Teacher/Neighbor Gift.

Gotta love Dollar Tree! I love gift giving {especially inexpensive!} Here's a cheap gift you can make, that doesn't look so cheap!

Pick up any jar of your choice {in the crafting sections of Dollar Tree}, and a candle holder. I used Gorilla Glue Epoxy to glue the candlestick to the base of the jar. Let sit for even just 20 minutes and it's already pretty dang sturdy.

Fill it up! Candy canes, ornaments, bells, Christmas candy..anything looks festive! I wrapped this twine around it several times, then tied it off with a bow. Christmas ribbon looks great too! These ornaments also came from the Dollar Tree, making this project $3! Makes a super fun & festive teacher or neighbor gift!

 

{Letters to Santa}

Have you written your letters to Santa yet??! We just did ours! I was searching the blogs for a fun {*free*} printable letter, and lucky me! I love the free printables lately! How great it is that someone has already designed and done all the dirty work, and all I have to do is print it out?! I love it. So I thought I'd share what we did for our Santa letters, just in case you wanted to print it out for your own kiddos!

You can view the printout directly at: Simply Complicated

Simply click on the picture to enlarge it, right click & print!

Christmas Countdown!

Since my kids are at such fun ages now, I definately wanted to do a fun countdown to Christmas. After searching for hours in blogland, deciding which ideas I like most..or could branch off of the best..what was going to be best price for me...etc. I finally decided on the advent calendar that eighteen25 featured. I modified it a bit, and love it!

Eighteen25 has the FREE DOWNLOADS for all the numbers and step by step instructions for how to re-create their calendar.

I actually used the FREE printable downloads from The Crafting Chicks . They have another cute option for numbers. I just printed out and glued to some cardstock I had on hand. They also have some great suggestions for activities to fill the pockets with.


The fun part: filling your pockets with treats, activities, or both! Some of my pockets even have little stocking stuffer games. My boys love it so far!   

You can get the 12 shoe organizer from Target for $7.99. then I hit up the dollar store and WalMart for some cheap candy and stocking stuffers. Write out your activities, add a little ribbon or twine for some flare...and fill up your pockets! Cheap and easy.

some activity ideas I used to fill my pockets were:
make hot cocoa {and in that pocket I also included fun Xmas straws}
Christmas Bingo
Neighborhood drive to look at Christmas lights
Set up our Christmas lights
Watch a Xmas movie
Read a Christmas story
Write letters to Santa
Do a Family Service project {even just donating toys, or picking out a toy for the needy}
Waffle/Pajama night
Roast marshmallows by the fire
Make homemade ornmanents
Christmas Craft

you get the idea! make it fun, easy...and $$ doesn't need to play a factor! It's fun just to see how excited my boys get to see what's in the pocket each day.

Good luck!