Whooooooo is Hiding In Our Tree?

Merry Christmas Eve!

We celebrate Christmas Eve with my side of the family, so it's always a fun and family filled night!

Before we head out, I wanted to share Ornament #24!

Are they characters, or What??? I love them!

My inspiration (pinspiration!) came from here:

Source: flickr.com via Amy on Pinterest

I think owls are awesome! And TP roll owls are Awesome-er!

All it took was some paint, a black Sharpie, us going to the bathroom a lot (hahaha) and some great inspiration from by BFF Pinterest!

I hope you all have a Blessed and Magical Evening and a Merry Merry Merry Christmas Morning!

Giant Play Ring

Doing my last post on the Pomander Ornament reminded me of something!

With some of the extra felt rosettes I had, I whipped out this cute little Stocking Stuffer for Miss Kat!

It's crazy gaudy, right???

And it doesn't look so great on my Big Man Hands. Seriously...I my hands look like they've come through the Depression, or a Prize Fight minus the gloves.

But...I'm betting...it's going to look great on my Girlie's Dainty Princess Finger! And she loves anything over the top!

Here's how it worked.

I had a jillion of these felt rosettes made up.

Hmmmm...annoying ring pop! Do your kids love these? Mine do. And my parents love buying them for my kids. And my kids love putting half sucked on ones in their pockets. And my dryer loves smearing the sticky mess all over the rest of the clothes. But I digress. Force your child to eat a ring pop, then wash the base and snip off the little stem piece.

Start hot gluing your rosettes onto the newly flattened base! Or you could cut out felt flowers, or paper flowers, or buttons...whatever!

I was able to squeeze four rosettes onto the thing. Then I let the glue harden.

Pretty Play Ring Perfection!

Felt Flower Pomander

Pomander is such a fancy schmancy word. I wondered if I was using it correctly, so I turned to my Encyclopedia (Google) and I am! Pomander's are a ball covered with scent or musk...a medieval aromatherapy if you will!

My pretty little felt pomander doesn't smell...but you can imagine it does!

I had a bunch of scrap felt, so I made a lot of little felt rosettes. Maybe 100? I lost count!

Then I glued them to a styrofoam ball to make a pretty ornament!

Thumbs UP!

I'm a sucker for hand print art & foot print art & a new favorite...

Thumb Print Art!

And, speaking of thumbs, as soon as I typed that I couldn't get THIS...

...Outta my head. LOVED this book when I was little. And now I must buy it for the kids!

Rings on my Fingers. Rings on my Thumbs. Somethin Somethin Somethin...daa daa DRUM!

Don't quote me on that. It's been a long time since I've read it. And I'm a little hopped up on Benadryl and last minute Christmas projects. And Rolos.

ANYWAY!

Here is Ornament #22!

Who doesn't love some Thumby Reindeers???

My inspiration came from Little Bit Funky. She does a great tutorial with amazing photos...you must take a peek at the shot of her kiddos reflected in the ornaments.

Completely fun and fast and great for last minute gifts!

White Christmas?

Who knows! In Nebraska it could do anything on December 25th. We woke up this morning with a little white stuff in the grass...but not enough to shovel or have fun in. 

But I love snow & snowflakes in particular! So Ornament 21 is a set of pretty crochet snowflakes...so our Christmas will have a little White!

I need to pin and starch them (that's why they aren't on the tree yet!). But I wanted to share them right away! They were all quick to crochet and would make great ornaments, garlands, gift toppers, appliques...wherever you need a snowflake!

This first snowflake I found at Gardener's Ramblings.

This next one, I found at Heart Handmade UK.

This simple snowflake pattern came from Sarah Landon.

The final one is more solid than the rest. I found the pattern on Red Heart's site.

I love them all being unique! That's what snowflakes are all about!

Jingle All the Way!

Ornament #20! (aka Monday's Ornie)

I saw these Jingle Bell Flowers last year on The Crafty Crow. If you don't read The Crafty Crow...you need to! She has an amazing collection of ideas and they are fantastically organized!

Here's how mine turned out!

Super Close up!

They are so bright on the tree! I love the use of old egg cartons. Re-cycle Crafts are a big deal around our house. Head over to The Craft Crow for a great tutorial!

Jolly Holly

First...a little Jolly.

A Jolly Hair Pretty for Miss Kat that I whipped up in no time.

This is just a regular alligator clip with sparkly pom poms hot glued on. My Model wasn't so cooperative, but it really is a simple way to glam up a Girlie's Do!

And now...some Holly!

Literally!

I had mentioned on my personal facebook page that it was time to "Deck our Halls". My Aunt who lives in Washington decided to snip us some "Boughs of Holly" from her Holly bush and send them to us.

I was totally surprised and delighted!

Warning...the berries are poisonous. And the leaves are sharp little suckers! So I put some in a jar on my kitchen shelf where the kiddos can't reach them.

I'm loving how festive it looks!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

That's what that Silly Frosty the Snowman is always saying instead of Merry Christmas!

Last year that was John's go-to video. We watched Frosty. A lot. And the second one, too. With Mrs. Frosty. The only thing I remember about Frosty the Sequel is when the kids want to name his SnowBride Minnie Haw Haw.

LOVE IT! Minnie Haw Haw...someone was downing some seriously good cocktails when they came up with that!

But we all love nostalgia of Frosty the Snowman. He is a jolly happy soul.

So I had to make this...

...when I saw the instructions over at The Crafty Crow. Too cute! And I luv me some TP-roll crafts!

My hot glue gun did get a bit carried a way, so the felt flower looks a little sloppy.

But the look on John's face when he saw the ornament on the tree was priceless!

Sassy Monkey!

No. The Sassy Monkey isn't some new dance craze!

Let me tell you about it. 

Not so very long ago, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, It's Just Jennifer. I've never met this lady before, but at times it seems she is living in my brain! And she's a Rock Star Crocheter!!!

So. It was her birthday and she decided to share the love and do a giveaway.

Drum Roll.

I ended up winning!!!

It was muy exciting! I'd never won a giveaway before!

But the SUPER exciting part was the Giveaway Item.

Shall I let my photos do the talking???

Here's Kat with the package. She was mad because it wasn't her turn to go down and get the mail from the box. 

Big Brother is helping her through the tears. Are you seeing the Giveaway Cuteness?

Hmmmmm...it FITS!

And we have achieved Sassy Monkey!!!

Although it is not a dance...Kat enjoys, "Shaking my bum bummmmm!" while wearing it!

I want to send a Woot! Woot! at Jennifer, for making such an adorable hat and then being sweet enough to share it with someone (us!)!

Angels We Have Heard on High!

Today's Ornaments are so Angelic!!!

Just like this:

This is my third grader before his school Christmas program. The 8 & 9 year old boys were overjoyed to be dressed like Angels (hint of sarcasm), but they looked so sweet and the program was great!

I got the inspiration and instructions for these angel ornaments at Sycamore Stirrings. The tutorial there is great and easy to follow. I loved her advice about using something to hold the bead head while you paint the face! I used some extra paint brushes and I thought they looked funny!

Now. You'll note the blond angel AND the brunette angel. Louie has a friend (that's a girl) that he would like to give a Christmas gift to. This cute little brown haired angel is the gift we decided on.

So here's our sweet little Angel, watching over the tree.

And here's Louie's friend (that's a girl. yikes!). Waiting to be wrapped.

This whole friend (that's a girl) thing can be a bit daunting! Just so you all know that I'm not encouraging my 8 year old into teen behavior or letting him play fast & easy...here's how our conversation went when he told me he liked her.

Me: So. What does that mean? You like her?

Louie: Yeah. I like her.

Me: Well. What is it you like about her?

Louie: Well. She's really funny and I make her laugh. She's the best singer in our class. She's not weird like the other girls are.

Me: So. Do you, like, want to hold her hand and kiss her?

Louie: No WAY! That's totally NOT what I want to do. I'm not ready to get married!

 Me (silently in my heart of hearts): Thank you, God!

Then he asked about getting her a gift. I re-asked the kissing part. He rolled his eyes and looked like he was going to barf. I said, "Sure! What should we make her?"

Craft Stick Crafting

I'm on the home stretch! 

Christmas Eve is in exactly one week! My side of the family always celebrates Christmas Eve and then we gather with my hub's side of the family on Christmas Day. This is going to be one crazy fun week!

On to Ornie #17!

I love craft sticks...or as I like to call them "popsicle sticks"! It takes me back to grade school and Girl Scouts. Simpler times! I also say "pipe cleaners" instead of chenille stems. Who so fancy???

Anyway! I love popsicle sticks & pipe cleaners and that's half of today's Ornie Equation!

Add a sparkly red pom pom and goggle eyes and behold:

Crazy Cute Reindeer!

I DIYed it right from Let's Explore!

It would be so easy for kiddos to do. I did mine in the dead of night when everyone was sawing logs, but I may have John & Louie whip some up themselves this week.

And...my favorite part...there isn't even a hanger. Just stick a branch through the middle section.

WaaaaLaaaa!

Let it Snow!

If there were a Christmas Song about Having Good Intentions yet being a Monster Procrastinator...it would be my Theme Song.

However...the Bright Side of it is I get to bring you two ornaments for today! Let me see if I have this right...I did Thursday's Ornament Yesterday. So I have Yesterday's and Today's to do Today? Sound good??? Awesomesauce. (that's my new word. I can't stop saying it.)

First! I made this cute little tree out of tiered snowflakes!

It's sort of hard to see the tree-ness of it from this angle. But I love this snowflake shape. It came with my Silhouette machine. Am I doing a Silhouette plug??? Nope! I just really like mine. However, if the Silhouette people are out there and reading this...feel free to send me any products to review!

I found the How To at Better Homes and Gardens' site. You, basically, string beads and your paper flakes onto a thread.

Here is a better Tree-ish shot:

Away In a Manger...

Is my absolute favorite Christmas song. In fact, I see it as more of a lullaby and I sing it to my kiddos year round! I also have a love of Nativity sets. I'm getting a little collection going!

So I was fascinated when I spotted THIS on Pinterest!

Source: sarivalsisters.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

Love It!

And, of course, I was in love with the idea of making one of my own. So intriguing. Like a ship in a bottle!

I've got a small army of clear glass ornaments. So that part was easy. I found a Nativity shape on the Silhouette online store that I liked and I took a lucky guess at the sizing. I say lucky, because I only had to do one cut on my machine. I put some fake snow into the ornament...I realize there was no snow at the Birth of Christ...but it's so pretty and almost Heavenly looking. Anyway, I then very gently rolled up my cut out and inserted it into the ornament. I soon figured out that tweezers would be a handy tool, and I grabbed ours. It took some working, but using the tweezers I was able to get the cut out placed exactly how I wanted. And here it is:

Soooooooo coooooool!

My children were amazed! How did I do that? How did I get the paper into the ornament?

Christmas is such a magical time!

Paper Heart Ornament

Today's Ornament...I don't even know what number I'm on...is it the 14th???

Louie was home sick today with whatever stomach bug is going around. It was a total stay in our jams and chill sort of day. Then I hurried up, got dressed, ran and picked up John from pre-school, came home and hurried right back into my jams!

Ahhhhhhh.

So. Today's Ornament is sort of chill. 

Just a cute little paper heart. Chillin' at the bottom of the tree!

You can find a great tutorial at Reese Dixon. I'm running a little low on Holiday themed paper, so I used two patterns instead of four...mine having a plain color on the backside.

It's a cute and quick decoration. I'm having Visions of Valentine's Day dancing in my head...

Come February you all may be deja vu-ing!

On a sad note...

Mr. Colorful Polka Dot Ornie fell to his death.

With all the new ornies going up on the tree...it made me think of the Lion King (cue Circle of Life music!).

This is an ornament I gave my Grandma Rita 20ish years ago. When she moved in with my folks a few years back, she started giving me a lot of her Christmas stuff. 

It's Louie's 9th Christmas (he was crawling that first year...so it counts!) and this is the first time we had ornament breakage!

However. It took about a nano-second before fingers were being shot all around. Louie is blaming John. John is blaming Louie. Kat is looking at me and shrugging, saying, "It wasn't ME, Mama."

Here's the scoop. My kids had built a "fort" in the living room. They are obsessed with all of the pillows and blankets of the house being in the living room. All of the time. Some how...no one is sure...maybe ghosts??? Some how the "fort" ended up right next to the tree. Louie was the catapult (remember. he's the sick one.). The cushion of the couch was the boulder. John was the invisible force that carried the boulder from the catapult to the other side of the "fort". Hey, at least they didn't just throw the cushion! Anywho, as John was "Oh. So. Carefully. Mom. I was Oh. So. Careful." stepping around the "fort" wall, the pillow he was carrying whammed into the tree. 

And that was the end of Mr. Polka Dot Ornie.

I'm sure he is twinkling in the Heaven's tonight...just like Mufasa. (to be said in funny hyena voice.)

Crochet Chain Wreath

I saw today's ornament and had to make it. Right Now!!!

There was just something irresistible about it. Cuteness? Simplicity? Crochet?

All three, please!

You can find out how to make your own little Crochet Wreath at Tangled Happy. Super easy to follow directions with great photos!

Our oldest son recently told me he'd like to learn how to crochet something. I think this will be the perfect first project for him!

I can see me making up a LOT of these. I've got a bunch of random green yarn to use up, but I'm also seeing little white wreaths with blue ribbon? Adorable!!!

Candy Cane Ornament

Okay. You can stop pretending it's still Sunday!

I'm caught up to Monday!

I found this cute ornament idea at Anders Ruff. Since we love candy canes & puzzles...it was a Must!

It turned out HUGE...but super cute! I used a 100 piece puzzle of my son's that had some missing pieces. I would suggest, unless you want a giant ornament, using an adult puzzle...maybe a 500 or thousand piece.

But the Giant Candy Cane works for us! Our tree is getting some bald patches and this filled one up just fine!

I painted some pieces white and some red. I skimped on painting the backs. Then I arranged them in the shape I wanted & plugged in the glue gun.

Ended up only putting glue on the red (or top) pieces. A little dab on each tip, and then I pushed it into place on the tops of the neighboring white pieces.

Here's a shot of the back. Then I took some green ribbon to make a loop for hanging and a bow & I embellished with a cute little jingle bell!

Versatile Snowmen!

Yesterday ran away from me and I didn't get my Ornament of the Day posted.

WHOOPS! Sorry about that!

We had some serious errands to run and while I was waiting for Princess No-Sleep-No-More to fall asleep...I did! Fall asleep, I mean! Nothing like waking up at 3 am with your glasses askew, book imprint on your cheek and stiff bones from sleeping on the floor!

So. Just pretend it's still Sunday and here's my Ornament of the Day!

Adorable Clothes Pin SnowPeople!

Aren't they cute??? My inspiration came from Eyeballs By Day, Crafts By Night! You can use them to clip onto your cards, decorations, gift bags or TREE! I decided to use regular and mini-sized pins.

The Mini Ones are my favorite!

We have a regular Snowman Pin Family!