the gifts are wrapped & the mantel is decorated with stockings hung & oh so festive looking (two stockings for each of our dogs – don’t get any ideas, people!). it’s that cozy time of year when we spend more of our time in than out.
as an adult, i’ve grown to love this time of year. as a farmer & farmer’s wife, i see my husband more. win, win.
perhaps i should have shared my thrifty advent calendar idea way back in november. but as it (always) goes, december 1st crept up on us & by december 4th i finally got the brilliant idea to whip this up.
it’s simple & cost me nothing. store this little idea away or heck! jump on the bandwagon & celebrate the last week before christmas with this fun idea.
i spent the late evening making this advent calendar with a hot cup of cocoa in hand. i glanced at our calendar for the month & wrote down meaningful activities for each day, including “eat chocolate!” & “buy a stranger coffee.”
we’ve loosely followed our calendar, allowing some traditions & moments to happen a little earlier or later than planned.
once you’ve written on all of your tags, attach them with ribbon or clothespins to a string. hang your string of tags in your family living space!
what are some fun advent activities you enjoy doing? how do you celebrate advent? i’d love to read!
love,
natalie
i am so excited to share with you a fun gift idea i put together for our dear friends with a little family of three!
we wanted to surprise our friends with a fun basket including ingredients for a meaningful evening together as a family during the holidays. i quickly thought of a holiday movie night basket!
here’s how i created this fun holiday movie night basket for just under $15!
to make your holiday movie basket, gather the following:
– popping corn (we buy ours in bulk so i just grabbed some from our pantry)
– special popcorn toppings
– fun bowls for popcorn
– cash ($3) for a redbox holiday movie
i wanted to personalize the cash instead of just randomly placing it in the basket so i printed off this fun redbox graphic. here’s the graphic you can easily print off for your basket. i wrapped the cash in festive paper & glued the redbox graphic to the front.
the cash is a fun way for the family to pick out a new holiday movie or a favorite that’s watched year after year!
i found the fun bowls at big lots for $6 & tied the stack with candy cane ribbon.
the kernel season’s toppings are from walmart for just under $3 each. there are a ton of toppings to choose from, but i went with the kettle corn flavor – my favorite!
optional: you could even include m&m’s or another chocolate treat in your basket for all of those chocolate lovers.
for the popcorn, i filled a clear bag with popcorn kernels & tied it with twine. this is the most economical option, but you could include microwaveable bags if you think it would be easier for the family.
i placed all of the goodies in a basket i already had on hand with happy polka dot tissue paper.
a tag & baker twine tassel made this little basket happy & festive just in time to surprise our dear friends for the holidays!
total cost:
$0 popcorn already from our pantry
$3 redbox movie
$6 toppings
$6 bowls
total: $15
i’d love to read your ideas for gifts for families! what gifts do you put together for the entire family to enjoy?
love,
natalie
p.s. last year i made a fun basket for a family with ingredients for making these clay ornaments! this is such a fun activity to do with the entire family!
hi, friends! we’ve pulled out all the plastic tubs full of festive goodies & thoughtfully arranged our home in a hodge podge of thrifted, yard sale, vintage & new christmas decorations.
we might not quite win any awards for our holiday home, but oh how it’s cozy & warm!
the farmhouse is festive, y’all!
i thought i’d show you just a little peek into our december home…
don’t mind if we stick all the clutter in a corner & oh! don’t trip on the plastic tubs still by the door.
we’re still growing rows of salad greens, lettuces & chinese cabbage in the garden, which means large dinner plate salads for lunch & dinner. my favorite meal in the wintertime. & oh! the homemade year by jerusalem greer is soo good. i can’t put it down.
she’s also an arkansas gal!
pssst! that mason jar tumbler by my dear friend erin of tweetpotatopie is amazing! i use it daily. enter “natalielove15” at checkout in her shop & receive 15% off your purchase of $10 or more!
i have been spending quite some time wrapping gifts to put under the christmas tree. i enjoy wrapping our gifts early so that it doesn’t seem so much like a chore. it also creates a season of anticipation that i just love.
my sweet nephew gets his own special wrapping paper this year! i picked it up at joann’s craft store for cheap, cheap, cheap. i purchased a small box of crayons & washi taped it to the wrap. i hope it will keep him busy until it’s his turn to unwrap his gifts!
the theme of this season is indeed hodge podge. there really isn’t a rhyme or reason to the way we decorate or approach the spaces within our home. we just decorate with what we love – a mix of handmade, vintage, rusty & thrifted.
our coffee station is always one of my favorite parts of our home. i always love having guests over who enjoy coffee, tea & hot chocolate just as much as we do.
i found the little elf at a recent craft fair. he’s just perfect & will serve as our elf on the shelf when we have littles. for now he watches & guards the caffeine.
& of course, our holiday farmhouse wouldn’t be quite festive without our thrifted wooden nativity set. one of the wise men flew the coop this year so we’ve replaced him with the shepard boy.
baby jesus is only getting two gifts from our house this year, y’all.
love,
natalie