Advent Activities - Picnicking

Atticus's picnic spread foreshadowed our own sunny day picnic adventure.  We even had a matching little blonde baby at ours :-).

Happy summer days...  And also - Garland's shorts by Croutons, and sweet bonnet by Heartfelt.  Best dressed (even if his tee-shirt is too small).

North Pole Breakfast...

Some snapshots from this years Kiddo Christmas party (last years one here).  Such a fun excuse to bring out some Christmassy goodies and use our favourite china (vintage Wedgewood).  Most of my party goods were bought or supplied by Pop Roc Parties who have continued to sponsor me with fun party items this year (yes, I do feel pretty lucky).  Specifically for this party, we were sent this beautiful Gold Spotted Bottle (there will be more of these in stock soon), which will be used on many occasions hereafter.  Also, these adorable vintage style serviettes, and these glittery rosette gift tags - love!  Pop Roc Parties continues to be my favourite party supplies store, all the sweetest things with which to celebrate occasions, and some seriously cute Christmas items.  Keep an eye out for future uses of the spotty bottle.  

For those interested, we served wholemeal 'Snowman' pancakes and milk, followed by ice-cream sundaes.  Children took home handmade (not by me) Christmas decorations.  Photos 4, 7 & 9 taken by the clever Miss Rosa-May.  Love yas.

Advent Crafting

Yes, I assisted with the gluing of facial features, and yes, I showed Eleanor a cool way to bend the pipe cleaners to make hair, but all that aside, look at what my clever children have made!

We had a morning of side-along crafting in prep for the Carnival (which was C-to-the-RAYZAY), and little Miss E swooped up a whopping four prizes for her entries.  She was pretty thrilled, even if she did think that the cupcake she had herself decorated was actually also her prize.  *Shrug*.  Don't mind if I pocket your cash then, Kid? JOKING!!! I let her spend it on horse-rides and crazy jelly glow rings :-D

Intermission:  Some flowers.  A beauteous arrangement, from a dear friend.  And also, stolen from my 'garden' (a prettyish kind of wilderness).

Annnnnnnnnnnyway.  I am quite besotted with these cards (middle by Garland, flanked by Eleanor's masterpieces), in a ridiculous 'it can't just be me that thinks these are amazing, it's not just because they're my kids, THESE CARDS ARE AMAZING!!  LOOK AT THEEEEEEEEM!'  

I assure you, should you step inside my home, I WILL force you to look at these cards, and you will be expected to wax lyrical.

And the grand finale:  A decorated bike.  Girlfriend will never lose her bicycle.  And in case you forgot, each of these Advent activities was foreshadowed by this guy...

Advent Wreath

We kinda missed day one of Advent, but made up for it with some fun crafting on day two.  I've had this DIY Paper Wreath by giddy giddy pinned for.ever, and it was very gratifying to finally make one.  Of course, Crafting Alongside is always super challenging, and I was working as quickly as my fingers could fly.  Still, by using that which was already on hand, this was an easy and cheap way to fill a morning with craft.  Nothing fancy, some colour to add to our festivities this year.  Was super cute watching Eleanor make hers.  I was actually pretty impressed at how well she went...

Not all of our Advent activities are craft/baking/making oriented, and many include activities that are common for us (play dates, ice-creams at the beach and so on), but the novelty of finding a note each morning and finding out what the activity will be... Well, fun for all of us.

This tiny wee wreath was a combined effort by Garland and myself.  He picked colours, I taped them on.  It will def be our Elf wreath.  Two birds.

Advent Activities...

I had so much fun last year, putting all these Advent Activities together.  Looking back though, I have NO idea where I found the energy...  Anyway, thought I'd share (re-hash) some of my favourite projects from the series.

Walnut Decorations

Decorated Christmas Drinks 1. & 2.

Chalkboard Painting:  Stones & Santa Plates

Pom Pom Decorations

Christmas Cracker Makeover

Snow Globe Cookies

Scallop Design Popcorn Bucket

Elf Treats: Striped Stockings, Elf books, Mini Pancakes

Kiddo Christmas Party

Mini Chocolate Wreaths

Snowmen Sandwiches

Check out the entire Christmas Advent Series here... Next up, Elf-ish Mischief.