Countdown to Christmas with Refillable DIY Chalkboard Advent Calendar Ornaments

This is an easy Christmas craft I had thought about making two months ago.  I actually purchased all the supplies at Michael's Arts & Crafts several weeks ago.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to sit down and make this advent calendar craft until two days before December began.  Even though you won't be able to countdown for the whole 24 days, you could still countdown the remaining 12 days or 10 days this year and start at the beginning of December next year.  That's one of the things I love about this advent calendar, it is completely refillable and reusable!

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

(24) chalkboard ornaments with clips and twine

(24) small burlap drawstring bags

(24) 10" pieces of festive ribbon (approximately 3/8" wide)

small candies or toys (to fill the bags)

white anti-dust chalk

TIP #1:  If you cannot find pre-made chalkboard ornaments like the ones shown, you could easily make your own with chalkboard ornaments, mini clothespins, a roll of twine, and some glue.  Likewise, if you cannot find printed burlap bags, you could use rubber stamps to decorate plain ones.

Step 1.  Assemble the chalkboard ornaments, whether you purchased kits or are making your own, This includes cutting the twine into (24) 6" segments, threading them through each ornament, and tying them off at the top.  Trim off an excess to make the ends short and even.

Step 2.  Tie the ribbon around the twine right at the top of the chalkboard ornament.  Form a small bow and trim the ends to make them even.

Step 3.  Repeat Step 2 for the other 23 ornaments.

Step 4.  Use the chalk to number your ornaments from 1 to 24.

TIP #2:  The chalkboard ornaments I bought seemed like they had chalkboard paper on them.  As a result, it was not easy to erase the chalk, even with a damp paper towel.  If this is true for your chalkboard ornaments, I recommend that you use a chalk holder to hold the chalk so you can write more easily without making too many errors.  If you're confident enough, you could also use permanent white paint pens to draw the numbers.

Step 5.  Fill your bags with something fun for your children to find each day.  Every year, we include one small piece of candy for each child along with a handful of jigsaw puzzle pieces.  (This year, we upgraded to a challenging 400-piece puzzle.  It took my husband and I five hours to assemble it before we divided the pieces between the 24 bags.)

We hung our advent ornaments on a garland high up along the rafter that separates our living room from our dining area.  You could also hang them on your Christmas tree or make a calendar using a board and 24 nails.  If you have other ideas, I'd love to hear them!


If you like this advent calendar craft, be sure to Pin It for later . . . 

Prepping for the Holidays with Personalized Tree Ornaments from Ornaments With Love

Thank you to Ornaments With Love for providing a personalized tree ornament sample for us to base this review upon and for providing a second product for our giveaway prize.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Ummm . . . no it's not too early to be thinking about the Holidays!  Even if you don't start your shopping early, there are a few things to think about before the season sneaks up on you . . .

1.  What are my children going to ask Santa for in their letters this year?  Will it sell out if I wait to buy it?  Will I need to put it on layaway to pay for it in time for Christmas?

2.  What should my children wear for the Holiday card photo this year?  When do I need to order them to get them before December so I'll have time to write a note inside and address them all?

3.  Do I need anything major for entertaining this Holiday?  New dining room set?  New television?  Should I have the floors professionally cleaned?

4.  Some retailers take extra time to ship any personalized items I may want to give as gifts.  The shipping time might even get longer as the Holidays grow closer.  Should I shop for these items now before the big rush?

Christmas is a huge deal at our house.  We started some fun traditions when our oldest was just a toddler.  For example, every year I purchase personalized ornaments for the whole family.  I always get one that represents all 5 of us and sometimes the pets too.  Some years, the pets get their own ornaments.  Each child always gets his or her own personalized ornament.  Some years I let them choose their own and others I decide to surprise them.  Whichever course I choose, we always order our ornaments from Ornaments With Love.  I think this might be our 7th year buying ornaments from this family-owned business.  I shopped their site before I even thought about owning a blog.  You should see the cute ornaments I found last year!

Another tradition we have is that our children always gift a personalized ornament to their favorite aunt and uncle (my sister and brother-in-law).  This year, we chose this Personalized Moose Family Christmas Ornament.  I just thought they were too adorable when I saw them.  I never thought I would perceive a tree ornament to be huggable, but that's what I think when I look at this smiling moose family.  This ornament is available for family sizes of 1 to 4 children.  Maybe I'll get one for my own family next year!

This year, I think I'll be surprising my children with ornaments I choose.  The great thing about Ornaments With Love is that there are new ornaments added to the already vast selection every year.  That way, I can always find something cool and new, rather than choosing from the same ornaments year after year.  Also, shipping is free when your order totals $50 or more.  And, did I mention that their turnaround time is as little as 2 business days and they ship by U.S. Priority Mail?  Still, I always order early because it's one thing I can just check off my Holiday prepping list!

Time to get started on your Holiday prepping!  Visit www.OrnamentsWithLove.com to view their enormous selection of personalized tree ornaments.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. A random drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

'Owl' Always Smile When I Hang This Ornament on Our Christmas Tree! #cbias

As a blogger, it is easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of Holiday features throughout the fall season.  It's exciting to introduce our readers to gift ideas, new products, and to give some of those products away.  As Christmas approaches, I am looking forward to that whirlwind settling so that I can take the time to appreciate the things about the Holidays that make this time of year joyous for me.

One of the things that makes the Holidays special for me online (aside from shopping) is the community.  I am only a member of an extremely small number of blogging communities and am an active member in just two.  One of these communities is Social Fabric run by Collective Bias, who is in large part responsible for helping me to improve my blog's content over the past year and a half or so.

Another benefit of being part of a supportive community like Social Fabric is that I have had the chance to cross paths with a great number of bloggers who were never on my radar before.  One of these bloggers is Heather of Girl Gone Mom.  If you've never visited her parenting lifestyle blog, I highly recommend that you do.  As part of this year's Social Fabric Ornament Exchange, Heather sent me this adorable owl tree ornament and this lovely Holiday card.  If you follow me on Pinterest or Twitter, then you know that I am infatuated with owls.  I have been for quite some time and it is hard to believe that this is my very first owl ornament.

Thank you Heather!!  I'll always smile when I hang this ornament on our little tree every year!

Easy DIY Gingerbread M&M Holiday Favors Craft (#HolidayMM #shop #cbias)

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This Gingerbread M&M shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client.  All opinions expressed are my own.


If you've always thought about making your own party favors, gift toppers, or tree ornaments to gift for the Holidays, but were worried that it would be too time-consuming, too costly, or too difficult, then I have an easy and fun craft for you.  Using Gingerbread M&Ms (exclusively sold at Walmart), some inexpensive golden cord and wired bows I found after raiding the Holiday gift wrap section at Walmart, and a few little one-dollar glass bottles I had picked up in a craft store, I made these festive and sweet favors.

Craft Project:  DIY Gingerbread M&M Favors

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Gingerbread M&Ms (whole or finely crushed)

small corked glass bottles

golden cord

golden wired twist-on mini bows

hot glue gun

hot glue sticks

scissors

Step 1.  Fill your bottles with crushed or whole Gingerbread M&Ms.  Be sure to tap the bottles lightly on a hard surface so that the candy can settle.  Then make sure to fill the bottles to the top, leaving enough room for the cork.

Step 2.  Heat up your hot glue gun.  Then lay your M&Ms out on your work surface so that they are easily accessible during gluing. (I tried to select M&Ms that were uniformly shaped.)

Step 3.  Apply a small amount of hot glue to the backside of an M&M and place the candy immediately in the desired position on the bottle. (The glue cools almost instantly, so be sure the placement is accurate.)  Some ideas for designs would be initials, wreaths, hearts, candy canes, and patterns.

Step 4.  Using scissors, cut approximately 8 to 10 inches of gold cord.  Tie the cord around the lip of the bottle, while trying to make the ends somewhat even.  Tightly double-knot the cord.  (NOTE:  These bottles also work well as favors without the hangers.)

Step 5.  Knot the ends of the cord together to create a hanger for the bottle.  Trim off any excess cord at the ends.

Step 6.  Shape a wired mini bow, as desired.  Then tie the bow onto the bottle by wrapping the attached wire around the bottle and twisting it 5 or 6 times until the bow is tightly secured.  Then trim off any excess wire with scissors.

The results are these Gingerbread M&M favors that can also be used as gift toppers and tree ornaments.  How wonderful would these look displayed on a mini Christmas tree for guests to take on their way out the door or sitting at each place setting on the dinner table?

The crushed Gingerbread M&Ms are perfect for flavoring hot beverages, such as coffee, hot cocoa, and even tea.  It could also be sprinkled on top of whipped topping, decorating a dessert or ice cream sundae with festive color.

What would you use Gingerbread M&Ms for . . . to bake gingerbread cookies or to decorate a gingerbread house?  If you would like to try this easy craft or to experiment with creating a gingerbread recipe, click on the banner below to grab a coupon for $1.00 off one bag of Gingerbread M&Ms!

Join in on the Gingerbread M&M Instagram contest . . .

“If you need some festive holiday decorating ideas check out these fun Gingerbread M&M's crafts. If you have some creative ideas of your own, participate in the Gingerbread M&M Instagram contest to win a great prize!”

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Upload an original image to Instagram with inspirational ideas and creations using Gingerbread M&M's to decorate and craft during the holidays, caption that image with the hashtag #HolidayMM, and share on Twitter (an “Entry”).

Ornaments With Love Offers a Vast Selection of Fun and Unique Personalized Tree Ornaments

Thank you to Ornaments With Love for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing an additional product for our contest prize.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Since before my husband and I were married, we began a tradition of buying personalized dated ornaments each year to hang on our Christmas tree.  Before we had children, we would get a couples ornament for just the two of us plus an ornament for each of our cats and dogs.  After our family began to grow, we would buy a personalized ornament to represent the whole family, my husband and I as a couple, an ornament for each of our 3 children, and one for all the pets together.  Needless to say, we have a large collection of ornaments, but each and every one of them are special to us.

I have been a customer of this small business before I even started blogging.  I kept coming back every year because there is such an enormous selection of ornaments to choose from plus new styles added each year.  I usually buy all bread dough or resin ornaments, but this year I chose a glass ball ornament for our family ornament from Ornaments With Love.  I realized last year that, over time, several of our glass ball ornaments had been lost due to breakage.  I really would like to add more to our ornament collection over the next few years.

This particular Personalized Penguin Family with 3 Children Glass Ball Ornament features 5 penguins in a snowy scene.  Like most Ornaments With Love tree ornaments, I was able to specify the year, the names, and a short caption.  This ball ornament comes with a ready-to-wrap box that also will store the ornament safely when it's time to take your tree down.  When shipping your bread dough and resin ornaments, this company also includes Holiday-themed cellophane bags with twist ties and gift labels for you to easily gift the ornaments you purchased.

I also wanted to share the other ornaments I purchased this year from Ornaments With Love.  I was thrilled to find tech-themed ornaments to fit our extremely techie family.  Although our daughter is also tech-oriented, I chose an arts and crafts-themed ornament for her because I think art is her first love.  I also chose some cute mittens hanging from a mantel for our 3 cats.  (Our poor hermit crabs and fish don't get their own ornaments or stockings.)

You can also checkout our personalized ornaments by Ornaments With Love from 2012, 2011, and 2010.  Our ornaments shipped within 2 business day by Priority Mail, so they arrived quickly.  You can also get Free U.S. Priority Mail Shipping on orders over $50.  These ornaments make cherished and affordable gifts, especially when you can find just the right one for the recipient's personality!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. A random drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

Holiday 2012: Personalized Tree Ornaments Are a Family Tradition

Since my husband and I spent our first Christmas together, years before we were married, I purchased two personalized ornaments for our tree . . . one for me and him and one for our Beagle named Buddy.  Our family has changed and grown quite a bit since then.  The wonderful thing is that I have the ornaments to tell our family's story for  the past 17 years.

This is the third year that I have had the pleasure of showing off an ornament of my choice from Ornaments With Love.  You can see my choices for the last two years here and here.  In addition to the ornament I chose to showcase, I always order additional ornaments, such as an ornament for each of our 3 children, a couples ornament for my husband and myself, an ornament for the whole family, and sometimes an ornament for our pets.  A few years ago, I extended our tradition to include an ornament for my sister and brother-in-law when they bought their first home.

This year, I chose this Personalized Heart Christmas Ornament that holds up to 16 names.  This particular ornament had the option of putting red hearts in the blank spaces.  Since I only needed 8 spaces for names, I was able to have them alternate with 8 red hearts.  I love how this ornament turned out!

As you can see, the personalization is very carefully done.  Below are the ornaments for my sister and brother-in-law, plus the one I chose for my husband and myself.

Every year I do one of three things . . . allow my children to select their own ornaments, ask my children to specify a theme, or surprise them with ornaments I pick out for them.  This year, I asked for each to give me their first and second choices for a theme.  I was not able to find any of their first choices, which were a superhero, a ninja, and a duck.  Maybe Ornaments With Love will be able to add these for next year?  I was able to find all their second choices, which were the martial arts black belt, a skateboarder, and a fairy.

If you are buying ornaments for a gift, you will be happy to know that each ornament comes wrapped in bubble wrap and tissue paper and each is accompanied by a printed Christmas-themed cello bag with a twist tie and a gift tag attached to the front of the bag.

I want to also mention that, for all the years I have been buying personalized ornaments from this website, I have never experienced an error in personalization or had an ornament arrive damaged.  Ornaments With Love also offers Free Shipping within the U.S. for orders over $50.  They also offer flat rate shipping fees for U.S. and for Canadian addresses, plus they ship internationally as well.


Thank you to Ornaments With Love for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

5 Favorite Tree Ornaments Bring Fond Memories

Since we spent our first Christmas living together five years before we were married, my husband and I would add new ornaments to the tree every year.  Some were personalized ornaments marked with the year and some were just ornaments that we really loved.  Needless to say, sixteen years later, our tree is quite full.  That does not stop us from adding new ornaments every year, especially since our first child came into our life and then the twins thereafter.

Every year when we trim the tree as a family, we all reminisce as we hang certain ornaments on the tree.  Even our not yet 5 year old twins will find delight in recognizing the ornaments bearing their names from past years.

Pregnancy Ornaments

The ornaments below mark the two Christmas' when we were expecting.  It was such a special time for us even though both pregnancies were difficult ones.  I cherish both these ornament so much.

Couple Ornaments

This was the first ornament I purchased for our first Christmas tree in our first apartment.  That seemed like a lifetime ago, when both my husband and I were young and stupid.

Pet Ornaments

Before we had children, our dogs and cats were our children.  Even after the children came into our lives, I still would get one personalized ornament every year with all our pets names listed on it.  Our Beagle Buddy was my very first dog ever and I had him before I even met my husband.  Although he did not quite make it to Christmas in 2009, I made sure he had his own ornament (left photo below).  He was nearly 16 years old when we had to let him go and he was loved by everyone, even the four-legged members of our household.

Charitable Ornaments

The ornament shown above on the right is one of my favorites.  Not only does the dog on it remind me of our beloved Beagle, but these were ornaments created by children's art.  We purchased a few of these about 14 or 15 years ago, all with a different design.  These were being sold at our local mall and the proceeds benefited Project Bread.  In the years following, I always looked for more of these ornaments, but I never saw them being sold again.

Thank you for taking the time to stroll down memory lane with me.  I hope your holiday is full of fond memories as well!

A Christmas Gift for Me All the Way from Virginia!

For the second year in a row, I participated in a gift exchange organized within a blogging community forum to which I have been a member for over 3 years.  Last year, we did a stocking exchange, which was lots of fun.  This year we were given a list of four things to include in our gift . . . an item that represents the city or state in which we reside, a white elephant gift, a sweet treat, and a tree ornament.

Since I am from Massachusetts, I sent my gift exchange partner, Beth of Simply Budgeted, a cookbook from Boston's famous North End, some fuzzy multi-colored leopard print fleece pajama pants, a box of Junior Mints with bits of candy cane in them, and pair of mitten ornaments from Lands' End.  Here are the fun items Beth sent to me . . .

A ginormous bag of peanuts to represent Virginia, a picture frame (not too ornate at all), chocolate-covered ginger snaps, and . . . 

. . . a set of ornaments representing the 12 Days of Christmas!

I am already trying to think of a way to turn those ornaments into a fun way to countdown to Christmas for my children next year.  Oh, and my husband, who does not even like ginger snaps, wanted to try one of those cookies.  Then I blinked and one whole stack was gone!

Thank you for the great gifts Beth!  The whole family is truly enjoying them!!

My Photos (W/E 12-10-11)

The following photos are actually from the last two weeks (minus all the cat photos).  For some reason, I had an unusually large number of cat photos, so I kept them aside to post separately later this week.  The first two photos below are from our visit to Edaville's Christmas Festival of Lights.  The rest are from the rare moment of quiet and solitude I had one night where I just sat and looked at our lit Christmas tree.  I just had to take some photos.  Who knows when I'll have another moment like that again, right?

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Click here to view all my favorite photos!