Christmas Card Books

I wanted to do something with the Christmas cards we receive each year, so I finally figured out what I wanted to do: I created a little book of them for each year.

 

 

 

 

I had our cards saved for all the years that my husband & I have been married, here are all 9 books I made- 2005-2013...

 

 

I wanted them to be super-simple so it's easy to make one each year. All I did was punch holes through all the cards, photos, & letters and I bound them together using gold raffia. Ribbon would have also been great. I used a 4x6 card for the front and another one for the back of each book from my Project Life kits. And I labelled them and wrote the year. It doesn't get any easier, I tell ya!

 

I used cards from the Amber Edition, the Clementine Edition, The Honey Edition, and the Midnight Edition of Project Life.

 

It's been neat looking through them and seeing the older photos of our family and friends!

This was the perfect solution in my mind since all the cards are a total variety of shapes and sizes.

They are stored in this basket for the month of December, then I can easily make a new book for 2014 and add it to the collection before storing these away until next Christmas!

 

What do you do with your Christmas cards at the end of the holidays each year? Do you toss them or do you save them??

ChristmasTeacher Gift Idea

Today I'm going to share what I made for my son to give his teachers last year for Christmas when he was in grade 1......

I filled jars with treats (pretzel hugs) and gave them along with a gift card to Tim Hortons...

Pretzel hugs are pretzels, that have chocolate melted on them and m&m candies on the top. When they have set and the chocolate is hard again, they are ready to enjoy. They are pretty yummy!

And just because, I have to share how cute the Tim Hortons gift cards were last year...

I wrapped the jars up in clear Christmas gift bags, added a candy cane and the gift card, and tied it all up with some curled ribbon!

I had my son sign his name on the gift tags (I used some cards from my stash of Project Life supplies)...

And if you want another idea, click on the photo below to go to the post of what I made for my son to give his teachers the year before, when he was in Kindergarten!

Christmas Countdown Books- A Special Christmas Tradition

A couple years ago, our family began doing this new tradition, where the kids open up a Christmas book for us to read each day in December leading up to Christmas. I absolutely love reading a Christmas book to my kids each day and they love opening the book and the excitement of wondering which book it is.

Some time in November I bring out our collection of Christmas books. We have a variety as my kids are different ages (6, 4, 1 right now) so there are baby board books and longer stories. I plan that we read one of the Christ-centered stories on Sundays. And my son's birthday is in December, so I choose one of his faves to read on his birthday. The rest are randomly assigned a number for the day we read them.

I bought these rolls of Christmas wrapping paper to use for the book countdown this year...

I made these labels that I use each year. They are simple and I just print them out on printer paper, then cut them out with a paper cutter or scissors, then tape them on each wrapped book...

This year ordered a few new books to add to our collection, including The Polar Express, I'm excited for them to come!

I was happy to get our books all ready to go this week so we are prepared for the start of December!

It may seem like a lot to buy right away. If you want to start doing this and don't want to shell out all the money at once, look for books at dollar stores or thrift stores. I have probably bought half of ours from Scholastic book orders or school book fairs, as purchases from those allow the school to have credit towards buying more books for the classrooms and library. Bargain books from the book stores can have great options, too.

I like adding a few new ones each year and replacing the baby board books as my kids get older. 

 Again, I love this tradition!

Anyone else doing this in their homes this year?

Do you have any favourite Christmas stories? I would love some more recommendations!

Christmas Gift for the Teachers

Hi everyone, I hope your December is going smoothly!

I just wanted to pop in and share what I put together to give my son's Kindergarten teachers {there is a Teacher plus a T.A. in his class.}

I picked up these cute mugs from Superstore for $4 each I believe. I like that they aren't necessarily "Christmas" mugs. And they are neutral and kinda pretty. 

Each mug will be given along with a gift card to Second Cup. With the gift card they can buy coffee/tea/hot chocolate or treats- whatever they like!

For chocolates, I bought them each a bag of Hershey miniatures and also added some Andes candy cane chocolates- yum! And of course, I stuck a candy cane in each mug. 

Before wrapping the mug + goodies in tissue, I taped the gift cards onto the mugs with a piece of washi tape so they didn't get lost in the mix.

I used washi tape to pretty-up the simple kraft paper gift bags...... I {heart} washi tape!

There you have it!

I wanna know: What do you give your child's (children's) teacher(s) for Christmas???

My DIY Stocking Board

I made this stocking board last Christmas and never got a chance to share......

I had this drawer front that my hubby brought me from work that was destined for the trash.

I knew the size was just perfect for a stocking board.

And I liked the finish enough that I didn't have to paint it or anything- a major bonus during busy December!

The other cool thing was that there were already 4 holes drilled in it for where the drawer handles would have gone. So I didn't have to measure out where I added my hooks. Sa-weet!

I bought these 2 packs of chrome knobs. Each package of 2 was about $6.

After adding on the knobs, the mister hung it up for me. He drilled through the board and placed it where the studs in the wall were. Then I added a little plastic cover on each screw, those somewhat blend in. 

For the star in the middle, I used part of a glitter-y tree ornament that I already had. I used a few dabs of hot glue to keep in in place for the month of December.

The great thing is that I remove the star after Christmas and I keep the board up year-round.

It is in the hallway between both entrances so it is a great spot for my son to hang his school backpack & it's also where the library bag hangs.

I love how simple this project was to put together, and that the only cost was buying the knobs!

If you want to make something similar, a piece of wood that is painted or stained would be a good alternative.

We have started to "deck the halls" around here for Christmas. 

When do YOU decorate for Christmas time??

Reindeer Thumbprint Ornaments

Last year I helped my kids make up these tree ornaments to give my parents for Christmas.

(Then we made another set to keep for our tree!)

We just used acrylic craft paint for them to dip their thumbs into. When that was dry, I used a toothpick to add the red nose on rudolph, and then a black Sharpie to draw the eyes and antlers!

After making the set of green ones for my parents, I made a red set for our tree!

On the back I added their name and the year. 

My parents really liked them!

If your're new to Crafting and Creativity, I would love to keep in touch!