Wordless Wednesday from Williamsburg

  Last week I popped over to Williamsburg, VA and walked the streets of Colonial Williamsburg.  A trip to Colonial Williamsburg is never boring no matter the time of day or the season.

Ice skating rink open daily for a fee.

 Some building are illuminated with candles or spot lights.


My favorite thing to look at during the winter months are the wreaths.  The adorn most doors and no one is alike.

 Some have swag in addition to the wreaths and others are strictly just wreaths.

Two doors why not two wreaths?

All of the wreaths in keeping with the traditions and customs of the time frame are natural, easily accessible items. So definitely  evergreens, fruit and even feathers.

To see the doors does not cost an admission fee but, you may just want to pay to see how the inside is decorated too.  

For more about Colonial Williamsburg check it out here.

Christmas is Over

  Christmas is over!  Or is it?  Is Christmas over after you opened the presents? Traveled to all your families? When you get home?  I say it is over here as the kids are in bed.  All wore out from getting up early, peaking at their highest excitement level and are now sleeping.

  No more questions.  How did Santa....?  Can you open this please?  Can you make it work? All is calm.

I don't know if I appreciate this time the most out of the whole day or not.  It's fun to see the pure happiness but there's a lot going on through out the day.  I'm exhausted.  More so mentally then physically.

  I had to open presents.  Its becoming a whole new experience.  Toys are so secured in their box that even if they roll off a truck at 60mph; all will be ok.  Even if they fall off a sleigh at 30 feet in the air; all will be ok.

Take a look at this locking device on this toy. Now here's an area that even comes with directions and should have some.  You need to twist the knob into a groove for release.  Is all this plastic cheaper then the ties?  Does it secure the toy better?

  Not one box was the same.  These are the easiest tie downs in my opinion.  Ah, untwist it, pull it back threw and that's it.  Definitely the fastest securing system that I can master!

  Then comes the dolls.  Have you purchased a doll lately. Lately meaning these are not the tie downs from my childhood.   These remind me of the strips that secure pet food. You pull one string and it opens right up.  Except these don't work so magically.

  After all that work then preparing dinner; bedtime for me just couldn't come soon enough. I'm so exhausted; mentally exhausted.  

  Good night everyone!  I hope your holiday was great and everything will almost go back to normal tomorrow. I don't promise, I only hope.

Christmas Ornaments equal Holiday Gifts

  Tis the season to break the bank or get creative.  Depending how many supplies you have on hand will depend on how many trips to the store but these trips still shouldn't break the bank.

  Over the last few days I have made items for my daughter to give as gifts.  A few trips to the dollar store and items I have had on hand have aided in some nice gestures of thoughtfulness and kindness.

  My two main items for gifts inspired by Pinterest:

A wine cork.  Which is really easy to find even if you don't drink.  Stop at a local restaurant, check with neighbors or even grocery stores that have wine tasting.

These plastic ornaments came from the dollar tree.  I like that you get two to a package.

Pinterest is great for any and everything.  You just need to have a plan in mind or risk the chance of losing time over searching for something and getting distracted and looking at something else.

  I have been on there looking at all things Christmas.  My daughter wanted somethings to give out and I wanted it to be unique.  I have no shame in that they are cheap gifts because they are homemade and unique.  The teacher will probably get tons of cookies, mugs and coffee gift certificates and when the air clears the food and drink will be gone!  

Cork Mouse!  For the mouse I used two corks.  1 for the whole body then I cut two circular pieces off for the ears. Face was applied with a marker.  Scarf was scrap ribbon. Arms, legs and tail were wire I picked up at the dollar store and twisted into limbs and after making an initial hole with a paperclip I pushed them in and secured them with hot glue. You could add a eyelet on top to make it an ornament.

Santa cork!  I deviated from the directions of painting him and just covered him in red felt.  Hat is also red felt with a cotton ball pulled apart for the trim and a white pompom.  Eyes are drawn on and his nose is loose felt rolled up.  His beard is pulled off a cotton table runner (dollar store purchase) but you could use a cotton ball pulled apart for this too.  Everything hot glued together.

The last two items made my daughter and I were like elves.  I made one and see made the other.  

  

We shredded a sheet of brown paper and she had the task of stuffing the ball.  The eyes and nose were hot glued down.  The antlers are one pipe cleaner.  I didn't have brown so it is black for this deer.  One piece of pipe cleaner wrapped around the top, then cut in half on each side and wrapped around again.

I loved this idea when I saw it and had to make it.  I didn't know a pig could be so cute.  He couldn't have been easier to make!  I didn't have pink paint so I went about it a little harder by adding drops of red and white and shaking it around the inside.  I was amazed and grateful to have found a pink button nose.  I drew in some little black beady eyes and cut out pink ears that I hot glued on.

There you have it folks! If you even have only a half hour you have time to make 4 cute, unique, homemade, handmade gifts!  

I'm glad I had glue sticks in bulk but after this season I may need to stock up on some more.

Have you made any unique gifts?  Have you gotten stuck on Pinterest for hours?  What's your favorite holiday item?

Let's Craft! DIY wreath

  It has been a good holiday crafting season for me.  I have managed to make some gifts that I am proud to give away.  I'm far away from opening a shop and selling but I think I can confidently slide my wares to those close to me!

  This project was first seen here.  Gabbi provides you with easy instructions if you have the patience to tackle this project yourself.  I think I have earned a stripe for accomplishing this but if your feeling less motivated she will help you out!  She has an Etsy shop and sells them.

  I'm not going to provide you with the steps.  Gabbi has that all covered.  Hop over to her site and make one or buy one.

I spent $6 on everything you see.  I bought everything at the Dollar Store.

 4 tube of ornaments (red,green,gold and silver)
 1 gold strand of garland
 1 green foam circle
(Green ribbon to hang I had on hand)

Did you know that $6 could look this good?  Go ahead and impress your family and maybe a friend or too.

  Don't forget to hop over and check out Gabbi's Etsy shop.

  So many wreaths so little time. This is my 3rd one!  I'll show you my other one later!

Mini Wreaths (DIY)

  I have spent a lot of time on Pinterest.   Certain times of the year I spend more time on there then others.  In the spring I start looking at garden ideas and bright and festive fun, summer I am looking for kids activities and maybe some snacks but winter has me looking for gifts.

  Not everything I make is gift worthy (in my opinion) or turned out so neat I want to keep myself.  So stay tuned for the rest of the month to catch glimpse of what I'm making.  Most of it will be cheap (think dollar store purchases, recycle or items from home) and easy to make.

  Today its about the mini wreaths.  These can be made in a flash and decorated in a variety of ways to personalize them.  You need a ring from the top of a canning jar.

  I now have a couple jars without the lids but I heard you can buy just lids so I will hold on to that.  My jars have been sitting under the sink so it's about time something got done with at least a part of them.

  I choose twine for my first one but you can choose anything. Ribbon, garland, tape or anything you can wrap.

  After you have your wrap of choice start on one end and tightly wrap it around the lid.  You don't want to see the lid or any gaps.

  Continue around till you meet the place where you started.  I added a dab of glue to secure the end.

  You are finished with your wreath and ready to embellish it anyway you want.  I choose to make a simple bow for the top.  Grab some mini letters and make one for each of your kids, add some red puff paint and leaves for holly or wrap a ribbon around it.  The bare wreath is your canvas to personalize!

Do you have any plans to make ornaments or gifts this year?

24 Days of Elf Ideas

Elf!  We have an elf and his name is nothing fancy.  He's got the bare basic name of Elf.  Why make it difficult?  Why make it hard to remember?  We have enough to worry about in the world so lets just keep it simple.

  Elf made his first appearance last year with us.  He is not your traditional Elf on the Shelf.  He is an elf in the appearance part but that's about it.  He is slightly taller and little wider and definitely not very posable.

  Thats all ok though because we work with what we got.  Last year he kept us entertained and I did pretty good with making him do something else daily.  There are no rules about not touching him in fact my daughter will pose him to do something else later in the day for my amusement.

Here are some ideas we may be using this year or have done previously.

Day 1: Spilt flour on the flour and wrote he was back. (we ate pancakes)

Day 2: Elf was placed on the tree with a string of lights to encourage decorating the tree.

Day 3: Sliding down the stairs
Day 4: book tree
Day 5: Crafting with the elf
Day 6: Cocoa Night!
Day 7: Cereal stringing  (for birds)
Day 8: Family game night (elfs choice)
Day 9: Make Holiday cards
Day 10:  Library trip for Christmas books
Day 11: Snowball fighting
Day 12:Christmas Movie Night w/ Charlie Brown
Day 13: Shopping for siblings
Day 14: All wrapped up (to wrap presents)
Day 15: Bake cookies
Day 16: RAK
Day 17: Tp the bathroom
Day 18: Snow bath
Day 19: Helping with chores
Day 20: Elf cruises to see the lights (my favorite last year)
Day 21: Riding dinosaurs
Day 22: snowfloor
Day 23: playing games with his friends
Day 24: Elf will write a note for the kids and say goodbye and leave a picture of him and each of them. Maybe a photo book of his fun would be nice, I'll have to think about that.

Ok so there's my list.  I may or may not change dates or even activities but atleast I have a plan.  Now to at least just stick with it.  How hard is it to move a toy around daily?

Follow our antics! As always if you have an elf I would love to hear what they are up to.

The hub bub of the holiday

    We participate in all the traditional fun of Christmas.  We unwrap presents, play, eat, nap and do it all over again minus the unwrapping part.

  Either way my goal is to not over indulge the children but to make it a special day for them.  The get a variety of items.  Some they want and some they don't.

New clothes for everyone.  Socks or underwear anyone? Yeah!

Toys for the young and old.

Toiletries for the teenage girl. Her very own stash to spare mine for a little while.

Even homemade ornaments made great gifts for everyone.

  My favorite thing to give my family are family gifts.  The kids get to each unwrap one of them and it's a surprise for everyone.  This year it hit a little bit of all areas for everyone to have fun in.

All the family gifts were accepted happily along with ......

The Pie in the Face game.

  No matter your traditions I hope everyone finds happiness somewhere in today.