Holiday Crafting

Before Thanksgiving sneaks up on me, I wanted to share some holiday craft projects.  

1.  Happy Thanksgiving Banner.

I made this beast using my trusty Cricut.  I cut the leaves from the "Feels Like Autumn" set at Lettering Delights.   The turkey is from the Create A Critter Cricut Cartridge.  To tie the banner together, I used some pretty bakers twine.  Here are some close-up photos.

The banner is hanging up in the living room.  Every time Charlotte sees it, she says "happy" and giggles at the turkey.  That alone makes this project worth it.

2.  Paper Pumpkin

I made this paper pumpkin just a few minutes ago using the "Threaded Pumpkin" file from Lettering Delights.  I didn't have the energy to scrapbook a layout but wanted to do some crafting before.  I'm sure Charlotte will tear it apart as soon as she sees it in the morning.  But I think it's pretty cute.

3.  Muffin Tin Advent Calendar

I've been wanting to make a muffin tin advent calendar since last year and I was shocked at how quick and easy it was to make.  First, cut out 24 squares in a solid colored cardstock that are 2.25 inches square.  Second, cut out 24 squares in a patterned paper that are 2 inches square.  

Paste the patterned paper onto the solid cardstock.  Embellish as you please.  Since I used papers and embellishments from the Imaginisce Little Helper collection, putting everything together was so simple. 

Finally, add adhesive magnetic strips (you can get them from Walmart or Michaels) and voila, a super cute and easy advent calendar! 

I'm planning to write out a Christmas/ Holiday activities for our family to do each day.  Hopefully this becomes a time honored family tradition.

4.  Snowflake Birthday Banner

And finally, here is a birthday banner I made for a friend.  Her daughter is turning one in early December and the party theme is snowflakes!

Hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for Thanksgiving!!  We're heading down to New Haven tomorrow for the Yale-Harvard game.  Not sure if we'll actually watch the football game but I'm sure we'll stumble onto a tailgate or two!

Boola Boola!

Happy {Belated} Halloween!

Despite the cold weather and unfamiliar surroundings, we were still able to get our act together and take Charlotte out trick-or-treating.  Thanks to Wal-Mart (one of these days, I swear I'll actually make her costume...), Charlotte dressed up as a little bumble bee.

We first took her to Washington Square in historic downtown Newport.  A lot of the local shops were handing candy out to the kiddies.  It only took Charlotte a few try before she understood that these absolute strangers would give her candy...

Afterwards, we drove over to Fort Adams to trick-or-treat around the base housing.  There were SO MANY kids there and everyone (even the parents) were all dressed up for the fun.  Justin and I, however, did not dress up.  But here are some photos of us with our little bumble bee. 

And finally, since we're on the subject of Halloween, I wanted to quickly share the story of Charlotte's first jack-o-lantern.  (We sadly never got around to carving one last Halloween.)

A few days ago, we visited the Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown, RI with our dear family friend, Mrs. Polnasek. 

She used to work on the farm for many years and let me tell you, this place is adorable!  The store sells the most amazing gourmet food and sweets.  The farm grounds itself were also nice (although most of the pumpkins were already picked by the time we got there).  Regardless, Charlotte persevered and found two perfect pumpkins.

Much like what we did with the supermarket mini pumpkins, Charlotte painted the smaller of the two pumpkins. 

Justin carved the larger pumpkin.  Notice how skilled his pumpkin carving skills are.  :)

 
And after all was said and done, here are all the pumpkins. 

Hope everyone had a fantastic and safe Halloween!!!