Tis' the Season: A Toddlers Christmas Activities

 

Christmas is nearly here, and I'm definitely on the ride!  We have been having such a fun time with it, visiting Santa Clause:

Cutting down our Christmas tree in the snow packed Pecos National Forest:

We also cut one for my brothers restaurant, The Hollar. It's such a fun tradition to start with your family, and the forest service encourages the cutting of trees to help manage forest fires!  

Why do those trees look so much smaller in the forest?  We totally went overboard, and had to cut some of our tree off to fit it inside, even at the highest point of our living room... nearly 12 ft.  but it is beautiful.  The leftovers are making some really beautiful arrangements.

We had an amazing snow day, just in time for a beautiful white Christmas:

 Isla and I stayed in and baked Christmas cookies, and once I got the hang of doing it with a toddler, it was a blast.  They surely weren't pretty:

But Isla had so much fun, and that's all that mattered.  To help all of you parents out there who might be attempting this, pretend you are playing with play dough!  I ended up giving Isla a large piece of dough, and she just played with the cookie cutters and chocolate chips:

It was truly a disastrous mess, but a lot of fun especially since she had a fever and a little cold!

Today we went on a sledding hike and built a snowman (notice he has a belly button, Isla's creative input):

She had a great time decorating him!

It's been such a fun season so far, look for a post this weekend on the house decorations and a toddler Christmas party we are throwing here tomorrow!  I baked for hours today!

DIY: Christmas Advent Calendar

We're pretty into Christmas this year, I think it has something to do with our 2 year old getting excited about it, so I really wanted to make it special for her.  The house has been decorated, and we are going to cut our tree this weekend.  My parents always made the holidays really special for us, and an advent calendar was always part of the season.

As a little girl, my brother and I would look forward to the beginning of the Christmas season when our Mom, the day after Thanksgiving, would pull out all the beautiful, sparkly decorations and hang the count down to Christmas advent calendar.  Ours was different then the one I decided to make for our daughter, but the idea is the same.  Mom hung ours right by the front door, and I have vivid memories of leaving for school and moving the quilted present to the next day, getting closer and closer to Christmas, on the way out the door in the morning.  

I looked on etsy to buy one and they were way out of my price range (I now understand why), so I decided to make it.  I looked around for some material, and came across a used painters tarp (we're in the middle of a huge building project so I have lots of stuff like that hanging around).  The first step was to decide the size I wanted.  I made this one 30" x 41" and then decided to make the pockets 2 1/2" x 4". 

As far as sizing goes I would decide that after you choose what figure you want to use to count down the days.  Isla choose a very cool felted Santa head. 

I then cut out 25 rectangles to turn into pockets.  You could do 26 if you want so you end on a 0 instead of a 1, but the spacing worked out better for me this way.

Then placed them together and trimmed them to make sure they were equal sizes.

I then used my fabric pen (that disappears with water) to write the numbers on each pocket.

After I wrote all the numbers I began the process of embroidering the numbers.  I alternated red and green, every other number.

After the numbers were finished, I laid the 25 pockets on the sheet of fabric and got the spacing perfect and began attaching the pockets 1 by 1.

This was a great project to work on with my toddler.  Isla loves to help and be a part of the process, so I safely taught her how to embroider.  She loved it, and did a great job!

After the pockets were attached and the spacing was figured out, I drew a Rudolph the red nosed reindeer scene on the top and a house with a chimney on the number 1 pocket, to represent Santa coming to the house, and then embroidering it the same way as the numbers.

I choose Christmasy colors.  Red, green, white, brown, and baby blue.  You could use all sorts of colors.  Another combination I thought might be nice is using an old white sheet as the fabric and then navy blue and red embroidery thread with pops of gold.  The ideas and scenes you can create are endless.  I choose something a two year old would connect with, but a manger scene would be beautiful as well.

After the embroidery was finished I decided to attach a red ribbon across the top to help with fraying and allow the piece to be hung on the wall.

Hang it on the wall...

and there you have it!

It's such a fun, easy (time consuming, I'll admit, I have about 10 hrs. into it) project, and a really great memory to create with your loved ones.  Enjoy, and post your results here when you are done!

Happy Crafting and Merry Everything!

Neutrals? This is for you Meg.

I'm not afraid of color.  Our last 2 houses were full of it, and I loved them, but as time has gone on, I'm really beginning to love and appreciate neutrals, with pops of color.  Here are some examples I have found really inspiring.

 I love how people are warming up modern, clean spaces with natural elements, and those grey bookshelves are amazing!  I would have styled them out with some color, but the neutrals really work in the space, and the pop of orange  in the fruit bowl is just what the space was calling for.

Again, neutral chalkboard paint, with the graphic striped rug, punch of orange and the natural wicker basket.  Really pretty.

I'm really into turquoise at the moment!  This space speaks for itself.

Gotta love that yellow door.  I have my brothers house all planned out whenever he'll let me re-do the exterior!  :)

 I really like how neutral, natural elements are the pop off of a black wall.

A collection of vintage textiles can be just what a room needs.  I love this.

Love how she hung the picture on the textile.

White as the pop of color!

The orange and blues still seem neutral in this space, but add a lot of warmth.

The fluorescent in the very classic space are really attractive.

This space really speaks to me.  The antique armoire reminds me of a Chinese red one I have, the desk and placement of it are beautiful.  All the stars placed throughout, and of course the pops of color are just lovely.  I might throw a punch of color on the floor.  Such a beautiful space.

Nice dressing area!

I hope you enjoyed a look into how neutral doesn't have to be boring!

Blackbrid Letterpress

Really excited to see Blackbird Letterpress  based out of Louisiana featured on Design*Sponge today.  They printed our wedding invitations over 5 years ago, and her new 3D work is just amazing!

You can purchase it right here on their etsy shop.

I love seeing talented southern women doing there thing!

Congratulations guys!

Get your hands dirty...

I love this new interactive art poster via Roland Tiangco for quite a few reasons.  I love the message, and if you click on the link you can see how the poster comes to life.  But I love hands, my little girls hands are so sweet and say so much about her day, and as she grows older, her life.  My husbands are worn and rugged from his willingness to get his hands dirty.  I could go on and on (I won't as to not seem ridiculous), but I love hands whether it is a surgeon or an artist they are all beautiful and contribute so much to our lives. Thanks hands, for all you help me do!  :)

Small Magazine!

I am always excited when a new edition of Small Magazine comes out. These photos are particularly beautiful, and the little girls expression is great.  I love the antler headpiece combined with the silk bow.  I'll have to keep this in mind for a costume when my little girl is older.  Very Narnia to me.

Photography by Steven Visneau