Kris & Larry at Scrapwarrior

Because we wait until after El’s birthday on the 16th to do our inside decorating, it takes a while to get everything up.

We put up all of our Santa collection (My grandmother collected these before she passed away – our family ended up with a handful of that collection to add to for our own to put out every year in her memory), our angel tree and our nativity scenes that are in our living room (we have several of these also and add to them each year.)

There are so many things that are important to me – God, my family, my friends, my health, my happiness. When it comes to happiness, I always laugh at what other people deem in that category. To be rich does not make you happy.

Here are some FRUGAL ways to create your own advent calendar for the holidays.

For about $40 you can purchase one from a store like Costco or Target that you can use over and over and over again. We bought one about 5 years ago at Costco and it lasted until our move. One of the doors is off and I have to figure out a way to fix it.So we are doing the next best thing. We are making our own today.

T0 make your own Advent calendar, you are going to need the following:

• about 18 sheets of scrapbook paper (I used 16 sheets of Christmas printed cardstock and 4 sheets of plain Bazzil that matched)
• adhesive
• cutter or scissors
• To hang this you will need clothes pins, string and some of those 3M Command hooks that you can remove after the season is over.

I purchased a set of paper from my local craft store. It is a pack of 54 sheets of cardstock 12×12 patterned paper. I cut my patterned paper with my paper cutter into strips – 6 – 6×12, 22-4×12, 4 3×12 and 16 2×12 (these numbers can differ for your needs and you may have left over paper). I then glued a smaller strip on a larger one (see the photo)

Once you are done with the gluing on the patterned paper, it is time to fold. You are making a folded “card”. I actually made 2 folds on each card to have a closure. I used my score pal to score the cards, you do not need to use anything. I clipped together the cards, folded with clothes pins.

Once you have gotten each of the 24 cards folded,  you will need to cut out and glue numbers to the front of them. I am using my Cricut, but you can use rubber stamps or foam stamps and paint. I switched up the size of the font on them.

Next, you will want to add inside of them a daily activity or scripture. We have added BOTH. I used WackyTac to add removable notes so that I can use my advent next year as well.

GIVEAWAY!!! Add a comment for a chance to win a bottle of WackyTac removable adhesive (Drawing to be held on December 10, 2010) Tell me what you would use your WackyTac for.

In our family, we like to put up lights around the house and decorate outside. (We don’t put up a tree until December 17th or later because we wait until after El’s birthday to keep both occasions separate.)

I love to add lights to the house because not only does it give a “warm” feeling when you drive up to your home, but it also serves as a reminder that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Our church is fully decorated as well and our plans are to hit tonight’s Saturday service and be able to see all of these beautiful lights there as well.

So, your goal for today is to decorate outside your home for advent. Make sure that you get your kids involved too. They will remember things like this FOREVER!

Griffen and Lar went outside to get these up for me. (It was starting to get a bit cold out and I was tired after having a day at school too.) Even one of our dogs – “Runcle Robbie” as the kids call him helped supervise! You know, it is seriously incredible to be married to such a tall man… I mean, I would need to tote around a ladder to hang those lights!

We have a tradition in our family to do an activity every day of December for advent. Last night at cub scouts, I lead the boys in creating some crafts. (I am so thankful that Larry and Jen and Jason were there to help along with Karen – one of the moms and Bruce & Joanne – two of the other leaders)We wrote cards for the troops and also made ornaments for the Chino Valley Hometown Christmas Tree that is sponsored by the boys.

One of the fun activities that Larry was in charge of was “glittering” pine cones as decorations for the tree.

This is a fast and easy craft.

You will need:

• Pine Cones
• glitter
• glue (we used a spray adhesive but you can use school glue if that is all that you have on hand)

Spray down the pine cones and sprinkle glitter on them. Set aside and let dry.


Use these to decorate your tree or place in a bowl in your living room with some cinnamon sticks for decoration.

School is officially out for me!! WOOHOO!!!

I just added a NEW listing on my Etsy shop: Family Pillows – I have my own set in my entry hall on my antique bench.