Advent Cookie Sheet Calendar

Here is my take on the advent cookie sheet calendar that I made yesterday.  My goal was to get it done before Dec. 1, and I did!!!  I used Picture a Christmas {Advent} kit by Jacque Larson and Amber Clegg!  This made it super easy to quick whip up my calendar!

I printed the cute picture sheet after resizing it to fit my cookie sheet, and also the stars.  Then I cut out the stars and put a little piece of magnet on the back of each!  I primed and spray painted my old cookie sheet, which I had no problem parting with, and then I used a little modge podge to stick down the calendar I printed!  I jazzed it up just a bit with the alpha and little glitter tape down each side. 

All in all I like how it turned out, and I know the girls will LOVE counting down and putting the stars up to await the birth of baby Jesus!  I wish my cookie sheet hadn’t come out quite so dark and the glitter tape didn’t quite contrast enough.  Maybe I will put some extra goodies on the edges to spice it up.  Got any suggestions?!

 

Jacque and Amber have a couple different Christmas Countdown sets in the store today, so if you are looking to whip up a calendar before Dec. 1, you can grab one and print it out – easy peasy!

 

MandaKay

Christmas Subway Art

Thanksgiving is done, and everyone is in full swing to Christmas!  I have hung our stockings by the chimney with care, the Christmas tree is up and decorated, and I am a good way towards having my shopping done!!!  Part of decorating for me lately has been making crafty things.  Pinterest has become a HUGE inspiration to me, and I love getting a little crafty and into some decorating – it’s generally not me AT ALL!!!  One of the ways I have enjoyed decorating for each season is to print out one of the many “subway wordart” pieces pertaining to each season!  There are so many great ones out there!  Our church is hosting an Advent Art Show where members of the congregation were asked to submit pieces of art that centered around the theme “Peace on Earth Goodwill Toward Men”.  I figured that a framed subway art piece would be perfect, so I began gathering “Advent” related words.  My sister Shawn helped me to finalize it and perfect it, so it was kind of a collaborative effort!

To help you decorate for christmas I am offering up the 8 x 10 subway art piece that we came up with!  The Advent season is one of my favorites, and this art piece shows all the reasons why!  I printed mine up on my home printer, trimmed to 8x10 since I printed on 8 1/2 x 11, and then put it in this frame that I bought for $5.99 at Michaels!  Love cheap decorations!  I hope you enjoy!  Here is my copy:

And one of the things Shawn did with my original rough draft was to offer it in two color options, so you can choose which one bests fits your style!

{Download Here}                                                {Download Here}               

 

Off to do some more gift making and Christmas decorating now!!!   I pray you enjoy this Advent season and take in all the joy and anticipation of the coming of Christ!

 

MandaKay

Stationery card

Hand Drawn Joy Religious Christmas Card

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I have been a Shutterfly addict lately!!! Love all the codes they give out and the great products they make! I wanted to share my Christmas card that I made for this year! In case you don't get one, please accept this as our Christmas greeting to you and your family!!! Can't believe we are getting so close to Christmas and the year end!

Weekly Planner Craft

The weekend before last I had gone to a “ladies night out” event at our church.  Basically, everyone took a craft that they wanted to work on and it was a night to get out and work on something you’ve been wanting to get done, or just come and hang out and chat with other women.  I , of course, had brought my laptop to do some digital scrapbooking, but also brought my pages that I had printed so that I could sit and put them in order and in the right books.  But what I loved about the night was the idea for this next project I completed!  Quite a few of the ladies had made these neat weekly organizer frame.  When I saw them I knew right away what I could use something like this for!  You see, my husband and I make weekly meal plans and hang them on our fridge.  It is normally done with our chicken scratch handwriting on a flimsy little piece of paper that get’s hung by a magnet on the fridge.  In a nut shell I was so sick of seeing all kinds of papers and things on my fridge, that I loved the idea of one less paper that needed to clutter my fridge door!

 

So, I started with this frame that I bought at Michael’s – I believe I bought it for $15 on sale, and it came with 8 4x6” photo spots.  What I did then is pick out the scrapbooking paper that I wanted to use to coordinate with my home.  I also picked out some alphabet stickers to adorn each frame!  It was as easy as cutting my papers into 4x6” papers, and cleaning the frame up and sticking on the stickers for each day!  Great easy project, and I owe it all to the gals at church!  The great thing is, is that if I wanted to change out the papers for certain seasons I could, or if I wanted black and white pictures for the backgrounds I could – so versatile.  I plan on writing each days dinner meal on that day, so we know going into the week what we are having.  I also have room to put down any special things for that day that might be happening!  You just write on it with dry erase marker and it wipes right off.  I hung mine with a 3M hook that can easily be removed, and it is hung right on the side of my refrigerator, facing the dining room, and on the way out to the mudroom/garage, so it’s in a great place for me to see it often!  I also love that it has 8 spots to fill – one I used for the general weekly info, and then one spot for each day of the week!

I hope this has inspired you to do a fun and simple craft like this that may help to organize your life some how!  I know I am so glad I saw the gals working on their frames at ladies night, that inspired me to create mine!

My take on Yarn Wreaths

Pinterest has definitely become a website I frequent!  I love pinning dinner ideas, craft ideas, dessert ideas, home ideas, etc…!  The fun thing about it is that it inspires me to try things I may have never thought to try, to create things I never thought I’d be able to create, and the best part is…I can gather all of those ideas on one site to reference back quickly!  One of the more recent things I have worked on are yarn wreaths.  So far I have made two of them, and love them both!  SO easy and I can make one for every season if I want!

The first one I made was grey, purple and cream.  I am not one for true Christmas colors like red and green, so this one to me was more my style and just “wintery” instead of Christmasy!

The second one I made is actually for our church’s Advent Art Show.  Participants are asked to submit art of any form, with the theme “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men” as the inspiration.  I chose to make a cream wreath with blue and pink felt flowers. 

My favorite wreath is definitely this second one, and I was a little sad to turn it in for the art show!  The pieces of art will be put on silent auction to benefit the organization Poetice International.  So, if you go to Faith Reformed in Zeeland, or if you just like the wreath or anything else you see here on the blog, feel free to bid in the silent auction at Faith in December!!!

 

Anyway…these wreaths are just fun and easy to make!  I think total cost for me per wreath was about $12-$15.  I have bought the green “flower decorating” foam wreaths at Michaels – $4.99 reg. price,  a skein of yarn for each – roughly $4-$5, the felt squares are about .30 cents per piece (I used 2 and three per wreath), and then the adornment pieces on the second wreath were .69 cents each.  Each one took a total time of about 1 hr.  Something you can sit and do while watching your favorite show!  Go ahead…give them a try!

 

Until Next Time,

MandaKay

I’m Here…and I’m bringin’ it!

Hello Hello!!! I’m so excited about the upcoming month or two!  Thanksgiving, Christmas, parties, family time, and I have a lot of blogging up my sleeve!  I’m ready to bring it!!!  Stay tuned in the coming weeks for some crafty stuff, some Christmas ideas, and maybe even a little Christmas gift for my faithful readers!!!  (Oh wait….I forgot to think of the fact that there may not be any faithful readers out there anymore for my blog!  Hahaha!) 

Anyway – you know I’ve got digital layouts to catch up on, so that’s what I am starting off with today.   Of course most of my pages are created using The-Lilypad goodies!  It’s my “digital home” and I just adore all the people that hang out there!  I have been a creative team member at the Lilypad for the whole time they were a store (like 4 or 5 years now I believe), and I am amazed daily by the designers and creative team there – such inspiring stuff!  It’s so easy and fun to work with their product!

So, don’t forget to stay tuned for a little more activity here on the blog coming up here!