Organize Your Christmas Cards...

For the last couple of years, before the Christmas decorations are packed away, I have taken some time to organize all of the amazing Christmas cards sent to us throughout the holiday season into a little flip book. I was never sure what to do with all of the cards, you only need so many Christmas tags and I can't stand the thought of tossing the beautiful photos of our friends and family. These Christmas Card flip books pack away easily and are so fun to look through each year!

To make the flip book, I use a pair of ring clips and a hole punch. I use our family Christmas card first which eliminates the need for a cover because the year is easy to see. 

To make sure that the cards line up nicely I start by punching the cover and then use it as a guide for each of the following cards. I love the amazing custom photo cards that so many people make. I think we received an all time high of these this year!

These flip books  also allow you to secure any little photos that have been included as well as smaller cards. 

The boys enjoy flipping through to see all of their friends... Henry was particularly enamoured with one of his besties, sweet little Ayla! It will be fun to pull these out next year to see how much all of these kiddos have grown!!

A Holiday Recap...

Happy New Year!! I hope that you have started this New Year happy and healthy! After a wonderful and busy trip to Canada we have begun to settle back into our normal routine here at home... regular meals and bedtimes are being enforced and we are all better for it!

This holiday season was extra special for our family! Returning to Canada to spend time with loved ones after being away for 6 months was full of joy and excitement! We kept things simple... lots of play time with cousins, coffee dates with best friends, and meal after meal of our favourite foods. I was thrilled to spend so much time enjoying these luxuries, the things I miss the most from home.

The boys were ecstatic. Everyday details seemed like full out events for Andrew:
"Want to go with Auntie to pick up Alana and Jacob from school?"
"Want to help Uncle TJ feed his cats?"
"Want to have a bath in Nana's tub?"
"Want to sleep in Daddy's bed from when he was a boy?"
All questions that were met with enthusiastic celebration! It was so nice to watch them get so much joy from spending time with family.

I tried to take lots of photos, but as always realized that many were missing. No shots of the boys with their grandparents, no obligatory shot of all four cousins in front of the Christmas tree and none of the boys with their buddies:( It's so difficult to get them all!

 Henry got his first haircut from our favourite stylist;)

Andrew and his two favourite people

 Christmas morning with their favourite gifts.

 There seemed to be a bit of a costume theme this year!

Go team Canada!!

We loved every minute of our time in Canada, but I was pleasantly surprised to be content and ready to return to our home in Baltimore. It's nice to know that after 6 months, this place really does feel like a home to us, and that the relationships we are building with new friends will sustain us throughout this adventure!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas to all!!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!! We have been celebrating with friends and family in Canada and loving every minute of it!! 

A Christmas Countdown...

The countdown is on!! Now that December has hit, the anticipation and excitement of the holiday season is in full swing; travel plans are finalized, gifts are being stockpiled and a sneaky little elf is making each morning magical for our little ones! I have always loved the daily rituals of the Christmas season, advent calendars were always a special treat that my sister and I delighted in every December. Last year I made a special Advent Calendar for Andrew, but it is unfortunately packed away with all of our Christmas decorations in a storage unit in Canada. So this year, we are counting the days to Christmas using these simple number cards...

To make this Christmas Countdown, I cut out number circles and cards using my Silhouette. I glued each number to a card and made a stand out of some twigs we collected outside.

It looks super cute sitting out on the table and Andrew is enjoying changing the card each morning!

How do you count down the days until Christmas?

Looking for a simple DIY Advent Calendar? Check out the one I made last year,

 there is a free printable to go along with it!

DIY Advent Calendar with FREE PRINTABLE

DIY custom holiday labels with PicMonkey

This weekend found me huddled at the computer for hours, perfecting our annual Christmas card. I had snapped a bunch of impromptu photos of the boys while we were out for a walk and was giddy with how well they turned out! I played around with a few of the online photo card makers, but wasn't completely ready to spend a large amount of money on something I thought I could do alone. I decided to try my hand at designing my own Christmas Cards on PicMonkey and was really happy with how they turned out! Once I was done, I uploaded the file to the Staples website and for less than $25 I have lots of cards ready to hit the mailbox!

While I was at it, I designed a simple return address label to add to  each envelope. I thought I would share the simple process with you today!

This is an extremely straightforward tutorial and I'm sure if you have used PicMonkey in the past it will be a little beneath you. However, if you haven't used this great FREE website I hope this tutorial helps introduce you to some of the great features available!

1. Go to PicMonkey, select "Design" and then "Square" from the main page.
2. Click on the "Text" tool along the sidebar.
3. Choose a great font and add your address.

 I decided to add a simple monogramed wreath to our label but there are many fun options in the new "Winterland" and "Santaland" themes. Here is how I created our wreath:

4. Add a wreath from the "Wreathery" in the "Winterland" theme.

5. Top your wreath with a bow from the "Gifts" section of "Santaland"

6. Add your family's monogram by using the text tool (I used the font "Bilbo Swash Caps").

7. Save your completed label to your desktop.

8. Go back to the PicMonkey main screen and select "Create a Collage".

9. Change the layout of your collage by selecting the 4x4 "Square Deal" in the layout section along the sidebar. 

10. Upload your saved label by clicking on "Open Photos".

11. Once you have uploaded your label, drag it into each of the 16 squares in your collage.

12. Save your sheet of labels. 

Printing Labels:
1. Open the JPEG of your label sheet.
2. Select "Print".
3. Before printing switch the "copies per page" to 2.
4. Print labels on sticker paper and cut.

Cutting these labels may be a little monotonous, but if you have a paper cutting tool it goes much faster. If you do not, most office and print shops have one available for customers to use!

I hope to have our Christmas cards addressed and in the mail this week.  I can't wait for our family and friends to begin receiving them!

A Christmas craft party...

I had really hoped to get to this post before the Christmas holidays, but it just didn't happen. I am sure everyone is Christmased out... but maybe you can save/pin an idea for next year!

Early in December, my friend Jenn and I decided to have our first Christmas Craft Party. Jenn is like me in that she absolutely loves the details and creativity that go along with party planning. We wanted to host an event for some of our close girlfriends, so that we could take some time to visit, share some wine and treats, and make a couple holiday crafts to display in our homes.

Before our friends arrived we set out all of the materials that would be needed for the two crafts we would be making, A Christmas centre piece and a Holiday Topiary (aka a decorated paper cone). Jenn and I are both teachers, so we also understand the importance of a good exemplar (teacher talk for "example")! We had a lot of fun setting the table so that each lady would have a place to work.

The centre pieces were simply square vases, with a square of florist foam, greenery and a votive holder. We provided many options for greenery, twigs, twine, ribbon, bells and berries. The topiaries were made from rolled bristle board and then decorated with yarn and twine and spray painted a variety of colours... pretty easy!

We served some holiday cocktails, appetizers and Christmas cookies, but the showstopper was the Hot Chocolate Bar! Everyone had fun loading their hot chocolate up with tasty toppings! 

Jenn and I were so impressed with every one's skill! Even our friends who were intimidated by (or completely unimpressed with) the idea of "Crafting" on a Friday night had a good time and everyone was so proud of their work!

Good work ladies!

An advent calendar & a free printable...

As a kid, I absolutely loved the excitement of an advent calendar. There was nothing better than the novelty of a chocolate with breakfast! It seems that the whole idea of an advent calendar has really taken on a life of it's own. Time intensive crafting, elaborate packaging and costly gifts seem to be the norm these days (a big jump from the $1.99 chocolate calendar I am accustomed to!).  Although I love the idea of a DIY advent calendar, I don't think I am ready to commit to a small gift everyday for the kiddos but I do love the idea of a handmade advent calendar! After searching blog land, this is what I came up with!

Using a simple graphic program on my computer I designed 24 number circles that would cover the cups of a mini muffin tin. I printed these off on printable magnetic paper and cut out each circle. 

I picked up some of Andrew's favourite treats in the bulk section at the grocery store, placed them in the tin, covered each cup and was finished!

I propped the calendar on a plate stand and set it up in our kitchen. Andrew has no idea what it's for yet, but I know he will be pretty excited to learn about this holiday tradition!

Here is a PDF version of the circles, print one off for yourself!! (printable advent calendar)