12 Days of Christmas Crafts: Button Garland

12 Days of Christmas Crafts continues with this knockoff button garland.

The original is actual Capiz Shell Garland from Ballard Design:

You can purchase this here

I'm all about making the alternative is it's cheap and easy.  This project cost me less than $1!
I purchased two ivory felt sheets from Jo-Ann Fabrics and traced circles on it using a sippy cup and a yellow marker.

Cut them out

Used a hole punch to add button like holes.  My hole punch wouldn't completely detach them so I trimmed them off with scissors.

I strung them on some twine I had, but you could use ribbon, etc.  I used them on a 4' tree in our bedroom along with some raw burlap just tied sporadically.

It's simple and very DIY.  More easy Christmas crafts to come!

12 Days of Christmas Crafts: Advent Calendar

I've been working on finishing my Christmas decorating.  I thought I would share those ideas in the form of the 12 Days of Christmas Crafts...not consecutive days :)
Today I want to show you an easy-peasy advent calendar.  There are a myriad of adorable advent calendars and you can find some of my favorite on my Pinterest Christmas board.  I know it is November 29th, but it's not too late to pull together this advent calendar.  I'm going to make this as easy as possible.

The first step is to find a place to hang a ribbon, rope, string, etc. 

Next, I cut out tags on my Cricut, but you could use about anything - mini-envelopes, index cards, cardstock (just print these), etc.  I came up with a list of 24 activities/ways we will celebrate Christmas in December, typed them up in Word, printed and cut...wow, couldn't be easier, right?  Feel free to use my ideas (although I'm guessing you'll need to change a few things - like family names - I used Harrington font). 

I used Modge Podge to attach my numbers and activities.

When I see the varities of Modge Podge available, I have a Carrie Bradshaw/Manolo moment -  "Hello Lover"

Attach to the ribbon and you are ready to go.  I hope you'll embrace this chance to organize your holiday fun and have a plan for what you will do each day with your family to celebrate Christmas. 

Overnight Getaway

I mentioned that I was taking Chris on a secret overnight trip a little over a week ago.  I had two objectives - to find a place with a Ruths Chris Steakhouse (Chris's favorite restaurant) and an Apple store (because we needed to take in the cracked iPad).  The winner...Madison, Wisconsin.  I got an excellent deal at a Sheraton through Hotwire.  With the help of my parents watching the kids at home, we were off...

Before we left

My mommy and daddy are so mean!

Part of our mission was to find out what it would cost to fix our cracked iPad which was being protected by packing tape. 

Wow - that was reall icky!

We made an appointment in advance at the Genius Bar at the Madison Apple store.  They offered us a swap program where we received a brand new iPad for $283 (with tax) and they took our old one (which was the 16MB $499 version).  The iPad is used almost exclusively by Deane so we wanted to come back with something in hand.  I should also mention that Kate is quite fond of the iPad and her 5th or 6th word was actually "iPad" - I guess this is a sign of the times!

After our Genius Bar appointment, we traveled to downtown Madison and had lunch at Cooper's Tavern.  The food was good, the service was great, and the beer was Ah-MAZ-ing.  It was nearly Chris's perfect lunch!  Those chalkboards behind Chris were filled with the names of their draught beers, many of which you don't commonly find in the region.

We spent the afternoon walking, shopping (Fromagination was a highlight for me), and taking a nap.  Then we enjoyed our dinner at Ruth's Chris in Middleton.  I had made an online reservation and mentioned we were celebrating Chris's birthday.  Although it's a chain restaurant, it felt very personalized and intimate since they greeted him with a "Happy Birthday"at the host's stand, birthday confetti on the table and a complimentary creme brulee.  It was a perfect dinner.

We checked out the Great Dane Pub & Brewery as well and came home early the next day to see the kiddos.  It was a great, short escape from the day to day. 

Happy Birthday to Chris!

Shoe Quick Fix

I failed to mention that about an hour before my large family Thanksgiving gathering, the flower fell off of my shoe.  Unfortunately it must have fallen off while I was out.  I bought the shoes two weeks before at TJMaxx for $20 and they are super comfy.  Plus, their fall shade was perfect for my outfit, but what to do with this?

Why...hot glue of course!  Just last week the decorative button on either side of one of my throw pillows fell off.  While finishing getting ready, I saw them and immediately went to fire up the glue gun.  About 10 minutes later...voila!

The buttons are still there and the shoes are still comfy and cute.  Easy  enough!  Now I've got to figure out what to do with the remaining leather flower.

Giving Thanks & Preparing for the Season

We hosted a great family Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family on Sunday.  Here are a few scenes from the afternoon.

Based on this idea.

My dad and Kate

Grandparents and grandkids playing a computer game before everyone arrived.

There were 45 of us which is almost exactly half of the family as my mom is one of 14 siblings.  It's an amazing privilege to grow up with a close family of so many immediate relatives.

I tried this idea, but I didn't buy cones with flat tops.  These were the only survivors and they didn't look very cute.

We had a potluck which made it easy work for us to prepare.  Everything was yummy.  My contribution was turkey pot pie rather than the typical turkey.  I made this recipe and used my own which I created for chicken pot pie as well.  I doubled my own recipe and didn't use a crust on the bottom of the other recipe.  Both went into 13x9 pans.  The Pillsbury continuous dough sheets are awesome for this use.

I made my version of this awesome ribbon belt and tried a few other styles of flowers from my Fabric Flower board.

Cousin football!

We will have my family over for the big day tomorrow.  It will be laid back.  We are planning an appetizer lunch and traditional dinner.  I've put several of the recipes we'll be making on my Recipes to Try board on Pinterest.

The much more important reason for this post is to get ahead of what's been hanging over us all since Halloween....Christmas season, the commercial version.  I like a nice gift as much as the next gal and LOVE picking out the perfect gift for someone else, but this year is just different. 

Source

Experiencing a humbling financial  and spiritual year with all of our big changes (becoming a one income household, receiving Deane's autism diagnosis and pursuing treatment, etc.), has given me inspiration to make something more of this holiday season than the pursuit of gifts and parties.

Source

I'm so thankful for other bloggers out there who inspire me and are on the same page with my plan.  One of my favorite bloggers, Glennon from Momastery, just published a post about the exact concept I've been working on....a season of Random Acts of Kindness.  So, here's a list of the ideas we're working on/planning:

1. Package for the homeless (items to distribute to homeless/panhandlers such as hand warmers, socks, gloves, snacks, etc.)
2. Food Pantry donation
3. Pay for someone else's toll, parking meter, fast food order, etc.
4. Send gift card to someone for no specific reason
5. Send note of encouragement
6. Compliment good service directly to the manager
7. Take a homemade meal to someone
8. Angel tree
9. Support a child in something important to them.
10. Gift for mail person/paper delivery person
11. Treats for police, fire, emergency workers with note of thanks
12. Recognize military families in some way
13. Pick up litter
14. Help someone having a winter weather emergency
15. Let someone ahead of you in line
16. Smile at every stranger you see
17. Donate to coat drive
18. Do something for someone who causes you to be jealous, frustrated, angry, etc.

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I thought I would have all of my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving, but I now hope to have it done by the end of the month.  We will start our Random Acts of Kindness on Friday and hopefully we will follow through daily until Christmas and then focus on the celebration of Christmas through January 6th.  I'm also hoping to participate in a lot of the family oriented seasonal events like Christmas walks, etc.  Hopefully good pictures to share will follow.

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I would love to hear how others celebrate the season or additional Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) ideas.  Happy Thanksgiving and Christmas season to you!

Making it Thanksgiving-ey

I did a little bit of Fall add ins to my decor earlier this Autumn, but I felt we needed a few more touches to celebrate Thanksgiving. 

I had an idea for a burlap message board awhile back using...a burnt up jelly/cookie pan.  I was so happy I could upcycle this item rather than throwing it away.  I would only use it when everything else was in use and it ALWAYS burnt whatever I put on it.  But now it has a happier place in my kitchen.

I started with my burnt up pan and some raw burlap

I wrapped and hot glued...and repeat

Until all was fairly tightly wrapped, don't admire the back...

So, I completed this message board and wondered exactly where to put it and how to use it.  So, it sat and waited for Thanksgiving to come.  I got the idea to decorate it for Thanksgiving with seasonal magnets that I made using printables and a little flower I made (again with hot glue). 

You can find the printables on my Autumn Pinterest board.  Also behind the magnets is a "green background" image I printed on cardstock.  I have stuffed recipes and invites on here.  The magnets don't get gross from stove being nearby because I laminated them.  I can't wait to do a little Christmas theme and so on.  Sad jelly pan turned happy message board!

Here are some other new Thanksgiving items about my house:

I borrowed this idea from here.  I found a font from dafont.com that I liked and downloaded it, sized it on a PowerPoint slide and projected it on this $10 drop cloth from Wal-mart. 

I used a brown sharpie so that it would be permanent for washing and allow me to simply paint inside the lines.  I folded the dropcloth over a piece of pegboard I had and leaned it up against a bed, setting my laptop and projector on the floor.

 It's not perfect, but I love it!

 I found my paint at JoAnn Fabrics and used an angle brushes in two sizes to paint in the letters.  I heat sealed it with my iron and washed it successfully.  If you use a drop cloth, it will roll up in the wash and the edges will fray.  If you don't like that look, use a regular tablecloth or seal the edges.

Printable Source

 I framed a few cute printables you will find on my Autumn Pinterest board as well.

I love decorating the mantel and used this printable to do so.

We're looking forward to celebrating with our family this weekend and through next week.

Chris and I are going on an overnight trip this week, but he doesn't know where so I'm very excited to reveal that plan.  His birthday is the same day as Thanksgiving so this is a chance to make him feel special in advance.  He'll be 33 - whoa - he's really getting up there :)

It's going to be 60 here today so we're heading to the zoo before an OT appointment.  Deane is VERY excited!

I might just have a few more Thanksgiving updates yet to come...we shall see.

Being Quiet

I wish that title meant that I am being reflective and still or something sophisticated like that, but it's just reference to my quietness on the blog.  I have lots of crafty ideas I want to share, but need to actually complete one.  If you follow me on Pinterest, you might have noticed that I'm collecting ideas like crazy (just not completing).  I have LOTS of autism related thoughts on my mind, but I don't want to be a downer.  We are trying to focus daily on gratitude this month in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday.  We're using the first printable found here to actually write something down each day.

We have completed the school evaluation/IEP (Individualized Education Plan) process.  I've read IEP books and done my homework, but I didn't realize (and apparently the school staff didn't either when they invited us to the IEP meeting) that even thought we decided in advance we would not send Deane to school right now, we still had to complete an IEP.  (I'm not sure we actually needed to now that I have spoken to other sources.)  The whole team seems genuine and well intentioned.  Unforunately, they are figuring out certain things as they go and at least part of the team have never had a parent complete the process and not send their child.  So, I was caught off guard, but I believe that since we signed that we didn't accept the IEP, we won't have to live with anything that they wrote for goals.  Frustrating, but we move forward and have done some of the leg work for Deane's future IEP. 

Chris was gone a couple days and they were LONG days.  He is at a retreat today and through the weekend (except for time to come home and sleep).  He isn't here during the day normally, but I so look forward to sharing the responsibility at 5 or 6PM.  I was trying very hard to consistently discipline Deane throughout the day and log his behaviors.  A lot of this plan is based on ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) principles.  We consider that from a behavioral standpoint, he wouldn't continue to do something if it wasn't "working for him" or if he wasn't "getting something from it".  It's not that foreign of an idea to parents.  For example, most young children can't articulate their emotions so they may cry or hit to get the input they need.  With a child that is getting older and stronger, this can be dangerous  and frustrating to parents and siblings.  Yesterday was a great day, but I can tell this morning, he's not quite as happy or comfortable.

I read a blog yesterday of a mom of 4 boys who said she sets her goals low each day - showering, feeding her kids and helping them appear clean so that all other accomplishments are bonus.  I totally identify and am sure most moms of babies and toddlers can too, but I also recognize that I can't really give myself a break like that.  This, right now, is the time that Deane needs me to be on my game most.  He needs help understanding the world and adapting to it while he's little enough to comfortably do so.  What we do now will determine his future.  That's too heavy on some days for me and I thank God on those days for Word World! :)

I've reinstituted the picture schedule to help Deane keep back on track.  We have noticed he has been "off" much of the last week so hopefully between my log and getting more structured again, we will sort this out.  Here's a photo of our picture schedule. 

It's just laminated photo of actions/activities (provided by a speech therapist) that I velcroed to a piece of foam core board.  I never imagined this would be so effective, but it really seems to help Deane know what to expect and smooths transitions considerably.  Even though the schedule went smoothly yesterday, Deane tore all of the pictures off the schedule and threw them around the living room when I was busy with Kate.  I ignored this as I didn't see him do it.  It's as though he was saying "I'll follow the schedule, but I'm not happy about it."

We are praying for something to happen with the house or work opportunities that give us some direction.  I wouldn't say that we are anxious about it, but want to feel proactive.  St. Joseph is standing by:

I find it incredibly interesting that there are instructions that dispell the myth that the statuette needs to be buried upside down and also reminds us that our home must be properly priced and minor repairs done!  Isn't that funny?  St. Joseph has conditions. :)

I was lucky enough to get a little R&R with some great friends, Amanda and Maegan, last night at a cute restaurant in Peoria called 309.  We had an "incident" there with Deane after which I vowed not to return out of embarassment.  I'm so glad I did and actually got to enjoy the food and good company.  This quote comes to mind...
 "It takes a long time to grow an old friend." - John Leonard

Happy Weekend!