12 Days Till Christmas Advent Tree

I love Christmas count-downs, and my kids love opening presents before Christmas. I found the perfect combination of the two over at simplykellyb. It is such a cute and easy idea, so I made one for my family. There are 12 boxes made out of paper, each a different size from large to small. Inside each box, I put a treat, craft, or Christmas activity that we could do on that day. So on December 13th, the countdown began and my kids opened box #12...and so on until Christmas Eve.

Here is what you need:

• 20 sheets of 12x12 heavy patterned paper. (I found a cute book of double-sided 12x12 Christmas paper at the craft store)
• A paper cutter that can also score (not necessary, but makes it MUCH easier to make the boxes)
• Tape
• Ribbon, raffia, etc to go around the boxes
• Number tags 1-12

Here's How:

• Each box will need 2 papers, cut and scored according to the dimensions below. Score each side of the papers to make folding easier.
• After scoring each side, there will be a square formed by the scored lines in each corner of the paper. Cut one side of the square in each corner to create the flaps of the box.
• Fold along the scored lines.
• Fold each flap in and tape.
• Place one inside the other to form the box. 

Box Dimensions...remember to make 2 of each day for the top and bottom of the box.

• 12th Day: 12x12 paper scored each side at 1"
• 11th Day: 12x12 paper scored each side at 1.5"
• 10th Day: 12x12 paper scored each side at 2"
• 9th Day: 10.5x10.5 paper scored each side at 1.5"
• 8th Day: 12x12 paper scored each side at 3"
• 7th Day: 8.5x8.5 paper scored each side at 1.5"
• 6th Day: 10x10 paper scored each side at 2.5"
• 5th Day: 7.5x7.5 paper scored each side at 1.5" (keep the scraps to use for day1)
• 4th Day: 6x6 paper scored each side at 1"
• 3rd Day: 6x6 scored each side at 1.5"
• 2nd Day: 5x5 paper scored each side at 1.5"
• 1st Day: 4.5x4.5 paper scored each side at 1"

Fill each box with treats, activities, crafts. Tie with a ribbon and connect the number tags. Stack and stagger to look like a tree. Have fun!!

 Here's a craft that was in Day 11:

What will the next 10 days hold? My kids are so excited to open something every night!

Christmas Spirit

“There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus Christ. Christmas is what we make of it. Despite all the distractions, we can see to it that Christ is at the center of our celebration. If we have not already done so, we can establish Christmas traditions for ourselves and for our families which will help us capture and keep the spirit of Christ. Because when we keep the spirit of Christmas, we keep the spirit of Christ, for the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit. It will block out all the distractions around us, which can diminish Christmas and swallow up its true meaning.” - President Monson First Presidency Christmas Devotional

What are some of your Christmas traditions that help you capture and keep the spirit of Christ?
Here are some of ours:

• Meaning of CHRISTMAS

• Visit Temple Square

• On Christmas morning, before all of the present frenzy begins, we gather everyone together and watch a short movie about Christ's birth. We talk about Christ and what he means to us personally. It adds a special spirit to our day and starts it off in the right way.

Perspective

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.
--author unknown

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I am so thankful for all that I am blessed with...I am truly rich when I stop to think about it!

If Children Live With...

I saw this on another blog and loved it. It is a great reminder to be less critical and more encouraging to our kids!

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with fairness, they learn justice.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and others.

If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

                                    -Dorothy Law Nolte

 

 

Guess Who? Family Edition

Last year I found a cute way to personalize a gift for the person who has everything and who also loves to play games (like Grandmas with their grandkids). Sorry, I can't find where I found the idea to give you the credit...but kudos to you!

 

We took a regular Guess Who? game, took all of the pictures out and then added our own to make it a Family or Grandkid Edition. I used pictures with people wearing Halloween costumes, glasses, hats, and wigs to make the game a little more interesting....so that the questions like "does your person have glasses on?" and "is your person wearing a costume?" can still be asked. If there are not enough people in your family to have one person per square (24 squares)...no worries; I just used baby pictures as well as current pictures of the same person and just labeled them "Baby Stacey" and "Stacey". I also added pictures of our family dogs, past and present.

Here's how to make your own unique and personalized Guess Who? game:

• gather 24 different pictures, some with a distinguishable accessory like glasses, jewelery, and hats.
• Label who the picture is on the bottom
• Edit the pictures so that they fit inside of the picture slots of the game (1 1/8" wide by 1 3/8" tall)
• Print out 2 sets of the 24 pictures to put in the 2 game boards (one for each player)
• Make one set of the 24 pictures into the bigger cards that each player draws in the beginning of the game (1 5/8" wide by 1 7/8" tall)
• Take out all of the original Guess Who? pictures and put in your personalized ones.
• Have fun playing!
• Here are some links for the templates that we made. They are just the right size to fit into the picture slots. Just add your own pictures and names and print on heavy cardstock. (Just be careful not to change to size of the boxes when you add your own pictures):

For the pictures (A red and blue set for each game board)

For the cards

Push for a Push

What did Aaron get when he decided to push someone down in the snow?
He got pushed down as well....plus a broken arm:

 

He was pretty excited that he got an orange cast and it is now full of signatures from his family, friends, and school class.

It looks like our family needs a little lesson on turning the other cheek. Right now we are living the "eye for and eye, tooth for a tooth, and a push for a push" law at our house.

Wordless Wednesday

I'll let the picture do all the talking: