Thanksgiving is just a few days away and that means that Christmas is right around the corner! 'Tis the time to start thinking about The Elf on The Shelf and advent calendars. Just like The Elf, calendars can be as boring or creative as you want them to be. I've done some searching for ideas for my family and found these nine unique advent calendars... This DIY Paper Ornaments Advent Calendar by Sweet T Makes Three fascinates me. I can't decide if it would be more fun for my girls to make the ornaments or to open them! Hang these as a garland if you don't have a tree yet. How cute is this DIY Christmas Bulb Advent Calendar by The House That Lars Built?! Even if you don't make these bulbs as a calendar, you can make them to hang on your tree or just around the house. What I love about this Magnetic Bottle Cap Christmas Advent Calendar by Third Stop On The Right is that there are no gifts needed. It's just a simple count down to Christmas. How can you go … [Read more...]
How To Make A Pasta Angel
A few years ago as I was helping a friend go through some of her grandmother's belongings I came across a cute angel made of pasta sitting in the china cabinet. I took a photo and thought it would be fun for my girls to make. I had forgotten about the pasta angel until I was cleaning photos from my computer a couple days ago. Needless to say, I went out and bought what I needed to make these adorable Christmas decorations. Here's what I bought/already had: Paint brush White acrylic paint Glue* Wooden beads** Small ring pasta Rigatoni noodles Elbow macaroni Farfalle pasta (bow-tie pasta) Glitter Medium shell noodles** *Regular school glue works just fine but takes a while to dry. You can use a hot glue gun to speed up time but I do not recommend a hot glue gun for little kids. **Wooden beads and medium shells can be exchanged for each other as seen in the first photo above. 1) Start by gluing the wooden bead or the medium shell noodle to the … [Read more...]
How To Make Peppermint Ornaments
Hey everyone, It's Lindsi popping in again to say "hi" and to share with you these awesome peppermint ornaments I made with my kids. I saw these originally made with crushed candy canes but thought it would look much prettier with peppermint candies. As you know, my family loves making crafts with the candies. Remember the candy wreath we made? You won't believe how easy these ornaments are to make! You'll need just a few things: Peppermint candies Metal cookie cutters Cookie sheet Parchment paper Non-stick Cooking spray (such as Pam®) Toothpick Oven 1) Start by unwrapping all your candies. This is the hardest and most tedious part. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 350° F while you're unwrapping the candies. 2) Next, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Then spray the cookie cutters with non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking to the cutters. 3) Place your cookie cutters on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet and fill them with the … [Read more...]
Easy 3D Paper Snowflakes
Just because Christmas is over doesn't mean you can't keep decorating for winter. Today we're making easy 3D paper snowflakes that you can hang anywhere in your house to keep winter decorating fun. I know they look difficult, but I guarantee they are so easy even my 5 year old made one without help. I tried to explain how to make these snowflakes with photos but found it was easier for me (and probably for you) to do a video tutorial. We don't vlog often, but look for more videos from us in 2014! Here we go--easy 3D paper snowflakes: Where would you hang these snowflakes if you made them? … [Read more...]
9 Last Minute DIY Christmas Gifts
Christmas is just over one week away. Have you finished your shopping? If not, we've got nine last minute DIY Christmas gifts that you and your children can make! 1) Minion Shirts With all the hype about Despicable Me 2, why not give the gift of a Minion shirt. 2) Love Photos These are super cute for any family member. 3) Custom Lift-The-Flap Books Got a little one in your life? They will love these interactive custom books! 4) Sun Catchers A beautiful way to brighten up anyone's yard. 5) Custom Bleach Dyed T-shirts Perfect for the hard-to-buy for teenager. 6) Easy Personalized Mugs A coffee lover's dream. Put on any message you want! 7) Personalized Water Bottles Great for a fitness guru or even a school aged child. 8) Marshmallow Shooters Kids (and adults) will love these! 9) Personalized Games The perfect family gift. What types of gifts have you made for people? … [Read more...]
Crayola Helps Us Create #SPON #Giveaway
We've shared with you our love for Crayola products in the past, well we are about to share a little more about our love for Crayola. Our friends at Crayola contacted us and provided us with a gift pack in exchange for a unique Holiday Craft idea and a blog post: Crayola Washable Markers Crayola Colored Pencils Crayola Glitter Glue Crayola Model Magic Crayola Slick Sticks $25 Wal-Mart gift card for more Crayola products They asked us to share with all of you a fun, and unique craft to make with these awesome crayola products. My kids and I sat down at our kitchen table and brainstormed a few ideas. My 5-year-old twins sat down and grabbed the bold colorful washable markers, pencils, and slick sticks. Wow! I had never seen the Slick Sticks before and they are incredible! We have the ever popular Elf on a Shelf and our Elf's name is Scottland. They created fantastic pictures for Scottland to take with him to the North Pole. The colors were fabulous and so incredibly … [Read more...]
