a very thrifty christmas

Today, I am happy to share with you my first super fun swap I just participated in! Fellow mama blogger over at Lara's Vintage hosted this sweet, thrifty swap. The only thing I had to do was sign up and wait to be assigned my partner. Easy as pie.  The gifts were to be thrifted, So the search was one...yardsale, thrift stores, estate sales, and places of the like. The limit was $25, including shipping. I was given Laura for my partner . I checked out her blog, and found her to be the most interesting and sweetest little college girl AND an avid thrifter. I had a lot of fun searching for special gifts that she would adore.  While I was doing this for her, she was out doing the same for me. Today my box arrived with great stuff for both myself and Logan. 

I loved, loved, loved that she thought of Lo-- Logan loved that she thought of her too! She ripped right into her presents. Logan is very into little play things and dolls. So the little doll Laura picked out for her was p e r f e c t. The hair bands were as well. She put both of them to use immediately.

 

Another part of the gift both Logan AND Scott enjoyed was the little treats Laura sent. I loved the message she wrote on the bag. It made me laugh. If you can't see it, it says: "Don't worry, the candy is not second-hand. My Dad works @ Reese's." Haha

Laura also sent me a few pieces of jewelry. All of the pieces are stylish and in excellent shape. I love the earrings. I wear pearl earrings everyday, they are my favorite. So these were perfect!:]

Laura also sent me a very classic brown purse that is so cute and will go with a lot. I am very excited to use these items. Thank you so much Laura. I was happy to be a part of this swap and glad to experience it with you! ALso, big thanks to Laura's Vintage for hosting! :] I hope that everyone enjoys their gifts as much as Lo and I enjoyed ours.  Merry Christmas!

move over, gingerbread houses

...and hello Christmas tree cones. These cute little christmas trees have been popping up on pinterest left and right. Here and here were our inspiration.  As soon as I saw them, I knew they would be perfect for a Sunday afternoon kitchen activity. Basically, every time I try my hand at assembling a gingerbread house, I fail. Epically. Most likely the result of not waiting long enough for the structure to dry. But seriously, who has time to wait? Especially when working with kids. Not me. So when I saw these, I knew it was meant to be.  No assembly required, no waiting, and same end result [pretty much.] Match made in heaven.

For our "decoration" supplies we used what we had on hand and picked up a few other items to cater to our specific likes. I do not recommend the skittles, as they were a little too heavy and most of the time slid down the side. Everything else worked perfectly. Not pictured are the sprinkles we had on hand [gold and green.]

  

This activity was a total crowd pleaser. My mom, brother, nephews, and myself all enjoyed decorating, just as much [questionably more so] as Logan did :]

We used food coloring to make different color trees. The pink was my favorite.

         

 Logan mostly ate as she decorated. It's safe to say for every one M&M on her tree, she put two in her mouth. Haha. This girl loves chocolate. So does her daddy. In fact, he ended up joining in the fun..and helping Lo finish off the M&Ms.

have yourself a merry little christmas

I cannot believe that Christmas is in two weeks...two weeks that will be here in a blink of an eye. I still have so very much to do-- send out cards, wrap presents, bake holiday treats, and more shopping. We are filled to the brim with all things holiday, and life is wonderful. We get a little slice of Christmas every day [courtesy of our advent Christmas countdown here.] Today's gift was a new Santa coloring book and a box of crayons. Lo was very excited. Wise girl. Seriously...what's better than a new coloring book and fresh box of crayons?! Life is simple over here, and despite all of the hustle and bustle of the season, our hearts are light.  Happy Holidays! :]

dear santa, please don't take this personally

This year Logan is asking mommy for presents in hopes that she won't have to talk to-- or even talk about for that matter, the big man in red. 

Clearly, she is not a fan. Not at all... 

Her plan was, and still is, to avoid him at all costs. This includes: not welcoming him into our house Christmas Eve while we are sleeping to deliver presents. 

This girl means business. 

Initially, she was insistent on receiving no presents, so long as it meant, Santa's sleigh would not land on our roof. That "no presents" thing changed quickly once she realized that Santa wasn't the only one who could buy presents. She also noted that Santa wasn't the only one who could wrap presents, and that he certainly wasn't the only one who could place presents under the tree. 

This girl is smart. 
Too smart.

She may be afraid and lack any courage when it comes to facing Santa and his big white beard, but she has logic. No doubt. 

Despite her wishes, Santa will still be delivering presents this year. She'll thank me when she is older. [Right?] Positive reinforcement?? I think so! I hope so.... 

thrift finds

So we've been doing a lot of thrifting around here these days. It is such fun! And because we have had such luck with our finds, i'm motivated to do it some more.

Here are our recent finds:

A sweater for me :] My new fav!// Lo's new "grunge shirt." It is a boys shirt, but it looks adorable on her. We're trendsetters too, these days.// A shirt for me. Double :]// Baby carriage for Lo. After a coat of spray paint, some new lace-- and we got ourselves a Christmas gift! Swoon!// I also found these vintage Christmas pencils. They are not in the greatest of shape, but the price was next to nothing and they were way too cute to leave there. And...they work!// "House plants" for Lo's doll house. The perfect addition!// Winter hat for Lo. So cute. Looks adorable on..but of course she wouldn't pose for a picture in it.// And our last find was that  gorgeous old school blouse which we are going to try to work into our Christmas attire...somehow.// 

Along with these, Lo has become a pro at rummaging through the junk to find the perfect toys to add to her collection.

life truly is an adventure

Photobucket currently has a "Life's an Adventure" Story Contest going on that I just could not help but submit a story in. I wanted to try out their story feature anyway, so this was just a little motivation for me. It's very basic and pretty simple, and such a wonderful way to save and share, well...stories! So since the theme is Adventure [any kind,] I figured what greater adventure than growing up. My story inspiration stems from the fact that Logan is very, very close to outgrowing the "months" age. Typically, people stop referring to kids ages in months at 36 months, which Logan will be in February. Gahh! Time p l e a s e slow down. Just a little! I can't believe 3 already... So as you can imagine for a mother of an almost three year old, this was such a fun project for me to stroll down memory lane and look at all of Lo's baby-baby pictures. She was he cutest little darn thing, ever. So anyway, my hopes of winning this competition aren't very high, but it would be nice. Especially, since my recent reality check with my student loan debt. Ugh! Check out our story HERE and let me know what you think. "LIKE" it if you do. I would grately appreciate it. Your vote would heighten my 'social engagement' score and only make my story that more appealing to the actual judges. No pressure! :] Try to make one of your own HERE if you feel motivated or inspired, like I myself did. If you do, please let me know, so I can visit your story in return.

IMPORTANT: You have to click "LIKE" on the top right of my story ON Photobucket in order to submit your vote. Thanks so much!!  Contest ends this Sunday, December 9th!

ready for the first

I wanted to start a Christmas tradition for Logan that would allow for her to better understand the true meaning of Christmas-- as much as an almost three year old can. One where she could take in all the fun and beauty that the month of December holds. A means for her to be creative, giving, and thoughtful of others. I had a few ideas in mind, but couldn't decide exactly which route I wanted to take. So with a little research [thank you pinterest and blog world] I found something pretty exact to my vision here.

Starting December 1st, each day Logan will have a "gift" to open as we count down the days till Christmas. Gifts include both new and used items, crafts to complete, and things to go out and do in the community. 

Gifts

-A trip to go see Santa 

-Materials for homemade gifts

-Ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies for friends

-Holiday Books

-A trip to the light show

-Tin-can craft and a wooden ornament to paint

-Christmas movies

-A trip to the store to buy our yearly ornament.

-Supplies to make Reindeer food

-Santa candy-- Pez

-A new christmas coloring book and crayons

-A trip to 'Color Me Mine' to paint a gift for Grammy

 We tried to plan her gifts according to our schedule and by what we had planned for the days so far. So, since we are going to NYC on the 9th, we made that her gift then. 'The Night Before Christmas' book, we have her opening [wait for it...wait for it...] the night before Christmas :D We got her a Santa grass pet similar to this, which will be her first gift. We hope he will have "hair" by Christmas. Fingers crossed! 

We're storing the gifts in our cedar chest to avoid temptation. Logan is on the cusp of age that this concept ideally is comprehensible for. Although Lo seems to understand the concept thus far, I think this idea will be more of an actual learning experience when she is a little older. But still, we will absolutely take everything possible from this experience for sure. I am hopeful and excited. 

We are all excited. Excited to be making sweet family traditions. Excited for Christmas. And, excited for the new year.

I hope to post about theses gifts more in depth of how they worked out :]