Bah, Humbug

None of my projects are coming out right.

Gah.

Elf on the Shelf Not Your Thing?

That's ok, it's not mine either.

I honestly wanted to do the elf on the shelf for the photo ops.

Photography, now THAT is really my thing. And for those, I had visions of naughtiness in my head.

This is an Elf on the Shelf Alternative.

Troll in the Hole. More of the mischievous sort.

Troll in the Hole

Oh yes. This is more my speed: Elf Shaming.

Hilarious.

Elf Shaming

Mug Rug

I am going to attempt the impossible. To learn to use my sewing machine this weekend.

I had such excellent intentions this year for all the handcrafted goodies I was going to make for all my family and friends.

I may still eek out a few.

The project I had in mind? Mug rugs.

I found several cute tutorials online.

This one has a pocket.

This one is super cute and perfect for Santa's milk and cookies. 

Pocket Mug Rug

Regarding yesterday's post, I have finally found my problem;

Christmas Book Every Night

The one  thing that has gone according to plan this year.

Every night right before bed, the Munchkin picks a book from under the tree.

She reads it, or I do.

Yay! A success!

Reality Check

I love this article.

Because it sums up my experiences, especially this year.

"Oh, to have a perfect Christmas!"

This potent illusion grabs us by the throat sometime in September. It lifts only on the afternoon of December 25, in concert with the 3 p.m. Christmas post-gift letdown.

It's a fancy subscribed to by many well-meaning holiday planners. It sells one heck of a lot of Christmas magazines.

To my dismay, it may even have motivated you to join the Christmas Countdown!

The culprit? The Ghost of Christmas Perfection. This siren song sings as follows: "It is possible to organize a completely stress-free, hassle-free, calm, serene and spiritual holiday season!"

This Web site notwithstanding. Paying heed to the idea of a "perfect Christmas" will clog your planning and cloud your joy--and it's just not possible.

Over the years of my adult life, I've been organized and I've been disorganized. I've been child-free and child-bound, swamped with houseguests or all alone. I will tell you: it is simply not possible to create a perfectly organized holiday season.

There will always be something. Always.

It wouldn't be the holiday season otherwise! Holiday realities are fights with in-laws, returning gifts, burned cookies, collapsed gingerbread houses, pets in the side dishes, stains on the rug, cranky children, broken ornaments, and grouchy late-night sessions at the sewing machine.

Stop and think: this is the material of life! Look back in your memories, and you'll see that every Christmas Imperfect lays its own special claim to your heart.

Read the rest here.

An Advent for Mommy

Or make it a little more fun;

DIY Beer Advent

A Non Elf on The Shelf

My first choice just had no form, a beanbag with a head actually.

So I found a new one.

Meet Holly.

I went to an elf name generator and LOL'd at the choices I was given.

Ginger Van Stinkylips

Wrinkliballs

Goombapants

And so forth. 

So I decided to make it a little less like elf porn and just went with Holly. 

Then I spent the afternoon sewing her a traveling outfit.

I had all sorts of plans for Holly. To be the hilarious, elf on the shelf shenanigans mom.

Then I had a reality check. 

I am NOT that mom. Not this year for sure. I am the complete opposite of organized this year.

So I now have a new Christmas doll. 

Itty Bitty sure loved her. In fact, as with everything these days; she tried to eat her.

I am just sticking to the old You better be good, Santa is watching you type deal. My own mother used lights to sway me into being good. All year.

The dots on the wall from reflected sunlight, were elves. Checking to see if I was being good. 

Handmade Ornaments

I love them. I didn't make any {(yet)} for Christmas this year.

I did find a few I really liked on etsy.

yarn-ball-christmas-tree-ornament

This one comes in other colors as well.

black-and-white-christmas-ornament

crochet-ornament-in-coral

babys-first-christmas-ornament

Grumpy Cat

is my newest favorite. And I'm not even a cat person usually.

I LOVE these.

AND check it out; 25% of Profits go to her favorite no kill shelter, Sun Cities 4 Paws Rescue.

grumpy-cat-christmas cards

Christmas Music

Oh, I had forgotten about the Sirius channels I have on DISH.

Although I love Christmas music, there is not one channel that really suits me.

I love what are deemed modern hits all the way through to the traditional, classics.

The modern was a miss, as it had Mariah Carey, N'Sync etc. Not my kind of music, to say the least.

The Ultra Hip was jazz. Which I do like, in small doses. Blame my father, he wore down my tolerance long ago with Jazz Flavors or something in the car every Sunday evening.

Even the traditional started to get tiresome, as I think there are 10 songs by various artists. So it is the same song over and over and over basically. The only one I think I like in multiple is Blue Christmas.

Now I remember why I made my own playlist on my i-pod.

A sampling;

Blue Christmas, Porky Pig....because I am eternally a child and it never fails to make me giggle.
Blue Christmas, Elvis. One of my favorites.
Baby, Please Come Home for Christmas, U2. Another favorite.
You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch, Hip Heavy Lip
Christmas Wrapping, The Waitresses

Portable North Pole

Someone on Facebook passed this video on to me last year. The Munchkin got her very own Santa video and she was in complete and total awe. 

She is still deep in belief of Santa and so I wanted to do another. However, recently, she has been particularly naughty and we keep telling her she better be careful, Santa was watching.

Last year she got a good girl video. This year I chose naughty. I watched it first, as I did not want to ruin Christmas for her, just put the fear of The Santa Good Girl List  into her.

I think it will be ok. The video does not say she was naughty, just not quite on the nice list. 

Yet. 

But Santa has faith she'll be really good until Christmas. 

With THIS and the Elf on the Shelf, I figure we are gong to have a good December. 

You personalize your own video, including your child's picture plus pictures of 2 events from this year. 

Make your own here.

Santa Video for Your Child

Handmade Crap

A long-ago relation, before I was even a twinkle in my father's eye, was not a fan of the artsy-crafty gifts that he had received. Apparently, he was one for saying, oh, not more handmade crap. Or something.

So it has become a long-time joke in my little family.

I love handmade goodies. Giving and receiving.

For the music lover.

Circular Ear Bud Carrier

And, while you're at it;

diy-tangle-free-earbuds

This drives me crazy.

Even Your Hair Can Be Festive

These reminded me of the movie version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Old School. These were from the 50's, I believe.

Newer version.

Advents and Countdowns

I love these.

We currently have this one from Avon.

It has mini ornaments that you put on the tree and it talks. It's fine, unless the Munchkin is abusing it. Like putting them all on. In five minutes. Gah.

I did find a lot that I would love to do.

50-cool-diy-advent-calendars

It's Official

....we have kicked off the Christmas season a wee bit early.

I have put up my tree.

I have not been in the holiday mood this year. And not just for Christmas, but I couldn't get into Halloween this year either. Poor Thanksgiving was looking bleak as well.

And I am not alone, I know several folks who expressed the same feeling.

So in an effort to pull myself out of the doldrums this year, I put up my tree.

And it has worked, I feel a lot better.

And Itty Bitty, as you can see, loves the tree.

Magic Elf Seeds

I have been looking for Elf on the Shelf ideas, as this is our first year of having the Elf come to stay with us for the month of December.

I found this on East Coast Mommy's blog Magic Elf Seeds {Tiny cookie decorations in the shape of Christmas trees}

The directions came with a letter from Santa, to plant the seeds in sugar and to get a surprise in the morning.

How cute is this?

As for the Santa letter, get free stationary HERE

And 100 other ideas here;

101-elf-on-the-shelf-ideas-

Now How About Felt

There are trees for everyone.

Buttoned Up and Beautiful

I found this little beauty on one of my forays around google images.

I tried to find out more about it, but the link was gone. It appears to be made from buttons and brooches and beads, I just fell in love with it.

I just may try to recreate it, I have an abundance of buttons.

And speaking of button trees, I found a lot of cute ones. In varying degrees of involvement;

I also found a couple of ornaments.

Ugly Christmas Sweater

Now in t-shirt form.

They had several to choose from, and personally I would wear this over a sweater. I am just really not a sweater kind of girl.

I found this one at fab DOT com.

Time to REALLY Get This Party Started

Let's start with some crafts, shall we?

Due to the recent power outage, I have recalled just how hard it is to amuse the kiddos. With winter well on its way, we are certain to have a few snow days along with the Christmas break.

Perhaps I can finally make a lot of those things I have been collecting over at Pinterest!

Snowmen crafts are popular at my house.

We'll even go by craft level.

Beginner/easy; Cotton Round Snowman

Find the instructions and supply list for this HERE.

We'll go with Messy for this next one.

Snowman footprints!

I found this HERE plus a lot of other cute handprint and footprint projects. I especially love the fingerprint Christmas lights!

Intermediate. Just because it has a lot of steps and detail work. But how cute is this?

Find the supply list and directions HERE plus a few other projects.

Naturally, you will need a snack.

Recipe found HERE




And please, when you are out shopping;