Christmas Countdown

Christmas is coming.....

I made each of the girls an advent calendar this year. These were fun to make, the girls are enjoying them each morning.I filled them with candy, cute ornaments and little prizes like chap stick, Christmas erasers etc. 

Haley's was the first. Hers is made with cardboard favor boxes glued together in a pyramid. I used my large hole punch and some Christmassy scrapbook paper to make the circles and then sticker numbers for the dates. I decided to mix up the dates on the calendars to give he girls a little extra challenge in finding their prize each day. 

 Emily is next. For hers I wrapped two paper grocery bags in Christmas wrapping paper. I glued little red and green paper bags on the front and added velvety red bows from the dollar store. I had to hole punch the top and bottom of each piece and connect them with ribbon. 

For Kiley's I had planned on making paper tree cones and having them sit up with prizes underneath each one. I ended up stringing some twine and using clothespins to string the cones up on our wall instead. I used the pattern from Family Fun Magazine. 

I modified their largest cone and made it bigger. Their large wasn't large enough for me.  Their small ones were also too small for what I needed them for so I didn't use that size. 

Julia's calendar is the only loose laying one. I made hers from toilet paper rolls. I cut scrapbook paper to the size of a toilet paper roll, glued it on and folded in the sides to make pillow boxes. I added a ribbon to tie them shut and of course each has a date so she can find her prize. 

Finally, August. Hers is very simple and not what I was originally intending to do, but it turned out great in spite of that. I added pretty paper to brown lunch bags  and clothes pinned them to ribbon hung on our stairs. 


The house looks really cute with the calendars as extra decorations. I look forward to doing this again for them next year. 


Also on our craft list....


The girls put together a Gingerbread house. We picked one up while shopping at Trader Joe's the other day. I really liked this kit, it didn't have pre-made yucky icing, instead it has you mix your own royal icing. The gingerbread pieces appear to be real and the candies are all dye and chemical free. 

Sorry it's a little blurry, I've been using my phone to take pictures. 

And lastly, I made some ornaments this year. I found this super cute tutorial on a craft blog I was looking at. These glitter mittens were so very easy and turned out so adorable. I used some of my great-grandmothers vintage buttons. 

We have a lot to do still to get ready for Christmas. I'm hosting Christmas Eve at our home this year. I'm both excited and nervous. 

Merry Christmas and God Bless You!