but first, thanks for your kind words on feeling better the last few days... my time off to rest seems to have done me well, and i feel on the mend. :)
i was even productive! i decided to completely rearrange the furniture in the office/play room/craft room... and i love it. but of course, i don't have a camera soooooooo.. yah. it will be one of the first things i show you though. because i am one of those people who needs order before i can be truly productive.. and now that i have order in the craft room... bring on christmas knitting!
ahem. are you ready? 2 months will fly by. i know it. we'll have hallowe'en, remembrance day, (thanksgiving in the US) and then christmas! bam. let's not forget any of the parties we might want to either host, or attend... yikes. oh and did i mention that my hubby is going to sea for the majority of december?! say what? he will be home for christmas, but that leaves me for most of the decorating and planning.... yessssssss. ha.
of course, i'm also doing some markets in that time. so this rest thing i did this past week, has most definitely been a good thing. ;)
so here's what i thought. everyone likes a good bout of encouragement, and friendly little nudge... and if you're like me and like to have the holidays be as handmade as you can... well it takes more work. plain and simple. so i thought i'd try to find some projects to help you with your handmade holidays... given the right timeline.
of course you don't have to do the projects, i just thought it would be fun to actually find the projects that could totally work in the time frame, before finding them just a week before family arrives for the holidays. haha. right?
first up, obviously, the things that take more time.. and that you need to have done early. like the advent calendar. i personally love the idea of the advent calendar that doesn't include a cheap piece of chocolate. but instead something you can re-use every year, and becomes a part of your family... obviously i've been on pinterest for inspiration... and here are a few that i've found :)
ornament advent calendar...
i thought this one was adorable! if you're a sewer (which i'm not) but how cute of an idea to hang a special ornament on the tree every day? and it's easy to store the bags... i thought this was pretty unique...
embroidered felt advent calendar...
the purl bee has a cute tutorial on something that i feel i could possibly master. i love the bright, cheerful colours of this one.. and you can fill it with anything you'd like! gifts, goodies, or activities!
this steam-punk one is totally rad though...
activity calendar...
this one from the complete guide to imperfect homemaking looks uber do-able! and will also leave heaps of time for the other things on the holiday "to-do" list that require more time.... um like the hand-knit stocking my son is asking for this year... yikes!
for even more ideas check out chic & cheap nursery nicole has found these five cute ideas, and has explained on how to do them all on her blog! how fab!!
i love these ideas, and am determined to make an activity calendar this year... last year i tried to bunch all of the activities into less than two weeks. and it was pretty crazy... (i have such a loving husband though, who went along with it) ... that being said, we'll probably also get owen his lego advent calendar. it was a huge hit last year. yah, they cost a little.. but he got to have a new little lego toy every day... and extra bonus. no chocolate i plan on having enough of that closer to christmas anyways ;)
but before you freak out on me for bringing christmas up so early... go check out one sheepish girl. she's just released the most adorable crochet pumpkin pattern to store your treats in. i've just taken a peek, and i believe i've got some orange yarn here...
how about you? did you grow up with an advent calendar? is it a family tradition with you? if you make one this year, what kind of calendar do you think you'll make? will you go all out? sew? knit? scrap-book style? come chat! i'd love to hear of your ideas! xo
i loove all the different advent calendars the trouble is i can't decide which one to make.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll be getting T her first advent calendar this year, a playmobil one.
so sweet! the playmobil one sounds awesome! owen LOVES the lego ones. they're gooders for sure ;) xo
Deletei'm determined to do an advent calendar this year! maybe two! one for each babe... for the girl, i'm planning on using some of the booties i've made for her. for the boy... don't know... (i don't have 24 booties though).
ReplyDeletewe will see. but like you, i'm totally enamoured of the idea! pi'lo makes an interesting one where they just move a bear from day to day.
glad you are better. i crashed yesterday but am better now too. thanks for the well-wishing on my blog. wish we coulda shared a bowl of stew, too. with knitting on the side. ;)
We do a combination of toy advent calendars (Playmobil or Lego) and an activity advent. I have two store bought advent calendars that I use for the activity one. One is a wooden christmas tree with little boxes (Target) and the other is little knitted mittens and stockings (Cost Plus). They are OK, but I do want to make one one of these years... Thanks for the roundup!
ReplyDelete!! I'm so totally in love with the advent calenders!
ReplyDeleteyippeee for advent calendars!! i'm so happy you guys weren't all freaking out that i brought up christmas in october. bahahah.
ReplyDelete- margo momma i'm feeling better, yep. but still a little stuffy. i would LOVE to knit with you one day. xo
- ducklingsinarow i love that you do a combo of calendars... it's what i'm planning on doing to :) loved doing the mini round up! so glad you liked it!
- caitlin haha aren't they great?? do you have one already made? are you going to make one? xo
I did have intentions of making one for my kiddo, but when I got news of the Lego one, I knew that he'll want that one more!! But I love the drawstring bag idea! I soooo want to do that!!
ReplyDeleteAck, Christmas!! Thanks for the reminder! I've got to get things sorted so I know what I'm doing!!
haha the life of a crafter is so much about organization hey? the calendar has to be our friend so that we can get everything we want to craft.. done :) i'm already up with half a cup of coffee in me already... organizing for what's about to be one of our busiest weekends. xoxo
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