JOY Blocks

A friend of mine was put in charge of the decorations for our church Christmas party. She quickly called me on board to come up with how to decorate the tables... all 30 of them!! With the budget we were given and the amount of tables we had to decorate, our options were limited. I could have crafted things for each table, but I wasn't really feeling up to the task of making 30+ handcrafted items per table (and craft supplies can be pricey too...) We just decided to make it easy, but still cute. We set out red and white poinsettias on each table, along with wood JOY blocks.

I followed the same basic idea as when I made the USA blocks for my Patriotic Mantle.

This time I bought 2"x3" boards instead of 2"x4" since the letter stamp I was going to use was tall and skinny and I didn't need the 4" width. I was just going to load the 3 boards into my van and cut them at home, but the friendly workers at HD offered to do it there.

69 blocks later, I was headed home. I then sanded all 12 edges of each block. Do the math... that's 828 edges. My hands were red, and I had two blisters afterwards. They I had my friend paint half of the blocks, and I (meaning I roped my hubs into helping) painted the other half. Once they were all painted I stamped J O and Y onto the blocks. DONE. I could have sanded and distressed the edges, but I had NO desire to sand those 828 edges again. (So much for keeping my crafting to a minimum.)

The morning of the party, my daughter and I went over to the church to decorate. We spread out the table cloths, put out the poinsettias, and then put the JOY blocks out. My daughter loved that part.

It was simple but nice. The best part was that we sent the poinsettias and blocks home with people to be given to neighbors, needy, or anyone to whom we felt like spreading some JOY!

Chester the Elf: Days 16-20

Elfie Chester seems to be a foodie of sorts. 4 of the past 5 days, he's been found on the hunt for food!

Chester the Elf: Days 11-15

We woke up and found Chester in a pile of snowflake cutting scraps, with swags of snowflakes hanging in the kitchen!

After making gingerbread houses the night before, we found Chester tasting the candy of our sugary kreations.

Two More Stockings

When my husband and I were first married, I didn't own a sewing machine. For our first Christmas, I wanted to make our stockings. So I stitched every piece by hand. They were padded, fully lined, had heel patches and a top cuff. I think my hands were raw by the end. When my first baby came along, I finally had a sewing machine and could put hers together in no time. Two years later, I made our son's stocking. Check out THIS POST to see pictures of their stockings. This year we've added two more stockings. One for our new little baby, and one for Jesus. As I make each child's stocking, I don't give myself any restrictions. I don't care if one stocking matches another. I just pick fabric that reminds me of that child. Our daughter's is flowery and girly. Our first son's in cowboy themed- he was our first child born in Texas. And this last stocking is sock monkey themed, for our hairy, cuddly boy.

This year I also made a simple stocking for Jesus. I made this one our of natural cotton and some white linen. Simple, yet beautiful. Many of you may already have one or have heard of this idea. Sometime during the Christmas season (some do it on Christmas Eve) each member of the family writes something down on a piece of paper that they are going to "give" to Jesus. It's a resolution of sorts. Maybe you will try to serve others more, share more with siblings, and the like. Then the following year, we get to look back on our gifts and see how we've done. 

Our stockings are hung, now it's time to fill them up!

Chester the Elf: Days 6-10

. . . and the mischief continues.

We woke up one morning to find our stockings on the floor and socks hanging in their place!

Elfie Chester has been a big help around our house (besides the silly things he's been doing.) Whenever the kids act up, I simply remind them about Chester, and they immediately behave. One night we even got to call Santa on the phone! The kids haven't stopped talking about it since! 

Chester the Elf: Days 1-5

I packed up the three kids and went to the store with the intent of buying our very own Elf on the Shelf doll, only to find out that the coupon expired that morning at 2:59 AM. Have you ever seen a coupon expire at that time? I haven't. I wasn't about to pay full price for the little guy, though it would be a fun tradition. So I came home and got to work making our own unique little elf. 

I had some red wool felt that I used for his outfit, and some other felt that I used for his face, hair, hands, boots, and hat. I put wire throughout his body to make him bendable and I put magnets in his hands so he could grasp things. After finishing him that night, I set him on my sewing table and went to bed. Sometime that night, Santa must have come to our home to take Chester back to the North Pole to finish up some gift making. The kids were thrilled that our little elf was already getting into mischief and had disappeared.

December 1st arrived at our home, and guess who had returned- none other than Elfie Chester! Look at what he's been up to the past 5 nights:

 

Wait and see as we discover what other mischief he'll be getting into until Christmas!

Nativity Free Printable

At over 1,600 8,000 (as of Dec. 2012) downloads, my Nativity Printable is still going strong. Have you downloaded and printed yours? It's free so click on the picture above to view the original post and all of the color options available!

May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas!

Christmas Wreath

This year I was struggling to come up with a Christmas wreath idea. It seems as though every idea has already been taken. I was drawing a blank. Then, it came to me while crocheting some other project. (There are always about 3 crochet projects going on at the same time. They always get partially done, I get bored of it and move onto another crochet project . . .) So as I was making a scarf, hot pad, or beanie of sorts, I decided that this year, my wreath would be crocheted. You are probably envisioning something very grandmotherly, though there is nothing wrong with being grandmotherly- my mom is a grandmother and quite stylish, young, and modern. This is what I ended up with:

I used two skeins of yarn, in two different shades of green, and crocheted them together- I love the heathered look it gave. I used my wreath from last year- it was wrapped in aqua nubby yarn. I was lazy and left the yarn on the wreath- that's why you see bits of aqua peeking through. I'm loving the texture of this wreath! 

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Here is a brief non-technical pattern. I used a 12" foam wreath. You will have to adjust to the size of your wreath. 

Chain 17, Turn, Skip first 2 chains, DC across, * Chain 2, Turn, DC across.* Repeat from * to * for 45 rows or until your rectangle is large enough to wrap the circumference of your wreath. Finish off, don't cut yarn.

Join short ends of your rectangle to form a big loop. I just threaded them on an embroidery needle and slip stitched through DCs and beginning chained row. Wrap rectangle around your wreath and now sew the long lengths of your rectangle together to connect around wreath. Knot and tie off, weaving in any yarn tails.

I then attached some felt flowers I made using this pattern: Not Martha's Felt Dahlia Flower

Now my door can MERRILY greet any Christmas time visitors!

Gingerbread Dice Game

I've seen a fun gingerbread dice game all over Pinterest and decided to design my own to print. No, I did not come up with the idea for this game, just a printable so we don't all have to draw out a gingerbread man each time the kids want to play. So here it is for all of you to print and play. Enjoy!

Download Gingerbread Dice Game

Here are the rules for how we are going to play:

Going around in a circle, each player takes a turn rolling a dice (or die depending on what grammar rules you are looking at. Yes, I'm an English major, but don't go checking all of my grammar now!)

The player then gets to color in one of the segments with that number in it. Then, it's the next player's turn to roll and color.

The first player to color in their whole gingerbread man wins!

Have fun rolling!

Jingle Bells - free printable

Normally I'm the one who doesn't allow Christmas to come before Thanksgiving is over. No music, no decorations, nothing. I want to enjoy Thanksgiving and give it is due attention. However, this year, with the kids getting older and catching the Christmas bug, the holiday is making its presence known. We listen to Christmas music every now and then, we've seen a few Christmas movies, and Christmas decorations are being made so that the second Thanksgiving is over we can turn our home into a Christmas wonderland.

Being in the Christmas mood, I've been working on a few printable projects. Here is the first, an 8x10 Jingle Bells print inspired by my daughter's favorite Christmas song, as of late:

Download JINGLE BELLS- Aqua

Download JINGLE BELLS- Blue

Download JINGLE BELLS- Green

Download JINGLE BELLS- Brown

Download, print, and frame! Enjoy!

Yummy Recipe & Freebie

I found this yummy and super easy treat recipe the other day and we've already made it three times! It's a fun one for the kiddos to help with and my little munchkin loved unwrapping kisses then later pressing m&m's into the melted chocolate. It's a Pretzel M&M Kisses (or Hugs) combo that I found on TaDa! Creations

We couldn't find the ring pretzels, but found the window shaped ones, and I actually like having more pretzel base to add a salty crunch- yum! These are a fun addition to Christmas goodie plates, or put a bunch in a bag and tie with one of the Christmas Gift Tags that you can download for free!

(These images below are low res copies, the ones you'll download are high res PDFs)

Just click on the design you like to download the PDF, then print out as many as you'd like for goodie plates, Christmas presents, or whatever else you're giving this holiday season.

Nativity Free Printable

I just printed out my beautiful subway art from eighteen25 (one of my favorite blogs!)

It looks great on my mantel. However, it left the mantel feeling a little lopsided. So I created this little Nativity Silhouette to frame on the other side. Why I was at it, I created it in several different colors to match your own holiday decor. So click on the color you like to get your free download. 

 I'd love to hear your comments on how you're using yours!

Merry Christmas!

Advent Activity #1: Ornaments

It's the first day of December so we got to pick out our first activity in the advent calendar. After featuring all of those fun advent calendars, I was itching to make a new one. But alas, I got busy with other projects, and our one I made three years ago was still cute enough :)

Tonight for activity #1, we are decorating ornaments. Last year we made our ornaments with a salt dough recipe. This year, I followed the same technique for making my pumpkin garland using oven-bake clay, and cut out some Christmas shapes. My daughter claimed the snowman already because she wishes she could have snow here in Texas.

What are you doing to kick off December?

DIY: Wreath Roundup

Cranberry Wreath

Want to make this beautiful cranberry wreath? Learn how over at The Idea Room.

Yarn Wreath with Felt Flowers

The options are limitless with this fun wreath. Use different colors of yarn and felt to make it for the various holidays! Learn how to make it at Take Heart.

Coffee Filter Wreath

This wreath is reminiscent of the book pages wreath, but uses a different material- coffee filters! You can make it with either white or natural colored coffee filters. Head on over to Polly Want a Crafter to find out how.

D.I.Y Pom Pom Wreath

The funky pom pom wreath is all the rage lately. It may take some time, but the results are so fun! Head on over to Bleubird for the tutorial.

Ballard Inspired Alphabet Wreath

What a fun way to use your monogram for the holidays. Head to Decor Chick to learn how to make your own alphabet wreath.

Holiday Yarn Wreath

If you're a knitter, crocheter, or crafter in general, this yarn ball wreath is perfect for you. Recaptured Charm shows you now to make your very own, no knitting needles required!