Advent Calendars

Riley wanted this Lego Advent calendar this year.  He has actually wanted one for several years and this year I was actually able to find one.  (Note to self - look for advent calendars in September next time!)

The nice ones the girls were interested in were either sold out, or the sellers were over inflating the prices because they were so hard to find.  So I ended up making my own.

I literally made these the morning of December 1st, so that they would be ready when the girls came home from school.  Thank goodness for Amy of Living Locurto.  She had some advent calendars available as a download on her amazing website. 

I didn't quite make these quite like Amy did.  I actually just stuck the punched out numbers to the background with double stick tape.  Every day the girls pulled a number off and got to pick a prize out of a bag.  Ella's prizes were Squinkies and Littlest Pet Shop toys.  Ciara's prize was a jewelry kit that I broke down into little baggies.  By Christmas she will have the entire kit.  The girls loved these and couldn't wait to get their prize everyday.

Be sure to head over to Amy's site if you are ever in search of some really great ideas and printables.

The Best Visiting Teacher Ever!!!

In our church we have a program called Visiting Teaching.  Ladies are assigned a Visiting Teacher who checks in on them once a month and share a short spiritual message.  My Visiting Teacher is amazing.  She also happens to be my neighbor.

She is the mom to 13 kids.  She and her husband just celebrated 50 years of marriage.  She bakes the most amazing bread.  We have an auction at our church every year and people outbid each other like crazy to get her bread.  But I get the bread delivered straight to my door, right out of the oven.  And let me tell you...I brag about this a lot!!

Last month, for my birthday, she brought over some beautiful pink carnations for me.   I still needed to return her vase but I didn't want to return it empty.  On a little trip to Michaels I found these branch thingies that were 40% off.  (I have no idea what the proper name for them is)  I also found some ornaments in the clearance bin.  After I cut the branches to the right size, my 4 year old literally put this together!

 

My bad photography doesn't capture this, but the branches have really pretty sparkles on them.  We added a colorful bow and Voila!  A quick and easy little something to add to your Holiday decor. I would advise if making one for yourself, that you maybe add some glass beads to the bottom of the vase to weigh it down a little to counterbalance the height of the branches.  Unfortunately I had to quickly get this out of our house because our Kitty thought this was made especially just for her.  

Sorry kitty, my friend loved and wants to keep it!