Some of you observant types might have noticed that I kind of *cough* disappeared the week before Christmas. I was in over my head with projects and I caught a nasty cold and I was just miserable in general. So I set the blog aside and gave up on my remaining Christmas decor plans and went straight to finishing Christmas gifts {I will share those another time - they were AWESOME}. I have come up with some blog planning strategies that I believe will better prepare me for the 2012 blogging season. But, enough of my excuses...
2011 was the first year that our family had an advent calendar which contained daily activities {see the project here}. With all of the parties, decorating, crafting of gifts, baking, school activities, etc. {I know this isn't just our household}, I was a bit uncertain about being able to keep up with the advent day-to-day fun.
2011 was the first year that our family had an advent calendar which contained daily activities {see the project here}. With all of the parties, decorating, crafting of gifts, baking, school activities, etc. {I know this isn't just our household}, I was a bit uncertain about being able to keep up with the advent day-to-day fun.
Surprisingly, we did it!
Each day's activity gave us the opportunity to take a break from the holiday madness and enjoy some time together. It felt good taking some time from the constant go, go, go to sit down with Maia and watch a Christmas movie or help her with a holiday craft or go shopping to let her pick out gifts for Daddy and Sister or having a hot cocoa and popcorn party, etc.
Sometimes amongst the day-to-day craze we live in, we forget to stop. We think we don't have the time, but after seeing how well we did this month, I can see that I really do have the time. Planning it all out and assigning an activity each day allowed me to mentally prepare and it eliminated the need for Maia to whine about not having something to do. Maia knew what family fun to expect and Mommy was able to organize her day with the activity in mind.
So here is what I have decided to do: I am going to do this every month! Each month I will create a new {super creative and freakin' adorable} countdown and each day will be assigned an activity. Maia will be better able to remember the date each day, we will look forward to a family activity and Maia will hopefully learn something from each activity {even if it is just enhancing her crafting skills - I am grooming her to be bigger than Martha Stewart}.
I think this is going to be PHENOMENAL! I am super excited about it {if I hadn't conveyed that already}!
Ok, ok, ok... enough chatter. Time to put my creativity where my mouth is. JANUARY HERE WE COME!
I had a few helpers...
I had a few helpers...
January Garland How To:
Step 1. {I must have been a VERY good girl this year, because Santa brought me the Silhouette Cameo that I had been wishing for}!
I used my fancy new miracle machine to cut out all of the cardstock components of my garland - the people, the hearts and the sweet little envelopes {look at those adorable itty bitty hearts!}.
Step 2. After the Cameo did it's job, Maia, Ariana {my niece} and I painted each of the little people to signify how different each person in the world is {the girls LOVED this}.
Step 3. I glued on each itty bitty heart to show that despite how different we may look, we all have the same heart inside {tear}.
Step 4. I then attached each completed person onto a strand of twine using miniature clothespins {from Joann's - left over from a Christmas gift project}.
Step 5. I wrote the number of each day onto each envelope using Sharpies.
Step 6. I glued the cutest envelopes ever onto the pretty peoples using glue dots {love those}.
Step 7. I printed out the activities on regular printer paper.
Step 8. I cut out activities with a circle punch and stuffed them into the envelopes.
Step 9. I smiled.
Step 1. {I must have been a VERY good girl this year, because Santa brought me the Silhouette Cameo that I had been wishing for}!
I used my fancy new miracle machine to cut out all of the cardstock components of my garland - the people, the hearts and the sweet little envelopes {look at those adorable itty bitty hearts!}.
Step 2. After the Cameo did it's job, Maia, Ariana {my niece} and I painted each of the little people to signify how different each person in the world is {the girls LOVED this}.
Step 3. I glued on each itty bitty heart to show that despite how different we may look, we all have the same heart inside {tear}.
Step 4. I then attached each completed person onto a strand of twine using miniature clothespins {from Joann's - left over from a Christmas gift project}.
Step 5. I wrote the number of each day onto each envelope using Sharpies.
Step 6. I glued the cutest envelopes ever onto the pretty peoples using glue dots {love those}.
Step 7. I printed out the activities on regular printer paper.
Step 8. I cut out activities with a circle punch and stuffed them into the envelopes.
Step 9. I smiled.
What does this garland have to do with the month of January?
January holds a holiday which I believe to be very under-appreciated, but so important. Martin Luther King, Jr is one of the most inspiring people of all time. His message was, and continues to be, so strong, so inspiring and so important. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.
January holds a holiday which I believe to be very under-appreciated, but so important. Martin Luther King, Jr is one of the most inspiring people of all time. His message was, and continues to be, so strong, so inspiring and so important. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.
For the month of January I want to show my littles more about togetherness and equality.
I am testing something out this month; I am going to focus my projects around a central theme. This month's theme will be "I Have a Dream." All of my posts will not focus on MLK's message, but the majority will.
I have my schedule all mapped out and boy am I excited about what we have in store in the coming month!
I have my schedule all mapped out and boy am I excited about what we have in store in the coming month!
Linking up:
Monday: Crafts Keep Me Sane, Craftomaniac, Making the World Cuter, Skip to my Lou, Dittle Dattle, Mad in Crafts, DIY Home Sweet Home
Wednesday: 733blog, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees, Someday Crafts, Southern Lovely, Gingersnap Crafts
Thursday: The ArtsyGirl Connection
Friday: Tatertots and Jello, A Little Inspiration
2 comments:
Soooo adorable.LOVE the lil hearts on the little people. Very neat.. :))
What a cute idea! Thanks for linking up to "Strut Your Stuff Saturday." We would love to have you come back and share more ideas. -The Sisters
Post a Comment