Who who loves Christmas?

I always buy the Martha Stewart Holiday special edition. Always. This year, I also purchased the Woman's Day Best Ideas for Christmas special edition. Mostly because several people I read were featured in the Make it Simple section. Yea them!

Flipping through I found lots of other inspiration for the holidays. Once I saw the owl on page 56, I knew I had to make some. Originally, I planned to make a garland for the mantle to decorate for Thanksgiving. But I blew that deadline. Now, they'll be ornaments and gift tags for special folks. Chris dubbed them Christmas owls anyway.

I took this ...

And turned it into ...

I'd link to the instructions but Woman's Day has not posted them. It's pretty cut and dry. I didn't use the template in the magazine but free-handed all the cuts. I used a hot glue gun to attach the felt pieces to burlap. Finished product seemed a little flimsy so I glued another oval of burlap to the back, putting ribbon between the layers to make a hanger. 

Would you like one? Make a comment by Friday and I'll send out three randomly. 

Get your CRAFT on! with Today's Creative Blog

Christmastime is here

Do you do an Advent calendar? I find that it's one way to stem the tide of "Is it Christmas yet?" and "When is Santa coming?" Time is a hard concept to learn so having something to touch is helpful for the kids.

This year I wanted to make a Advent calendar beyond the paper chain/paper windows (though we have three paper window versions that will also be enjoyed.) There are so many good ideas out there. Here's what I've seen:

Kelly of Design Crush featured this one from Etsy in her Advent calendar roundup. It sold but you can certainly find all kinds of box templates online for free. Just print, fold and fill. 

The Crafty Crow did an amazing Advent calendar roundup. I especially liked above from Fuse Interiors and below from Craftastica.

Kodak has the template and instructions for making an advent calendar with your own pictures. Would be nice to do if you are traveling to see distant relatives that your kids may not know/remember from last year. Each day when you open a window you could talk about that person. 

Jill at Homemade by Jill is making this amazing tree. Each day her children will be able to hang a felt ornament on the buttons. I find her so super impressive!

I saw these fun trees in the Woman's Day Best Ideas for Christmas special issue. (Got it and Martha's Holiday special issue. Good stuff.) I think they would look great on my mantle and treats would be easy to hide underneath. Woman's Day asked several well-known internet crafters to contribute ...  ChezBeeperBebe may be my new favorite Web site. 

At some point I considered making any one of the calendars featured here. 

Do you wonder which one I decided to make?

A string of lights! Found on Elsie Marley. I only have two sockets made so I best get to work!

One scoop or two?

Here's a picture of last night's sunset. 

Doesn't it look like Neapolitan ice cream? See the three layers?

(Finding the beauty in the everyday things keeps me sane.) 

Happy weekend!