Popcorn Garland

We headed out to the country this past weekend to get our Christmas tree. Last year, we were going to New Orleans and we waited to buy our tree until we got home. Big Mistake. Big. By the time we could get to our favorite Christmas tree farm, it was closed for the season.

And we love this place.



Toad Hill Farm in Middleport, NY. It's a cut your own place with lots of great trees of all sizes.



Even Maddie sized!



And best of all, they have a bonfire and serve cookies for kiddos and mulled cider for adults.

(Yup, I made an appearance on the blog! My husband took pictures this trip.)

Anyway, when we got home it was time to do our first craft of our Advent calendar-- a popcorn garland.


Maddie has been loving sewing lately.


She always wants to pull the needle through when I sew. Though I don't usually do a popcorn garland for our tree, this seemed like the perfect activity. She had a lot of fun, so success!

Our Advent Calendar Part II

As promised! A better(ish) photo of our advent calendar.

25 Days of Activities

It's time for me to let you in on a little project I've been working on... Our Advent Calendar!




I have seen such cute ideas for advent calendars lately and it really got me thinking about what I wanted to do for Mads. I wanted something that would be fun, but wasn't about getting a gift or a sweet.

Then I came up with the idea of doing a craft or project a day.



It seemed so simple! I had two weeks to think about it and gather supplies. It was easy to come up with projects based on things I did in school as a kid, or things my mom always did with us ... And of course, Pinterest!

Most of the projects I came up with involved supplies I had around the house, but there were a few supplies I had to replenish.

Then I used natural cone coffee filters, which look kind of Christmas tree shaped, decorated with markers and stuffed with supplies.



I used a glue stick to seal and then taped them onto kitchen twine that I strung across our bookshelves like a garland.

Easy! I did end up with a last minute scramble because I forgot to shop at one store that had a few things I needed. So I put those near the end.

Now, the not-so-easy part: coming up with 25 activities. Here's my list (and yes, it's pretty much a blog list too. Guess you'll know what's coming all month!) Next to each project is the item I used in the advent calendar to represent it.

1. Make marshmallows (cookie cutter)
2. Rock candy (string)
3. Crystallized snowflakes (pipe cleaners)
4. Beaded snowflake ornaments (clear beads)
5. Pompom polar bears and sheep (white pompoms)
6. Pinecones Christmas trees (pinecones)
7. Hershey kiss cookies (Hershey kisses)
8. Paper star ornaments (paper squares)
9. Popsicle snowflake ornaments (Popsicle sticks red)
10. Christmas crackers (cracker snaps)
11. Scrap paper strip Christmas trees (scrap paper strips)
12. Bingo dauber Christmas trees (dauber)
13. Popcorn chain (popcorn)
14. Make a Christmas village (Shiny paper pieces)
15. Frosted pinecones (glitter)
16. Salt dough ornaments (cookie cutters)
17. Make wrapping paper (glue)
18. Write a letter to Santa and decorate (embellishments)
19. Paper snowflakes (paper pieces and scissors)
20. Angel ornaments/puppets (doilies)
21. Macaroni snowflake (macaroni)
22. Sugar Cookies (Christmas cutters)
23. Reindeer pretzels (pretzels)
24. Angel wings (feathers)
25. Pompom ornaments (pompoms)

I did end up scrambling the order of the list a bit, due to my missing supplies. I'll try to blog everyday (yeah, right!) or at least post a picture. I'm already two posts behind, so that promise seems unlike to survive the holidays. I am nothing if not sincere in my efforts.

And on that note, I will also pledge to take a better photo of the calendar... Once I have cleaned/decorated the bookshelf it is on. So next year.

Thankful Traditions

Well, Thanksgiving is here and I haven't really done much blogging. But we've been busy being thankful.

This year, I'm thankful for my little helper.





Who in turn is thankful that she gets to eat chocolate and peanut butter chips.


While we make the family's traditional thanksgiving Chocolate-Peanut Butter Chip muffins.



And who helped me role out some pie crust,



And make some patches.


I'm even thankful for smushed patches (due to someone's fascination with a rolling pin!)

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