Envelope Advent Calendar

 I love the month of December

The joy it brings, the family time, Christmas 

and all of the activities that lead up to the big day

I have loved counting down to Christmas since I was a little kid

and grew up with always having some sort of advent count down 

in my home from putting things, up to taking them down, to getting a treat each day

 so of course I have been wanting to make my own especially

 since I have a family of my own now 

I came up with this fun idea 

of using Library log envelopes and having some sort of Christmas

activity to do each day until Christmas 

with also a little treat inside 

The Supplies:

-25 Library envelopes (I got mine from my mom 

but they have them at teacher supply stores)

-Scrapbook paper (mixed colors and patterns)

-distress ink

-mod podge

-glue stick

-twine

- 25 mini clothes pins

-Any embellishments you choose 

I used bingo numbers, washi tape, bells, and bakers twine

How to make it:

 First I got this super cute paper the company is Snap and I got it from

 the wood connection here in Salt lake 

and it had numbers 1-25 in these cute different colored and designed squares 

so I cute each square out 

and distressed around the edges with my ink 

You can skip this step but I love the way it looks 

 Next I cut out the patterned scrap book paper and I cut out 

different colors and patterns until I got 25

I wanted these to be just slightly smaller than the envelopes 

so I cut them 3 1/4 inches by 3 1/2 inches

Then I distressed these bad boys too 

Next I cut out 25 more patterned paper rectangles to fit into the envelopes 

for the activities to be glued onto 

I cut them 3 1/4 by 4 1/4 inches 

and distressed them of course

you know the routine :)

 After distressing both the scrap book paper and the number square 

I let them dry for a little bit

then I glues each of the numbers onto a patterned paper

and then I went over them with mod podge 

because the ink was rubbing off so this way the ink stayed on and 

didn't get all over everything or smudge 

After the mod podge was dry I glued each number and patterned paper

combo onto an envelope and started embellishing them

I used bakers twine, bingo numbers, stamps, washi tape

 and bells making each a little different 

Then I got my calendar and put my thinking cap on 

got with my hubby and we made a list of activities we wanted to 

do this month in the spirit of Christmas 

I typed them up and printed them off onto card stock

I have a list of the ideas that I used for this month on the bottom of the post

I cut them into 2 by 2 inch squares

distressed them of course mod podged over them 

and glued them onto  the bigger patterned paper to go into the envelopes 

 After they were dry I put each activity on the days that we would be 

doing them and the hung them up on the wall

with twine, nails, washi tape (for look) and hung each envelope up 

with the little baby clothes pins 

 After it was all hung up I felt  like it still needed a little something

so I cut out some vinyl to say

Count down to Christmas 

and put it up on my wall in the empty space

I feel like that finished it off nicely 

 Now starting tomorrow, the first, and each day after

we will have Maddux pull out the card

 to tell up what activity we are doing that day 

we will do the activity some time that day and there will be a treat for that day as well

 I love how it turned out

It was fun to make 

It will be fun for our family to do the activities together

and it is a fun piece of decor 

My list of Activity Ideas:

-Go to See the zoo lights

-Write a Letter to Santa

-Decorate the Tree

-Make and Decorate sugar cookies

-Read a Christmas story book

-Watch a Christmas movie

-Listen and dance to Christmas music

-Do a Christmas craft

-Enjoy neighborhood Christmas lights

-Hot chocolate and donuts

-Wrap the gifts

-Send out Christmas cards

-Visit Santa

-Deliver neighbor treats

-The Polar Express Experience

-Make Grandmas and Grandpas a card

-Ward Christmas party

-Christmas sing along

-Lesson on the real meaning of Christmas

-Peppermint ice cream

-Donate a toy to a child In need  or

Donate to KSLs Quarters for Christmas

-Go to the Temple Square lights

-Do a Nativity Scene

-Do a random Act of service

-Christmas Celebration!!!

 

My advent Calendar is link up HERE:

Snap, Organize and Decorate Everything,

Sew Much Ado, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts,

Lil Luna, Sugar and Dots, Southern Lovely, Rolled up Pretty,

  House of Hepworths, Shabby Creek Cottage,

Two Yellow Birds Decor, Somewhat Simple, 

 The Shabby Nest ,Chic on a Shoestring Decorating,

 Tatertots and Jello, Whipperberry, Fingerprints on the fridge, 

 Nap time Crafters, Funky Junk, Be Different Act Normal,

 Six Sister's Stuff, Craft Envy,  Classy Clutter,

 Under the table and Dreaming,  I Heart Naptime,

Flamingo Toes, Raising Memories, NiftyThrifty Things, 

 Keeping it Simple, Craft O Maniac, Vintage Wanna Bee, 

 I'm Topsy Turvy,   Me and My Boys, Adventures of a DIY mom,

Get excited because Monday Dec 10th is the big day for the start of the

BIG 500 Followers CELEBRATION GIVEAWAYS!!!!!

And don't forget about the Shutterfly $50 giveaway going on right now
just click HERE to go and enter 

Thank you for reading, for your support and for following

Undone

Today I want to introduce you to another blog that I am apart of 

Undone: The Real Life of Young Moms 

There are four of us: Hailey, Kati, Me and Tiff 

and we are moms 

We all went to high school together

 You wouldn't have known it though, because we didn't really hang out together

Fast forward a few years later and Facebook brought us all together

 After chatting a bunch we realized we all have the same frustrations,

  joys and experiences  with motherhood, husbands, fashion, etc. 

And we thought surely other moms must feel the same way, 

so we decided to make this blog dedicated to moms just like us

 

  For us motherhood is amazing, we like to craft, and cook occasionally,

 but our life is also messy, dirty, crazy, loud, and beautiful 

 We love sharing the beauty in pictures of our spotless houses, perfect hair, 

and gorgeous wardrobe, but those days are few and far between

 On the Undone blog, you will see what motherhood REALLY looks like

 Uncut, raw, messy, and wonderful motherhood

 

On our blog you will find 4 main categories 

Roll Call, Frequent Frustrations, Daily Diaries and Practicing pinterest 

 

Our Roll Call posts are up every Monday

Once a week one of us will randomly send out a roll call text to the 

other undone ladies and when you get the text you have to take 

A picture of you and your outfit at that very moment

This way we get real mom fashion

What we look like at 9:00pm, 2:00 pm, 10:00 am 

all different times of the day all days of the week 

We then have each of our outfits from that time, that day 

and what we were up to when the roll call text came to us 

Frequent Frustrations are just that

The things that frustrate us as wives and mothers 

dirty clothes on the floor, bedtime melt downs, kids not eating, 

snoring husbands, grocery stores being out of our favorite item, 

kids climbing out of their cribs, trying to be fashionable

 and getting all our mom duties done, being tired all the time

potty training and so on

But our blog is not all the about the frustrations we also like to 

share with you our joys, the funny things our kids say, brag about our husbands, 

brag about our cute kids, crafting, getting personal, our accomplishments,

 tips and so much more in our daily diaries 

We, like most moms, love pinterest

We like to try it out and let you know what has worked for us, 

our favorite pinterest finds that we have tried, and 

pinterest fails

We are moms

We are real

We have frustrations

We are learning

We are teachers

We are nurturers

We are growing

We are raising our children the best we can

Our kids are our world

Come be apart of our mom community and check us out 

Come and follow us, like us and chat with us and get to know us

You can find us on:

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Don't forget to Follow this Blog 

A mommy's life...with a touch of Yellow 

via GFC over on my right side bar

I have a super exciting Big Giveaway coming us to 

Celebrate hitting 500 followers 

Thank you for reading, following and for your support

Feeling Blessed

Happy Thanksgiving! So of course this time of year 

gets me thinking of what I am thankful for and all the blessings in my life

I am so thankful that I have a hard working husband

 I am thankful that he works so hard in school 

and is getting such a good degree in something he loves 

so that he is able to provide for our family 

and I am able to stay home with these two adorable little boys

 

 I truly feel so blessed to be their mom

I don't feel like I deserve these amazing babies

They have taught me so much and their spirit is truly amazing

I want to be the mom they deserve As hard as it is sometimes to be a mom, 

as crazy as it can get, as exhausting and unglamorous it can be at times, 

I would not trade those moments for anything in the world because one smile, 

thank you, kiss or hug from these two makes everything worth it

Makes all the worry, craziness, and hard times worth it, 

because there are way more good times than hard times

 There are more smiles than tears

 I love to watch them learn, I love to see them interact with their friends, 

with each other I love the innocence and unselfishness of my little ones

So yes, I am feeling very thankful

Thankful for my life, for my husband, for my boys, 

for the chance to carry and raise my babies, 

for the chance to learn and grow, for the chance to stay home 

with them and not miss a thing

I feel blessed. I feel thankful. I feel love. 

And I am wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving

I hope you will sit down and really think of the things you are thankful for in your life,

 reflect on your blessings, and let those in your life know how 

much you love and appreciate them this Thanksgiving and holiday season

Halloween 2012

Halloween is one of my very favorite Holidays 

I love the dressing up (I make Ty dress up with me every year)

I love passing out candy, Halloween parties, the treats, seeing my adorable

boys in their costumes and of course taking them trick or treating

This year was so much fun and not to mention the amazingly nice weather we had 

Maddux is obsessed with Toy story so naturally he wanted to be woody

which meant Holden just HAD to be Buzz right?!

so then we might as well make a theme of it 

So Ty and I were Barbie and Ken

(Ty is such a trooper)

Toy Story 3 Characters 

This is us all dressed up for our wards Trunk or treat 

the weekend before Halloween 

It was fun full of food, games for the kids and trunks decorated 

for trunk or treating 

My outfit was so fun to put together

I got the matching shirt and leggings to look like a one piece from 

Wet Seal for only $6 each, then I got the belt and Shoes from the DI for super cheap

they were originally white and I spray painted them pink 

then the leg warmers are actually just socks that I cut to make look like leg warmers 

Then to complete the outfit I have a pink ribbon in my hair 

Pretty good for putting it together myself 

Id say 

Ty's outfit was easy, he already had the shorts, shoes and sunglasses

I got the shirt at DI for $5 and just a piece of material to look like an Ascot 

The Ascot made the outfit 

and In my barbie voice I often repeated to Ty

"Nice Ascot" :)

Holden as the most adorable Buzz you have ever seen

And Maddux as my studly Woody 

Maddux and Holden's costumes are actually PJs from the Disney store

and now that Halloween is over they LOVE to wear them to bed 

For Maddux we had him wear jeans instead of the PJ bottoms 

and he got the boots and hat from is Grandma and Grandpa 

for his birthday earlier in the year

The Saturday before Halloween I did a fun 5k race called running Scared 

it was fun because they encouraged you to dress up and the weather was so nice

I was 3rd in my age group and I finished the 5k in 29:06 which I felt pretty good about 

since I didn't even train for it

You can read more about the race HERE

The Monday before Halloween we went to Ty's aunts house and 

had a little pumpkin craving party filled with soup, corn bread, ice cream 

and lots of pumpkin carving 

My little sweet Holden was just loving life watching all of us 

Dave and Julie at work 

Holden tryin out some ice cream 

Our pumpkins this year

Top left: Me-Cinderella

Top Right: Ty- Buzz and Woody

Bottom left: Me- A pirate "Ar Maity" for Maddux

Bottom right: Ty- For Holden bug

All that excitement from the party wore this little man out

Aren't those skeleton pjs so cute

Halloween Night we headed down to my parents house

so that Maddux could trick or treat with my little brothers and his cousins

checkin out his candies 

so exciting 

It just wouldn't be Halloween without a Zombie right?

yeah this guy was just on the side of the road and 

I made Ty drive back around the block so that I could snap a quick picture of him

Speaking of Zombies we started watching the Walking Dead on Netflix

we just finished the 2nd season

Wow it is crazy?

Do any of you watch it

It gives me so much anxiety but it is so addicting at the same time

I totally recommend it