have died for that freedom. I'm thankful that as I woman I have a say in this country's future with a right to vote. I'm honored to call the United States of America my home, and that we are "One nation, under God, indivisible - with liberty and justice for all."

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Thirty Days of Thanks - Day Five

Today I'm thankful for my dad. He's worked hard for as long as I can remember to ensure he could give us everything he possibly could, making sacrifices most would be unwilling to make in order to provide for us. He always has a joke to tell, and his impersonations are gut-achingly hilarious. Thanks Dad, for the life you've provided for us and for always keeping us laughing.

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Thirty Days of Thanks - Day Four

My momma is the one person I know I can go to any time I need advice, understanding or just a good laugh. I remember when I was little climbing into her lap, stroking her face and breathing in her scent - she always smelled so good to me and her hugs brought me so much comfort. Or watching countless hours of I Love Lucy reruns and laughing until we cried (Esagebah!!) I strive every day to be more like her, and if I'm even half the mother she is to me I will consider it a victory. 

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Thirty Days of Thanks - Day Three

Today I am thankful for my lovely, spoiled fur-babies, Dixie and Layla. Dixie is fifteen years old; noble, calm, quiet. Layla is two years old; crazy, goofy, and boisterous.

Dixie always knows when you need her most and has a very comforting soul. She has these big doe eyes that are so kind and understanding. She sleeps on the blanket I made her next to our bed every night, and loves to give kisses and cuddle up - she thinks she's a lap dog!

Layla is goofy, playful and full of puppy energy. She sleeps snuggled up to Mackenzie every night, and her cooky ways always keep us laughing. She adores her Princess Ariel cell phone toy (which Kenzie lovingly gave her after she became attached to it) , and carries it around for hours. She even pushes the buttons with her nose!

As far apart in age as they are, and also as different, they sure do love each other, and we are so grateful for them!

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