Christmas Advent Calendar

After I had so much fun making my Halloween Advent Calendar, and more importantly, watching my cute girls have so much doing the activities every day, I knew I had to come up with something for Christmas. So I came up with a tree with little circle ornaments. So by the time Christmas day comes, it loooks like a little decorated Christmas tree.
This is what it looks like to start. Then you flip one ornament over every day to count down to Christmas.

Each day has a Christmas/winter activity behind it.

Then on Christmas Day, your kids put a star on the top. So this is what it looks like on Christmas day.

What you will need:Tree-shaped piece of wood. (This tree was cut from a piece that was 12x24.)

24 circle tags, Christmas paper, mod podge, gold vinyl, green, brown, and red spray paint, green and red ribbon, glue dots, star, green velcro, 24 nails

(I didn't take pictures of this process since it is just like the Halloween Calendar, and because I am lame.) Start by spray painting your tree and tags. I only painted one side. Let dry completely.

Cut vinyl numbers and paper to fit tags. (I used my Silhouette to cut the paper and vinyl numbers.)Transfer vinyl numbers to the red side of the tags. Mod Podge paper to tags. Let dry. Cut 2 inch strips of ribbon, tie a knot in the middle and stick to tags on the side with paper using a glue dot.

Hot glue velcro to top of tree and back of the star. Measure and hammer your nails into your board. Make a list of activities you want to do to count down the days. Print and cut into 1 in. circles. Use a glue dot to stick the acitivity just below each nail. Put your ornaments on.

Have a blast doing fun things with your kids while counting down the days to Christmas! :)

Halloween Costumes

I made or semi-homemade three of our costumes this year. For Snow White, I got my inspiration here. I got my basic tutu instructions here and the satin flowers here. It took sixteen yards of tulle to get this baby done. But it so fluffy and girly, I love it.

I couldn't let her be the only one with a tutu, and with a Zumba Halloween party coming up, me and friends decided to make some matching ones:

My oldest wanted to be a Pharoah, which wasn't an easy costume to find. When I finally got around to it, it wasn't too hard. His "robe" is an old thrift store dress I once used to be Cruella Deville, and I got the instructions for the rest here.



Hope you have a great Halloween!

Easy Halloween Gift

I wanted to make a little something for my daughter to give to her preschool teacher and dance teacher for Halloween. I remembered seeing tile magnets at various places and decided to give them a try. They were SO easy! It only took about 30 minutes to make 3 sets. What you will need (per set): 4 - 2 inch tiles, vinyl, and magnets.





All you have to do is cut out your vinyl and then transfer it to the tiles and hot glue a magnet on the back. Easy peasy!





I found some little bags and curling ribbon in my wrapping paper box so I put the magents in the bags and tied them up with a cute little note from my daughter.

So easy and very inexpensive!

Awesome (free) wood projects

We (my husband and I) finished a couple of projects that have been our list for quite a while.

The first was these pallet shelves:

I got the idea here for the shelves and learned how to transfer the printed letters from here. The letters didn't transfer perfectly, but I think the worn letters complement the rustic shelves quite nicely.

I love the quote which is from the prophet of my church, President Thomas S. Monson. Now I can't wait to fill the shelves with photos and cute vintage things.

The second thing was to redo an old desk someone gave us. My husband sanded it and redid the drawers. I painted and used this technique to make the flowers.

Don't mind the dents in my wall. We won't get into that :)

Mickey/Minnie Wreath

So it was on my list to make this adorable wreath but I was feeling too lazy to find that many balloons in the right colors. So, I made my own version out of materials I had around my house. Here is a quick tutorialette if you are interested.

1. Cut foam water noodle to size and use plenty of duct tape to tape it closed.

2. Cut strips off black fabric and wrap and hot glue around the wreath.

3. Wrap black fabric around foam circles and hot glue the back.

4. Cut a piece of foam board to fit the back of the circles and enough at the bottom to glue to the back of the wreath.

5. Use hot glue to glue the ears to the wreath.

6. Decorate as desired. ( I used velcro to attach the bow so I can change it to a Mickey)

I think it turned out pretty cute. I might change it up for the seasons: witch hat for Halloween, pilgrim hat for Halloween, Santa hat for Christmas etc. etc.

Count Down to Halloween

When I was little, we had an advent calendar that counted the days until Christmas. My mom had a way of making holidays so much fun. My sisters and I LOVED it! I wanted to be that kind of mom for my own kids so a few years ago, I found a kit that was similar to that advent calendar and made it so that my girls could enjoy counting down to Christmas like I did when I was little.

A few weeks ago I decided I was going to design and make a "Count Down to Halloween." I wanted my sisters to participate in the fun too and my little sister said that she would make one only if it didn't involve sewing. (Haha) So this is what I came up with. We had tons of fun making them this past weekend.

This "Count Down to Halloween" not only counts down the days, but has a fun activity for the kids to do hiding behind each number.

What you will need:

1- 12 x 24 board

31- 2.25" tags

Halloween Paper

Black Ink

Black, Orange, Yellow, Purple, Green, and White Vinyl

Ribbon

Mod Podge

Foam Brush

Glue Dots

Black Semi-Gloss Spray Paint

31 white nails

( I was super excited about this project and went a little crazy, but you could simplify it if you want. :) )

First, spray paint your board and one side of your 31 tags. (I forgot to get a picture of this, but I am sure you get the idea!)

Ask your super cool brother-in-law to measure, mark, and nail your 31 nails into your board.

Next you will need to cut your paper to fit the tags. I used my Silhouette to cut my paper. Mod Podge your paper to the side of the tag that you did not paint.


Let it dry completely. When dry, distress the edge using black ink.
Cut numbers out of black vinyl (once again, I used my Silhouette) and then apply the vinyl to the paper side of the tag.
Next, cut a piece of paper that is 4.5" x 12", distress the edge with the black ink and mod podge that to the top of your board. Dry completely. Then cut out your title "Count Down to Halloween" in black vinyl. Apply to the paper.

I also cut out 2 bats and 1 cat in black vinyl and put them with the title. So it looked like this when I was finished.I cut out various Halloween sayings and pictures from white, orange, yellow, green, and purple vinyl and put one on the back of each of the tags. I am going to have my girls flip the tag over as they go to keep track of what day it is and wanted something cute on the back.

So by the end of the 31 days in October, this is what it will look like.

Next, put your orange "Trick or Treat" vinyl on the bottom of your board. (I forgot to take a picture, again!)

Then you will want to add the ribbon to your tags. It makes them SO much cuter! I bought orange and black polk-a-dot ribbon. I cut them a few inches long.

Tied a knot in the middle.

And used fray check to prevent it from fraying on the edges, and then stuck them to my tags, just below the hole, using a glue dot.

I typed up a list of 31 fun activities and printed them out and used a 1 inch hole punch to punch them out. I used the big craft glue dots to adhere them to the board behind each tag. I wanted to make sure I would be able to pull them off and change activities if I wanted, so that is why I used the dots.

So as you pull the tag off, you can read the activity for the day, have fun with your kids, and have them flip the tag over so they can keep track of how close it is getting to Halloween.

And if your kids are anything like my 4-year-old, they will hardly be able to contain their excitement!

Hurry, you still have plenty of time to whip one up before October is here!
Happy Halloween!

The Pillowcase Dress

Love the pillowcase dress!! Easy enough for the beginner sewer and cute!!

For the summer version I got inspiration from here to make my own lemon-lime bandanna dress ($2 total-Wal-mart).

I used the instructions here.

She kept tugging at the ribbons so I ended up making different ties but didn't get a picture for this one. I used the tutorial here using an old green tee shirt for the straps instead. Great for a hot summer day or a swimming cover-up.

Then the other day at the thrift store I spotted a sweater with great fall colors. ($3) I'm not much of a sweater person myself but I knew I use the fall colors for something. So I made this from the same concept.

I used the leftovers to make a headband and flower. I made the flower from this tutorial, then painted a wooden circle, added some rub-ons, sprayed with finishing spray and glued an embellishment in the middle. Bring on fall!!