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10 Ways to Save on Amazon Prime Day

July 10, 2017 by Eileen 16 Comments

Over here, we a little Amazon-Prime-obsessed.

Our mudroom always has Amazon boxes in it, waiting to emptied or waiting to be recycled.

I mean, when you have two little kids in diapers with nap times that span the whole day, there’s no easier way to shop for what you need.

Not only that, we’ve gotten some pretty cool tools and DIY-related things on Amazon.

So, Prime Day is like our birthday.

And what better way to celebrate than to share with you 10 ways to save on Amazon Prime Day.

Be Prepared

Amazon Prime Day starts on July 16th at 3pm. Mark your calendar!

Think About How You Can Save

Think about things you need to buy now or in the future, so you can get the most out of the discounts. Is there a tool you’ve had your eye on? Are their Christmas present ideas that could help you with early shopping? Think about how you can best benefit from the deals.

Become a Prime Member

If you aren’t a Prime Member, you can sign up for a 30 day FREE trial. You can’t beat that!

Download the Amazon App for Automatic Discount

If you’ve never downloaded the Amazon app before (and you are a prime member), you’ll get a one-time $10 discount off your purchase.

Use the Amazon App to Unlock Discounts

If you’ve already downloaded the Amazon app, you won’t qualify for the above discount. However, there are more ways to save. For example, if you use the Camera Search within the app, you’ll get a $5 discount.

Take Advantage of Sneak Peeks

If you download the Amazon app, you can get sneak peeks on the deals and set up alerts ahead of time.

Install Amazon Assistant

If you’re a Prime member and you install Amazon Assistant (to get desktop notifications on deals), you’ll get $5 off your purchase of $25.

“Watch” the Deals

Once Prime Day starts, you’ll see tons of deals – some will be advertised before they start. You can click “watch” and then you’ll get notified right before the deal goes live.

Don’t Forget About Whole Foods

Not only will Whole Foods be offering some exclusive deals, but Prime members are getting 10% off their entire purchase at Whole Foods on Amazon Prime Day. Whoa!

Check Other Stores

Other big stores like Home Depot or Lowes tend to also run sales on Prime Day, so don’t forget to check out what they have to offer too, especially if you’re looking for a particular item.

There are definitely some awesome ways to save this year, so definitely try and take advantage of them. I know that we will be! And, come back to our blog on Amazon Prime Day because we will be sharing the best DIY deals with you!

Click here for even more Prime Day shopping tips.

200+ Easter Basket Ideas that Aren’t Junk Food

March 23, 2017 by Eileen 52 Comments

Every holiday has become alarmingly food-centric. Quite frankly, it stresses me out.

Bags filled with candy for Halloween, baskets and plastic eggs brimming with junk for Easter, stockings filled with sugar for Christmas.

Even Irish potatoes have taken over Saint Patrick’s Day. I’m talking the sugary cream cheese kind, not the ones the Irish actually eat.

My family and I have opted out of this candy culture for wholesome, healing foods. In doing so, we have overcome a myriad of health problems – but I’ll save that for another post.

I came up with 200+ awesome ideas for Easter basket ideas that are not only candy-free but also free of sugar and junk.

Also, the Easter basket ideas are organized by theme – because who doesn’t love a candy-free themed basket?!

A Summery Easter Basket

In this candy-free Easter basket, you can include all the things one would need for a summery beach trip. Then, line this summery basket with a beach towel, or instead of an Easter basket, use a beach pail.

Beach toys
Flip flops
Frisbee
Visor
Sunglasses
Pool toys
Beach towel – hooded towels for little ones
Kite
Beach books – board books for the little ones, beach reading for the older ones (Some great kids books – Beach Sticker Book, Pete the Cat, and Llama, Llama)
Sunscreen
Sun hats

For Kids Who Love Crafts

Crafty is the theme of this candy-free Easter basket. There are so many craft ideas out there that you can be as creative as you want. As a nice addition, line this crafty candy-free Easter basket with a plastic tablecloth, for easy cleanup after art activities, and an alternative to Easter basket grass.

Markers
Colored pencils
Paints
Paintbrushes
Coloring books
Craft kits from AC Moore – foam kits, suncatcher kits
Stickers
Sticker books
Sidewalk chalk
Play dough
Mini canvases
Crayons
Dry Erase board
Cute erasers
Pencil Box
Festive pencils
Plastic Tablecloth – for easy cleanup

For Kids Who Love the Outdoors

Outdoor activities, games, and accessories make for a great candy-free Easter basket. Use a blanket, for picnics or relaxing outside, to line this Easter basket idea.

Bubbles, bubble maker, bubble toys
Sidewalk chalk
Sand toys
Jump rope
Bat and ball set
Mini football
Soccer ball
Baseballs or softballs
Hopscotch Game
Ball cap or spring hat
Frisbee
Sunglasses
Kite
Golf balls
Golf tees
Tennis Balls
Badminton Set
Garden tools
Garden gloves
Blanket for picnics or relaxing outside

Rainy Day Basket for Kids

With kids accumulating so many toys these days, why not make a rainy day basket as a candy-free Easter idea? Kids could pick a few toys to play with and the rest get saved for a rainy afternoon. Line these Easter baskets with a picnic blanket or cuddly reading rug.

Match box cars
Stuffed animals
Card games – decks of cards, learning cards, matching games
Coloring books and crayons
Craft Kits
DVDs
Army men
Blocks
Plastic jewelry
Books – board boards, chapter books, high interest books, etc
Tea party toys
Small or travel board games
Mad Libs (Unicorns & Mermaid one!)
Bingo cards
Picnic blanket

Bath and Body Care Easter Basket

These candy-free Easter baskets is one that’s always loved and appreciated. Who doesn’t love a basket filled with these to decompress with – like cozy slippers, a favorite bath soap, and a good book? This basket is also great for teenagers. As an Easter basket grass alternative, use a cozy blanket or bathrobe to line this basket.

Lotion
Bath toys
Books – for toddlers bath books, for adults a good read
Bath scrub
Chapstick
Lip gloss
Slippers
Cozy blanket
Bath soaps
Socks
Nail polish
Nail file
Hair accessories
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Make-up brushes
Loofah
Favorite fragrance
Cute hand sanitizer

An Entirely Homemade Easter Basket that’s Candy-Free

Whether you are trying to save money or your crafty side is running strong, make an entire Easter basket filled with homemade items. There are so many cool things you can make that guarantee hours of fun. Line these homemade Easter baskets with your knitting, hopscotch mat, or t-shirts, as a fun basket liner.

Homemade finger puppets (check out my tutorial on how to make felt finger puppets)
Handcrafted matching game
Photo puzzle
Hopscotch mat (check out my DIY hopscotch mat made from felt)
Dry erase board from a picture frame
Scavenger hunt clues
Felt busy boards
Sticker Scenes – drawing/printing a landscape for kids to put stickers on
Homemade knit scarf, hat, or blanket
Iron-on or puffy painted t-shirts
Homemade games – Bingo, Mad Libs, etc
Popsicle stick bookmarks
Painted Mugs

Easter Baskets For College Students

For a candy-free Easter basket for college kids, the possibilities are endless. You can put together office supplies, tech items, healthy snacks, or favorite things from home. A cute spring scarf or a college t-shirt would make a great basket liner, rather than using Easter basket grass.

Post-Its
Highlighters
Handy wipes
Travel tissues
Teas
Notebooks
Pens/pencils
USB cord
USB drives
Hard drive
Screen protector
Cell phone case
Headphones
Totes
Spring scarf
iTunes gift card (Did you know you can get gift cards from Amazon?)

Healthy Living Easter Basket (With No Candy, Junk, or Sugar)

For those that have an organic lifestyle or love healthy, healing foods, this Easter idea is perfect! It’s a healthy living basket that is filled with healthy foods – like fruit, nuts, and rice snacks, you could fill it with natural bath and body products, or a mix of the two. A reusable bag would make a great liner for your green friend or family member. I would love to get one of these Easter baskets – it would save me a trip to the grocery store 🙂 It’s amazing to know that in the candy-loving, sugar-centric world we live in that you can fill a huge basket with all healthy foods!

Mini cutting board
Seeds – pumpkin, sunflower, etc
Dried berries
Apple
Oranges
Nuts
Avocado
Herbal Tea
Honey
Almond butter
Rice cakes or rice crackers
Lara bars
Coconut water
Reusable glass water bottle
Organic lotion
Natural soap
Organic shampoo (love this one!)
Organic conditioner
Gift card to a local juice bar
Books on juicing or healthy recipes
Reusable bags
Plants – aloe plants, spider plants
Seeds for the garden (non-gmo seeds)
Garden gloves

Easter Baskets For Adults that Are Crafty

This is another Easter basket I would love to receive (…hint hint Ash). It’s filled with so many fun crafty things – you can be as creative as you would like, and your craft-loving family member or friend will not even miss the candy. Instead of using Easter grass, use felt for a creative liner.

Ribbon
Squiggly scissors (I love these so much)
Card stock
Markers
Colored pencils
Acrylic paints
Nice set of paintbrushes
Coloring books for adults
Stickers or embellishments
Washi tape
Journal or notebook
Stamps
Inkpads
Fabric markers
Sharpies
Window markers
Patches
Embroidery floss
Hoops
Yarn
Needles
Felt or cute fabric

Easter Ideas For Your Significant Other

Before we had kids, Ash used to make me an Easter basket every year. It was such a sweet thing to do, especially because Easter baskets are usually geared toward children. Whether you have five kids or none, I’m sure your significant other would love a thoughtful basket filled with creative, candy-free items. Use a spring scarf or cozy blanket to line this basket.

Stuffed animals
Framed photo
Books – think about hobbies –trains, crosswords, crafting, eating health, etc. Some people love biographies
Fresh flowers
Photo presents – photo puzzle or photo book of recent trip
Coloring book for adults with colored pencils
Tickets to the movies or a restaurant
Spring scarf or cap
Socks
Mugs
Magnets
Cozy blanket

Easter Ideas for Dads

Having your kids make a basket for their father – or you making an Easter basket for your father is such a thoughtful gesture. You can fill these candy-free Easter baskets with all kinds of dad things – like socks and batteries – and I’m sure they would mind a few fun things too like an iTunes gift card. Use a dad t-shirt to line the basket, as a green alternative to Easter grass.

Hearty mug
Batteries
Honey
Duct tape
WD-40
Lint roller
Tie
Watch
Totes
Socks
iTunes gift card
Wine key
Flashlight
Crafts from the kids
Small tools
T-shirts – homemade are great!

Easter Baskets for Mamas

When putting together Easter baskets, don’t forget about your mom. There are lots of fun things you can fill the candy-free basket with that she will love. I’m sure she’ll love that you thought of her. A cozy blanket makes for a perfect basket liner.

Candles
Teas
Cute mug
Crafts made by the kids
Photos of the kids
Lara bars
Almonds
Sunglasses
Cute post-it notes
Fresh flowers
Sharpies
Jewelry
Totes
To-go wipes
Favorite magazine or book
Gift card for a night out
Cozy blanket

Practical Easter Basket Ideas

If you are stuck on ideas for a candy-free basket for a friend or family member (who probably has everything), why not make them a basket with one of these practical Easter basket ideas. Fill it with practical things that you always need – like scissors, batteries, and sharpies. My sister filled our stockings one year with practical items, and they were a big hit! Line the basket with bubble wrap or packing paper, something practical that will be reused.

Sharpies
AA batteries
Rubber band ball
Pencil sharpener
Thumb tacks
USB wall plug-in
Scotch tape
Magic eraser
Scissors
Lint roller
Handy wipes
Ziplock bags
Travel sewing kit
Extension cord

Easter Gifts For Dogs or Cats

With all these Easter baskets, don’t forget about your beloved pets. Pets are easy to shop for, and they don’t eat candy – so anything goes! Use a basket that you can reuse as your dog or cat’s toy bin.

Chew toys
Biscuits or treats
New collar
Bandana
Brush or comb
Frisbee
Tennis balls
Pick-up bags
Dog or cat bed
New dish
Collapsable dog dish (pictured above)
Treats or pieces of pet food in Easter eggs
Homemade biscuits
Homemade toys for cats – bell on a ribbon

Easter Basket Ideas for Eating and Kids

Healthy eating is so important for kids, and many kids these days have food aversions, allergies, or only eat macaroni and cheese and chocolate. The below fun eating dishes and other ideas can be used to encourage and promote healthy eating. Use the easy wipe cloth as a basket liner, as a cute Easter grass alternative.

New plates or cups with a favorite character
Utensil set with favorite character
Silly straws
Healthy snacks – puffs for toddlers, honey sticks, fruit pouches (read the ingredients)
Travel Tupperware
Game Plate – these are so cool. They help toddlers finish food on their plate by making it a game. My son loves this one 🙂
To-go cups
Waterproof splat mat
Fun place mats

Easter Ideas for Filling Eggs

Just as I was stressing out about filling candy-free Easter baskets, I was also wondering what I was going to fill Easter eggs with. I came up with two lists – a small toy list and a toy-free list. I LOVE the toy-free list – it has so many creative, fun ideas.

Match box cars (fits in the big eggs)
Stickers
Finger puppets
Small figures
Rings or bracelets
Keychains
Legos
Bouncy balls

Creative Easter Egg Ideas for Hunts

Legos – Fill all the eggs with legos. After the eggs are found, have kids each build something with the legos from their eggs.
Alphabet magnetic letters – After collecting all of the eggs, see if you can spell any words from your collected letters. Use cookie trays for a magnetic surface for word building.
Jokes – Everyone loves a good laugh 🙂
Silly actions – Fill each egg with a little piece of paper that has silly actions or tasks – i.e. hop around the yard like a bunny, give your little sister a kiss, do 5 jumping jacks,etc
Scavenger hunt clues – Start by giving every participant an egg. Participants will open the given egg for the clue to the next egg.

From crafty baskets to summery baskets to outdoorsy baskets, kids will love these creative items and not even notice that they don’t include candy or junk. And, adults will love the time and thought you put into creating these candy-free Easter baskets.

Additionally, the creative Easter egg hunt ideas are perfect for friendly competition or a good laugh.

With hundreds of ideas for Easter baskets and egg hunts, you can totally pull off a candy-free, junk-food free Easter without any stress.

12 Easter Crafts You Can Make with One Template

March 16, 2017 by Eileen 87 Comments

For the upcoming holiday, I had plans to make one Easter craft – bunny bags. Yet, when finishing up the bags, the wheels in my head started moving.

I started to think of more craft ideas that would use the exact same Easter bunny template. That seemed so efficient too – to use the same cute bunny template to make all the Easter crafts.

One thing led to another – and I’ve compiled 12 Easter crafts that you can make with this one printable.

12 Cute Bunny Crafts

From Easter decor to kids crafts, they are all here – so is this simple free Easter bunny template.

Listed below are 12 easy Easter crafts that all use the same free printable bunny template.

1. Easter Bunny Bags with Cotton Balls

When we used to have Easter egg hunts at my Grandma’s house, we always needed a place to store the goodies that we found inside the eggs. Our grandma would give us a gallon ziplock bag with our name on it to carry our goodies home.

Rather than ziplock bags, how cute would it be to use these cute Easter bunny bags?

You could also use them for Easter gifts, hostess gifts, or other festive goodies 🙂

It’s one of the Easter crafts we are sharing today that take minutes to make and are such a cute touch.

Bunny Bag Materials:

Easter Bunny template (see link above)
Craft bags
Card stock or even construction paper
Pom-poms or cotton balls for the tails
Scissors
Glue

This bunny bag could not be simpler.

Using card stock or even construction paper, simply trace and cut out the bunnies. Then, glue each bunny to a craft bag. Add a pom-pom or a cotton ball for the tail.

As far as the bags and the card stock, you can be as creative as you’d like with this Easter bunny craft.

There are lots of patterned papers, sparkly papers, and patterned bags. I kept mine simple with plain bags and card stock with a subtle texture for this paper rabbit craft.

2. Burlap Easter Banner Craft

How cute is this burlap banner? I recently posted an article on how to make these burlap banners for St. Patrick’s Day.

I loved them so much that I thought a bunny banner Easter decor would be a nice replacement for the shamrocks that had taken stock on our mantel.

Additionally, the Easter banner garland craft takes under an hour to make – and could not have been easier. I love a craft that I have long finished before my son wakes up from his nap.

Bunny Burlap Banner Materials:

Easter Bunny template
Foam brush
Acrylic paint
Burlap – I loved using cardboard backed burlap sheets.
Ribbon for stringing the letters together
Cotton balls or pom-poms for the tails
Scissors
Hot Glue

Since I already posted detailed steps on how to make this banner, I’m going to link over to my burlap banner article.

If you are hosting the holiday dinner or looking for an Easter bunny craft, this is a cute one that turns out beautifully, doesn’t break the bank, and won’t use up all your time. Perfect bunny craft for adults.

3. Adorable Easter Craft Cards

I love having my son make cards for others. I think it instills such a great message to spend time making something special for someone else.

Not to mention, it makes the recipients so happy to get a cute piece of mail from him.

These cards are really easy – they take five minutes and use the same bunny template. You can also make it one of your kids Easter crafts by having your child decorate or color the bunny.

Or, you can send as is – with a cute piece of scrapbook paper and a pom-pom.

Easter Bunny Craft Card Materials:

Bunny template (and Easter Bunny Sayings – in Resource Library)
Card stock for bunny and card
Cotton ball or pom-pom for tail
Scissors
Glue
If kids are decorating: paint, markers, googly eyes, etc

You can’t go wrong sending a cute card to someone – and when the Easter bunny craft only takes a few minutes, even better!

4. Easter Egg Hunt Markers

Easter egg hunts can be a little hard for little kids – especially since they are trying to keep up with the older ones.

A simple way to help them find eggs is to put little egg markers, where eggs are hidden for them. Then, explain to the older ones to not find eggs near the egg markers. It also makes for a fun Easter craft. Kids especially can help with this Easter activity because it is so simple.

Egg Hunt Marker Materials:

Bunny template
Card stock or construction paper
Popsicle stick
Scissors
Glue or tape

Simply glue or tape a bunny template to a popsicle stick and place it in the ground.

Have the little ones look for the bunnies for a fun Easter workout 🙂

You could also use the popsicle stick markers to create little signs for the hunt – such as follow the path to the backyard signs or “Bunny Crossing” signs. They are another easy Easter bunny craft that you could do with your kids.

5. Popsicle Stick Bunny Easter Crafts

While you have your popsicle sticks out, have your child decorate a few bunny templates as Easter crafts. They could color them, paint them, adorn them with googly eyes or feathers – or whatever you have around your house.

Popsicle Stick Bunny Materials:

Easter Bunny template
Popsicle sticks
Tape
Decorating materials: Markers, cotton balls, paint, googly eyes, or anything you have

After your child has finished decorating their bunnies, simply tape or glue the bunnies to popsicle sticks for kids to play with for a fun Easter craft.

My son is obsessed with this song “The Finger Family,” and he loved creating a bunny family with these.

He also loved that we were both working on bunnies together. As I was working on the bunny banner garland, he was decorating his bunnies… kind of like parallel play 🙂

6. Easter Bunny Card Stock Banner

Another type of banner you could make is a card stock one. The materials are a little easier to gather for this Easter banner craft, rather than the burlap one (although the burlap one is more fun :).

Card Stock Bunny Banner Materials:

Easter Bunny template
Card stock of your choice – textured, patterned, plain you can be creative here 🙂
Ribbon for threading the bunnies
Hole punch
Cotton balls or pom-poms for the tail
Scissors
Glue or tape

Just trace your bunnies onto card stock, punch holes in their ears, thread onto the ribbon, and glue on the tail.

Additionally, if you have older kids, they could make this banner craft for Easter to decorate the dining room or their bedroom. I would have loved to do this Easter craft growing up 🙂

Kids that are older than toddlers, but not old enough to make the banner on their own, could practice their fine motor skills by threading the bunnies onto the ribbon.

Last, you could write a message across the bunnies – such as “Happy Easter” or “Jesus Has Risen.”

7. Easter Bunny Wreath Craft

Another fun decoration and Easter craft for kids to help with is an Easter bunny wreath. It’s one of those Easter crafts that can occupy kids for hours.

I cut bunnies out of foam, and then arranged them into a wreath. My son then painted the bunnies – and we hung it up on the wall.

Easter Bunny Wreath Materials:

Easter Bunny template
Foam or even cardstock
Ribbon for hanging up
Glue
Scissors

The tricky part of this Easter bunny craft was arranging those bunnies in a perfect circle. So, I used a paper plate. I folded it in half, and then cut a circle from the inside – leaving just a thin outer ring.

I then used this ring to line the bunnies up in a perfect circle, carefully gluing the bunnies to each other.

Afterward, I had my son go to town decorating the bunnies with paint 🙂 He loved it and painting all of the bunnies, and it kept his attention for a long time. It was definitely a kids’ craft success.

8. Easy Bunny Basket

Similar to the bunny bags listed above, glue an Easter bunny from the template to any kind of basket or container, and make a little Easter bunny basket. It’s a simple Easter craft that you can make from anything you have laying around your house.

I made this one with a empty plastic cashew container. I was about to toss it in recycling when the idea popped into my head.

Easter Bunny Basket Materials:

Easter Bunny template
Some kind of box or basket – look at your recycling for boxes 🙂
Card stock or construction paper
Ribbon
Scissors
Glue

After washing out the cashew container, I cut and glued my card stock bunny template to the sides of the container. The top edge looked like it needed a little something extra – so I put ribbon about the perimeter. I then glued a bunny to the front, and voila – a recycled Easter basket craft!

This is a great project to do with kids who love holiday crafts. You can be as creative as you would like finding things to turn into Easter baskets. You could even use a pipe cleaner as the handle 🙂

9. Easter Felt-Scape Craft

My number one crafting material is and will always be felt. So, my Easter crafts wouldn’t be complete without incorporating it.

My son also loves felt, and I’ve made him a few felt busy boxes. He plays with them during quiet time or even at church when he was younger.

The felt scenes occupy him for so long – and allow him to be creative.

So, why not make a 10-minute felt-scape with a bunny scene?

Easter Bunny Felt-Scape Materials:

Easter Bunny template
Felt
Piece of cardboard, foam, or something similar to glue the background to
Scissors
Glue

For this Easter bunny craft, first hot glue the background piece of felt to the cardboard or foam. Then, simply cut a few bunnies along with a few other shapes out of felt using the bunny template.

Don’t glue anything down but the background, as your child will have fun arranging and re-arranging these into a scene for a fun Easter DIY craft.

10. Easter Basket Tags

This one is a simple yet elegant Easter craft. Use the bunny template as tags to label Easter baskets, hostess gifts, or even the bottles of wine you’re bringing to Easter dinner.

All you need is the bunny template, a hole punch, ribbon, and a marker.

It certainly puts a cute touch on your gifts, turning them into Easter crafts.

11. Easter Food Labels

With all of the food allergies and food preferences out there, I LOVE going to a party and seeing that the food is labeled. You know exactly what’s in something and whether it is for you – or not.

If you have a few extra bunnies laying around, simply write the names of your dishes on the cards (this is especially helpful for buffet-style meals), so your guests will be eating at ease.

If Easter dinner isn’t a buffet, use the bunny template as place cards – or even have your child decorate them as such.

12. Easter Bunny Garland

Last but not least, use the bunny template to create bunny garland. This is another quick craft that brings a lot of festivity.

Bunny Garland Materials:

Easter Bunny template
Fishing line (or ribbon)
Glue
Scissors
Tape

Simply cut out about 6 bunnies for each string of garland using the bunny template. Then use a drop of hot glue or scotch tape to attach the bunny to the fishing line.

It’s super a simple Easter craft and it turns out cute.

With this easy bunny template, you can create 12 simple Easter crafts. I’ve personally made all of them – and they are simple, easy ideas that are fun and festive.

You can work along side your kids, crafting Easter banners while they decorate bunnies. Kids love doing things with their parents, so these ideas are perfect for just that 🙂

With these simple do-it-yourself Easter crafts and free printable bunny template, you can most certainly bring simple festivity to your Easter holiday.

How to Make a DIY Burlap Banner for Any Occasion

March 8, 2017 by Eileen 70 Comments

Scanning the shelves in Michaels with a 55% coupon in hand, I looked around for something I could make an easy, do-it-yourself banner with.

My eyes landed on a pad of burlap card stock.

There were 24 individual sheets of burlap, backed with cardboard.

Being the worst at cutting straight lines, I figured that individual sheets would save a lot of frustration.

And, I had been looking for an opportunity to work with burlap.

People love burlap – and it’s everywhere. I’ve seen mason jars wrapped in burlap, curtains made from burlap, flowers wrapped in burlap, and entire weddings crafted from burlap.

I even worked with a teacher who covered all of her bulletin boards in burlap.

I had never crafted with this material before – but I do agree that burlap brings a natural warmth and texture – so I was excited to check it out.

So, I got started on my project – which was to teach myself how to make a burlap banner for St. Patrick’s Day from homemade stencils and burlap.

Materials for the Burlap Banner:

Foam brush
Acrylic paint – I used the two pictured below, mixed together.
Burlap – I loved using the cardboard backed sheets from Michaels. Here’s a similar one.
Scissors – A good pair makes a big difference!
Stencil of your choice – You can make these. I made a shamrock. You can use letters or hearts – or anything you’d like! (See below for shamrock template)
Tape – scotch or painter tape (more about this below)
Ribbon – for stringing the letters together
Hot Glue Gun

How to Make a Burlap Banner

The instructions for making this banner are quite simple: preparing the burlap material, making the stencil, painting the burlap, and connecting the burlap pieces.

Preparing the Burlap

First, I simply made a triangular cut on the bottom of each sheet.

The burlap was easy to cut into with the cardboard backing.

Making the Stencil

Then, I traced a shamrock onto card stock – and carefully cut out just the middle. This made the shamrock into a stencil.

I then taped it onto the burlap, making the cardstock as flat as possible.

Painting the Burlap Banner

Next, I used the foam brush (probably should have used a 1/2 inch foam brush – but I like to use what I have) to dab on the green paint.

Be careful to keep your brush straight, so it doesn’t slip under the stencil.

As a side note, I tried this using a regular paint brush also. While it worked, it took a lot longer and didn’t give a consistent coat. You can definitely use a regular paint brush, but the foam brush did a nicer job.

For the stripes, I used strips of scotch tape to create the lines. Then, I just dabbed on the green paint onto the burlap.

Immediately after, I removed the tape and moved on to the next sheet.

I also recommend doing a test with the colors/stencils you will be using. I tried a few different shades of green to see what would work best – and a few different shapes to see how they would look.

Pictured below is the edge of my desk, with my stencil and scotch tape strips. Rather than use a ridiculous amount of tape, I used the same four strips over and over, and I hung them here while not in use.

I also went back and forth with painting a shamrock, then stripes – this gave the stencils/tape a little dry time before more use.

Here are two of the burlap pennants, in the process of drying.

Both the card stock stencil and the tape worked really well. The paint looked very neat, and I had a nice, clean outline on every pennant.

Connecting the Pennants

After the individual pennants were dry (only took a few minutes), I used burlap ribbon and hot glue to connect them into a banner.

I found the burlap ribbon at Michaels during a 70% off sale prior to the holidays. I bought loads of ribbon then, without a use for any of it.

Ecstatic to find the burlap ribbon during this project, I knew I had the perfect use for it. And, I love that I got it when it was a great price. That’s why I love stocking up on craft supplies 🙂

So, I lined up my stripes and shamrocks in the order I liked and flipped them over for gluing.

Then, I used my handy glue gun to do two drops of glue on either side of every pennant.

Before you glue, make sure you have your banner in the right order. I once glued an entire banner in backward order – and let me tell you, I wasn’t happy when my “Happy 40th” banner said “40th-Y-P-P-A-H.”

Also, remember to leave extra ribbon on both sides for hanging.

I LOVED the way the sign turned out – it was so festive and added much more to our mantel than some of the store-bought St. Patrick’s Day decorations.

I don’t know which shocked me more – the fact that I made the banner for less than $5 or that I made it in less than an hour.

It was a total naptime creation, with time to spare 🙂

I shouldn’t have waited so long to start working with burlap. It was easier than I expected, took a small amount of time and effort, and yielded great results!

Making a Crafty Mr. Potato Head for St. Patrick’s Day

February 28, 2017 by Eileen 14 Comments

My little guy loves craft time with his mama.

But, I might love it just a little more.

I love watching his creativity, his little mind at work, as he comes up with new ways of doing things.

We have a sweet little set-up in my office, where he has a craft table beside my desk. On his table, he has a bin of art supplies that he’s allowed to use whenever (crayons, markers, and paper).

He also has a drawer in my desk with supplies that he can use with permission (glue, scissors, etc).

In addition to crafts, my little guy loves putting things together – doing puzzles, making pictures with foam shapes, and most especially, accessorizing Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

So, when my sister suggested making a real Mr. Potato Head craft as a St. Patrick’s Day activity, I knew he would love it!

Collecting Materials

This was a no cost project – other than two potatoes, which we usually have. The night before, my son and I collected things from around the craft room to use, so we would be all ready to go after breakfast the following day.

We found felt, foam, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, stickers, shamrocks, card stock, cotton balls, ribbon, and glue. However, you can really use whatever you find or have.

My son loved collecting all of things for our Mr. Potato Head craft. His special job was to put everything I handed him in the bin. He loves his special jobs 🙂

He loved putting everything together the day before because it gave him something to look forward to.

He loves getting into all of my craft supplies, so his eyes were lighting up at all of the fun things he was going to get to use.

Pictured below is the set-up. Whenever we have a messy project or a food project, I lay down a plastic table cloth, which makes for easy cleanup with a toddler.

Decorating the Mr. Potato Head Craft

Then, we just had fun and got creative. My son told us what we needed – “Mommy, first we need eyes.” And, then I asked him what he thought we should use.

We used the pipe cleaners for arms (the wire stuck right into the potato), cotton balls for the beard, pom-pom for the nose, felt for the eyes and mouth, and card stock for the shoes.

We put everything on with either Elmer’s Glue or Scotch tape. The felt on felt didn’t work too well with the glue – but everything else held up.

For the St. Patrick’s Day hat, I simply used card stock. I cut a circle for the best, and then I rolled another piece into a cylinder. I centered the cylinder on the base and taped it on top.

We tied a ribbon around the hat – and placed an Irish sticker where the buckle would go, which made a nice touch 🙂

Then, we decided to paint the cotton orange, in an effort to make our Mr. Potato Head craft look more like a leprechaun.

It got pretty messy – and orange got all over Mr. Potato Head, but he definitely started to uphold his title as a leprechaun.

After we finished with the Mr. Potato Head craft, my little guy said, “Time for the other potato, mommy…” Just when I thought we were done 🙂

So, we made a Mrs. Potato Head. We used all of the same things, and added a felt and pom-pom bow in her hair.

Just when we were about done *again,* my son says, “Mommy, what about baby potato?”

And, I wished I had thought to get a smaller potato because that would have been cute to have a whole Mr. Potato Head family made from potatoes.

After the potatoes dried, my little guy loved playing with them.

He named Mrs. Potato Head “Nana,” which I don’t think my mom found complimentary 😉

I did have trouble getting the potatoes to stand up straight. I had wished I cut off the bottom to make a flat surface, but I’m sure this would have shortened their shelf life.

[As a side note, I recently learned that when you leave potatoes out and exposed to light, they absorb radiation in the air (shout out to Anthony William’s amazing book “Life-Changing Foods.”) So not only will Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head be decorating our kitchen for the next 5 or so days, but they will be absorbing some of the toxins we are exposed to.]

Always a teacher, I also use our crafts as a segway to reading. During our library trip this week, we’ll be reading about St. Patrick’s Day and leprechauns, and the Mr. Potato Head craft served as pre-learning activity.

Overall, our Mr. Real Potato Head craft was definitely a success. My son had a ball preparing for the craft, making REAL potato heads, and playing with his new, clumsy figures.

It’s amazing to see the joy he gets from creating something he’s proud of.

Thrifty Indoor Winter Picnic Basket

February 2, 2017 by Eileen 49 Comments

When out shopping, I can’t resist a great deal. This past holiday season, I bought quite a few things that I loved but had no need for.

Yet, when the price is right, I can’t resist.

At Michaels, I picked up the below wire basket with the burlap ribbon and the two navy snowflake mugs 70% off. Yet, the holidays came and went and I hadn’t done anything with these items.

Shortly thereafter, I thought of putting together a winter picnic basket. I love giving gift boxes and baskets – they are fun to put together and unique gifts are always so appreciated.

This indoor winter picnic basket is perfect for so many occasions – a special gift for your husband or wife, a Valentines picnic basket for couples or families, or a holiday gift for someone who has everything.

It’s even something you could save for a snowy day spent fireside.

My favorite part of this gift is the soft, fluffy blanket that I used to line the basket.

The blanket is perfect for an indoor picnic – and who couldn’t use another cozy throw?!

I just love this wire basket – it’s rustic yet modern looking.

It came with the burlap ribbon wrapped around it, which meant no additional fussing or ribbon was needed later on 🙂

Gathering Winter Picnic Basket Items

I picked up the red snowflake plates and napkins to go with the mugs (Dollar Tree finds).

Navy and red are one of my favorite color combinations.

I put together some snacks to go in the basket. We love Mary Gone Crackers (vegan and gluten free!) as well as Lara Bars. The chocolate coconut ones taste like brownies 🙂

When picking snacks, don’t forget to think about refrigeration. If you are giving it as a gift, you probably want to stay away from things needing to be refrigerated – like cheese.

You could also include a thermos that could be used for hot chocolate or soups.

Assembling the Winter Basket

To assemble, I simply laid the blanket at the bottom of the basket, wrapping the extra around the back, and arranged the items.

The blanket worked great for the lining because it made propping up the items easy – and it served as cushion for the fragile mugs.

I had a little “help” with the arranging… our buddy Zeus. He actually wanted the crackers in the basket and was begging 🙂 He looks huge next to the basket.

As a side note, in this picture, I was attempting to use tissue paper at the bottom of the basket, but the drab tissue took the elegant basket down a few notches. That’s when I decided to make the blanket work.

The basket took minutes to put together, and the total cost was around $30. The basket, mugs, plates, and napkins were $8 – you can’t beat that!

The snacks and blanket brought it up to $30, but the blanket was on sale too 🙂

The winter picnic basket is not only a unique, creative gift but it’s something friends and family will find so thoughtful. You can put a romantic spin on it for husbands, wives, boyfriends, or girlfriends, too 🙂 Especially with Valentine’s Day coming up 🙂

And, I have to say buying things you love at the right price definitely results in some creative, cute gift ideas 🙂

Fun Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt

January 20, 2017 by Eileen 73 Comments

Last Valentine’s Day I threw together a little scavenger hunt for Ash. Every now and then I try to do something sweet 😉

Although too young to actively participate, our son was the star – as all of the clues were written in his point of view and revolved around him too.

One example was “This is where I like to sit and read…” and the clue was hidden under his Mickey Mouse couch in the playroom where he would pretend read.

Another clue was “I haven’t learned to walk yet, but I love to run” and the clue was in his exersaucer – the little thing where toddlers “run” in circles. 🙂

It turned out super cute, and I had a good laugh watching Ash run around the house looking for the clues. And, getting stumped a few more times than I would have thought.

A New Valentine’s Tradition

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about Valentines crafts and activities and making the scavenger hunt.

So, I dug out the clues and LOVED reading through them – it’s crazy how much kids change so much in one year!

I mean last year our toddler had about a five-word vocabulary and was relying mainly on sign language to tell us “more,” “hungry,” or “sleepy.”

This year, he is speaking in mostly run-on sentences: “No, mommy I don’t like carrots, actually, I would like more rice for lunch for me, please mommy, I really want rice.” :):)

Reading through all of the clues definitely took Ash and I back. So much – that I decided a Valentine’s Scavenger Hunt would be a recurring thing in this household.

There is so much stress and planning and travel involved with Thanksgiving and Christmas that it will be fun to have a special Valentine’s tradition in our family 🙂

This year, our toddler can help make it – or help Ash find all the clues. Or both 🙂

Materials for the Making a Scavenger Hunt

Card stock or construction paper
Sharpie
Scissors – love squiggly scissors
Prize to go with the last clue

Making a Scavenger Hunt

First, I typed up the clues on the computer, using a cute font with hearts. You can also hand write them – or have your kids write them.

Then, I printed them out and cut them up using squiggly scissors. I love these scissors because they disguise my lack of being able to cut in straight lines. Next, I glued them to card stock.

Here was the tricky part – labeling the clues so that they are put in the right places. So if the first clue is “This is where I sit and read” and the answer is the couch. This clue is not the one that gets hidden on the couch. The following card will be hidden on the couch.

So, I labeled the back of each card with the place where that card was hidden – NOT with the answer to that question. This made the clues easy to hide.

And, the answers were still labeled (for later re-reading), they were just on the back of the next card.

The last clue can be hidden with a prize. Our last clue led Ash to the mini fridge in his office (my old dorm room fridge is still humming!), where there was a sweet treat for him 🙂

Binding the Scavenger Hunt Clues

After Ash collected all the clues, I bound them all together using a hole punch in the top left corner of each card, and then a loose leaf binder ring to keep them together.

This was so much easier and more organized than a rubber band or paper clip because you can flip right through them.

I also use these binder rings to bind together the Christmas cards we received each year 🙂 Love them!

I’m looking forward to see this year’s hunt. Our little guy might give Ash a run for his money 🙂

And, I’m sure next year I’ll flipping through this year’s clues saying I can’t believe how much our little guy has grown… again 🙂

How to Easily Make Valentines Finger Puppets

January 15, 2017 by Eileen 99 Comments

I cannot believe it’s already halfway through January. This past holiday season flew. Thanksgiving sprang up on me, and then Christmas – I was still running around buying gifts a few days prior, which is really unlike me.

Now that it’s a new year, I’m getting back to my old ways and getting myself organized ahead of time. There’s so just so much unnecessary stress when you are running behind.

That being said, I’ve already been working on this year’s Valentine’s Day crafts! Wahoo!

And, this is a good one – Valentines felt finger puppets!

They are so simple and so cute – it’s the perfect Valentine’s activity for kids. Not to mention, I made them from scrap materials.

My son is a little obsessed with nursery rhymes – Wheels on the Bus, Hot Cross Buns, and most recently a song called “The Finger Family,” which essentially uses finger puppets for family members. He sings it probably about 50 times a day.

The other day he took off all the marker caps and placed them on his fingers and started singing “Mommy Finger, Mommy Finger, Where are you?”Before I chimed in with, “Here I am, Here I am, How do you do? (I’m not helping the obsession), I realized he needed some real finger puppets.

I thought about using photos and using our family – or just drawing some pictures with him – but then I thought I could tie it into a fun Valentine’s Day activity.

Making Felt Finger Puppets

It would have been super simple to use the fingers on a pair of gloves – but gloves are way too precious around here.

So, I used my go-to material – felt.

I was determined to use all scraps for this project – and I successfully did so. I didn’t spend a penny.

Felt Finger Puppet Materials:

One sheet of felt
Card stock/construction paper
Sharpie/markers
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Regular glue

Steps for Making Felt Finger Puppets

I used just one sheet of felt for all ten fingers. Then, I liberally traced my pointer finger eight times and my thumb twice.

After, I cut slits in between each of the traced fingers, so I could quickly fold them up (to be double sided) after I hot glued them. This worked like a charm.

Here’s a picture I quickly snapped of going over the outline with hot glue – and then folding it up.

Next, I cut off the excess felt. This took a little patience, since the glue/outline was inside. I roughly cut them and then ended up putting my pinky finger in each puppet and then carefully cutting off any additional excess.

I now had one hand ready to go 🙂

At this point, my son was begging to play with them. He was so excited about the finger puppets that I didn’t have the heart to say no.

So, I gave him these five and decided to make a second hand.

After both hands were done, it was time to get creative with heart-shaped animals.

I used a small cookie cutter to get the shape of the heart perfect and consistent for all of the fingers. It worked out really well 🙂

Before I knew it, I had a frog, chicken, penguin, panda, fox, lady bug, fish, fox, bunny, and a dog/mouse that was originally a bear.

You can see in the top of the picture (below) that I used garage sale stickers to put some quick faces on the puppets while my son waited for the animals.

Decorating the Felt Finger Puppets

You can be as creative as you like making the felt finger puppets. Aside from the cookie cutter, I cut the rest of the hearts freehand.

One of those heart paper punches would have been perfect for this – but I was determined to make this a no-cost project 🙂

I also had some heart stickers lying around, but I liked using the card stock colors and patterns. I put some googly eyes on the lady bug – they were a little big – but it shows how you can incorporate some other crafty materials, too.

After the animals were done, I hot glued each to a finger puppet – and voila! We had an Animal Finger Family.

My favorite is the chicken. It turned out so cute 🙂

Here are a few more close-ups:For longevity, you could laminate the animals (before the googly eyes and before gluing to the finger puppet), making the felt finger puppets more durable. You could do this either with a home laminator or using packaging tape.

I’ve used both, and each works well 🙂

And my son, well he LOVED these puppets. Needless to say, all we’ve been hearing is “Froggie finger, Froggie finger, where are you?”

And of course, we keep the song going 🙂

Simple Cookie Decorating Gift for the Holidays

December 14, 2016 by Eileen 72 Comments

With the Christmas season upon us and holiday traditions in full swing, making and decorating cookies definitely holds a special spot in my heart.

This year rather than just exchanging cookies, think about putting together a holiday cookie decorating box for kids and their families to enjoy. This gift provides a festive activity that kids will long remember.

I made one of these boxes for my niece years ago. Each Christmas, we would always bake and decorate cookies together – it was our special thing.

However, one Christmas I had just had my son, so I made my niece this little box, so she would still be able to decorate Christmas cookies that year.

In addition to putting together a holiday cookie decorating box for others, you could also make one for your family.

Save it until Christmas Eve, when you can then decorate cookies to leave for Santa:)

Not only is this box super easy to make, but it doesn’t involve screen time nor is it another toy.

And, if you are even a little bit of a baker or crafter, you probably already have a lot of the materials.

Cookie Decorating Gift Box Materials

About a dozen roll-out cookies – Baking the cookies ahead of time cuts out on the mess, and let the kids go straight to the fun part – the decorating.
Candy Melts – I used chocolate and red
Decorating Materials – sprinkles, candies, etc
Small containers for the sprinkles/candies – You can use condiment containers, small tupperware, or you could buy the the sprinkles/candies in small containers
Decorative Box – Michaels always has great ones
Ziplocs – to put the cookies and candy melts in
Ribbon – to spruce up the ziplocs

Holiday Cookie Decorating Box Instructions

First, you’ll want to bake your cookies and let them cool.

My family eats pretty healthy these days (one day I’ll share that story). So, I always make things as healthy as possible.

Additionally, I made these cookies without dairy, egg, or gluten. I’ve gone through quite my share of recipes, as well as trying to use substitutes on my own recipes.

Hands down, the best one is from The Unconventional Baker. She also shares recipes for chocolate roll-out and vanilla roll-out cookies. Her instructions were great. And, the cookies rolled out very well! Also, they don’t use cane sugar, and they taste just as a roll out cookie should.

After they cooled, I placed about eight of each type of cookie in a stack and put them into a ziploc bag. I folded the bag, so you wouldn’t see the zipper part when placed in the box.

Then, I adorned the top gingerbread man from each pile with a little bow:)

Next, I took the candy melts and poured them into ziploc bags.

Afterward, I also tied ribbon around these to make them look more festive.

Additionally, I found these cute little containers at Dollar Tree (10 for $1) and filled them with sprinkles and candies for decorating.

I also had all of these items in my pantry – so no additional cost for decorating materials 🙂

Next, I arranged everything into this Michael’s box. They have the cutest boxes for all holidays and seasons – and I always seem to shop when they are 70% off, which made this box $3!

The last thing I did was add a few candy canes because they make everything look so festive.

If I had a little more room in the holiday cookie decorating box, I would have added hot cocoa, paper cups, and cute straws, which would have made for a nice touch.

I spent only around $7 on this holiday cookie decorating box, as I already had everything but the box and candy melts.

Spending only $7 on a gift is quite amazing, right?

This year, as you get caught in the whirlwind of the holiday season, remember that decorating cookies is something simple, thrifty, and delicious to give!

And, I’m sure if you start this Christmas Eve tradition of decorating cookies for Santa, your kids will remember and blissfully look forward to it each year.

How to Make a Spectacular DIY Advent Calendar

December 7, 2016 by Eileen 83 Comments

With the holiday season quickly approaching and my toddler reaching an age where he can learn from and enjoy holiday learning activities, I set out to find an Advent calendar that our family would enjoy.

However, I couldn’t find one that was suitable. Some were filled with chocolates (which negates our healthy lifestyle), some where filled with gifts (I don’t want him to get caught up in the gift aspect of the holiday), and some had numbers that were too small or simply didn’t stand out enough for a toddler to easily recognize.

So I did what I do best – I created my own.

And I’m sure you can easily guess that I made the homemade Advent calendar out of felt. This year has definitely been the year of felt for me 🙂

I’m going to cut right to the chase since we are already a few days into December! It was a little time-consuming, but I love the way it turned out. It provides quite a few learning opportunities, and we can use it year after year.

Homemade Advent Calendar Materials

Green Felt – for the tree and bottom layer
White Felt – or other background color
Felt Pieces in various colors – (I bought a new package for more colors but ended up using scraps I already had)
Free Printable for the Tree Outline (keep scrolling for printable and instructions)
Hot Glue Gun – for attaching the felt
Numbers – Make sure you have enough for numbers 1-25.
Ribbon – for attaching the ornaments to the tree
Buttons – to hang the ornaments on
Basic sewing materials – thread, needle, scissors – for attaching the buttons to the felt but you could skip this and use hot glue
Wooden dowel – for hanging
Decorative ribbon, if desired

How to Make the an Advent Calendar out of Felt

I was excited to get work on the homemade Advent calendar. I started with the background and large pieces and worked my way down to the ornaments.

Making the Background and Tree

First, I cut the large felt pieces, and I must say, this was the hardest part. I simply am terrible at cutting in a straight line. Why don’t squiggly scissors worked on felt?!

I cut a piece of white background to be 18 inches by 22 inches. My reason for this was that I already had an interactive alphabet of this size hanging from a wooden dowel. I figured I could borrow the dowel; although I ended up finding another one in the garage.

After that, I drew a Christmas tree onto green felt using a sharpie. It took me a few tries to get all of the branches right and to maximize my use of felt. I really marked up the back of it.

To save you the same work, I am sharing the outline that I drew. It’s on two sheets of paper, and I want to note that the bottom of the Christmas tree was a little too big for standard paper.

Therefore, the second page looks like it cuts off. However, it’s not a mistake – the tree was just a too wide. So I let it run off the edges, figuring it would be easy for you to just connect these few lines – easier than drawing your own tree, at least 🙂

Click here for the tree template.

Next, I cut a little brown rectangle out of my felt scraps for the tree stump.

Then I hot glued the tree and the stump to the the white background.

Attaching Buttons to the Advent Calendar

Even though felt sticks to felt, I wanted to use buttons and ribbon for this Advent calendar to provide another learning opportunity to my son – using buttons.

I found 25 buttons from a collection that I had. I love these buttons – especially their varying hues and textures all although within the same color family.

First, I spaced the buttons out, and then I sewed them on. Also, I put four buttons under the tree for the presents I was going to make.

You also could hot glue the buttons; however, I wanted the sewed look 🙂

Making Ornaments for the Advent Calendar

Now came for the daunting part – 25 shapes to make! Yet, an idea dawned on me… cookie cutters! I used my Christmas cookie cutters to trace a bunch of the shapes – the gingerbread man, snowman, and candy cane, to name a few.

If you are trying to cut down on the work, you could use just a few shapes and repeat them.

The rest of the shapes I outlined or I just cut. If I’m not sure how to draw something or I want a shape simplified, I google an outline of it.

Looking at just the outline makes it easy to emulate. I did that with the angel, and she turned out great!

Adding Decorative Ribbon

My shapes were looking a little boring, so I used holiday ribbon to spruce them up. Just a line of ribbon here and there, actually, went a long way in turning my boring felt shapes into cute pieces.

For example, on the snowman (pictured above), I used a line of ribbon instead of buttons.

The line of ribbon on the train spruced up its plainness. And, even the faceless gingerbread man look pretty spiffy. I didn’t want to fill them up too much though because I still had the Advent numbers to add.

Adding Ribbon Hooks

Next, I needed to attach ribbon to the felt, so the ornaments could hang from the buttons on the Christmas tree. I used this green ribbon (from our wedding programs!), and simply looped one end around the other.

To keep the loop, I put a bead of hot glue to hold the overlapping ribbon pieces (right above where my finger is).

Once glued, I added another bead of hot glue to the criss-cross and attached it to the back of the ornament.

Attaching the Calendar Dates

Next, I needed to add the dates. I went to Michael’s specially to pick these up – got caught up in all the sales, and completely forgot about it.

Not wanting to waste another trip out to a craft store (and not wanting to wait for Amazon prime delivery – two day seemed like too much!), I started to cut out my own numbers out of felt using a template. They looked horrible! It was just too many imperfect twos!

The next day, I picked the below numbers up at Michaels.

They are simply adhesive cardboard numbers, so they didn’t stick that well. I had to use hot glue to give them a good stick – and that was a lot of gluing plus a burnt pinky.

In hindsight, I should have gotten felt ones from Amazon. They have a bunch of felt numbers. When you do purchase your numbers, make sure you have enough 1s and 2s.

With these adhesives, at first I wasn’t crazy about the sharp contrast that the glitterly black created, but it’s grown on me.

And, they are very easy to read, which makes them perfect for my toddler.

When you are sticking on the numbers, make sure to lay them out ahead of time. Put the single digit numbers on the smaller ornaments – to make sure that every number has a good shape to fit on.

I barely was able to squeeze the 25 onto the star, since the star is the last thing that goes on the tree 🙂

The ornaments look so cute – and I think it was that ribbon 🙂 Faceless gingerbread man is definitely my favorite, yet, Frosty is a close second.

Finishing Touches

After the ornaments for the homemade Advent calendar were done, I went back to the tree. It looked a little drab with the white background, so I cut yet another piece of green felt and hot glued it behind the white. It provided a border, a little depth, and hid my sewing.

The tree still looked like it needed a little sprucing up (haha get it?!), so I ran a line of ribbon across the bottom.

I also used this same ribbon to create tabs to run the wooden dowel through. I was planning to use felt for this, but the ribbon was perfect – and tied it all together.

Here’s a close up of a the completed DIY Advent calendar.

I love how the homemade Advent calendar turned out, and my son is learning a ton!

He is learning to follow a number sequence, identify holiday shapes, create connections between the items on this tree and the items on our real trees, apply his fine motor skills on the use buttons, and practice responsibility, as it is his job everyday to find and hang up the next number.

He also loves that he has own tree and ornaments and that he doesn’t have to ask mommy in advance if he can touch them 🙂

Here is the entire tree, with some of the ornaments hanging. In the second picture, you can see how the tree is hanging.

The calendar is going to be a little crowded when all of the numbers are on – but they all do fit, and the homemade Advent calendar is the perfect size for small spaces and doors.

Not only do I love a great learning activity, but I love holiday traditions. This homemade Advent calendar will now be one in our home 🙂