Christmas Craft #2

Just in time for the start of December today I completed Nate's Count Up to Christmas Activity Chain.  That's a really complicated title that I came up with, but basically it's an activity for each day leading up to Christmas.  I didn't go for a count down because we are working on teaching him that each day of the month has a number and they go from 1-31 and so I didn't want to do the reverse and confuse him.  Here's what I created...

And here's a closeup...

I'm loving the idea of using things I already have, because well when you have no money at Christmas time it can be hard to be in the holiday mood.  But luckily I have a creative mind.  The cost of this project was $1, because I had to purchase the wide ribbon.  Here's what I used:
-1 Roll of wide Christmas ribbon
-Red and Green Paper
-A circle template
-Craft scissors that make a scallop edge
-Metallic marker
-Clothespins
-Command Strips to make the ribbon stick to the wall

I took a little time to write out the date specific activities on the back of the circles, but otherwise I'm going to fill in as needed.  Luckily Nate can't read yet, so I didn't have to fill out everything, I can make things up as the dates get closer.  Here are some things we are going to do:
-Go to the bounce house
-Go to a Christmas parade
-Go to Zoo Lights in DC
-Make gingerbread cookies
-Have a Gingerbread House Decorating party

Then I will just fill in with things like drive around and look at lights, make an ornament, watch a Christmas movie and things like that.  I think this is going to be a really fun month!

Christmas Craft #1

Living in a new home this Christmas season means finding new ways to decorate.  We definitely downsized and will have to be creative in using our favorite decorations.  One challenge I have is how to display our Christmas cards that we receive.  After some googling I found that the best solution was clothespins.  Here's what I came up with...

I would garland around the banister, then wound ribbon around the banister too.  I attached clothespins to the ribbon that will hold the cards.  I painted one side of the clothespins with red paint.  I also mixed in glitter with the paint to make it sparkle a little.  It seems like it's going to be a great solution if we can keep little hands from ripping the cards down!

Stay tuned for more craft ideas!