Yarn Money Ornament

We have reached the stage where the cousins are getting old enough to want money for Christmas.  I don't mind giving money but I wanted to make it a little more special and take a little longer to open.  I have seen a lot of ideas for making monitary gifts more special but none seemed quite right.  While looking at my tree I decided to make a yarn ornament.  I had the yarn so it wouldn't require another trip to the store and is something I could do while watching TV. 

 

I started by folding a bunch of dollar bills.  I folded some in squares and some in rectangles.  I took one of the bills and started wrapping the yarn around it.  Once it was completely covered I added another bill and started wrapping yarn.  I did this until all the bills were covered and it made a big circle.

 To finish it off I added some ribbon and a note so he will know what to do and who it is from.

I decided not to wrap the gift.  Just had my sister in law hang it on the tree and it is ready for Christmas morning.

More Adventures with Jingle the Elf

We have had a great December with our mischievous little elf.  The boys still get up every morning and look for Jingle first thing.  We all love seeing the funny things he does while we are asleep.  Here are a few pictures of some of his adventures.

 

Changing the family photos

 Having a late night meal

 Hot Air Ballooning

 Wrapping presents

 Leaving notes

 Going for a ride

 Packing school lunch

 Eating Cookies

 Having Pancakes

 Hang Gliding

 Rock em' Sock em'

 Campfire Smore's

 Under the Weather

 Getting a drink

 4 Days til Christmas

 Booby Trap

Jingle will leave tomorrow to go home to the North Pole.  I know the boys will be very excited to see him again next year.

Has your elf done anything sneaky this year?

Quick and Easy Christmas Card Holder

The other night I attended my MOPS leadership Christmas party.  We had a fun night of eating and crafting from things that were found on Pinterest.  One of my friends brought this fun and simple Christmas Card Holder for us to make.  I love that you can add extra holders depending on how many cards you receive.

 You will need:

thick ribbon

clothes pins

various buttons including a large one

thinner ribbon

hot glue gun

 Start by cutting the thick ribbon to the length you want.  The more cards you receive the longer you will want it to be.  Hot glue the buttons to the clothes pins.  Use as many as you think you may need.

 Glue the big button to the top of the ribbon.  I also added a smaller button to the middle to add more color.  Attach the thinner ribbon to the back with glue to make a loop to hang it with.

Now it is ready to hang and add your cards.

We made ours so they hang vertical but it would also be cute hung horizontal.  You can add big buttons and loops to each end.

 

I can't wait to display my cards on this super cute holder.

Grinch Dinner

For this weeks family fun night we declared a Grinch Day.  We started the day by waking up to our elf holding a sign that said, "Don't be a Grinch!"  Finding our elf every morning is one of my boys favorite things so we had to have him join in on the fun.

 After lunch the boys and I made Grinch Cookies.  I found the recipe here.  They were easy to make with the boys and were very yummy.

 For dinner we had Who Pudding, Who Hash, Roast Beast and Grinch Punch.  I wasn't sure about the recipes but they all turned out great and were well received in my house.

 

I had never had pudding made this way but I was pleasantly surprised.  It smelled and tasted great.

I found this recipe for Who Pudding.

 I got the recipe for Who Hash from here.  I realized I purchased a wrong ingredient so had to wing it.  It turned out great and everyone gobbled it right down.

 I am not sure what kind of animal the actual roast beast is from the movie but I just made a chicken.  I used my standard chicken recipe that I have been using for years.

 Grinch Punch was a huge hit.  My youngest son couldn't get enough.  We finally had to move it off the table so he would eat dinner.  It is just a combination of lime sherbet and lemon-lime soda (we used Sprite).

 Here is our table set for the feast.  It was fun to sit around as a family and talk about the silly foods.

Thank you to KT's Cooking for this fun idea.

This was so much fun I think we will add it to our yearly Christmas traditions.

Have you added any fun new traditions this year?

Christmas Mantle 2012

My favorite place in my house to decorate is the mantle.  It is in the center of my living room so I look at it often.  I try to change it up a bit each year so it doesn't get boring and always look the same.  In fact, I usually move things around even after I decorate it.

The majority of the items on my mantle this year either came from yard sales or were bought on clearance after the holiday.

 I got these mice on clearance from a gift shop in a casino.  I never thought of a mouse as being all that cute until I saw these in their little scarves and hats.  They just make me smile.

 I got the little ice skating birds at the same store.  They look very wintry so I might even leave them up after I take down the Christmas decorations.

The trees and reindeer are from a yard sale.  I got them two summers ago for super cheap.

 Here is my full mantle.  I have really enjoyed it this year.  It is fun to look at and gets me in the Christmas spirit.

Linking up to this linky party!

Breakfast with Jingle the Elf

This morning we woke up to a surprise.  Our elf Jingle had made us a special breakfast.  He decorated the table and brought gifts for the boys along with a breakfast of donuts, cereal and hot cocoa.

 There was a banner hanging over the windows that said "Be Good!"

 Here is a view of the whole table. I am not sure why one of the blinds is closed and the others are open.

 Each boy had a different plate, bowl and cup set along with their gifts.  Next to each plate was a coloring book, a poster to color and a sand ornament craft.

 There was a bucket in front of each plate that had a straw, activity book, wind up toy and finger puppets.  They also found the Elf on the Shelf movie.

 The boys were excited to see the donuts and that Jingle was sitting on the table eating breakfast with us. 

What a fun surprise.  Thanks for breakfast Jingle.

Our elf has returned

Our elf, Jingle, showed up 4 days ago.  My boys have been so excited ever since.  This morning we found them at 4 am with flashlights trying to find Jingle.  They were quickly put back to bed.

This is the 3rd year Jingle has visited us.  It is one of the traditions we look forward to the most.  We love seeing the crazy stunts our elf pulls.

 

The first day we woke to Jingle hanging on the boys Santa picture.  He had brought along his book and left us a note in Scrabble tiles.  My oldest son wrapped a toy for Jingle and left a note asking, "Do you make presents Jingle?"

 

 The next morning we found Jingle zip lining from our ceiling fan to the window.  He had left a note answering my sons question and thanking him for the gift.

 Jingle was then found helping my husband make coffee.

 My boys made a Lego tower for Jingle to play on.  This morning we found Jingle sitting at the top. 

I wonder what crazy tricks Jingle will pull next?

Do you do Elf on the Shelf?

Santa's Belly Pot

While trying to come up with a gift for my sons teacher this year I came up with this Santa Belly Pot.  It was something that would be inexpensive and easy for my son to do.  We started with a clay flower pot and some paint.  My son painted the whole thing red.  After it dried, he (with my help) painted the "belt" black.  We then used a hot glue gun to stick on the "belt buckle".

I had made some homemade candy the day before so we wrapped it up and stuck it inside along with an ornament my son made. 

I love how easy the gift was and that my son was able to do most of the work himself.  Homemade gifts are always my favorite.

My Christmas Mantle

You may remember the post from a couple weeks ago where we installed our new mantle.  It is definitely a great focal point in our house.  So much so that I am having a hard time decorating it.  After looking at it for a couple weeks this is what I have come up with.  I am not 100% satisfied with it but it will work for now.  Hopefully over the next year I will be able to come up with something that I really love.  I added our new sparkly stocking holders, 2 small nutcrackers and two glittery trees to the ends.  I filled two glass apothecary jars filled with ornaments and my ornament frame to the center.

Reindeer Food

One of my boys favorite Christmas traditions is making reindeer food.  On Christmas Eve we sprinkle it all over the yard.  The glitter is supposed to reflect off the moon to help the reindeer find our house.  While Santa is delivering the gifts the reindeer have a tasty treat to enjoy.

 You will need:

oatmeal

glitter

bowls

 Put some oatmeal in a bowl and add the glitter.  We mixed it together and then poured it in a little tin pail.

It is all ready to go for Christmas Eve.