Productivity

Sheeeeeeee's baaa-aaaaack! I spent five weeks in a continuous pity party but Monday y'all….I got it together. I cleaned my house, went to the grocery store, replied to numerous messages, texts, emails, and phone calls, planned our New Years get-a-way, created our Christmas Cards, cut three sets of nails, wrote checks, and wait for it……finished my Christmas shopping for little George (thanks cyber Monday!) It felt good but I was wiped out come 6:00pm. It feels good to live life again. Tuesday I went for a run (only 30 minutes) and it felt good to return to some semblance of normalcy in my routine.

More Productivity:

The Christmas decorations got the boot when we moved to California. My lovely stockings, my wreaths, my lights and my well loved christmas ornaments all got to stay behind when we packed everything we thought we would need for a year in a small Uhaul. You may think this sad but it made for some really resourceful and creative decorations this year. Everything on our tree this year is in some part made by a three year old. No Martha Stewart awards will be given out at my house but we sure had a lot of fun. Here are a few ideas that are really inexpensive and fun in case your toddler is going nuts when the sun goes down (and my does it go down early these days!).

Clothespin Reindeer:

glue two wobbly eyes (target) and a red puff ball (target) to the flat part of a clothespin. Wrap a black pipe cleaner around the end of the clothespin and work into an antler shape. Then get creative with colors. We did an assortment of ACC reindeer (thats Atlantic Coast Conference, all your Californians).

Trader Joes bags:

Cut out the cute holiday shapes that are on the bags these days and string them up. Instant decoration. After I cut out the shapes, I flattened them under some heavy books before I hung them on the tree. Those hand surgery books ARE good for something other than collecting dust.

This squirrel is our version of "Christmas Vacation" Movie with Chevy Chase

Hot chocolate ornament:

Tear an empty hot chocolate packet apart (preferably with a cute "Hot Chocolate" label-mine were from Trader Joes. Yes. I live there part time) so you just have the front. Round the edges with scissors and string it up beside two coffee mug cutouts from the Trader Joes bags.

Pipe cleaner Candy canes, bows, and wreaths:

Just bend into the shape you want and have the kiddos hang them.

Toilet Paper Roll Star:

Cut an empty roll of TP into 6 circles. They will naturally end up bent a little from the pressure of the scissors. Glue the flat edges together in a circle and hold for about 30 seconds. Dip in glue and glitter for a sparkly touch!

Then there are these happy little guys:

Home Made Card hanger:

Pretty Twine (from the 99c Store) hung from Point A to Point B. Hang jingle bells every two feet and fill in spaces with empty clothespins. Wait for those cute family photos and Aunt Susie's newsletter to come in the mail and the kids will love hanging them up. The text are cut outs from Trader Joe's bags as well. They say Happy Holidays from…, Warm Wishes from…. Peace and Joy from…
I have to say I was pretty proud of this idea :)

Home Made Advent Calendar:

Construction paper cut into squares with dates (Dec 1-25th) on each in silver marker. Inside you can do an activity for each day like "Make Christmas Cookies" or "Get the Tree" or " Drive around and look at lights". I did the Christmas Story in progression with a symbol and a verse to read each day. For example, Dec 1st was "Angel" and we made an angel out of pipe cleaners and hung it on the tree.