Saturday, December 2, 2017

Countdown to Christmas 2017 - Day 2

Welcome to my Countdown to Christmas blog series.  Today's post is all about the kiddos.  We spend a lot of time over the holidays doing advent calendars and trying to manage expectations about how much parents can do while creating the magic of Christmas!  Each passing day makes the kids more excited and their mom more nervous about all the things left to do.

This year we decided not to wrap books for each day so that the kids would actually read them through December.  We decided not to do more candy in an advent calendar when we are still trying to get through Halloween tubs. We decided more little Tsum Tsum might just kill us and the vacuum this year.  So I decided to marry my planner and the countdown and came up with an envelope countdown that will keep the kids excited and mommy on track!

The idea is that you take your traditions (new and old and some you find on Pinterest from moms who are way more creative than you) and write them down on a 3 x 3 piece of cardstock. Use up your scraps here!  Then I layered a 3 x 3 piece of Be Merry DSP on the front of a 3 x 3 envelope (mine are vanilla since I was using up my past supplies but our white would work perfectly!)   I ran scraps of DSP through the Big Shot with the Large Number Framelits and layered on the front with adhesive.  Line them up in a cute little holiday box and you are good to go for the month!



The best thing about this list is that if something comes up (i.e. mommy forgets to buy the sale for the salt dough), I can just switch that out the night before with a different activity and they don't know to be disappointed!


Our McList for the year
  • Play Holiday "Would You Rather" as a Family
  • Read a Christmas Book Together as a Family in the Fort
  • Make treats for neighbors and deliver them
  • Make salt dough ornaments
  • Make scrap trees for the windows
  • Decorate Gingerbread Houses with Friends
  • Make holiday foam houses with Grammy
  • Call Grandparents and sing them a Christmas Carol
  • Enjoy Christmas Parties with classmates
  • Wrap Presents
  • Write Letters to Santa
  • Get your Picture Taken with Santa
  • Go see a Christmas Light Show in town (Scentsy or Garden aGlow)
  • Watch a Christmas Movie
  • Have a snowball fight
  • Play Magic Stocking
  • Make glitter snowflake ornaments
  • Make Pretzels
  • Do a Christmas Scavenger Hunt
  • Draw a picture of our favorite holiday tradition
  • Make sugar cookies
  • Make and address Christmas Cards
  • Pick out our favorite Christmas pictures
  • Read Twas the Night before Christmas in our Christmas PJs
  • Make sticky buns together and celebrate with family
During the countdown, I will be recording the individuals that comment on my posts.  On Christmas day, I will draw a name from those posts randomly and that person will get a surprise gift straight out of the Occasions Catalog.  Pretty sweet deal, eh?  Limit to one entry per day.


Paper Pumpkin is creativity in a box.  It costs $19.95 plus tax and ships to your mailbox once a month.  It contains everything you need for your own creative escape.  Besides the instructions and pieces for the cards or project, it also contains ink and photopolymer stamps and usually the adhesive you need as well.  My subscribers will also get a project sheet with tips and additional ideas and instructions that they can make with the supplies in the kits and sometimes some supplemental supplies.  Plus I try to send one of the alternative ideas out to everyone in the mail so you get two fun surprises in the mail each month!  Sign up by the 10th of the month to get that month's kit! 

There are two ways to sign up.  
Subscribers can also have access to all my past project sheets!


Our year end sale has begun and will last until January 2nd, 2018!  Products in the sale are while supplies last so if you have been holding out for things from the holiday catalog, make sure you get them before they are gone!

Check out the list of sale items via my Online Store and use hostess code WMP4FRM2 at checkout.



Have you heard about the Stamparatus?  It is an amazing position tool that will help you align your photopolymer and clearmount stamps for straight stamping every time.  Plus it will help you do mass production of cards like those you receive in Paper Pumpkin kits.  Our Stamparatus also operates on a hinge system so you can remove and reposition the entire grid.  For more information, watch this great video.

While these tools will be in the new 2018-2019 catalog, you can get yours earlier than that.  The reservation window for these tools opens on December 5th at 2pm MST and lasts until December 30th.  You reserve your tool but you aren't billed until yours is ready to ship.  Some will ship during Sale-a-Bration period (those that get theirs reserved first) and others will come after March 2018.  The cost is $49 (plus shipping/tax) and you can order yours by clicking my Shop Now button above as of 12/5 and clicking on the Stamparatus Reservation link on the top of the page.  Contact me with any questions!


Another great product is out from Stampin' Up! in time for Christmas and Sale-a-Bration.  Our Stampin' Blends are our new and improved alcohol markers that make for vivid images and are relaxing to use.  Check out more information on them here.

You can order them on my online store and they make a great stocking stuffer!  Please use hostess code WMP4FRM2 at checkout.


JOIN MY TEAM


Joining Stampin' Up! was one of the best decisions I've made in life.  I have met some wonderful people who offer incredible inspiration and I believe in the quality of the product. Plus there is always something special about making and receiving homemade cards or décor from people.

If you are interested in joining my team, contact me today or go here to sign up!  You can get $125 in free merchandise that you choose yourself for only $99 plus tax.  If you sign up in December, you can pre-order Occasions Catalog product with your starter kit which is a great deal!  

Being a demonstrator doesn’t mean you have to have parties – it means you can buy from yourself at a discount!  And if you don’t hit your minimums, there is no penalty!  Contact me today if you are interested in trying this out or sign up directly at https://ida.stampinup.com/en/?demoid=80380.

Have a craftastic day,
Stacy

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