Merry Christmas From Our Families to Yours!

What to do with last years Christmas cards

If you are anything like me you have a bit of guilt when it comes time to take, toss, or store the Christmas cards you received last year. I personally feel a huge sense of responsibility to save them....no, I'm not a hoarder! I just figure people took the time, effort and money to send me a card and I can't just toss them. This past January I got to thinking about it and came up with a neat way to save those cards without investing a lot of money or space into it! So gather up those cards and grab a paper hole punch while you are at it.

I sorted my cards first by size...it just made it a little bit easier to punch holes in them. Get your kids involved and have them help you sort by size.
I took three or four cards at a time and punched two holes into each of the cards.  If your kids are old enough (and strong enough) have them help you with this too.

I then printed out 2011 Christmas Cards on a pretty Christmas patterned piece of paper. You can get crafty with this and make it as fancy as you want...in order to save time I just used a piece of printed paper.

Secure the cards to ring clips (found at any office supply store) or zip ties. I used ring clips because I like that I can add, subtract or take them out if I wanted to. I like to keep mine under my coffee table throughout the years so people that stop over can glance through them, if they want.

This is also a great way to teach your younger kids who's who of your friends and family throughout the year!

What do you normally do with your old Christmas cards?

Our Elf on the Shelf is boring and that's ok!

Meet Tommy Teal, our Elf on the Shelf.  He first visited our house last November 26th.  Tommy isn't as crazy as some elves you see out there.  He's actually quite boring.  That's ok and I'll tell you why!

Yes, I do admit that I get a bit jealous of some of the ideas people come up with for their Elf on the Shelf.  I've seen some cute ones, some mischievous ones, and some just plain wrong ones.  However, not everyone is that creative nor do they have time to make those little scenes.  If you are anything like me, you have to set an alarm to even remember to move your elf each night!

Plus, I thought the point of the Elf on the Shelf was to help your kids be good during the holiday season.  Your elf is suppose to sit somewhere in your house all day and watch your childrens' behavior.  Each night he goes back to the North Pole and reports to Santa how they have been.  This is where I have an issue with some of the ideas I've seen and why I think our boring Tommy is just fine.

1)  If your elf is misbehaving why should your kids be good?  After all, isn't he the one who's suppose to make sure your children are on their best behavior?

2)  You are not suppose to touch your elf.  If you do, he'll lose his magic and ability to fly back to the North Pole each night.  If your elf is fishing in your toilet or making snow angels out of flour on your counters, are you really going to leave him like that all day? 

3)  Again, the whole point of the Elf on the Shelf is to watch your kids.  He can't be watching your children if he's being held hostage or hanging out in the freezer because it reminds him of home.

My girls (ages 4 & 6) have fun just finding Tommy every morning.  First one to find him gets bragging rights for the day.  They even have fun tattling on each other to him (and now they don't bug me--bonus!).  They don't care that he just sits there all day without a pretty scene around him.  Don't get me wrong, some day I might come up with something a little more fun for our elf to do than hanging from the chandelier but for now, I'm sticking with the original idea of the Elf on the SHELF.

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf?  What do you do with him?

Christmas Tree Bunting

Some of you may remember my Bunny Bunting Banner I made last spring for Easter. If not be sure to HOP over and check it out (sorry, I couldn't help myself).  I loved the way it turned out so much that I decided to make one for Christmas this year, except put a spin on it. Instead of using colorful paper (which you can still totally do) I decided to use Christmas colored fabrics and make little trees! I am SO excited with how it turned out and I thought I'd share it with you for a little inspiration as well.

Gather enough fabric to make several trees. Cut and stitch them each, leaving the bottom open for turning right side out and for stuffing and adding the tree stump.
*If your kids are good with scissors, they can help you cut the trees out.

My least favorite part of sewing is making sure my corners (or points) are nice and precise. My grandma was a stickler for perfect sewing so I kind of feel like I would be letting her down if I gave it half of my effort. Using a small scissors or a knitting needle (or even a chopstick) carefully push out the three corners so that they come to a nice point.
*If you trust your children not to poke through the fabric, have them help you push out the corners.

Stuff each tree and blanket stitch (here's a link to how to blanket stitch) each tree shut, don't forget to add in the tree stump too!
*This step your kids can definitely do and they'll love it too!

Attach all of your trees to a pretty ribbon and hang! I am in love with how it turned out. Whatcha' think?

Do you let your kids help you with sewing projects?

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas!--Giveaway

Have you seen the commercials for The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas? Did you watch it when it debuted on TV a few days ago?  If not, you are missing out!

Lindsi--Let me start by saying my daughter does NOT watch TV.  I can't get her to sit down and watch an entire show (so I can get things done) for the life of me (or her!).  I put in The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas for movie night for my kids and all of them (including my daughter) were enthralled through the whole thing!  They even asked to watch it again!

Jamie--We watched The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas the night we received it in the mail.  Both my girls loved it and were dancing along to the songs.  The only complaint my 4 year old had was, "Mom, it's not close enough to Christmas to watch this."  Thanksgiving we went to my in-laws house and it was on TV.  My girls went on and on about how they owned the movie so they could watch it again.  My nephew was jealous!

Both--We loved the movie because the kids loved it and they didn't realize they were learning while watching it!  It was cute and is tolerable for adults to watch along with their kids.  Even our husbands didn't mind it!  

Official description of the movie: Sure to be a holiday favorite for the entire family for years to come, this adventure finds the Cat in the Hat, Nick and Sally on a journey around the world to help a lost reindeer find his way home to Freezeyourknees Snowland in time for Christmas. On the way, the Thinga-ma-jigger breaks down, and they depend on a variety of animals – from African bush elephants to bottlenose dolphins to red crabs – and their remarkable abilities to help them make an amazing journey home.

Overall impression:  Definitely worth watching and buying because your kids will want to watch it over and over again.  Yes, it is sure to be a holiday favorite for the entire family!

Win a copy of The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas on DVD!

Yes, one of our lucky readers will win their own copy of this movie!  Just enter below.  Please note, the giveaway entry form does not work on some mobile devices.
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500 Holiday Craft Projects for Kids

Thanksgiving is over and that means it's time to gear up for Christmas!  In honor of that, we've gathered up 500 fabulous holiday craft ideas for you and the kiddos!  500? Yup, you read it right! 500!  Enjoy and be sure to tell us which project you are planning.

11 fabulous finds at Kidspot

40 cute crafts at Family Fun 

20 awesome arts at Parents

49 super Stewart inspirired ideas

100 lucious long thread ideas

205 Marvalous Michaels creations

12 Spoonfulls of sillyness and fun

27 crazy cute crafts at Amazing Mom's 

14 Adorable arts and crafts at Apples4theTeacher

7 creative crafts from Circle of Moms

15Terrific ideas HERE!!!

Reindeer Made From Corks--Pinned it, Did it!

I don't know about you but Hubby and I love wine and we drink it frequently.  I have saved all of my corks, thinking one day I will make something out of them.  I have an entire large box full and have yet to do anything with them until now!

I saw this super cute cork reindeer on Pinterest and thought this was perfect for my girls to make and a perfect use of some of my corks!

The original post does not have any directions so I had to guess a bit.  We also didn't have the same things on hand so we improvised...

 

We quickly discovered that regular glue just won't work so we used our hot glue gun which worked much better!

Two and a half corks, some pipe cleaners, "google eyes" as my girls call them, and a pink jewel (because we didn't have red) and we've got a cork reindeer!

Ours vs theirs..what do you think?

P.S.  The original post has some other super cute things to make for Christmas out of corks so I highly suggest you check it out!

Minty Chocolate Love

One of my favorite "seasonal" beverages is a Ho Ho Mocha. Kind of a silly name but a fabulous drink for the chilly air! This beverage contains two of my favorite flavors: mint and chocolate. I have finished decorating for Christmas (yup...I'm that person) and I was thinking up some new ways to enjoy the tastes of the season.

What you will need:
mini candy canes
wax paper
dark chocolate chips (you can use milk or white too)
festive sprinkles

Lay out your unwrapped candy canes on the wax paper in a heart shape, making sure to leave space between each heart.

Melt your chocolate chips in a microwave safe container in 30 second intervals...stir between each 30 seconds. Pour the melted chocolate into a plastic bag and snip off a TINY piece of the corner to allow the chocolate to be squeezed through (like a piping bag).

Fill each heart with chocolate and add sprinkles. Let the candy hearts set (this should take about an hour) without being disturbed until the chocolate hardens again.

Remove from the wax and enjoy!

Advent Calendar Making

I remember when I was a kid that I had an awesome felt Advent Calendar to use every year during the month of December. My grandma made it for her kids when they were young and it was passed down to me. Sadly, I have no idea where the calendar ended up (I sure wish I knew). I was thinking to myself that it would be fun to have one for my kids to use every year....and maybe pass it down to their kids. So I got to work!
I Google-searched 24 images of items I wanted for the calendar and printed them out on paper, then cut them out and used them as templates for the ornaments.
I made 2-3 ornaments each week during the summer and really tried to add as much detail as possible to the ornaments to make them extra special. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. What do you think???

I made a stocking for each one of the kids

Santa, Christmas bag, Cardinal (for my grandma), Candy Cane

Christmas Tree, Hot Cocoa, Gift, Bell

Gingerbread Man, Ice Skate, Baby Jesus, Holly

Poinsettia, Snowflake, Light, Frosty the Snowman

Angel, Mitten, Wreath, and Rudolph

Decorated Tree

undecorated tree

Did/Does your family do an advent calendar?  Do you have special memories of it growing up?

Santa's Arrival at the Mall of America!

We know that we have a "local event" section on our blog and that most of the local things we promote are published there so that we don't overwhelm our out-of-area readers....however, every now and then something really exciting happens that we want to publish on our main page to get the maximum exposure.  This would be one of those events!

Santa is coming to the Mall of America!!

Ok, what's so special about that?  Santa visits lots of malls...
Well, this year Santa is arriving with REAL reindeer and singing elves!!
I don't know about you, but Lindsi and I are just as excited as our kids are to see this great event!

Santa's arrival ceremony will start at 6pm on Thursday, November 8th 

at the Mall of America Patio (Southwest corner of Nickelodeon Universe)

It will consist of a festive parade through Nickelodeon Universe and performances by cast members from the Broadway musical “Elf,” showing at the Ordway Music Theatre December 5 – 30. Kids can also make their own Elf hat, write letters to Santa and snack on cookies, milk and hot cocoa provided by Nestle Tollhouse.

After the ceremony, head on over to West Market Square for photos with Santa (until 9pm).

Can't make the arrival ceremony?  No problem, there's more ways to meet Santa Claus this holiday season! Busy families can schedule an appointment for photos and visit with Santa in a more intimate setting between Nov. 10 and Dec. 24. The Santa Experience is located on Level One South near Macy’s. To book an appointment, please visit www.professorbellows.com (click on "Santa" then "Make Reservation).  Click HERE to see Santa's schedule.

Lindsi and I are taking our families to Santa's arrival, are you?  Look for photos after the ceremony!

Operation Christmas Child

"Mom, I want to respect the world."
"What do you mean?"
"I want to help poor people mom."
That was a true conversation I had with Nutty just a few days ago.  I'm not sure where it came from, but I am so glad she wants to give back, and I had just the thing to help her "respect the world."

I discovered Operation Christmas Child a few months ago. It is a non-profit organization that inspires people to pack shoe boxes with Christmas gifts for children in developing countries around the world. Filling a shoe box is the perfect way to teach your children values such as compassion, kindness, and generosity.

After telling Nutty and Tottie about the shoe box gifts, and showing them some Operation Christmas Child videos (because they just couldn't quite understand it with a simple explanation), they were all excited about packing their first box!

We ran to our local Dollar Store and Target to find some gifts that not only would fit in a shoe box, but also that my girls would love to have for themselves.  After all, I'm trying to teach my girls that sometimes it's better to give than to receive and being generous means that you give things that you may want to keep.

I wrapped the box in Christmas paper and the girls filled it up with the loot we bought at the store.  The girls kept talking about the girl who would recieve the box.  They wondered where she lives and what she looks like.  Nutty wrote a letter and both drew a picture for the girl.  We included our address in the letter in hopes that our recepient might write back to us.

We are extremely excited to drop off our box at our local drop off site and track to see where it goes!

Have you created an Operation Christmas Child shoe box with your children?  If not, here's how you can do it:  Read below or watch the How to Pack a Box video.

1. Use an empty shoe box (standard size, please) or a small plastic container. You can wrap the box (lid separately), but wrapping is not required.

2. Boy or Girl?  Determine whether your gift will be for a boy or a girl, and the child’s age category: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14. You can download a label online or click the Follow Your Box option to get a special label to learn the destination of you shoe box gift.  Tape the label to the top of your box.

3. Fill it up!  Fill the box with a variety of gifts that will bring delight to a child such as toys, school supplies, and hygiene items.  A list of suggested gift items is available here.

4. Donate $7.  Please donate $7 or more for each shoe box you prepare to help cover shipping and other project costs. You can give online by using our Follow Your Box option, or you can write a check to Samaritan’s Purse (note “OCC” on memo line) and place it in an envelope on top of the gift items inside your box.  If you or your family are preparing more than one shoe box, please make one combined donation.

5. Drop Off.  Put a rubber band around your closed box then Click to find the closest drop-off location to you and drop off your box during OCC’s National Collection Week--Nov. 12-19, 2012.


**National Collection week is Nov 12-19th**
Gifts are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.


You can also send shoe box gifts year-round to: 
Samaritan’s Purse
801 Bamboo Road
Boone, NC 28607

This holiday season build a box with your family to teach kindness, compassion, and generosity.

Operation Christmas Child and influencer marketing platform BlogFrog have teamed up with 200 bloggers like me to spread the word about this great cause. 

BlogFrog will match the first 200 boxes that are built.  Pledge your commitment below to build a box today on Facebook or Twitter!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Operation Christmas Child. The opinions and text are all mine.