Great Stocking Stuffer Coupon Books

I made some really cute coupon books for my kids for Christmas. When I came up with this idea I was going to hand make them, but I found this awesome template for them here. What a time saver this was! You can pick the pictures you want on them and then you just type in what you want. I made each child a book with 8 coupons for things like: no chore day, slurpee, park day, one night of snuggles with mom or dad, etc.



Have fun with these, they make great stocking stuffers. You could even let your kids make them for family members for things like: 10 minute foot or back massage (grandparents would like this), rake the yard, lunch date out with child, and so on.

Another color by number picture

Here is another color by number picture that Juliet colored for her Nanny. Just like the other one, we bought a frame and made some matting with poster board. We love these!

Our Advent Calendar

I finally finished our advent calendar to count down the days until Christmas.

First, we printed out this Christmas tree advent calendar. Each day we add a new number to count down the days. We have this posted on our fridge. You can print out this same calendar here.



Next, I made up some really fun things for our family to do together each day until Christmas. I printed each activity on a note sheet, folded it in half and wrote the day on it. I used clothes pins and a string and hung the notes on our tree. Each morning when we wake up we will open up our activity and see what is planned for that evening.



Here is my entire advent calendar:

Countdown till Christmas...Starting at 24 days until Christmas (Dec. 1st)


day24: Put a puzzle together

day 23: paint a Christmas ornament

day 22: pick a family member and write down all the things you love about them. Then, read it to them.

day 21: string popcorn and cranberries to put on tree

day 20: Family Bible reading. Let's read about the birth of Jesus

day 19: go and see "The Nutcracker" ballet at our community college

day 18: go to Denny's or steak N' shake and have a late night dessert

day 17: write a letter to Santa

day 16: have hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music. Dance around and be silly.

day 15: Tonight is board game night. Play at least two different board games.

day 14: Find a homeless person today and give them $20 with a Christmas note attached.

day 13: Go to light up UCF. Take a friend or another family member with us.

day 12: Tonight is mall night. Walk around the mall and have a dessert.

day 11: Go to the store and buy a present to donate to charity

day 10: Today is Nanny's birthday. Let's take her out to lunch to the restaurant of her choice.

day 9: Tonight we will rent two Christmas movies and pop popcorn

day 8: bake cookies and make a Christmas card to take to our neighbors

day 7: read a Christmas story together while snuggled up in bed tonight with daddy

day 6:Tonight we will go to our church Bethlehem walk through exhibit

day 5: pick up Nanny and go for a drive looking at Christmas lights

day 4: go to the dollar movies tonight. everyone must agree on the movie.

day 3: Let's go to Tonya's house and take her family the gift basket we made for them.

day 2: tonight we will watch "The Nativity Story"

day 1: go to Nanny's house and open one Christmas present

Christmas Day!!!

We start tomorrow and we are all excited.

If you have made an advent calendar, leave me a link so I can check yours out.

Our Homemade gifts

Okay, so I am running a little behind with my homemade Christmas gifts. I have been busy making our christmas notebooking pages set and haven't had a lot of time left over. But now that I am finished we will be making something new hopefully every week.

Here is what we have made so far.

Juliet did a color by number picture for her aunt. We bought a frame for it and I used poster board to make matting for the frame. We actually made a copy of the original picture she colored and it turned out great. This way she could give more than one person this gift. It turned out absolutely beautiful! It looks just like a store bought picture. The great thing about the color by number pictures is that they are cheap but they turn out fantastic. The matting is super easy to make and adds a more appealing look to the picture. Juliet was so happy and proud at the way this turned out. It is great for children to take pride in something they make on their own. Juliet will be coloring another one for her nanny soon.

Here is another one I made for my son. He loves football, so I made him a football blanket.

Here is the blanket stretched out so you can see how big it is.


Here it is folded up and you can see the edges.

I use two pieces of material that both were 54 x 68 inches long. This made a bigger blanket that could be used to cover my sons twin bed.


You can go here to see the directions of how to make this blanket.


That's all for now. Next week we will be making more homemade gifts. Don't forget to check back and see what we've made.

Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas

Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. I am intent on staying out of the hustle and bustle of the season, instead thankfully remembering what this holiday is all about, and sharing the beauty of it with my family.

Up until Thanksgiving all is relatively quiet, and then, in a flash of lightning, everyone goes into a frantic race to get all of their holiday shopping and duties done, just to find that all of their efforts have made them tired, and their wallets much too light. Maybe this isn't you. But I assure you that if this IS you, you are not alone. I have seen many this way, and yes, I have even been there myself.

Well, this year is not one of those years for us. We have set out to make this holiday season one to remember, and most importantly one to enjoy. My holiday themes for the season are "family togetherness" and "Thankfulness." So what better way to celebrate these themes than making our loved ones some homemade gifts. Putting your heart and soul into a gift means so much more anyway. I decided to make a list of some homemade gifts I thought some family members would enjoy. I got my ideas from various places like craft books and some of my own original ideas as well. I thought it would be great to have the kids involved in making these gifts. I think the whole experience will be fun and educational, as we will all learn how to do some new craft projects. I also included some rather inexpensive gifts that would go along with the homemade ones. The idea is not to break the bank, and to actually give a meaningful gift. I realized while doing this that I can't think of something to make for everyone. The men are the hardest, my step dad, dad, and my uncle. I am thinking that I might just bake the men all of their gifts...

So far this is what I've got:

My Mom

1. Journal
2. scripture memory pages
3. Pen set to go with journal
4. homemade planner (my mom needs some organization help)
   
5. jewelry box made of clay that the kids will make and paint
6. Color by number picture of a cat(my mom Loves cats) that I will color and frame
7. coupon book with coupons I make myself, some ideas are:

• House cleaning
• A 15 minute back rub
• Lunch out to favorite restaurant

My Aunt

1. Homemade soap and candles
2. buy or make candle holders, not sure which one yet
3. color by number picture of a rooster (she loves roosters) that I will color and frame
4. personalized calendar with pics of family
   

My husband aka Daddy

1. homemade dyed t- shirt
2. Coupon book with coupons the kids and I make ourselves, some ideas are:

• breakfast in bed
• 15 minute massage
• manicure or pedicure
• date out to restaurant of his choice

I'm sure the kid's will think up some more coupons

these are the only homemade gifts I've come up with for him so far. He is really hard to buy for, partly because he is such a simple person. He really wants a football jersey for the Dallas cowboys and I'm pretty sure I will have to buy that one at a store:)


My friend Linda

1. Journal
2. two homemade dolls

I still have to find out to make these. she collects dolls, and I thought the kids would be excited to help make one especially for her.

This is all I have so far. These are all just ideas and I'm not sure I will make everyone everything I have listed. I am going to start however with something that I am sure I want to make. I will be starting on the journals and the color by number pictures this weekend. I will post pictures and directions for the journals when we are finished.

If you have any ideas about homemade gifts I welcome your creativity!

Homemade Cole Slaw

This coleslaw is sooo good! I always make it for BBQ's and anytime I make fried chicken. It is also healthy, which is always an added bonus.

Ingredients:

1 head red cabbage
1-2 large carrots (or a handful of mini baby carrots)
Mayonnaise
a couple splashes of raw apple cider vinegar
4 packets steevia (you can substitute with 1 tbls. sugar, but it isn't as healthy)

Directions:

Start by shredding the cabbage and the carrots with a cheese grater into a large serving bowl.
Next, add enough maynnaiose to your liking. You want it to be a good consistency and a little creamy looking. Then add your vinegar and steevia. Stir well and chill in freezer for 10 minutes before serving (I like mine really cold.) You can always add more steevia and vinegar until it suites your taste buds.

I hope you enjoy!