Creative Outlet

Here’s what I was working on last week! It’s a “mantel” piece, that’s not really on a mantel, and a homemade advent calendar for my kiddos!

I got these sparkly red balls at Sam’s Club last year after Christmas, for around $2 (for all 6 of them) I believe. They are actually tea light holders, but candles are not always of great use at our home, for various reasons. Numbers 1, 2, and 3 being my children! Sooo, I got a string of lighted garland and perched the balls on the lights, and then took all our little wooden ornaments and placed them here and there throughout. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

For the advent calendar, I bought miniature Chinese food take-out boxes at my local craft store. Then I decorated the fronts with a number (these count down from 25) and the backs with, “Days Left”, and “Until Christmas” and such.

We open one box each day (of course) and then flip it around when we hang it back up. So the boxes that have been opened will say whatever message is on the back, and the ones that have not, have the number facing forward. I’ve put various things in each box from candy, to small toys, to chap stick. And we only have one advent calendar, so I put three things in each box, and the kids take turns opening the boxes and passing the treats out. I also told them that the treats do not appear in the box till right before it’s time to open them, to deter them (mostly Beau) from opening all the boxes one morning while no one is looking.

Here is the Christmas tree this year. (It was free, fake, and still sheds like crazy! I think I’d like a real one next year…) Anyways, this year it is decorated with mostly shatterproof and unbreakable ornaments. This has proved to be a wise choice, as I have already spent many a morning redecorating the bottom third after Selah has pulled off several of the ornaments and thrown them about the house. The glass ornaments that I couldn’t bare to spend Christmas without (yes, I’m like that) I hung up around a couple of our windows in an artful way (I think.)

So that sums up my creative endeavors from last week. The house is quite cozy, and I often wish I could leave the Christmas decorations up all year, because the house feels kind of bare without them. I’m working on remedying that problem…

As for how my little ultimatum for being sick is going… I’m at about 50% today, maybe 60%. I will not be held down though, I’m still planning on going to see the Handel’s Messiah… maybe it’s just what my body needs to hear to get over that last 40%!