Christmas crafts and Owen update!

I make these wonderful cookies every year for family and friends at work.  I only make them at Christmas because I would weigh 500 pounds if I made them throughout the year.  They are seriously fantastic - and that's no compliment to me - its just the cookies!!

This year I wanted to make cute little Christmas cookie cans to pass out my goodies! Here is my up-cycle use for my son's formula containers.

Supplies needed: wrapping paper, formula can, tape, paint, ribbon, and of course your goodies!

Paint the cap - chalk board paint would be really cute!! This is the first coat - I did two and it covered fine. 

Fold and tap the paper to fit your can. 

I taped it at the seems and it held around just fine.  The formula cans have a lip around the edge that helped hold the paper in place. 

Tadaa! Now add cookies! 

Owens is home now and starting to seem better every moment! We still have some coughing fits, and I have been thrown up on a few times, but he is actually smiling now.  I have to go back to work tomorrow and I am  hoping he feels better - my poor husband....I did enjoy the extra mommy and Owen time these last few days.

Advent Calendar...almost.

I hate to say - but this will be the first year that we have done an Advent calendar.  EKK! But since I have been bitten by both the DIY and Pinterest bug this year...I decided to make one....Simone style! I found this really cute one on a blog (that was not written in English, btw) and decided to go with this theme. Unfortunately - sickness has taken down my house and we never got to finish making it.  Maybe next year I will start in July???  Well...here was my list - and till Christmas comes I am just going to let the girls pick something to do every night.

Our activities

Each package has a special not inside of what to do as a family

25: Read Christmas stories for bedtime. 

24: Make salt dough ornaments. 

23: Make and send Christmas cards. 

22: Make paper snow flakes and decorate the kitchen. 

21: Make paper garland. 

20: Pick out children from an Angel tree and buy them gifts.

19: Make Christmas presents to mail to Grandpa. 

18:Learn a new Christmas song. 

17: Make snowmen from toilet paper rolls. 

16: Make paper stockings. 

15: Make reindeer pops. 

14: Paint a Christmas tree with hand prints.  

13: Make Christmas cookies with fun shapes. 

12: Make a tissue paper wreathe. 

11: Make Christmas tree ornaments with scrabble tiles. 

10: Make a ginger bread house. 

9: Wrap presents we made for the family. 

8: Make a nativity scene. 

7: Hot chocolate and smores outside by the fire pit. 

6: Drive and look at Christmas lights. 

5: Watch a Christmas movie for family movie night. 

4: Make Christmas rice crispe treats (shaped like trees and ornaments made from candies)

3: Make treats for a house-bound member of our church and deliver them. 

2: Make a "Thankful For" board of things the kids are thankful for. 

1: Read the Christmas story from Luke.


This is about how far we got before all 3 kids got RSV....

That's it.  Pretty inspiring, huh? It would have been cute. 

Crafty!

This year I have totally been getting crafty! Not only are we making our Christmas presents, which I am totally behind on, but I have been making my own photo props! I have really enjoyed this.  I blogged before about the chalk boards and soup cans - which were pretty low grade crafty - but I really had a lot of fun with the Christmas props!!

Here are my JOY letters...

I love them! They came out exactly how I imagined! (which by the way as at midnight one night and I couldn't sleep all night)  I now have great ideas in my head for future words and numbers and....yes.  I might be up again till midnight.

Here are my props on a stick (which are not yet on sticks - but I was so excited!! I guess I will need a follow up picture.)

Made theses too!! This set of props did not come out of an ephaniy int he wee hours of the night - rather I ordered some just like them from a shop and the USPS lost them! I am currently battling them to get restitution.  I figured I would never see them again so I decided to make my own.  I guess I could have done so to begin with - but this took me about 3 hours.  Easier to pay someone else - yes...but I am super pround of my DIY props.  So I guess its a win win in the long run.  Except for the people at USPS, who still have not heard the end of my complaints.

I still have not finished Ella's dress up thing...so more fun crafty blogs to come.  And I would LOVE to blog about Christmas presents - but that would spoil all the fun for the recipients, who are among the 4 people who read my blog.  :)

Night!