Crocheted Stocking Gift Card Holder

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The beginning of a new month means time for a Team Creative Crafts Collaboration, and this month the theme is Handmade Gift Wrap. It is always kind of fun to have a specific theme that I am challenged to come up with a project for. 

Christmas and Winter Tumblers with Vinyl Decals

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A couple of weeks ago I was at Walmart and I saw some sets of color changing cups, both hot and cold cups, that I thought were cute colors. They were part of a fall/harvest line but I thought the colors would work well for Christmas or winter designs as well. There was one that is a dark orange color that was definitely more of a fall color and maybe a stretch for winter, but the others were pinks and green and would work well. I grabbed a pack of each, hot and cold, to use as blanks to add vinyl to as a Christmas project. 

Mossy Path Crocheted Hat in 9 Sizes

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 It is time for Christmas in July! Today I am participating in a Christmas in July Make Along with Underground Crafter. This month a bunch of bloggers are teaming up to bring you a full month of free patterns to help you kickstart your holiday making. Each week has a theme and this week is "Gifts for Anyone". And, if you join in the make along by making some of the projects we share you can enter to win some fun prizes at the end of the month. 

Crocheted Cotton Face Scrubbies

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12 Days of Crocheted Stocking Stuffers

DAY 2

It is the second day of the 12 Days of Crocheted Stocking Stuffers, 12 days where I will be sharing a new free crochet pattern every day for a small project that will fit in a stocking. The project for Day 2 is a set of puff stitch face scrubbies. If you missed Day 1 yesterday you can find the Quick & Easy Cowl HERE.

Merry Christmas Candy Favor Bags

Coloring Book Gift with Tags

-Books provided for review by Leisure Arts, all ideas and opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links-

Coloring books are fun for everyone, kids and adults, and they can make fun gifts for all ages and any occasion. I was recently sent a few coloring books and I thought it would be fun to put them together as little gifts.

Art Kit Gift Ideas for Kids

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Do you have little artist in your life? I have a few kids that really enjoy drawing. It has been something my youngest daughter has been really into lately. Like I mentioned in my Craft Kit post, we decided this year that we really wanted to try to give the kids gift that would encourage creativity and help them develop talents that they have. Knowing how much she enjoys art we thought an art kit would be the perfect gift.

Beginner Craft Kit Gift Idea

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My girls love to make things and be creative. As we were thinking about Christmas gifts this year we decided that we really wanted to focus on gifts that would allow our kids to be creative and develop their own talents, rather than just more toys to add to the toys we already have.

Christmas Candy Bottles

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As I was thinking about Christmas craft projects and ideas a couple of weeks ago I sat down and looked through some of my craft supplies to get some inspiration Sometimes looking through materials and supplies will spark an idea. It is one of my favorite ways to get project inspiration. Sometimes it will be a specific item that will give me an idea, sometimes the color of something, a material, or a combination of those. Sometimes when I feel like I have no creative ideas I like to go wander through a craft store and I am bound to find inspiration as I walk through the aisles.

Cricut Maker vs. Explore Air 2: All About the Adaptive Tool System

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I love using my Cricut, I had the Explore Air 2 before getting a Maker about a year ago. One of the questions I have heard a lot both in person and online is people wondering if the Maker is worth it, or how to know which machine to choose. The truth is they are both great machines, which one is right for you really depends on how you plan to use your Cricut. Today I am going to share a bit about why I love the Maker and share a project that I made that uses all of the tools currently available for the Maker's adaptive tool system.

Christmas in July: 20+ Free Christmas Crochet Patterns

I know July seems like it is way too early to be thinking about Christmas but I feel like whether it is decor or gifts, if I don't get an early start it doesn't get done. Every year it seems like in November I start thinking of all of the projects I want to make and then between my long list of projects and all of the parties and busyness of the season I end up working on them up to the last minute and still end up only finishing half of the things on my list. Plus some things you want to have ready before Christmas, like advent calendars and decorations, so you can put them out at the beginning of the season. In this post I am going to share some of my favorite 5 Little Monsters Christmas Crochet Patterns.

Feed the Hungry Christmas Stocking Service Project

Last year our family participated in Mormon.org's #LightTheWorld initiative and it was a lot of fun. One of the things we did last year was take hats to our local children's hospital. The kids really enjoyed it and as a result we were really excited to see that they were going to be doing it again this year.

Gift Ideas to Encourage Creativity in Kids

-Product for this post provided by LEGO. All ideas and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links-

I have been meaning to get this post up for a while and now Christmas is just around the corner. The last couple of years as it gets close to Christmas and I am thinking about the gifts I want to get for my kids I have felt like it was really important to find some gifts that did 2 things, first, did not use technology. I don' t have a problem with technology in general and I think that there are some great things that use it and even fit my second requirement, however my kids can be a little addicted and if I let them they will sit and play video games or watch YouTube videos of other kids playing video games (something that I do not understand at all) for hours. I feel like for my family it is important to find ways to unplug. Second, I feel like it is really important for me to find gifts that encourage creativity in my kids. Whether that be toys, games, books, or art and craft supplies I feel like it is really important to encourage kids to be creative. I thought I would compile a list of gift ideas that I think fill both requirements.

Hot Cocoa Crocheted Mug Cozy

-Compensation for this post provided by Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa as part of the Mom it Forward Influencer Network-

One of our family's favorite things as the weather starts to get cooler is a cup of hot chocolate. We especially love it around Christmas time. There is nothing better than going out to see Christmas light displays or playing in the snow and then warming up with a delicious cup of hot chocolate. Hot Cocoa also makes a great gift for neighbors, friends, or teachers. You can add in a mug or two and crochet some mug cozies to wrap around them.

Felt Gift Tags and Ornaments

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My family does an ornament exchange every Christmas as part of our family Christmas party. We all draw names and we have to get an ornament for that person. Most people buy the ornaments they give but I like to make most of the ones my family brings. This year I had plans to crochet most of our ornaments, I had specific things picked out for each person. We held our family Christmas party on Thanksgiving after dinner this year and I don't know why but November seemed to fly by this year. Maybe it was because Thanksgiving was so early this year. All I know is I had great plans and then all of the sudden it was the week of Thanksgiving and I had no ornaments made. I decided that there was no way I had time to crochet a bunch of ornaments, I needed to find something quicker. When I need a quick project I usually turn to my Cricut and this time was no different.

Sedge Stitch Stocking

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I love to try out new crochet stitches but I have also found that I have some favorites that I always come back to. One of those is the sedge stitch. I love the texture of it and although I think that the only thing I have shared on my blog, before today, that uses that stitch is a dishcloth pattern, I have used it for other projects too and I always love the look of it. I will have to share some of the other projects I have made with that stitch soon.

Christmas Bags and Family Parties

-Sponsored by Oriental Trading Company, all ideas and opinions are my own-

This time of year can be so crazy and busy with all of the things that are going on. There are school performances, work parties, church parties, parties with family and friends, presents to buy and wrap, and so much more. We have had most of our Christmas shopping done for a few weeks, all we had left to do was stocking stuffers and we are finally done with that too. We have had Christmas parties every weekend this month and on top of all of that we have had a nasty cold making its way through our family. As a result it is taking me so much longer than I planned to get posts up on my blog,  I have had this post and another almost ready to go for quite a while but having extra kids home from school makes it so much harder to get stuff done. Now it is almost Christmas, which I can't, believe and I am running out of time.

Thank You Cards and Hearts

This Christmas our family has been trying to focus on service and on Christ. We have been following along with the #LIGHTTheWORLD Initiative on Mormon.org and we have been trying to come up with ways that our family, including all of the little kids, can participate. I think one easy thing to do is to write a little thank you note to someone. There are always people you can thank for things, little or big, they have done for you. Even the kids that can't write yet can draw a picture to say thank you to someone.

Layered Paper Dinosaur Ornament

I have one last ornament to share from my family ornament exchange. My son Jak had one of his cousins, a boy who loves dinosaurs. Jak decided that he really wanted to make the ornament for his cousin and that it had to be a dinosaur ornament. We talked about a few different ideas and I showed him some things we could do. He really wanted to use my Cricut because I think he thinks it is pretty much magic, he thinks I can make anything with it.

DIY Pokemon Christmas Ornament

Like I mentioned in my previous post, each year my family does an ornament exchange. The ornaments don't have to be handmade but I think it is fun to make as many of them as I can. I made the crocheted owl ornaments for all of the girls that we had but I wanted to come up with some fun stuff for the boys too. One of my nephews is really into Pokemon so I came up with a really easy ornament for him and I thought I would share the idea here. When I think of Pokemon and something easy I immediately think of a Pokeball. It is pretty simple to turn anything round into a Pokeball.