AWB Secret Santa Ornament Exchange

Back this past summer I found out about Arkansas Women Bloggers and was so excited to find a site that is local to my state! Well we had an Ornament swap earlier this month and it was so much fun! I love to craft and this is my first time trying an ornament craft. 

I thought about doing the craft with a plastic ornament but I was worried that the decorations wouldn't stick as good as a glass ornament.

I got an idea for my first ornament from Michaels Projects section. Thankfully Michaels organizes their crafts into how long it will take (ie how crafty you need to be!). The details for this ornament are included in the link above but it mainly consists of double stick tape, silver glitter, a decoration adorned to it and add a bow at the end.

My second ornament was a blend of ideas that I have seen over the internet. A friend had completely handpainted her ornament red and then painted the santa belt. I had also seen the pinterest idea of putting rolled up red paper in the ornament and then painting the belt around the ornament. All I could think about is me not being able to keep the belt straight the whole way around so I figured that the double stick tape I used with the first ornament would work perfectly.

Having never made ornaments I give myself an A- (or maybe a B+) and it was so much fun that I am making more ornaments for our own tree at home with my 8 year old.

I received the cutest ornaments in the mail earlier this week from Jodi at The Coffee House Life and they are absolutely beautiful on my tree. 

 I have seen these before on Pinterest and so glad to have them on my tree! I also received a sweet note with my ornaments and bless her heart she has 3 little girls (5,3,1) and still was able to craft these up! I thought I had it rough with a rambunctious one year old! I love that my angle one had the word hope on it because there are some days in life where you need a little hope and this angel reminds of it. 

Thanks again so much Jodi and Arkansas Women Bloggers for this fun time!

What Do You Tell Your Kids??

So what exactly do you tell your kids when they question whether Santa is real?

Taylor has asked me before if Santa is real or if I believe in him which I of course reply that I do and she pretty much leaves it at that. And thankfully she hasn't inquired any further because to be honest I don't know what I would say. The best answer that I can think of is to tell her is that if you don't believe in Santa then no more presents from Santa come...other than that I am at a loss! 

We have already established with her that the "Santas" at the malls isn't the real Santa because she knows that he can't be at every mall at the same time. I explained to her that they are Santa's friends that help him out so he can stay at the North Pole longer and finish all the toys. She of course replied that she knew all along that "Santa" at the mall by our house wasn't the real one because while he was out "feeding his reindeer" she saw him go into the bathroom area and a few minutes later come out in real clothes!!! Kids don't miss a thing!

So this year we have decided to do Elf on a Shelf with the kids in hopes that Taylor can hold onto the innocence of Santa for at least another year. Last year was just too hectic to do it with my hubby deployed and Olivia was only a newborn. I have already been given lots of good ideas for our Elf and found some funny ones on Pinterest too. Have you all done Elf on the Shelf with your kids and if so what are some of your favorite places you have found your elf at?

 

Frugal Christmas 2012

This holiday season I have decided will be "Frugal Christmas 2012." It's not because we are tight on cash but because it seems like every year the amount of gift giving gets more and more excessive and farther away from the true meaning of Christmas.

So this year that all changes. No more scouring stores trying to find a gift, any gift really for someone who already has everything.

So here's our plan this year for presents.

1. Instead of individual presents for family members we are doing family presents. Thankfully my husband is a master at woodworking so we are making nice cutting boards. I am going to be doing gifts in a jar. There are so many food ideas for that and you can even do small non food gifts in a jar as well.

2. My oldest and I have talked answer have decided to do the angel tree or something similar for the community to help with Christmas for a family that might not get a Christmas at all without help. I told her that if we do this that she won't get as many gifts this year and thankfully she was ok with that. Makes me a proud mom that I have raised a good kid to be so selfless.

3. I still have to look around but I would like to go help serve food at a homeless shelter. My parents took my brother and I a few times when we were younger and it really enlightens you to people who are struggling for one reason or another and it is important to lend a hand when you can.

So this year instead of splurging all my money on nonsense or half hearted gifts I really hope all that above will make Christmas feel that much more special and realize that Christmas isn't just about the gifts but something much more than that!

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

It just seems like Christmas was just the other day but alas Valentine's Day will be here before you know it! I went searching for Valentine's Day Gift Ideas and I especially love ones that I can make at home and ones to make with the kids.

Better Homes and Gardens Valentine's Day Gifts

Better Homes and Gardens has a wonderful selection of gift ideas and I just want to share a few of my favorite from the link above.

1. Make your own love basket!

I like this one and it doesn't have to be a movie basket per say so I think I might change it up a bit and make it a love basket with some of my hubby's favorite things in it.

2. Scratch off VDay Card

This is perfect AND what is even better is that you can do this for birthday cards too! 

3. Pail Full of Flowers

This is super cute and I would probably make it at home for a decoration!

Reason #45678998 Why Kirkland's Rocks!!

I LOVE Kirkland's! It is one of my most absolute favorite decorating stores. It is affordable, cute and most importantly I love their military appreciation decor!

Case in Point:

Thank you Kirkland's! It completes my house!!

Body After Baby!?!?!

I am sure many mothers wish their bodies would just go back to that perfect size they were before they had baby and even during the whole pregnancy they thought "Man it's going to be easy to get back into shape." Then baby comes! 


You are not alone!! The baby literally consumes all your time and when you aren't feeding or changing the baby or rocking the baby to sleep you have to fit in time to pick up the house and get some sleep yourself! Trust me I know this all too well. 
Being a mom of two now with a 7 year old and a 2 month old life can be challenging. I am sure even for my 7 year old who is a tremendous help when I am feeding baby and can't do anything. 


So where do you find time to fit in a workout? And more importantly since you now realize how out of shape your body is because let's face it going through pregnancy and giving birth does a number on your body what do you do to get back into shape. 
I had those same questions so I started to look around. I realized that paying for a trainer is not an option now with baby #2 adding additional costs to the income. But there are so many online resources to help that sometimes you don't need to pay for a trainer you can find everything you need online. 


Well I love the website Bodybuilding.com and found it a few years ago when my husband and I started to really take fitness seriously. There are many people that will list their workouts they have done to get back into shape so after searching for awhile and with my husband helping me I found a really great one!


Her name is Sarah Benischek and like so many moms struggled to figure out how to shed the pounds and tone up again. Her program includes her workout and nutrition plans. Now if you are like me and BFing then you will need to adjust the nutrition plan as I have done to add more calories and a balance of food and also no supplements!  


So I just thought that I would pass along this wonderful plan that I found on their site that so far has worked out for me. Through the holidays and all the food grazing that it consists of I still managed to lose weight and I am now 5 pounds below my pre-baby weight! 


So here is a link to her page so please take a look and I hope it helps you as it has helped me!


Body Transformation Workout!

Christmas Gift Tags

Since we are all probably scrambling to wrap our presents so we aren't up til after midnight on Christmas Eve here is a cute idea to do for the gift tags. Seems really simple and I am sure anyone with kids has construction paper if you don't have any scrapbook paper!

Cute Gift Tags!

Happy Pinning!

Homemade Snow Globes

My daughter is obsessed with snow globes. So much so that anytime we go to a new state or we have friends or family that goes somewhere she will ask them for a snow globe from that state if she doesn't have one from there. 

I she will love to make her own snow globe. Not only is it another one to her collection but the fact that she is making it I am sure she will remember it that much more than the other ones. I also like that idea that you can make it from any glass jar so you can have different sizes. 

Happy Crafting!

Homemade Snow Globes

Photo Card

Two Elves Holiday

Turn your family photos into holiday cards this season.

View the entire collection of cards.