recycled gift wrap

i've finally started wrapping our gifts. with an impending tighter budget i've been trying to pinch where i can. i love wrapping presents and i still want them to look special with or without the fancy paper. for these presents i used a recycled gift box with yarn and a whole foods brown bag with yarn. the finishing touch? popsicle sticks as gift tags. fun and simple and a great way to use of the HUGE bag of popsicles sam bought to make a boat. that's right, he wanted to make a popsicle boat. just one of the many reasons why i love my man. this tool made it extra easy to punch holes in the sticks. happy wrapping!

here's another project where i put the sticks to good use!

host a craft night

over the past week i was lucky to attend, not one but TWO craft parties. one intimate (as seen here) and one big, festive one. the small, intimate craft night was a birthday/crafting extravaganza. we organized who would bring what for weeks in advance. kate (the birthday girl) hosted, cristen and her sister caryn picked up taqueria, rachel picked up donuts. a few of us brought tons of craft supplies and kate's husband andy mixed fantastic drinks for us.

in addition to using glass ornaments to fill with moss and other woodland accessories, we all brought separate crafts to work on. i focused mostly on my nativity scene. it really was a free-for-all. we had love actually playing in the background and christmas tunes playing in the other room. it was such a great way to get some projects done and be inspired by other crafty ladies.

the big craft party i went to was hosted by rachel from handmade charlotte out on her farm. she asked everyone to bring either an appetizer or a dessert and then she provided TONS of crafting supplies. she had rows of long tables covered in craft paper and everyone shared and spread out and worked off each other's creativity. it was a really great time and rachel's home was just as charming as you would imagine. i especially loved getting to meet her parrot, trouble. "pretty ladies!"

have you ever hosted or attended a craft party? what did you like/dislike about it?

create your own nativity scene

"the stars in the sky shown down where he lay..."

i was on a mission to make matilda a nativity scene this year. as a child i was fascinated by my grammy's nativity and wanted matilda to have one of her own. i wanted something handmade that would be unique but not too delicate. here's a guide to how i created mine, but there is so much freedom here to make it your own.

here's what you'll need:

-wooden game pieces. i found these at michael's. the smaller pieces that i used for the wisemen and the shepard + sheep are called "boy game pieces." i can't remember what the larger pieces were called (the ones i used for mary and joseph) but they are sold in packs of two verses the three that come in the smaller pieces.
-white pipe cleaner + cotton balls for the sheep.
-acrylic paint + tiny paint brush for painting faces.
-felt for the clothing and crowns.
-garden wire to string up the angel.
-the angel wings i found at joann's.
-popsicle sticks + moss for baby Jesus' bed and the manger.
-glue gun + sticks.

how to:

for the clothing i cut thing strips of felt and simply wrapped the felt around the pieces, hot gluing as i went. same for the crowns, rolling the felt around the top of the little heads. for the faces i just winged it. you could create whatever kind of intricate details you would like. i also embellished mary with a glittery wooden star and joseph will a belt.

the easiest way to assemble the manger is to lay 11 popsicle sticks in a straight row and then super glue one vertical stick all the way down on both sides of the rows to hold them together. i did this to make two walls and then glue gunned two sticks across the top of the two walls to hold them together. i then glued sticks all the way down the back to create an open manger.

for the sheep i cut two tiny pieces of the pipe cleaner and folded them into a "v" i then glued the v's upside down on the bottom of one of the "small boy" pieces to create the legs. i then hot glued cotton to the body to cover the flat bottom of the piece in the back.

for the angel i took a little wooden peg and glued the gold wings to the top. i then wrapped floral wire around and around the "neck" to create a halo. i took some more wire and attached it to mary and joseph to allow the angel to suspend in the air.

that's pretty much it! it was a fun, fast project and matilda has had a lot of fun playing with it. it was one of our advent surprises!

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making merry

this year we've been in full blown christmas mode. here we are cutting down our tree at the coker tree family farm third year in a row. i'm a sucker for the ginger kids and the ornaments they give out.

i'm a little late on filling up the advent pockets, but here's what i have so far:
-go see the lights of life. it was amazing, cheap, and matilda loved the crazy christmas train they have with automated puppets inside.
-filled up a few pockets with dark chocolate. win win.
-added fruit leathers to a couple of pockets.
-watch rudolph's shiny new year on abc family december 5th
-placed ornaments to hang in a few pockets
-watch frosty the snowman on december 9th on cbs
-present nativity scene + read the story of christmas(almost done with a homemade nativity)
-make neighbor treats together
-go see santa
-make cookies for santa
-make reindeer food
-christmas eve she'll get a special gift from our house elf ook. (these adorable pjs)
ps if you're doing elf on the shelf (which you totally should) check out this flickr gallery. it's definitely making us step up our game. (thanks tori for the tip!)

help us add to our list! would love to hear how your family is celebrating the advent.

make your own pocket advent calendar here.

tad carpenter's holiday game

when i spotted this board game created by tad carpenter, it was seconds before i was draining my paypal account. tad is one of my favorite illustrators (atlantans will recognize his genius illustrations from yeah! burger). his work makes me happy.

i love that:
it looks like it plays like candy land.
the colors are gold + turquoise.
we can play it Christmas morning.

a gift for the whole family.

surviving the holidays part 2: stress

//lululemon

a mile long to-do list + a booked calendar = stress. the holidays are my absolute very favorite time of year, but sometimes i can get so swept up in the hurriedness that i miss what i love the most: spending time with family and friends, cheesy Christmas music, the magic of the lights at night, the mystery of the birth of Christ and the joy of dear old santa.

here are some ways to make the most of the season without losing your mind:
1. start shopping early. if you get your list knocked out you'll be less stressed and spend less. waiting til the last minute equals spending more money on most likely a gift that you aren't in love with.
2. MAKE time for exercise. getting out those endorphins is crucial. whether it's a long walk, a hike, riding your bike, running, practicing yoga, etc. make it fun!
3. eat well and your body will feel happier.
4. order cards early and get them mailed. this makes me feel ultra accomplished knowing that we're sending joy to people we love. i ADORE getting cards in the mail.
5. try not to overcommit. this can be tricky. i hate to say no or to hurt anyone's feelings, but we can't do it all.
6. consider a gift exchange if you have a big family or just sharing a meal together instead of exchanging gifts. quality time is the best present, right?
7. having quiet time to rest the soul.
8. make time to celebrate as a family. we are using the advent calendar to do something special each day.

side note: i tend to feel really guilty about overindulging during the holidays. as simple as i try to make it, i feel like we are constantly fighting to eat healthy. it's so hard sometimes.

how do you deal with the stress of the holidays?