Secret Santa Swap

So sorry I am getting this post up late.  It's been crazy at work.

So, I don't know who my Secret Santa is, but they sent the most fun box!  There was a little bit of everything in that box of joy.  Plus, lots of the items were wrapped making the anticipation wonderful. Without further adieu, here's what I received:

Sorry about the bad cell phone pics.

A gorgeous hand-made bag.  I love everything in the box, but this is my favorite item.  

Sorry, upside down picture.  I did a little happy dance over the lip balm.  An it's praline brownie and vanilla flavors.  The praline seriously smells so good it makes me want to bake.  The hand cream is peppermint scented and went into my purse immediately.  I love, love the gray nail polish.

For my sweet tooth, I got Andes mints, Swiss Miss hot cocoa, a nifty little lolipop doo-dad that you put inn hot milk or coffee and it is chocolate mint, and gum.  I don't know why I never buy Andes mints because I really like them.  I can't wait to put the chocolate pop in my coffee tomorrow morning.  What a clever idea.  You can never have too much gum.

A Christmas candle, hand-made tree and lovely note cards.  The candle is going to the office with me and do you see how the cards match the bag?  Perfect.  The tree is amazing.  I love it and my 4 year old son immediately put it with our Christmas village.

Sorry about the sideways picture.  Baking items.  These will be perfect to use this weekend and next week as I finish making candies and cookies as gifts for all my neighbors and co-workers.  And check out the sprinkles:

Little candy canes!!

A sweet card.

And last, but not least, a Christmas printable in a frame.  Ok, seriously, this is such a great idea.  Why didn't I think of this for my box.  I adore printables and my Secret Santa sent me one already framed.

I have to let my Secret Santa know that I had SO much fun opening the box and discovering each treasure.  My sister was here when I opened it and was as excited as I was.

Thank you Secret Santa and Merry Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by,

Natosha

P.S.  I was Secret Santa to Stephanie Cox at Wife Mommy Me.

Christmas Stockings from Sweater and Fleece Baby Blanket

I have been seeing such cute pillows all over the blogosphere.  You know, the ones made out of sweaters?

Well, I noticed the other day I had forgotten to put our Christmas stockings up.  I dug around and couldn't find our old ones, and I kinda remember, in the back of my head, thinking that I may have thrown them away last Christmas because they were pretty sad looking.

Money is tight, so I though I would make some.  Now back to the sweater pillows.  They were my inspiration.  I thought, "Now why can't I use a sweater to make stockings?"  Plus I have a red sweater that my mom gave me (that someone gave her) and it has these tassels hanging off the cuff that get in the way and are generally annoying. So, I started with this sweater:

I planned on using the sweater for the outer part of the stocking and was using an old fleece baby blanket for the lining.

I used Google and searched for stocking patterns.  You can find my search HERE.  I settled on THIS from Debbie Colgrove over at About.com (sewing).  (Once you get to that page, the pattern link is on the 5th line of the instructions.)

I didn't use the top part of the pattern and I shortened it a bit.  You don't even have to use a pattern, just draw it free hand.  (I use a pattern because I can not draw.  Not even a simple sock.)

So, I used my pattern and cut out 3 stockings from the sweater and sewed the first one up.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was ugly!  I scrapped that and cut out 3 stockings from the fleece blanket (sorry, I didn't get a picture before I cut it).  It was just a generic baby blanket that I picked up at a re-sale shop when my son was a baby.  I have a ton of them and kept them all because I just knew I could use them for something.   ;)

I sticked them up and turned them inside out.

Then I cut the tassels from the sweater leaving enough material to hold them together.  I just hot glued them to the top edge of the stockings and voila:

So, even though the sweater material didn't work as planned, I still love how they turned out.  AND, they only took about 15 minutes to make!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by,

Natosha

{Christmas Activities and Crafts for Children} A Round-Up

Today I'm providing links to over 300 Christmas crafts to do with you kiddos.  

Most of my "treats" in our Advent Calendar are activities.  Here are some of the ones I am doing, plus a list of a bunch more to keep your kiddos (and you) busy during the month of December.

Snow Globe via Martha Stewart



Go HERE for 30+ Christmas crafts for kids by Martha Stewart.


A Sock Snowman via About A Mom



Hand Print Santa via Crafty-Crafted





Pom-pom Christmas tree via Kaboose



Go HERE to see 80+ Christmas crafts for kids at Kaboose.


Candy cane heart via Activity Village.



Go HERE for 50+ Christmas crafts for kids at Activity Village.


Handprint Christmas tree via All Kids Network.



Go HERE for 20+ crafts at All Kids Network.


Angel ornament via Amazing Moms.



Amazing Mom has 20+ crafts HERE.


Light bulb Santa via Kinder Art.



Kinder Art has 60+ activities and crafts for kids HERE.


Stained glass jars via First Palette.



First Palette has 30+ craft ideas HERE.


Candy car via Busy Bee Kids Crafts.



Busy Bee Kids Crafts has 35+ more crafts HERE.

If those aren't enough to keep you busy, then check out these boards* on Pinterest:

Sassy Sites and Crafts

TanaRhea

MistyBlue

Living Montessori Now

Em

*If any of these boards are yours and you would like them removed, please let me know in the comments.

In the next couple of days I will show you some of the crafts I am doing with my 3 yr old.  We haven't gotten a lot done this week because we got a dog and she is getting all of Jax's attention.  He doesn't even want to do "crabs", AKA crafts.

Thanks for stopping by.  If you have a favorite list of Christmas crafts for kids, please leave the link in the comments.

Natosha