Festive Joy Around Our House

Its no secret that I love to decorate our home with lots of Festive goodies. This year has been both a challenge yet enjoyable, seeing as though we are in a different house. I usually have the same spots for everything and setting up the decorations is both quick and easy, however this year has been a little challenging. 

Its a slightly smaller house, less cupboard and display spaces and , of course, a different lay out.

Not to mention the fact that it is a super dark house! Making photographing our spaces and different things, especially for the blog, quite difficult. 

Here are a few snippets of the Festive Joy around our home;

We have 2 book baskets this year. This one in the main living area is full of the Christmas board books and the other in our dining area is for the larger, soft cover and precious Christmas books. 

Our tree this year. I am a real stickler for the traditional Christmas colours , so the decorations stay the same from year to year. This year however there are a few homemade decorations , the Beaded Candy Canes  and a few other bits and pieces. These presents are all from family, we took advantage of a car coming up this way to save on postage costs. 

A cute corner of the living room,

The goodies on the kitchen bench. So tempting for all who walk past!! (this jar was full! ha)

And just for fun, some cute Christmas Crafts Stella did at school. You've got to love the funny snowman face! haha

These are just a few small areas of our home, there is , of course, plenty more !

Beaded Candy Canes

After gaining inspiration from the wonderful Pinterest,  I knew I had to add these Beaded Candy Canes to our craft list this Christmas. Our girls have a love of all things beaded, as most girls do, and I knew I had the materials in our supplies already.

All you need are a few Pipe cleaners ( I used skinny ones as we had these in our craft box and the beads only have small holes) 

Some beads ( the red, green and white are fished out of these IKEA beads) 

I decided this activity was better done on the floor. The beads can't fall any further and I was able to be closer to help all of the kids at the same time.  I just bent and secured one end for the kids and they did all the rest, slowly threading each bead with great care!

I thought that I may need to help Angus a fair bit, or even finish his for him (he often loses interest very quickly with craft activities) however , he sat and threaded his whole pipe cleaner and absolutely LOVED it! What awesome fine motor practice!

As you can see he was all 'SMILES'

Once the Pipe cleaners were full , I bent and secured each end and then shaped them into what looked like Candy Canes (well sort of!) 

They were all so proud of their creations!

And much to their surprise , I said they could hang them on the Christmas Tree!! (Mum is a bit of a tree Nazi!)

And I think they look just gorgeous!!

This may be a good craft activity to add to your list to do, an it is great for all ages!! 

They would be gorgeous as gifts for friends or family , or something a little special and personal to add to a simple Christmas card! 

Christmas Craft Creations

More Christmas crafting has been happening here and our pin board is starting to look very festive!!

I have been cutting, organising and preparing everything we need for each craft session the night before we intend to do them and it definitely helps with the craft induced stress factor!

After seeing this fantastic idea on Pinterest ( Source from HERE) , I just knew we had to add it to the Christmas 2012 Craft List (and yes, I do have one!)

A few punched circles for a nose and eyes, triangle for hat, doily for hair and beard and some other shapes cut out and everything was set to go.

So darn cute! These would have to be my favourite Christmas craft we have done yet!

Another little craft activity we completed over the week was these cute Christmas trees made out of paper strips. Another fabulous Pinterest idea (source HERE) and something that everyone and anyone can complete.

I simply cut some half in strips in 2 different colour greens, but yours can be as little or big as you like and any colour too!

A glue stick, a pretty star for the top and its a quick, easy and pretty clean sort of crafting session!

You have got to love a craft idea that you can complete in just a few minutes after school or before sleep time etc.

And lets not forget the cute doily tree decos that I organised and we made at Playgroup.
So pretty and effective when finished and something to treasure forever.

These are small doilies that the kids added glue, glitter and little sparkly accents to, then glued together with a loop of ribbon in between. I think they are so gorgeous!

So that is what we have been up to this week.  There are plenty more things on the To Do list , time is the hard factor!

Have you been Christmas crafting? Or using my crafts and posts as inspiration?
I'd love for you to post photos on my Facebook page .

It's Beginning to look a lot like ...

My most favourite time of the year!
Our house seriously looks like Christmas exploded in it. And I LOVE it!

I just want to share a few images of our home.

I have been criticised for going 'Over the top'. Why of course it is!
But its once a year, for a month and I just to make it magical for our children.
Its what memories are made of.
Its the sort of thing they will share with their children and grandchildren. That Grandma was a mad lover of Christmas and made it special for them each and every year.
Well at least I hope that is what will happen!

My Mum used to decorate every year. Not as full on as I do, but the same beautiful pieces were put out and it made it feel.... 'real'.

Yesterday, while our big 3 were spending some time with their Grandparents, I had a chance to get a bit creative . The first time in a while.
I have been lusting after all the gorgeous Christmas cushions around, especially Pottery Barn ones, but with a tight Christmas budget , was never going to actually buy one.
Then I found my stash of Christmas fabrics in our tubs when getting out the decorations and had an urge to create one for myself.
And that I did!

See the tree cushion. That is the result of my efforts. Love

Totally perfect and meant for that very spot.

And the Christmas crafting is in full swing here. I try and have an activity planned and prepared for each day. But for something little before dinner the kids and I made a cute paper chain for the toy room.

And part of the craft I have organised for our playgroup we made these gorgeous wreaths.
Paper plate, green paint and some leaves cut out. Easy

And how could we forget the antics of our dear Alfie last night?! Naughty boy, riding the reindeer like that!

Ho Ho Ho

Introducing Alfie

Yesterday I spoke about how this year, we have a new Christmas tradition starting in our family.
We have joined the craze and introduced 'Alfie' our new 'Elf On the Shelf' to join in our Christmas celebrations and create some havoc and entertainment around our home.

He has been sitting in the box at the top of our wardrobe for a while now and its so exciting to open him up and start the antics.

To introduce Alfie to our family, I found this cute letter from Santa , explaining why he has come and also a Passport that he used to get here. Of course!

These were both cute printables and found  HERE

The letter does go on to describe how Alfie will be in our home to observe the childrens behaviour and report back to Father Christmas with his discoveries. I found this a little full on when our kids are so young, and also a fair bit of pressure on them. So even though I used the letter (it was just for show) when I read it out for the kids I said how they had been good boys and girls and Santa sent Alfie because of that. We are lucky that the kids can not read!! Stella just knew that Santa had signed off on it!

They were all so excited when they discovered the letter and then Alfie, the joy on their faces was well worth it!

To begin with, he was sitting on the sideboard and just observing the family, I will am up the antics with him as the time goes on , and as time permits for me to prepare it!

Day 2 he was found in the Toy room reading corner, reading his favourite Christmas book of course!

And then day 3 he was sitting with his buddy watching the newly put up and lit Christmas tree and lights in all its festive glory!

So.... exciting time here! Do you have a special Elf visiting your home?
What did you name him?

Preparing for Christmas

In the past few weeks , leading up to December and the start of the festive season, there are a few things that have kept us busy and organised.

First of them being this cool Christmas Notes book from Kikki K.

I bought it a while ago when they sent  me an email for a $10 voucher and thought it would be great to keep track of everything through this crazy time of the year.

It is available HERE

Inside , it is split into sections with gorgeous dividers and has spots for Gifts, Cards, Food and receipts etc.
Perfect, and everything is in the one spot!

I have been busy organising craft activities for our playgroup and the kids have had a ball doing them too!
These cute bells are just made from foam cups and some decorative things on the outside.

I started to corral all the Christmas bits and pieces I was purchasing so they were all kept in the one easy to access spot .

I can't wait to use this little beauty. I have just got it out of storage and it was just $4 after Christmas last year from Bed ,Bath and Table , normally $19.95. Bargain!!

At the end of Christmas last year I grabbed a few of these packs on super clearance from Kikki K aswell. They were super cheap and are perfect for wrapping that perfect gift. String, a stamp, inkpad, tags, stickers, it all comes in the box!!

So if there is one piece of advice I would offer, try and pick up bits and pieces in the sales after Christmas and store them, if you have the space of course! It makes the silly season that bit easier and more affordable too!

I managed to grab these goodies from Big W when I was in Perth in October.
The cute trays come in a double pack and carry 4 cupcakes, perfect for that little gift for a friend or family member.

The pegs are just $4 from Target and will look great displaying our Christmas cards this year on a piece of bakers twine.

All my baking cases are ready to be filled and cooked! Yummo! And cute too!
Left are from IKEA and Right from Big W.

Yippee, our Elf was waiting in the wings , ready to come and join the family!!
We  are having so much fun with him, tomorrow I will share how we introduced "Alfie" to our family.

I found this cool pack at our Crazy Clarkes store. It was so cheap and had everything we needed to create 6 super cute Father Christmas'.  Perfect for those busy days or the 'non crafting Mum'

Our finished product!!
Just love them!

The kids wrote their letters to Santa. Obviously Stella was the most keen at completing hers. Max and Lacey did a little scribble and lost interest! ha

We used it as an opportunity to practise writing for Stella and used flashcards to help with the lettering.

We used this gorgeous printable for the letters from Bianca at a little delightful.

There are 3 styles to choose from and all super cute!

You can find them HERE

 

So... seeing as though my husband was adamant that I could not decorate or set the tree up before December 1st, we have been busy elsewhere!

I love this time of year, its always good fun!

 

And I think Lacey agrees!