{dec 21 & 22}

Last night we made Christmas tree pizza! I saw the idea on pinterest. Little Bit and I had so much fun shaping the tree and then decorating it!

I just used refrigerated pizza dough, rolled it out on a greased cookie sheet and then started pressing and forming it into the tree shape. I did use a knife to cut some dough out around the branches and used that dough to form the trunk. Then we topped with sauce, cheese, pepperoni and spinach!

Then today we spent some time reading Christmas books. We have been talking about baby Jesus and the Christmas story all month long and I wanted to incorporate some books that reinforce what we have been talking about. We have a couple neat ones that share the story in a good way for preschoolers {thanks to Little Bit's teacher for adding to our collection this year!}...The Christmas Story, The First Night and Christmas in the Barn. And of course we throw in a few fun favorites, especially Llama Llama Holiday Drama!

{dec 19 & 20}

Since we usually spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our extended families we like to have an early Christmas with just the three of us. Little Bit has been super excited about opening presents. So last night was the night. It was such a gloomy, rainy day that it was just what we needed to brighten the evening!

Here is Little Bit modeling her new owl shirt! She was in love with everything she got. She kept saying "This is the best Christmas ever!" ;)

Today our activity was to make paper snowflakes. They really turned out super cute and we both had a blast making them! Here is Little Bit showing off her first one. I think I might use some twine and make a garland with them to hang in her room.

{After I used copy paper to make our snowflakes, I saw this post about using coffee filters. Will definitely be using them the next time!}

december daily album...

I've started my December daily album!!! Here is a look at the cover...

I am using paper from the Holly Jolly Christmas line by Echo Park. I just love the colors in this line....red, pink, green, turquoise and brown! I am also using a few random scraps and kraft cardstock.

Here is a look at the first couple pages. I didn't think I would start this album til Christmas was over but I was excited about using the 4x4 pics and just couldn't wait to get creating!

I liked the idea of starting the day after Thanksgiving because we have many holiday traditions that start before December.

I downloaded these journalling number cards to use on my pages.

{dec 18}

Today we went to the movies! This is not something we do very often...so it is really a treat when we go.

One of Little Bit's friends had a birthday this week and she wanted to go to the movies. So we met them there and saw The Muppets! Little Bit was so excited about going to the movie theater! She thought the movie was great and loved seeing her friend!

{dec 15, 16, 17}

I'm playing catch up today. We had a busy day yesterday and I didn't get around to blogging.

So....on Thursday Little Bit's advent card said to pick a few unused toys and donate them. It was so cute watching her go through her toys and stuffed animals. She would say "Mom, I don't really play with this anymore but it might make some other kid happy." That just makes me smile! I love that she didn't have any problem giving up a large sack full of stuff.

Then last night our activity was to enjoy a Journey to Bethlehem....which is a wonderful adventure where a wiseman leads you on a journey revealing the story of Jesus' birth. Little Bit was so excited to find baby Jesus at the end of the journey! All the kids got wooden stars along the way to offer as a gift.

Then afterwards we headed inside for some cookies and hot chocolate! {She has been on a hot chocolate kick the last couple weeks!}

Today our activity was to assemble a foam gingerbread house! This was fun...and alot less of a mess than the real one we made! ;)

{dec 13 & 14}

Well these aren't the best two pictures but they sure were fun days!

Yesterday I let Little Bit pick out a new toy from our gift stash to donate to Toys for Tots. We dropped it in a collection box at Walgreens. She was so excited to give something to kids who don't get much for Christmas! After that I took her to lunch and to play at the library.

Today her advent card said "build a fort". This totally made her day! She loves creating little places where she can hide out and play. It was dark under there so her face doesn't show up well but she was grinning from ear to ear!

{dec 12}

A week or so ago I recorded a Rudolph Christmas movie for Little Bit to watch and she just loved it! So when I saw that Target had Rudolph puzzles in their dollar section I knew it would be a perfect advent activity.

So today Little Bit was so excited to put together the Rudolph puzzle! I see this puzzle being put together many more times this week! ;)

{dec 10 & 11}

This weekend brought food related activities!

Saturday we made cut out cookies...
Little Bit loved rolling out the dough, cutting out the cookies and then getting to decorate them after they cooled. We had sprinkles everywhere! ;)


Then today we worked on a gingerbread house. I had bought a Halloween gingerbread kit on clearance and thought we could use it to make a Christmas one. It came with a preassembled house which was great! I just squeezed on some white icing and we starting "gluing" candy on. We think it turned out pretty cute!

{dec 9}

Today we went to the Library for storytime and it was all about cookies! Miss Abby read wonderful stories about gingerbread men and then the kiddos got to decorate their own cookies!

Got sprinkles?!

After it was all decorated Little Bit gobbled up the cookie...even I got to sample a bite. They sure were yummy!

{dec 8}

Today we made gingerbread playdough!!! I have always wanted to make homemade playdough but was always kind of reluctant to try. But let me tell you...it was so easy! I used this recipe and it smells so yummy!

Little Bit was so excited about making and then getting to play with our yummy playdough!


I helped her roll out the dough and then she used cookie cutters to make some pretend cookies. ;) Then we rolled some balls and made a snowman.

Have any of you made playdough before? If so, what is your favorite kind to make? And if you haven't tried it yet...go for it!

{dec 7}

The love of the daily advent activities is still going strong! Today Little Bit worked forever decorating her Christmas scrapbook...

I bought a cute little Rudolph journal at Target and gave her some Christmas stickers plus a few punched shapes and she went to town! After Christmas I will print some pictures for her to add to it....and she will have her very own special Christmas scrapbook!

{dec 6}

Today when Little Bit pulled her card from the advent calendar she got 2 surprises! One was the activity for the day...."go to the mall and ride the Christmas train"! The other surprise was we were meeting friends there to ride the train with, play and eat lunch!

Here are the 2 buddies riding the train together...so happy!

{dec 5}

Little Bit is always wanting to paint and I'm not a fan of the mess...so we don't do it very often. So today's activity was a special treat...snowman paint by number that I picked up from Target's dollar section. She was so excited to crack open the little paints and get creating!

I also found a princess one at Target too....so that is going in her stocking!

{dec 4}

Little Bit has a love of crafting {just like her mom ;)} so she was super excited about the activity for day 4...."make ornaments and hang them on the tree".

I had bought a pack of glitter foam owl ornaments on clearance after last Christmas, so she put those together. Then she put together a foam penguin ornament, beaded 2 candy canes, and made a paper Christmas tree!

She was so excited to show off her creations to Daddy and then find the perfect spots for them on our tree.

{dec 3}

So today's advent activity was...."watch a Christmas parade"! We all bundled up in our hats and gloves and headed downtown Springfield to watch the annual Christmas parade. {Luckily it wasn't as cold as it has been in previous years.}

Little Bit was SO excited and couldn't wait for the parade to start!

She kept saying, "this is the best parade ever"! Really, I think she was just excited to get candy. ;) And good candy it was...skittles, starburst, twizzlers, dum dums and even a snickers!

And you can't end a Christmas parade without waves from Santa!

It made me smile seeing how happy she was watching the parade. I just love fun activities for the whole family!

{dec 2}

Well Little Bit was just as eager to get her card from the advent calendar this morning as she was yesterday. She was up before me...picking the card out....and in my bed asking what it said! I am SO glad that she is SO excited about the holidays and our little daily activities. I love the joy that she has!

Today she got to do 2 things...

One was planned and written on the card....watch a movie and eat popcorn! She loved this...anytime she gets popcorn is a highlight in her book! ;) The hubs stopped at Redbox and got The Smurf Movie for us to watch together.

The other was a surprise I threw in for the day. I got an email from Build A Bear for a free animal, so I decided that would be a great activity to add in. I didn't tell her until we got to the mall, just said I had a surprise for her. It was so cute because she kept trying to guess what it was.

She was super excited and so grateful to get to choose an animal to stuff and take home. Miss Bunny has now been attached to her since we got it!

{dec 1}

Happy December! For the past 2 years I have done December daily albums inspired by Ali Edwards. Well it's time to start another one! In previous years I have just taken pictures throughout the month and gathered supplies to make the album at a later date. Sadly I still need to journal in last years. :( So to help me along this year I have decided to try and do a post everyday about our advent activities. I will work on the album along the way too, but I will print all the pics at the end and just add them in. This way I will have the stories documented each day and compiling the album should be simple!

This morning the first thing Little Bit did was head to the advent calendar to pull out the first card. It said "open your new ornament and hang it on the tree".

Well she got 2 new ornaments... One is a Hello Kitty she saw at Target in the dollar section and loved. The other is Tinkerbell. I wanted to get her a Disney ornament as a memory of our trip to Disney this year.

She picked out the perfect spot for both of them on the tree!

Now she can't wait for tomorrow to see what the next card says... ;)

december daily foundation...

I first posted about my December Daily album here. I have more to show you...

I wanted to spruce up the plain green cover....so I used some scrap paper, cut outs and a few stickers.

Then for the inside pages I took inspiration from what Ali is doing. I just cut white cardstock to fit the binder and punched the holes. Then freehanded black lines all around the page to create a border and box at the bottom part of the page. Then using rubons I added numbers in the lower corners.

Then I placed all my paper scraps, stickers, accents, memorabilia, etc. in this turquoise tin. So I am ready to create pages as I get my pictures.

...Some of our holiday traditions start in November so I have actually started taking pictures for my album! Looking forward to putting it all together!

december daily project...

I just love reading Ali Edwards blog. I especially love her idea for doing a December Daily album! The main concept is to have the album bones ready to go so all you need to add are the pictures and journalling.

I so look forward to the holidays...all the decorations, traditions and events that lead up to Christmas Day. So why not make a special little album to record all those memories! Last year was my first time doing one. I started out small though...I didn't record something everyday of December, I just highlighted a few special things. I used a small acrylic album with varying page sizes. It was different for me but I loved it! So this year I plan to do another one. I'm going to try and do 25 days of Christmas....recording 25 things we do or love that lead up to Christmas.

Deciding on what type of "album" to use is my first struggle. I like to be a thrifty crafter so I try to find something that is fairly cheap. I saw a couple ideas using mini binders and liked that idea...so off I went in search of the perfect cheap mini binder. I didn't find anything at the local craft stores so I took a quick look in the dollar store and this is what I found...

This green little binder is about 6x9....just perfect! And the price couldn't have been better....$1.00!

I also decided to try and use up supplies that I already have on hand. Here is a sampling of my paper, leftover stickers and accents.

Now off to get started creating the foundation of my album!