DIY Elf on the Shelf Goodbye Letter

I had been trying to prepare and remind Grant that his elf is going to be going "bye-bye" on Christmas Eve.  I have explained that Santa comes and leaves his gifts and takes his special elf back to the North Pole until next year.  He was excited hearing his elf would come back next Christmas season but not too fond of him leaving in the first place.

I put together a goodbye letter from Eli our Elf for Santa to leave for Grant.  He hasn't been one for listening to letters so far but then again he's only 3 and has an attention span of zero most days.  I put the letter with the empty milk and cookies mug and napkin.

I went back and forth on whether to make the letter from the elf or from Santa and opted to make ours from Santa this year since I knew I wouldn't have to create a letterhead or images for it like I would for one from the elf.

I used this Santa letterhead I downloaded and saved to my computer.  Here is the letter I typed up:

Dear Grant,

Your elf, Eli, has been reporting back to me at the North Pole each night since I left him in a special package under your tree. He has been telling me how good you have been. I hope you have had fun finding him each morning, I know he has had fun watching you and finding new places to hide.

Now that it is Christmas, Eli must come back to the North Pole and help me prepare for next year. Remember, your elf will come back to your house next year to watch over you once again, so do not be sad he has to leave now.

Be good and keep listening to your Mama and Daddy.

Merry Christmas, Grant.

Love,
Santa

It is now 2 days past Christmas and I'm still having to explain at least once a day why Eli the Elf had to leave us.  He wasn't as upset as I thought he might be, there were no tears just a sad face that almost made me want to get his little elf out of my computer case and forget the whole thing.  I think Grant actually did listen to the letter from Santa which I was surprised by since every other letter or note I've written he kind of ignores due to the excitement going on around him.  Of course I think his sadness of Eli leaving was alleviated a little by the gifts Santa left.

I'm excited for the elf to come back next year and maybe we can do the no touching rule and have him be a little more active and maybe even a little naughty from time to time.

Santa Milk & Cookies Mug

There are a few Christmas posts I had planned to post before the big day but of course that didn't happen so I'm posting them all at once before the New Year.  I have wanted a special Santa cookie plate and mug for Grant to set out Christmas Eve since he was born, but of course he really wasn't old enough until this year.  I bought the white mug at Walmart because for whatever reason the Dollar Tree was out of plain white ones, it cost $1.25  I did find the white plate at the Dollar Tree.  I knew I wanted to decorate them really simple with my Cricut and vinyl I already had in my stash.

 

I loved how the mug turned out and was super excited to finish the plate but after babysitting, cleaning, finishing up last minute gifts, wrapping gifts, packing, etc I had no energy left to get my beloved cricut out and finish the plate.  So instead the cookies were set out on a Christmas napkin and of course Grant couldn't have cared less as long as they were out and ready for Santa.

 

I figure I can finish the cookie plate and pack it with all the Christmas decorations, and have it ready for next year.

Christmas Morning Mini Monkey Bread

  I'm sad Christmas is over but very much looking forward to the new year.  This year I finally got to make a special Christmas morning breakfast.  Every other year we have ended up eating whatever we can find in the cabinets.  I decided I wanted something simple and quick and of course yummy, so Monkey Bread it was.  I made a mini version, recipe here.

 

I've never made or ate the regular version most people make in a Bundt pan but I don't own one and had no desire to buy one and try to find room in my already full cabinets.  That's why I decided to do the mini version in cupcake tins instead.

 

It was delicious, and even the reheated leftovers were scrumptious.

 

New Christmas Tradition: The Christmas Eve Surprise Box

My sister told me about something she saw online called a Christmas Eve Surprise box where you put a Christmas movie, hot chocolate, and pajamas inside for the kids to open Christmas Eve.  I immediately fell in love with the idea and said "I have to do that".  We spend Christmas with my husband's family and I'm always trying to find ways to make it "ours".  We have almost no time of just Grant, Derrick, and I as a family on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day which is sad to me.  I'm excited to spend time with Derrick's family but wish they lived closer so we could have a regular Christmas morning and day of it just being the 3 of us. 

I thought the Christmas Eve box would be great.  As a child we used to always open one gift on Christmas Eve, which was always pajamas, and I have tried to carry this tradition on with Grant.  When I looked online to see what other's were putting in their boxes so I could start making my list I mainly found this:
Christmas movie, Christmas book, pjs, hot chocolate, mugs, Christmas socks, and snacks for the movie. 

I love all those ideas and want to use them but I also want to put in a package of cookie mix for him to help me make to leave out for Santa, as well as reindeer food to put outside for the reindeer, and a Christmas pillowcase for him to sleep with. I want the items to be things we do before bedtime on Christmas Eve other than just watching the new movie. 

I found Home Alone on sale at Target on Black Friday for $4 and snatched it up as well as a pair of reindeer socks in their dollar section to go inside.  I also bought Grinch Christmas fabric a little over a month ago for the pj pants.  Grant loves the Grinch and actually picked the fabric out himself.  I think it's been long enough that he's actually forgotten I have it, which is what I wanted.  I didn't want this tradition to be a financial burden like some things can become this time of year so I searched all the sales and dollar stores for all the goodies to include.

For snacks I put in a bag of popcorn and movie size boxes of Derrick and I's favorite candy sweet tarts and junior mints, and bought a Grant's favorite snacks, goldfish crackers, which I realized after wrapping the box I forgot to put them inside, along with the Twas the Night Before Christmas book.

Here's everything I did remember to put inside:

I'm super excited about starting this tradition and hope Grant likes it too.

Christmas Pillowcase

When I read about a new tradition, the Christmas Eve Surprise box, I knew I wanted to do it for Grant and knew I wanted a Christmas pillowcase to put inside.  I bought 3 yards of Christmas fabric from Joann's after Christmas a couple years ago with intentions of making stockings for Derrick's side of the family to start a new tradition with them.  However, that never happened so I've had this fabric and have been going back and forth on what to do with it.  A pillowcase seemed like the perfect project for it.  Plus, bonus, I don't have to go buy any new Christmas fabric and I get at least a yard out of my fabric stash (that seems to grow and grow no matter what I do).

I used the tutorial here.  It was super simple to make one and let me forewarn you, these are addicting to make.  Once you make one you will inevitably try to think of every other person in your life who may "need" a new pillowcase.  I may even make Grant some for Valentine's Day and Easter.

I thought about including the magic pillowcase poem I've seen around other blogs but Grant doesn't care much for notes and poems I attach to things so maybe I'll save that for next year.

Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries

I've been making homemade chocolate covered cherries for a good 4 years now.  I used to buy my mom the Cordial brand cherries every year for Christmas until I happened to come across a recipe in the Better Homes and Garden cookbook.  I decided to try it out thinking my mom would just appreciate the fact that I tried. 

Well she did, she loved them.  Said they were way better than the store bought so, 4 years later it is now my Christmas tradition to make these not only for my Mom but also now for my father-in-law as well.  I found out after I made them for my mom how much he loves them too.

The recipe is super simple but a little time consuming.  The time consuming part is why I really dread making them every year.  Guess it's a good thing I love the people I give them to.

I changed the recipe a little.  I've made them so many times now I realized quickly the original recipe didn't work as easily for me, so this is the recipe I use:

1 jar maraschino cherries
2c powdered sugar- sifted
3T butter-softened
3T light corn syrup

Drain the cherries and let them air dry for several hours on 2 layers of paper towels.  I let mine air dry at least overnight and sometimes a full day or so.  In a bowl mix butter and corn syrup until combined.  Add the powdered sugar and mix.  Once its mixed some, knead it in the bowl to get all the powdered sugar completely combined.
To make it easy on yourself, refrigerate the kneaded mixture for a couple hours, this will make working with it a lot easier.  Remove from fridge and take about 1/2 a tablespoon full of mixture and wrap it around each cherry.  Make sure the cherries are completely covered or they will come apart when you dip them in the chocolate.  If the mixture starts to get too sticky to work with refrigerate the mixture for another hour or so just make sure you keep the cherries already covered in the fridge until you cover them in chocolate.  Once all the cherries are covered melt your chocolate and dip each cherry making sure they are completely covered in the chocolate, then place them on a piece of parchment paper until the chocolate has hardened.

For the chocolate I use semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I melt 1-12oz bag in the microwave with 1T veggie oil following the melting instructions on the bag.

Mine don't turn out as pretty or as uniformed as the ones you can buy in the grocery store but I guarantee your loved ones will like them a whole lot more, regardless of their appearance.

Reindeer Food

I'm starting a new tradition this year, the Christmas Eve Surprise Box and reindeer food is one of the items going inside the box.

You can find tutorials or how-to's all over the internet.  I did mine a little different in that I didn't use any glitter (cuz I didn't have any) and made my own tag using picmonkey.
I used sugar I colored myself with food coloring and regular oats I had in my cabinet.

To color my sugar I put a couple spoonful's into 2 separate baggies and the oats in another baggie.

 

I used red and green gel food coloring but you can use regular if that's all you have.

 

It really only takes one drop from each of the food colorings in the baggie with the sugar.

 

Seal the baggies and move the sugar around with your fingers until the food coloring is distributed evenly.

 

Pour the sugars into the baggie with the oats and attach your tag.

 

I made this one in picmonkey using a poem I found online.  I saved it as a picture image, copied it into a Microsoft works word document and printed it onto white cardstock.

 

If you're wanting to use the same tag you can save this one as an image.

 

I know Grant is going to have fun sprinkling this all over the driveway for the reindeer on Christmas Eve.

 

Salt Dough Ornaments

I have really fond memories of elementary school around Christmas time.  I remember lots of homemade ornaments whether it was glittery pinecones, crayon colored angels, pipe cleaner candy canes, or salt dough ornaments.  I loved every minute of it and I've often done crafts or activities with Grant I used to do in school.  I love homemade ornaments and every year when we decorate my mom's tree we still pull out some of those ornaments we made in first grade and it brings back so many memories. 

When we decorated our own tree this year, I was so excited to see our ornaments since we haven't gotten them out in about 2 years because of the time we were living with my mom.  I pulled out Grant's first "school" homemade ornament (actually it was from daycare but it reminded me of some of the ones we did in school).  It was made of foam, glitter, his picture, and had his name on it and I want my tree full of little ornaments like these so 20 years from now I can pull them out and reminisce about these years that will fly by. 

This year I really wanted to do salt dough ornaments with him.  I thought he was finally old enough to help with the majority of the process and could use cookie cutters and paint to decorate them easy enough.  Here's the recipe I used:

1cup salt
1cup flour
1cup water (add just enough to make the dough stick together and not be overly sticky)
-mix the flour and salt.  Slowly add in the water until it's the right consistency.  Knead the dough then roll it out and use cookie cutters to cut your shapes.  bake at 300 degrees for an hour or more depending on the size and thickness of your ornaments.

We used a star, heart, reindeer, and circle cookie cutter for the majority of the ornaments.  Then I decided to make one onesie shaped ornament to decorate for the new baby.  Since I didn't buy any pregnancy or "baby on the way" ornament I thought this would work great. 

I'm actually pretty pleased with how the onesie turned out.  It's far from perfect and I couldn't figure out exactly what I wanted it to say so I decided to keep it simple and just put, baby #2, on the front with the year.

I had Grant use washable Crayola paint.  I read online to only use acrylic paint because others would eventually chip off., but I had visions of acrylic paint all over his clothes, pants, and my dining room chairs and decided it wasn't worth it.  Once they were done I thought I probably should have only given him one color of paint per ornament instead of small amounts of 4 different colors because of him mixing all the colors together rather than using them one at a time.

I had him hang one Rudolph on the tree and took the others and hung them from a shelf in our dining room.  I also had him do a handprint and used acrylic paint on it.  I've been wanting a painted salt dough handprint of his since he was born and as sad as it is, it's taken me 3 year to do it. 

I kept it simple and decided not to go full Christmas theme with it since I don't think I will put it away after the holidays.  I enjoy looking at his cute little hand hanging on my wall and he loves showing it to anyone who comes into our home.

After having made all these Grant is still asking me when we can make more.  I think he really had fun and I can't wait to do this again next year.

 

Cookie Dough Evening

Every year for the last 10 (and even before that with my mom) I have taken an entire day during he Christmas season and baked.  Mostly cookies but also quick breads, cupcakes, and candy.  I usually give these out to friends, family, and coworkers.  I always looked forward to my "baking day", that is until I had Grant.  Suddenly the idea of spending hours in my kitchen, more hours than before since I was interrupted by the needs of a child, no longer seemed like a fun tradition.  I pushed through for a couple years, making sure my husband didn't make plans for a specific Saturday, so I could at least have backup when needed. 

This year was a different story.  Now being pregnant and having a 3 year old, I had no desire, not one in my entire body, to spend a day baking from sun up to sun down.  Not to mention the fact that I didn't have a whole lot of people to give them out to since my mom also bakes and gives them to part of the people we know and I no longer have co-workers.  I decided I needed a new plan.  I still love baking and the idea of a Christmas season with no cookies and candy was unacceptable in my mind.

My solution for making this year easier and quicker for me was making and freezing the dough ahead of time.  I decided the best option for me was to take an evening or a couple and mix up all the cookie batters I planned on using, roll them into logs, and freeze them to bring out and bake whenever I wanted.  Genius right? 

So last night after Grant went to sleep I decided to get my butt in gear and at least make 1 batch of dough.  Turns out once I started I figured why stop?  I ended up making 3 batches of cookie dough, which is all the cookies I plan on making.  Since we are having my dad over for an early Christmas dinner, I went ahead and baked a handful of each kind before freezing the dough.

I usually stick to the same recipes I've made for years, I am after all a creature of routine and habit.  This year I wanted to try a different chocolate chip cookie recipe.  My mom's is more of a cakey cookie and I was in search of something a little crunchier.  I came across this Pioneer Woman recipe and decided to give it a whirl, after all she's never steered me wrong before.

Seeing this just makes me want to sit and eat cookie dough straight from the bowl.

 

The only thing I omitted from Ree's recipe was the flax seed.  I don't keep it in my pantry therefore I don't use it.

Golden brown to perfection!  When I first read the recipe and saw it called for instant coffee granules I was a little scared, I admit.  I love coffee but didn't think I wanted that flavor in my chocolate chip cookies.  However I decided to trust my friend Ree (oh how I wish she was actually my friend and would have me over for dinner, yum!) and add them to the batter.  I tasted the batter, because you can't have cookie batter without tasting it right? and I could taste the coffee.  I immediately thought, "crap! this is not what I wanted, what am I gonna do with all this cookie dough now?"  But I soldiered through and baked a few to at least let my husband and family try them, after all I figured I could pawn them off on someone if I didn't like the flavor.  When they baked up I tried one with the last hope that the flavor of coffee wasn't prevalent, and guess what?  No coffee flavor!

 

I was so excited.  It was just as Ree said, the coffee granules just give the cookies a little richer chocolate flavor and my oh my they are delish.  Crunchy and chocolatey and just what I was searching for in a new chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I had my husband try them just to be sure my taste buds weren't the only ones not tasting coffee. I didn't tell him why I wanted him to try them just that I tried a new recipe and wanted his opinion.  His comment was, "they taste like a chocolate chip cookie to me".  Translation, no coffee flavor!

 

When I found Pioneer Woman's chocolate chip cookie recipe I also came across this Brown Sugar Oatmeal cookie recipe.  Now, I'm not a huge fan of oatmeal cookies, but my mom and future brother-in-law love them.  My mom has complained in years past that she can't find a good recipe for them.  These looked divine, and I love me some brown sugar in anything so I figured I probably couldn't go wrong.

They come out looking almost, in my opinion, overcooked.  Trust me when I say they are not.  This is just the goodness of all that brown sugar.  It makes it crunchy, and gives it a really nice flavor that I think is lacking in a lot of oatmeal cookie recipes.  I plan on adding some raisins to the dough I already made and froze when I go to bake a large batch of them.

 

The last cookie I made was one I've been making for the last 4-5 years.  At some point I had a bag of Nestle chocolate chips, not sure why since no other cookie or candy I make calls for them.  On that bag there was this recipe:

 

White Chip Chocolate Cookies

2 1/4c flour

2/3c cocoa

1t baking soda

1/4t salt

1c butter

3/4c granulated sugar

2/3c packed brown sugar

1t vanilla

2 large eggs

2c white chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, mix.  In a separate bowl beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy.  Add eggs 1 at a time beating well after each addition.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chips.  Drop by tablespoonful on baking sheet.  Bake 9-11 minutes.

 

A gave them a try on a whim way back then and have been making them ever since.  They are one of the few cookies that only I make so I get to take them to my mom and sister and give them away.  Pretty much every other cookie I bake, my mom bakes as well so I couldn't ever take her mine, cuz she already had so many of her own.

 

Try your darndest after you mix it up not to taste the chocolatey goodness that is this batter.  I know it's hard, but try.

 

 

Yum!

 

These are 1 of my all time favorite cookies.  I love, love, love, white chocolate chips.  My only piece of advice is to watch while baking these because it's hard to tell if they are fully baked and you can burn them without realizing because they are already dark in color.  I have burned the bottoms of a few of my white chocolate chip cookies thinking they weren't done all the way and then it was too late.  It's a sad day when I have to throw out these favorites of mine.

 

Now for the freezing.  Some people freeze their cookie dough in already formed balls so all you have to do is take them from the freezer, place them on the baking pan, and bake.  I love this method however I only have a fridge freezer in our little apartment and spending hours freezing batch after batch of dough on 1 small cookie sheet doesn't sound like fun to me, or a the way I want to spend an entire day.

 

So instead here's how I do mine.  I take a long piece of plastic wrap and lay it out on the counter.  Spoon my dough on top of that.

 Roll it up in the plastic wrap and twist the ends.

 Place your roll on a piece of foil.

 

Roll the dough in the foil and twist the ends.

 

Write the kind of dough it is on the outside.  I do this with a regular ol' pen and it works just fine.

 

Now pop it in your freezer for when you get a hankering, yes I said hankering, for cookies.

 

 

When you are in the mood for some cookies just put it in the fridge for a couple hours or leave it on the counter to thaw, just don't leave it all day or overnight, there are raw eggs in there after all, and bake as you normally would.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Ornament: Reindeer Thumbprints

I wanted to make a family ornament this year and start a new tradition.  My husband hates, I mean really hates, having his picture taken so I knew I couldn't do anything with photos.  I saw reindeer thumbprint ornaments on pinterest forever ago and had immediately thought of making my Mom an ornament with the grandkid's thumbprints and the year.

When I started making hers I thought, why not make one for our tree.  I think my husband was relieved his part took all of 2 seconds and only consisted of dipping his thumb in paint.  I put our last name on the back and the year in permanent marker.  I used brown acrylic paint for the thumbprints then added the details with acrylic paint as well.  My intent was to add a green ribbon bow to the top but I can't for the life of me find my green ribbon.  I know it will turn up eventually and I wanted to get the ornament on our tree so I left the ribbon off for now.

I think a family ornament was fitting this year since it will be the last Christmas we are a family of 3.  I can't wait to come up with a new family ornament next year for the 4 of us!

Grandparent Gift Idea-Dessert of the Month Club

I saw this idea for Dessert of the Month Club on Crafting Chicks when I did a random google search and thought it was such a cute Idea I would post about it.  The idea was actually from a guest blogger at 30 Handmade Days and she used this gift idea for teachers.  My little guy is still too young for school but when I read the post I immediately thought of grandparent gifts. 

We lived with my mom and stepdad for a year and a half after moving here from out of state and my mom has said many times over that she misses the sweets and treats I used to make.  Everything from cookies, cupcakes, granola bars, to muffins.  She loved getting to enjoy the treats without actually having to make them herself or clean up the mess after they were made.

I thought of the Dessert of the Month as a great Grandparent gift because I have a hard time with gift ideas sometimes.  It seems like most Grandparents have everything and I always end up figuring out a gift that involves pictures, which they always love but I like the idea of an alternative.  It's homemade, which is my favorite kind of gift, and lasts way past the holidays, which is always fun.  Kind of makes it Christmas all year:)

I think this gift would work for anyone on your list whether it's a teacher, friend, neighbor, Grandparent, sister, etc.  Think, if you have a brother/sister in college how much they would appreciate a dessert every month.  It's kind of difficult to bake in a dorm room or to even find the time to make treats when you're studying all the time.  If not for Christmas what about Mother's Day, Father's day or someone's birthday?  And one of the best parts about it is you can go as extravagant, like crème brulee, or simple, like chocolate chip cookies, as you want with the desserts.  It's also a great last minute gift idea because you could probably raid your pantry for ingredients to come up with a dessert on the fly and attach a cute card with ribbon and there you go, no need to spend hours at the crowded stores searching for the "perfect" gift.

If you're looking for more inspiration I also found another blog here, she included a little book which told what dessert she was bringing each month.  This way the recipient always knows what to expect.  I don't know that I could do this because I like to bake whatever strikes my fancy in the moment and I usually bake according to what fruits and things are on sale during the weeks leading up to my baking days.

DIY Elf on Shelf Update

Every time I read a blog post about someone who has made something for their kids I always wonder how it went over.  Usually when we post things it's right when the new item is presented and of course kids love new things so most of the time it goes well but what about a week or so later? Do the kids still play with that doll you lovingly made? Or wear the shirt you stayed up all night sewing?

When I thought of starting the Elf on the Shelf tradition I had visions of Grant racing down the stairs to find his elf and trying to be on his best behavior because the elf would be watching.  I envisioned reading him the book I spent so much time creating and him being amazed by the magic of it all. 

Fast forward and we are over a week in and I will say Grant still has fun coming downstairs to find his elf, Eli.  He immediately starts looking around and tells Derrick all about where he found him that day.  One thing I could not get him to understand was the reasons for not touching Eli.  He could not grasp the idea that the elf had Christmas magic and if you touched him he would lose it.  This being said the first day when he woke up to find Eli on top of the armoire he immediately said, "I need him".  When I explained once again that we could not touch him he proceeded to cry and just kept repeating, "but I need him, I need my elf".  Of course I couldn't tell him no because after all this is supposed to be something fun for him, so every day when he wakes up and finds him he is allowed to carry him around and play with him.

I have also had to explain numerous times why his elf is not alive.  The first day he woke up and found Eli he was super excited to get him down and after his crying episode I could tell he was a little disappointed when he touched him and the elf was still a doll.  He immediately said, "why he not alive, mama?"  I have had to explain quite a few times why the elf is only alive when he's asleep and why he doesn't get to see him come alive.

Grant is only 3 and I think the typical Elf on the Shelf idea would work better for ages 4 and up.  I think Grant would have been able to understand more if he was a little older.  Maybe next year we will attempt to do the elf on the shelf we don't touch due to his Christmas magic.  As for this year, Grant will just have fun finding him every morning and playing with him until Santa comes to get him Christmas Eve.

DIY Elf on the Shelf Arrival Letter

I thought I'd share the arrival letter I made to go with Grant's Elf on the Shelf I put together.  I realize anyone who wanted to start this tradition this year probably already has everything put together but there's nothing wrong with getting ideas for next year if your little ones still need a year or so before they get their elf. 
When I was searching the internet for all the little things to go with the elf I bought online, the thing that took me the longest was figuring out the wording for the book and arrival letter.  I thought I would save someone else the trouble and give some ideas by sharing mine.

First I downloaded and saved the Santa letterhead to make it look more official (as if a 3 year old would know the difference anyway right?), you can find it here.

Here is what Grant's letter said:

Dear Grant,

I am leaving you a very special early gift this year. Inside this box is one of my elves. I am leaving him to watch over you and report back to me whether you have been naughty or nice. I want you to give this elf a very special name and after you give him a name he will receive his Christmas magic. This magic will make him come alive at night when you are sleeping. He will fly to the North Pole while you sleep and tell me all about your day and your behavior. In the morning he will fly back to your house and find a new place to sit and watch over you. I know you are a good boy and know how to listen to your Mommy and Daddy, so I expect to get good reports back.

There are a couple things I want to let you know about this elf.

-You can not touch him. If you touch him he will lose his Christmas magic and will not be able to fly back to the North Pole.

- He can not talk to you. You can talk to him but he can not talk to you because his job is to listen and watch and report back to Santa.

My special elf will be staying with you until Christmas Eve. I will pick him up when I leave your gifts under your tree and he will return to you again next year before Christmas. Please take good care of him and be on your best behavior.

Then I used a fancy font to sign Santa's name and put "P.S. please read the book I have sent with your elf to learn more about him"

Grant was so excited about opening the box with the elf I don't even know how much of the letter he heard but I thought it was a cute addition and a nice little keepsake.  

 

DIY Elf on the Shelf Book

Since I didn't buy the store made version of Elf on the Shelf I made my own book to go along with the elf I purchased online.  I made a really simple version and printed it on white cardstock, used images I copied and pasted from the internet, and bound it by tying ribbon through the hole punches.

 

I used some of the wording I found from other blogs online and made up the rest myself so I thought I would share what my story actually said, just in case you're trying to come up with a story for your little Elf.

 

Page 1:

You have been chosen to receive your very own special elf. This elf is a scout elf. He will have special Christmas magic and is being sent to help Santa watch over you so he will know if you have been naughty or nice.

Page 2:

 

First you must give this little elf a name. He deserves a very special name because he will be your elf every Christmas season. He may look like a regular doll but the Christmas magic he will have will bring him to life.

Page 3:

 

Once you give him a name he will receive his Christmas magic. This is very special magic. Every night when you are sleeping he will fly back to the North Pole to tell Santa how you have behaved, good or bad, and about all of your adventures.

 

Page 4:

 

Then each morning he will fly back to your house and find a new place to sit and watch all the fun. This is how Santa keeps track of which girls and boys need to be on the naughty or nice list.

 

Page 5:

 

There are some rules that need to be followed with your special elf. First, and this is very important, an elf can not be touched. Christmas magic is very fragile and if an elf is touched he will lose his Christmas magic and won’t be able to fly back to the North Pole.

 

Page 6:

 

Second, an elf can not move or speak while anyone in the house is awake. You can talk to him and he will hear everything you say but he can not speak to you. His job is to watch and listen so he can report back to Santa.

 

Page 7:

 

This special elf will be yours each and every Christmas. He will come to stay with you after Thanksgiving, flying back each night to report to Santa until Christmas Eve. On that special night, while you are sleeping, Santa will come to your house to leave your gifts and bring your elf back to the North Pole until next year.

Page 8:

 

Only very special girls and boys receive a scout elf so take care of him and have fun finding him every morning when he returns from the North Pole.

 

I used Microsoft Works Word document to create Grant's book.  I put the pages on landscape and made them into 2 columns with a line to separate them to use less paper and make a smaller book.  After I printed the pages out I just cut on the center line, put the pages in order, punched 2 holes in the side, and tied ribbon through them.

 

See, no need to pay $29.99 for that store version when you can do it yourself.



 

 



Homemade Christmas Stockings

I have been wanting a set of Christmas stockings for a few years now, one for each member of our family.  I vowed, after last year, I would make some for this Christmas.

It took me awhile to decide on fabric.  I wanted something simple, that didn't scream "CHRISTMAS" or "SANTA".  I wanted them to go with the rest of the décor in my house which leans toward country.  I saw this snowflake flannel and knew it was perfect.  I decided to go with a tan flannel for the lining because all of my house is in maroons, navy, browns, tans, etc.  Plus I just hate white. 

I put the finishing touches on them a few nights ago and was so glad to get them hanging up.  One day I will have one of the those super cute stocking hangers but until then tacks worked just fine.

I downloaded the pattern for the stockings here.  I didn't actually follow the tutorial because I've made a stocking before but their are dozens of them out there you can find with a simple google search.  The only thing I didn't like about the ones I made, is for my own personal taste, I wanted them to be a bit wider at the top.  On the bright side I can't, and don't need, to fill them jam packed with stuff.

For the loop to hang them up I cut a strip of fabric 2 inches by 7 inches.  Stitched it right sides together down the long side.  Turned it right side out, folded the 2 ends under about an 1/8" to 1/4" and stitched it to finish the ends.
Then I attached it by hand sewing a red button on the side.

 

I also hand embroidered our names on the tops with red thread so they would stand out. 

 

I even made one for our little one on the way and just left the name off since we don't know the gender of the baby yet.  I knew if I waited until next year to make the stocking I would never get it done.

 

I'm really happy we all finally have matching stockings hanging up...And it only took me 3 years to do it.

 

Felt Tree Advent Calendar

I jumped on another bandwagon this year, the Advent Calendar.  I've been wanting to make one
 for about 2 years now and never could decide how I wanted it to look or what I wanted to make it from, cardstock, felt, fabric, etc.  Last year I saw this advent on Homemade By Jill and thought it was perfect.  I had grand plans of starting way early and creating all these really intricate and beautiful felt ornaments for Grant to place on the tree each day.  Then reality hit and November came to a close and I was scrambling to get them all done.  I'm really proud of the ornaments I made.  I didn't really follow any patterns because I think felt can be difficult to work with when you're cutting small intricate shapes, so I freehanded the majority of all the pieces.

I did look to google for inspiration by googling "felt advent tree calendar" and "felt ornaments".  If I saw something I liked I saved the picture and then made my own version of it.  When it came to making the tree itself I used 1/2yd of green felt, folded it in half vertically and freehanded what I thought looked like a pretty good tree shape.

I laid out all the ornaments on the tree to figure out where to sew the buttons that would be used to hang the ornaments later on, then I hand sewed each green button to the tree.

Each of the ornament pockets were made with red felt and were 3x3inch squares.  I hand sewed the numbers onto the front.

The entire project was completely hand sewn using a blanket stitch around the tree and trunk and each of the pockets.  One thing I didn't really think about when making this calendar was the size it was going to turn out into.  My calendar ended up being about 5ft tall.  I think my ornaments were a tad larger than other blogs I looked at and that required my tree and pockets to be larger as well.  Regardless I think it turned out really nice and I'm so glad it's finished because it was definitely a small labor of love.

 

I went ahead and made some patterns for those of you out there who work better with them than going freehanded.  I'd love to be able to say I have a pdf of them but I'm not that computer savy.

 

 

 

If you notice there are patterns for 3 ornaments I ended up not using, the bird, the round bird, and the skate.  I left them on the pattern pages because I thought maybe someone else might need them but I had forgotten I made 3 ornament balls with mine, Grant's, and Derrick's name on them so I didn't have room for the other 3.

 

Happy Advent Sewing!

 

 

 

DIY: Elf on the Shelf

Like everyone else who enters a Target I have been bombarded with the super cute Elf on the Shelf boxes.  Now while I think those little Elves are too adorable there is no way I want to pay $29.99 for one, and I also questioned how much I wanted to add one more thing to my plate. 

If you google Elf on the Shelf, you will come across dozens of blogs devoted to this little guy and all his "antics".  Which is one thing I don't understand.  Originally I thought the whole point of the Elf was to tell your kids he is watching them and will report their bad behavior to Santa.  Then when I clicked on a couple of blogs devoted to all the things the Elf does, such as marshmallow fights, I thought "doesn't that defeat the purpose of the Elf.  Not to mention, I sure as heck don't want to clean up messes I created for the sake of this magic Elf. 

I, for one, have no interest in creating loads of extra work for myself during an already busy holiday season.  So I decided if I was going to do this Elf tradition I wanted to keep it simple, no messes, tricks, gifts, and I wanted to do it less expensive than $29.99.

I did what I always do, I googled "elf on shelf" and searched for homemade versions.  None of them really struck my fancy so I decided to look for other bendable Elf ornaments.  I found this website. They were a fairly reasonable price at $7.99 and since I had already shopped around the stores near me finding nothing, this was my last hope.  I figured around $15 (after shipping and handling) was still better than $30.  Plus I thought it might be better if everything was a little different from the store bought and homemade.  Cuz I'm just cool like that, or cheap like that, whichever way you want to take it.  I ordered mine late on a Friday night and it arrived Monday morning, so they were really quick about it, which I loved since I didn't decide to do the Elf on the Shelf until kinda last minute.

I found this blog that had made a Shutterfly book instead of having the book that comes with the store bought Elf on the Shelf.  I considered doing this, then realized I didn't have the time and after shipping costs I would end up spending more with the book and elf  than if I had bought the official version.  So instead I used some of the wording from this book, and improvised the rest creating a unique and one of a kind book for Grant and his elf. 

I found pcitures online for the pages.  I wasn't completely satisfied with them but I did my best and convinced myself Grant wouldn't care.  I printed them onto white cardstock.  I have tons of this and it can be found in 100 page packages at Walmart for around $5.88.  After punching holes in the side I ran some ribbon through to hold the pages together.

I searched all over the web for ideas on adoption certificates, arrival letters, goodbye letters, and everything in between.  I decided to once again make my own in Microsoft Works Word document.
I made an adoption certificate:

And an arrival letter from Santa:

I found the Santa letterhead here and downloaded a Santa Sleigh font from dafont.com.

Since I wanted to forgo the "antics" that some elves do, and I didn't want the Elf to be associated with bringing gifts, I thought our elf would bring some little notes to Grant and occasionally a piece of his favorite candy, Smarties, for very good behavior.  The biggest thing I didn't want to happen with the elf was for it to be associated with bringing lots of gifts or other treasures.  The Christmas season is already so geared toward receiving gifts, I didn't want this to be as well.  Kids enjoy simplicity and that's what I'm going for with mine.

I went back and forth on how the Elf should arrive.  I thought about putting him in a postage box and placing him on the doorstep, telling Grant he had been sent by Santa.  Then I decided to put him in a box, wrap him up, and place him under the tree before any other gifts were put under it.  Inside the box is the elf on red felt, an adoption certificate for after he is named (rolled up and tied with ribbon, placed beside the elf in the box), and a book explaining the Elf and his special magic.

 On the outside of the box, was a tag with Grant's name and a letter from Santa rolled up and attached with ribbon.

I was weary of how the elf would go over, if Grant would actually understand how it all works.  I couldn't get him to stop touching the elf, even after he was named and I told him he would lose his Christmas magic.  I don't think a 3 year old understands that concept, at least mine doesn't.  We decided to name him Eli the elf.  When I asked Grant what he wanted his name to be he said Santa Claus so I had to persuade him that there already was a Santa and our elf needed his own name. 

I actually could have left out the book I made all together because he was so interested in holding and flinging the elf around he had no interest in me reading to him.  However maybe later when the elf starts moving he will want to know more about him.  I'm hoping once we start moving the elf at night and he sends little notes maybe Grant will start to understand why the elf is here.  I guess time will tell on that but I'll keep you informed.  I'm excited to start this tradition and see how it goes.

Christmas Tree 2013

We got our Christmas tree yesterday.  My husband reminds me every year how much cheaper and easier it would be to just buy a fake one but what is the fun in that?  There will come a time when our kids will no longer get joy out of going in the cold to cut down a tree and when that day comes we will invest in a nice fake one, until then, we are gonna suck it up and create some memories haha.

 

Grant insisted the whole way there that he needed to be the one to cut down the tree.

 

So Derrick let him help with some of it.  It was so cute, and he was very proud of himself.

 

Derrick never thinks to grab the camera when Grant and I are decorating the majority of the tree but I love having ones of him and Grant putting on his new ornament for this year, a Thomas the Train.

 

I love sitting back at night and just looking at the lights on the tree.  Add a Christmas movie and a cup of hot chocolate and the night can't get much better.

 

Let the Christmas season begin!