Sustainable & Creative Living
If you’ve read some of my older posts, you know my 3 year-old-son is obsessed with cars. I imagine most little boys his age are so, with Christmas right around the corner, I decided to make my little guy this DIY Hot Wheels Christmas Tree. Now he has his [Read more…]
I tend to save scraps and odd pieces that are supposed to be discarded. I always think, “Hmmm…could I make something out of this?” That’s how I came up with these Snowman Ornaments. They are made from Ashland candle jar lids from Michaels (but you can use anything circular).
Every time I get a candle with a lid I [Read more…]
This year Christmas kind of snuck up on me. If you haven’t been following our social media, you may have missed that I just got married. For the past year, wedding planning has just consumed my life. Now I’m finally ready to get into the Christmas spirit, and I wanted to do something a little different this year.
Instead of buying more (expensive) wrapping paper from all over, I wanted to make my own. And what better way than to use some materials I already have at home. First of all, a roll of kraft paper from the Dollar Tree or Walmart is perfect and will go a long way! It’s so much cheaper than a roll of traditional wrapping paper that won’t last the season. Secondly, it’s just a little more heartfelt to make your own paper. You can do all kinds of variations of this design but I thought Christmas trees were a good place to start.
This Christmas I decided to make my own Sock Garland Advent Calendar for my two-year old son. He may not totally understand the concept of the Advent Calendar but I can tell he loves the mystery that surrounds getting to find out what kind of surprise is in each sock. We check it every evening after dinner; it’s quite an [Read more…]
A couple of weeks ago, I was standing in line at Publix chatting with the young cashier and bagger as they rang up my groceries. I made a comment about needing to hurry up and put up my Christmas decorations. The cashier told us that her family decorated the tree on Christmas Eve. “Decorating the tree on Christmas Eve was more traditional when I was little,” I told her.
I’d like to say that I decided right then that I would slow down the decorating process and focus on really enjoying it, not just crossing it off the list–but that’s not what happened. The truth is that I just wasn’t in the mood for rushing and stressing, so I gradually decided that I wouldn’t. As I gave up worrying about when and how fast all the Christmas preparations got done, it was easier to enjoy what I was doing and become more mindful in the process. If there’s ever a time to practice mindfulness, it’s definitely at Christmastime!
Finding ornaments and decorating my Christmas tree is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. It’s something most people who celebrate Christmas have in common. It can be a special and different experience for everyone. Some people have themes, some have multiple trees, and some have a design that never falters. In my household, we have one small tree that has no theme, but I like to think it tells a little story of our lives.
A long-standing tradition in my family has been [Read more…]