Homemade Advent Calendar

I decided earlier in the fall that I wanted to make my own advent calendar this year.  Since Thanksgiving was on the 22nd this year, I knew I'd have a bit of time after the holiday to create my calendar.

I didn't do anything too complicated.  Here's what I used:

Christmas themed scrapbook paper
Red/green scrapbook paper
25 envelopes
Mini-clothes pin clips (found in the scrapbooking section of your craft store)
Twine
Wood dowel rods
Christmas lights

Obviously there is a lot of room for variation here.  The only thing we bought to complete this project was the dowel rods.  Everything else I had at the house.

The hardest part was coming up with the list of activities for my kids to do.  I wanted to make them really specific for them - stuff they'd enjoy.  Here are the activities they'll be doing everyday, starting with December 1st (which was Saturday):

Dec. 1: Attend the our local Christmas Parade of Lights
Dec. 2: Go see Santa on the KC Southern Train
Dec. 3: Paint Christmas ornaments
Dec. 4: Make grandparents a special Christmas card
Dec. 5: Make the official Santa letter
Dec. 6: Celebrate St. Nicholas day - read the story of St. Nicholas
Dec. 7: Family Game Night
Dec. 8: Go for yogurt after MJ #1's dance recital
Dec. 9: FaceTime grandparents and sing Christmas carols to them
Dec. 10: Make snowflakes out of paper and decorate the dining room with them
Dec. 11: Take your list and go see Santa!
Dec. 12: Write a Christmas card to a friend we won't see
Dec. 13: Build Santa's workshop in the foyer
Dec. 14: Make your teacher a Christmas card
Dec. 15: Family Christmas Movie Night
Dec. 16: Wear your Santa hat - ALL DAY
Dec. 17: Bake and decorate Christmas cookies
Dec. 18: Turn on Christmas music and have a dance party!
Dec. 19: Transform our hallway into the North Pole
Dec. 20: Read the Christmas story in the book of Luke from the Bible
Dec. 21: Drive to find Christmas lights (after they've had a bath in their Pj's!)
Dec. 22: Decorate a gingerbread house
Dec. 23: Watch the Polar Express and have a Movie Night in our Pj's
Dec. 24: Bake cookies for Santa and read Twas the Night Before Christmas
Dec. 25: Christmas!

Here's a picture of what our calendar looks like :)

Here's an up close of the envelopes

Here's how I clipped them to the 'tree'

The final product.  The kids have been super excited about it so far this season!  Yea me! :)

Christmas gifts

I have been working really hard on getting all my shopping done this week - for the kids and Brandon.  And my other big goal this year is to purchase 99% of the things online so I don't have to deal with the stores.

Brandon heard a little saying last year on KLOVE (an awesome radio station - if you don't know about it, google it.  It will change your life!):

Something you want
Something you need
Something to wear
Something to read

So I have adopted this little rhyme to help me purchase gifts for the kids (plus one from SN).  Honestly, buying presents for your kids can get crazy.  And overwhelming.  Because you want them to have cool stuff, but that ends up just breaking the bank. Here's what I have so far for the kids:

JJ:
Want - STUMPED (first two things on this child's list was an iPad and an iPhone - yea, not gonna happen)
Need - Checkers game with the floor mat (so the big checkers)
Wear - A new A&M 12th Man Jersey
Read - Two books on incredible fishing stories for us to read at bed time

Currently at around $85 for those 3 items.  

MJ #1:
Want - Her very own Disney Princess Magazine subscription (she gets so upset every time JJ gets a magazine in the mail.  He has subscriptions to 4 magazines.  Yes, 4. And he's only 6).
Need - the Leap Frog Jr. Tag Pen
Wear - a cool new pair of Keen sandles
Read - 3 books to accompany her Tag Pen

Around $100 for these 4 items.  Keen shoes were sort-of free.  They were purchased with a gift card that Keen gave us for some faulty shoes.

MJ #2:
Nothing for this girl yet - I mean, what does a 2 month old really need?  Diapers? Paci's? How cheesy would it be to wrap those up!?

And then there is the stockings.  I tried to get these between JJ and MJ#1 very similar because they are two little dramas if they do not get exactly what the other one got.  Here's where they're currently at:

JJ Stocking:
Lego Christmas Tree
$15 iTunes gift card
Stuffed Scooby Doo
Scooby Doo Wii Game
And probably some random candy

MJ#1 Stocking:
Snow White Lego Set
$15 iTunes gift card
Stuffed Phineas (because she LOVES her brothers - and there are quite a few fights over him)
Dora Wii Game
And random candy

MJ#2 Stocking:
Yep - nothing yet!  Probably some teething toys or something.  Poor kid. Haha. At least I have a stocking with her name on it hanging from the mantel!

So honestly, I'm not doing too shabby!  Sort of proud of myself. I have or have placed the order for everything listed above (except candy and iTunes cards).  So I feel like I'm ahead of the game.  I also like blogging about this so next year I can remember what I did for them.  Now if I can just remember to take pictures of the Christmas decorations I've put up so next year that won't be so difficult!!!