Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls

Our Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls were delicious! 

Just added a little green food coloring to the icing and melted a little chocolate (kisses) on one cinnamon roll for the "trunk" - then sprinkled with red sugar sprinkles!

It was so festive and fun!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 13

Jingles, our elf, snuggling with his friends - Santa and Frosty - reading a Christmas book. This one was easy and fun. The blanket is a cloth napkin and they are sitting in a little decorative bench.

 Jackson liked that they were so cozy and of course wanted to read his Christmas book and all his other Christmas books as well. I think he's getting to love Christmas as much as I do. :)

Elf on the Shelf: Day 12

Jingles, our elf, decided to play dominoes with Santa and Frosty the Snowman last night! They were playing the miniature set of dominoes and eating sprinkles and mini marshmallow bits for snacks. Jingles is having way too much fun while we're asleep!

Jackson adored this! He loved the tiny (travel) dominoes so much he insisted on having them next to him while he ate dinner and cried when I said we needed to put them away.

Mommy decided to play with this idea and took some secret pictures of what these guys were playing earlier.... poker! It was a lot of fun making these cards from index cards - I just cut them up and wrote the A, 2, 3, 4 with red and black sharpie pens. The "poker chips" are from a mini connect-four game (that was the inspiration - I thought they look like mini poker chips). I had so much fun with this one!!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 11

Jingles, our elf, riding his chopper in style ~ and he brought a shirt with a motorcycle-riding Santa on it!

Our elf is as much of a motorcycle-lover as my son, apparently! JJ LOVED this one! (and so did Mommy - I couldn't believe I found that Santa shirt at a second-hand kids store for $3.00)

Elf on the Shelf: Day 10

Look who we found sleeping in a shoe-box lid this morning! Jingles found himself a pillow and a blankie as well as a teddy bear to sleep with. Awwww.... 

He also sleeps with a candy cane, of course!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 9

Jingles hitched a ride on the mini sleigh and brought a elf-sized candy cane! 

He also found a mini scarf from a teddy bear and must have worn it on his trip to the North Pole last night. What a cutie!

JJ was thrilled with the "tiny cane" as he called it and, of course, wanted to eat it for breakfast.

Elf on the Shelf: Day 8

Jingles turned the milk GREEN! 

This picture didn't turn out that great but the milk was really green! 

JJ loved this so much he kept asking for the magic elf milk all day!

So much fun.

Elf on the Shelf: Day 7

Jingles, the pirate elf, brought JJ a SKULL RING today! 

Best  day yet!

Jingles, taking a ride on JJ's pirate ship!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 6

Elf drag racing Elmo. Things must have got crazy last night!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 5

Our elf was caught with JJ's play ice cream cone in the freezer! 

He also brought some real ice cream for a treat! 

Elf on the Shelf: Day 4

Jingles, our elf, decided to sleep in the pretend Santa's Workshop for the night. Poor guy must be missing the North Pole!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 3

Jingles rode Rudolf last night and brought a treat!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 2

Our elf, Jingles, grabbed all the candy canes and was hiding in the Christmas tree! 

Elf on the Shelf Arrives!

ELF ON THE SHELF - DAY ONE!

Our elf, Jingles, came last night and brought his "Elf on the Shelf" book along with "A Christmas Story" - a board book about the origins of Christmas and  how it is about the birth of Jesus. He also made a lego chair and held baby Jesus!

All of this was a little hard to explain to a 2 year old, but I think he got the gist of it. In simple terms the book explains that Jesus was born on Christmas and that we celebrate his birthday and give each other gifts (like the wise men brought Him gifts) because we love each other. Elf book explains that Jingles will watch us to see if we are being good or bad and report back to Santa. JJ had me read it 3 times in a row! Elf on the Shelf is a hit already! So much fun! :)

JJ playing with the nativity set and loving it! He loved that the elf made a lego chair and said "that's so funny!"

Button Ornament Tutorial

Button Christmas Ornament

I have wanted to make one of these ornaments all year long! I love buttons and have quite a collection of vintage and brand-new colorful buttons. However, do not fear if you are not a collector, craft stores have an amazing selection of buttons and even have whole bags of Christmas colors! I made this ornament in 20 minutes - so it is quick and easy - a great DIY gift or decoration for your tree!

The Materials:

-Foam balls 

-push pins (pearlized shown here)

-colorful buttons of varying sizes (you'll need small ones to help cover the spots in between the larger buttons)

-string or ribbon

Step 1

Push a pin through one of the button holes, 1 pin per button, layering so there is little to no space between the buttons

Step 2

Continue adding buttons in varying sizes and colors to your liking...

It doesn't have to be perfect, once you hang it up you won't be able to see the spaces in between  - just do the best you can, you can always take out the pins and rearrange the buttons. That's the best thing about this project, it isn't permanent!

Step 3

Tie a ribbon or string (I used some thick embroidery thread) onto the top of one of the pins securely, tie the other end (here I tied it in a bow) and push the pin into the top between a few of the buttons where the sides show off the best of  your chosen buttons!

Here is a picture of the finished ornament and the left over supplies I am going to use for more ornaments or a Button Christmas Tree using a foam cone! (I'll post pictures if I make that). Also, I used approximately 1 package of  push pins per ornament but I like to use many small buttons on them - so that might be just me. :)

Happy Holidays and Happy crafting!

Amy

UPDATE:

Made a Christmas Tree from a foam cone and wanted to share this as well! Same concept and supplies just pinned the buttons around the cone instead. Tip: Be careful to pin at a downward angle towards the top of the cone so the pins do not come out the other side!

I think I love it even more than the ornament!

Keeping it together

Trying to keep all the crazy contained... but sometimes it slips through the cracks! :)