Christmas Creativity! Feelin' the flow...

Ah, Christmas. It is upon us!

Today, I went to the mall with a few other wives to do some Christmas shopping. It's always better to shop at the mall during Christmas time, I'm sure it's because of the lights and decor. So pretty. I haven't actually ventured OUT much yet to do shopping, although I have ordered quite a few things online. The UPS man can back me up on that, seeing as he was at our door 5 days in a row last week!! I suppose that wasn't ALL me, that'll also happen when there are grandparents in another state! :-)

It's been a while since I've felt that kind of *magic* for Christmas. It most certainly helps to actually acknowledge, as they say, "the reason for the season"... Knowing Jesus Christ as my savior is seriously life-changing. Like a burden off my shoulders. But that is a whole other blog for another day! :-) But another thing that really brought back that "magic" is children. Having children helps you to go back and see the holidays through their eyes. My girls are still so young, they don't know much about Christmas, but are also at the age that everything is fascinating. And I love that.

I am having SO much fun this year, using the creative side of my brain. Creativity is second nature to me, having loved art and majored in graphic design. I keep checking the mail daily; I am SO excited for our Christmas cards to come in the mail. My sister is a consultant for Heritage Makers, which if you haven't heard of it, check it out... it's amazing. It's like digital scrapbooking, but you can create SO many different things... like Christmas cards for instance! It was so easy and quick and I can't wait for them to come. They've got pictures of the girls, and I know the people I'm sending them to will love to see how they are growing. HM has always been superfast to ship too, so I'm betting I'll get them in the next day or two and then I'll be able to say a little "How do you do" and personalize them for everyone. Yay! So exciting! I can't wait!

Another project I worked on the other day... sigh. I can't even finish the sentence because I'm so excited. It was so easy. So cheap. And so awesome. I know that my sister and I had discussed it, I forget where we originally saw this idea (maybe if she reads my blog, she can comment on it, she's got a much better memory than I!), but anyways... SO incredible!

Ok, so if you try and buy topiaries for Christmas, you already KNOW how expensive they are. Which I really have never understood why... but even if I ever DO understand it? That's not going to make them cheaper... right?

SO....

Step one: Take a large pot that was utilized in the summer but is no longer in use. Like so!

Next: Whatever it was we read, it says to use a tomato plant stand; you know, those tall metal circular things, but finding those in the off season could prove to be difficult. So hopefully you've maybe already got them! I did not. So, I used this plant form that I've seen at both craft stores and sewing stores:

I bent the bottoms, so they were aimed more straight down into the pot. Then, using a 9ft garland with lights, I wound it around and up the metal form; conveniently, there is a hook at the top that I was able to wrap the end of garland around. Using electric tape, I taped the garland in place as it wound down to the pot, to more evenly space each "row" if you will, of garland.

That is virtually it. IT! My one pot was a little narrower than the other, so it didn't stand quite as easily and isn't as sturdy as the other, so I put a strand of white lights at the bottom of each "tree" to hide the gap it was creating... And I always feel like, the more white lights, the better anyways, yeah?

The stands were $3.47 each and the garland was $9 a piece, I think? So yeah... you do the math on that. Awesome!! (And yeah, I am seeing how I throw that word around a lot... hehe)

My favorite project of the Christmas season isn't necessarily the execution or look of it, but what it is for the family. I made an advent calendar for the girls and I'm so happy about it!

So. Here goes:

The materials: Canvas framing $5.80, yarn that I already had (and this requires next to none!). The teeny clothes pins were $2.99 I think. The one large was also around $3, as well. The squares for numbers were $2.50 but I definitely used more like $1 worth.... Oh and two sheets of scrapbook paper for 30 cents a piece...

Wrap the yarn around the frame repeatedly in whatever pattern you'd like. Glue the squares to each of the pins and then write each number up to 25. Now thanks to this AWESOME webpage http://www.dltk-kids.com/, I was able to print out fun activities for each day. I just cut squares of the scrapbooking paper and came up with fun things to do everyday. Now, having a 2 and 1 year old, MOST of the activities will be coloring, but there were also days that included alphabet poems, songs, getting a door hanger, watching a holiday movie, special coupons for a sweet treat or an indoor lunch picnic, reading Christmas books (we definitely have plenty!) and a night out on the town to look at Christmas lights! Oh... AND, I think it's happening on the 18th, they will get to open their own personal letter from Santa (again, I don't know how I stumbled upon that page, but it was INSANE!!! :-) We've been through 4 days now and the girls (as well as myself!) are loving it! Such a fun way to count down for the big day! The 25th may be the simplest of all, as it's instructions are to: Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and celebrate the day with family.

I've taken a few pictures of my two gals coloring, or like today, enjoying their sweet treat coupon. I've decided that when it's all said and done, I'm going to create a paperback book for each of them (also through Heritage Makers and supercheap and easy!) and I'll include the pictures they colored and the photos I've taken. They'll have a neat little book to remember what will hopefully become a holiday tradition!! :-)

This next picture is a proud moment for a mom, it's the first time she's "colored" or drawn something intentionally. She drew the two little pegs, held it up and said "Look Mommy, I drew shoes!" It's that kind of thing that makes me even more excited about the paperback book! :-)