December is here!

 easy advent calendar by martha stewart

It's December 1st tomorrow and I couldn't be more happier. If you don't have a countdown to Christmas calendar planned, then you better get crackin'. You have one day left.

We like to do Christmas activities for our Advent calendar. Here is our list for this year (in no particular order)...

1. Set Pandora station to Christmas 24/7
2. Make chocolate dipped gingersnap cookies (recipe + dip in melted chocolate)
3. Ward Christmas party
4. Walk the city lights
5. Christmas town parade
6. Make sugar cookies and decorate
7. Pearl Harbor lights tour
8. Send off Christmas gifts and Cards
9. Ice Skating
10. Make snowflakes
11. Decorate gingerbread houses
12. Make hot cocoa/mint tea
13. Ride the local mall holiday train
14. Read a CHRISTmas book
15. Donate canned goods
16. Christmas ornament exchange
17. Bake treats for neighbors and friends
18. Progressive dinner party/White elephant exchange with friends
19. Make reindeer food
20. Family Christmas party
21. Christmas movie and popcorn night
22.  Check out Christmas books at the library
23. Go Christmas shopping as a family
24. Build a "Sand"man on the beach
25. Christmas breakfast

Have a wonderful countdown!!!!

Today is the day... get your countdown on

We are trying to teach our 3 year old girl how to say her own prayers... more specifically, expressing her feelings and gratitude. So, being that Thanksgiving is nearing soon, I came up with this gratitude garland.

Starting today, the 6th, my husband and I will discuss with her what we are thankful for that day. Then write it on a long strip of paper, once a day until the end of the month... linking each paper to each other forming a paper chain.

image -pinterest

By the time the month ends we should have 25 links of paper, so on December 1st we will review the first link we made and rip it off... everyday until Christmas! It's like two countdowns in one!!!

So, today is the day to get your countdown on! Grab some scraps of paper and start.

10 ways to reuse baby food jars as party favors

After raising a 1 year old, you quickly notice how many jars of baby food you go through (up to 3 a day for me). So why not save those cute little jars and reuse them for a party!!

We did it with my 2 year old for her 1st birthday and we are now. again, collecting jars to figure out something fun for my 7 month old on his birthday.

Here are a few neat examples:

1. Hot chocolate in a jar-. Turns out to be a perfect size for a fun serving of hot cocoa.

2. Candle holders- I'm not sure where I got this photo but I love the fabric used here to dress up each candle/jar.

 

 3. Fill it with a coordinating food/snack with your party for guests to take home.
These are "caterpillar food" jars I made for my daughters 1st birthday with the theme The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I pained the tops, filled them with cereal, then placed personalized stickers on the tops and sides.

4. Plant starter seeds/plants and hand them out to take home.
A friend of mine made these with her son's owl themed birthday party.

5. You can't go wrong handing jars out filled with candy at a baby shower. It's a perfect combo.
Clever idea from Katherine Marie Photography

6.  Halloween party? ... dress them up as mummies or tea light holders to hold candy.

credit

7. With Valentines Day coming up these are perfect!

8.  Terrariums and tea kits 

 

 9. Advent Calendar. I know this isn't really a party favor, but it was good of an idea not to post up. You could adjust the holiday from "25 days of Christmas" to "25 days of Birthday" (an activity or treat count down to your child's birthday???). Possibilities are endless. 

 10. Tangerine Vanilla Bean Marmalade

At prudent baby, Jaime shows how to sterilized the jars, sealed them, and make your own tangerine marmalade. Yum! Makes me wish I had a Tangerine tree in my back yard. 

Activities for Advent Calendar

As promised, here are our activities for the Christmas Advent Calendar 2011:

 

{and in case you were wondering what Christmas in Hawaii looks like-photo}

1-Set up Christmas Tree
2-Sip cider
3-Hang stockings
4-Ward Christmas Party
5-Make a swag with real Christmas Tree branches
6-See city lights festival
7-Make felt-ball garland
8-Ride the Christmas train in the mall with kiddos
9-Roast marshmallows by the fire with friends
10-Watch 'The Santa Claus'
11-Take Christmas photos
12-Visit the Temple Christmas display
13-Make orange/clove pomanders
14-Eggnog time
15-Head to the library with kids to pick out Christmas books
16-Make Christmas cookies/gifts for neighbors
17-Host White Elephant Christmas party
18-Romantic candlelit dinner with husband under the Christmas tree
19-Sip hot cocoa
20-Eat a chocolate orange (the ones you whack on the table)
21-Finish holiday shopping
22-Watch a holiday movie as a family
23-Make sugar cookies
24-Read Jesus' birth in the Bible and Book of Mormon
25- a MERRY CHRISTMAS! with a full breakfast, Christmas music, and gifts

Some ideas came from here

Christmas Activity Advent Calendar

I love countdowns, if you didn't know.
I've been searching for a while now for a good advent calendar for Christmas.

I like these, but they aren't offered anymore:

(pottery barn, from ohhappyday)

from Ali Edwards:

Although very cute, the two above seem time consuming

So I settled on making this one below.

I wanted each compartment/day to be big enough to hold a small treat for my daughter and a note for the holiday activity we will do for that day.

You can purchase the kit here, It's called the Kaiser Craft advent calendar

(I say kit because it was a little time consuming than I thought it would be- a lot of sanding and filing down the boards). But it comes as plain as can be so you can add your own personal style. 

I'll post my advent activities soon.

More ideas I like:

An adorable "giving" advent calendar from Katherine Marie Photography
You have to check it out! She and her kids do a selfless act of kindness each day.


Magnetic Advent Calendar from Martha Stewart
another magnetic calendar from Twig and Thistle

A few more simple ideas
via ohdeedoh

Happy Counting-down!

Halloween Countdown

I love the holiday season (which starts with Halloween in my book). It's a fun time to craft, bake and make traditional treats, have traditions and create memories. 

I've only been married for (not quite) 4 years but we've done activity countdowns every since the beginning. 

Only thing about this year is we now have two kids and not a lot of time :(.

So this year our list is very simple. Here is our countdown from last year while living in Texas:

October Halloween Countdown 2009

01- Make Halloween sugar cookies

02- Go to the county Fair/Celebrate my husbands half birthday

03- Decorate house with bats and shadows

04- Paint/Draw portraits on mini pumpkins

05- Head to the Library, find 5 kid-scary books to read with Kai

06- Make ghost garlands

07- Make paper jack-o-lanterns

08- Attempt this easy apple dumpling recipe

09- Go to the pumpkin patch and pick out pumpkins

10- Cut out ghost sandwiches for lunch

11- Make caramel apples

12- Library, 5 more scary books

13- Make an autumn stew for dinner

14- Make a floral treat

15- Make martha's scary lady finger cookies again

16- Carve pumpkins

17- Make homemade slime

18- Make and play with green Jell-O

19- Library, 5 scary books

20- Black cat paw cookies

21- Create, make, think of, or get costumes

22- Watch a scary movie

23- I think we'll watch another scary movie

24- Corn maze + hay ride here

25-28th we traveled across the country to Utah

29- Make trick-or-treat tote- My half birthday! eat cake

30- Fast from any sweets and candy today because I'll be eating all of my daughter's candy tomorrow!

31- Trick-or-treat ☠