my diy christmas decorations {mini version}

i love christmas. not sure of too many people who hate christmas, now that i think about it. either way, christmas and the knowledge of it approaching makes me giddy. i have gathered and collect and created a lot of the christmas items in our home. some are childhood ornaments, or items our kid has made, or my favorite are the home made items. doesn't matter if i diy'd it or if someone else did. handmade is my favorite. always. 

alas, i have no house to decorate this year, and all of my stuff is in storage. i have shared these very briefly and a few years ago, so i thought i'd revisit and elaborate on two of my favorite diy christmas decorations i've made. 

the first is my pride and joy. our family advent calendar. 

i had found one via pinterest on site here, and intended on following the format with multiple boards, but instead went with one single large piece of mdf. mostly because i had my hubby cut the squares too small to fit my envelopes. 

after painting the board with a few coats of red paint from a bathroom we'd painted in an aprtment 6+ years ago,  i used small coin envelopes i found at office max and decorated them with christmas paper and items i have from all my scrapbooking. i used my cricket to cut out some of the letters, or got creative. i had been given a advent boxes kit from target and used some of the items from that here as well. the envelopes are stuck on there with e6000, so they aren't going anywhere. 

i typed up the cards with all our activities, cut and corner rounded them for a pretty look and voila. 

some of our activities are: 

enjoy hot cocoa

take cookies to the local fire station

do a holiday craft

take a bag of food to the local homeless shelter

go look at christmas lights

my other favorite is our christmas countdown calendar. 

 i had found the plain clip boards at office max as well. paper and modge podge are all i needed. i used my cricut again to cut out the lettering and just typed up the letters on my computer. it was so cute and i was so in love that i decided to go back and purchase the mini clip boards and make them as gifts. because who doesn't love mini things, christmas things, and the combination of the both.

these turned out so cute, and i know that my friends loved them. i had one left over and i'm thinking it might be perfect for the handmade christmas exchange i am doing with emmy. but, that would require talking the husband into going to the storage unit, clearing out some boxes and letting me search every box from the craft room to find one little clip board. or i could just buy the supplies and make another one. which is probably what i will do. 

i'm going to be dreaming of a white christmas and a decorate home this year for christmas.

linking up to the following...

the right kind of business...and a pinterest fail.

we haven't had a single day at home with nothing going on since august. i'm aware that's normal for most families with older kids or those with children in main stream education. but, for us with littles and being preggo {as usual} it's hard on us to be on the go every day of the week.

praise be to sweet jesus that soccer is done and that means thursday is our home day. a day for us to be together and be productive in all the right ways.

i woke early as i usually do, but the hubby and i had talked about budgeting the night before. and the nerd in me couldn't wait to get my cup of coffee and do the budget. yes, i did say i was excited about budgeting. we have an amazing system that we learned thru dave ramsey and we actually look forward to payday and all that we can accomplish with the blessings we have been given. also helps that we have next to no debt. and did i mention we will have our second completely cash christmas this year. boom! christmas is completely funded and i am in love. 

we had breakfast, watched octonauts. do yourself a favor and don't watch. not because it isn't cute, or educational, or witty for the folks. don't watch unless you want to be singing the jingle when you wake up to pee at 2 a.m....creature report...creature report... what was i going to say, oh yes, child labor. i am a fan. after the morning show the kiddos dressed, and 'the beast' as we are now referring to her as went down for her short morning nap. we then tackled the one job daddy gave us. clean out the car. 

 i personally hate doing it and i can't get into the back. and that's why i have so many minions. it was very helpful though, and they do love to be helpful.

we made cookies, and colored together. had lunch, read books, played outside, i collapsed on the couch when they went to bed. i should have taken a nap with them, but hind sight is 20/20. i made dinner which turned out great! home made chicken strips, with smashed potatoes, and asparagus & carrots.

i should clarify that my "smashed potatoes" was something that i found on a website via pinterest. things always look so pretty on pinterest. i do not have that touch. let me show you. please. you'll enjoy this.
from lovegrowswild...

her version is so beautiful. very pleasing to the eyes and look all her potaotes are intact. 

mine...

not so much. they did taste good. so i have that going for me, but they look horrendous.

along with the budget win, i also tackled the laundry monster. i genuinely think that not only do i have a sock gnome who steals my kids socks, but that my laundry might actually be reproducing. five loads later they are clean and folded. i will attempt to put them away in about two weeks.

i had some good down time and enjoyed one on one time with all the kids. home days are so wonderful, they'd only be better if daddy were home and we lived in our own home again. but we are getting close. only time will tell, hopefully my sanity can last that long.

linking up my pinterest adventure with jessica.