Merry Christmas!

Hey friends! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas!  Did you get all you asked for on your Christmas list? Did your kids catch Santa this year? 
Anyway, remember the reason we celebrate the day, Jesus was born to save us. Isn't that the best Christmas gift ever? This past Sunday my Pastor said "We celebrate the day, not the date." How true is that? 

This Christmas I was able to see all my family (that lives in the same state). It was a busy, crazy, memorable, fun day. I actually slept in the latest I ever have on Christmas morning. Eight o'clock! Then I had Christmas with my dad until about mid-day and had Christmas with my mom. Yes, I got a lot of presents. I also spent a lot of time with my family, which was great! I'm blessed to have such an amazing family. 

 Did you do Elf on the Shelf? See ideas like this and more at Just a Little Creativity!

 The priceless "Oh my gosh!" face.

Merry Christmas once again everyone! Please share your Christmas story in the comments below, or link up your Christmas post here. 
Can't wait to hear them!

{Free Social Media Blog Buttons} Christmas Santa Hats

Here are some Christmas buttons I made that you can enjoy! Please let me know if you use them so I can hop on over and see! If you do use them, please place the button on the bottom of this post on your blog.
If you like these, check out some other ones I've made on my Free Buttons page!

<a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhiteBlogger.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Blogger"></a>

<a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhiteEmail.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Email"></a>

                                                                                                                    <a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhiteEtsy.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Etsy"></a>

<a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhiteFacebook.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Facebook"></a> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0YZD7w9WNmMTJXms_tpm_WHDGUMEm0ZQCnNPHw7gOmto_KvkPNfRoFUzMMXPj_6iNXe11YUiut7DF5STHZx1ZEvDKB2UuyNp4u-ic_deFk_RA7x-GDJEeeBW-YNDQ4GXjPGRW8kp1R-M/s1600/Santa+Hat+%2528White%2529+Google+%252B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0YZD7w9WNmMTJXms_tpm_WHDGUMEm0ZQCnNPHw7gOmto_KvkPNfRoFUzMMXPj_6iNXe11YUiut7DF5STHZx1ZEvDKB2UuyNp4u-ic_deFk_RA7x-GDJEeeBW-YNDQ4GXjPGRW8kp1R-M/s200/Santa+Hat+%2528White%2529+Google+%252B.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <textarea cols="50" name="comment" rows="4" style="height: 89px; width: 342px;"><a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhiteGoogle.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Google"></a>

<a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhiteInstagram.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Instagram"></a

<a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhitePinterest.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Pinterest"></a>

<a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhiteRss.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Rss"></a>

                           <a href="PLACE LINK HERE" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_SantaHatWhiteTwitter.jpg" border="0" alt="Santa Hat Twitter"></a>

    <a href="http://arahbellas.blogspot.com/p/creative-buttons.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="buttons by bella" border="0" src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_Buttonsbybella.jpg" /></a> 

{Spark} Winter Wonderland

It's December, it's officially the holiday season, and it's time for our new SPARK themed party.

Our theme for December is Winter Wonderland!

Time to inspire and be inspired with our recipes, stories, home decor, photography, crafts, DIY projects, Etsy items, and more.

A big thank you to our SPARK sponsor this month, CraftProjectIdeas.com 

There, you'll find a vast variety of kids project ideas, printables, and craft kits. One lucky winner will receive a fun DIY Marshmallow Shooter Kit for kids. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SPARK is co-hosted by these lovely bogs

and these lovely guest hosts




 SPARK Participation Guidelines

1. Become followers of each of the co-hosts as well as our guest hosts. We all have a variety of follow options on our blogs to make it easy for you.
2. Only family friendly links
3. Feel free to link up your Etsy items (not your shop), but no more than 5 items per Etsy shop
4. NO giveaways or linky parties
5. Link up to the original post, not your main blog
6. Please grab a party button (found at the end of this post) and display it on your blog somewhere. If you're not a blogger, a shout out on your social media sites is greatly appreciated. The more the merrier! 

December Theme- Winter Wonderland

Remember, each month has a unique theme, and we ask that you only link up posts or items that are relevant for that month. Please grab a button to post on your blog and help spread the word!

<a href="http://www.justalittlecreativity.com/search/label/SPARK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/myartsybaby/th_WinterSparkButton.jpg" /></a>

{Spark} November Favorites

Hi everybody! The Spark party "Here Come the Holidays!" has just ended. Everyone's ideas were amazing and I had a really hard time choosing who to feature, which is why there's more than usual. But, although I loved everyone's ideas, I decided to feature these. I hope you enjoy!

 

 Santa Stops Here sign by Just a Little Creativity

  

 Candy Bar Cookies by Organized 31

 Cinnamon Ornaments by The Best Laid Plans

 Chocolate Peppermint Candy Cane Cupcakes by Sweet Boutique

 Chalkboard Gift Tag by SadieLooHoo

 Muddy Buddies by The Crafty Blog Stalker

 Mason Jar Snow Globes by Phaedra's Adventures

 Mini Turkey Pops by Sugar Swings

Fiery Red Christmas Wreath by Navy Wifey Peters

Thank you so much for joining us! Please link up again so we can see your ideas on our next Spark party which will be "Winter Wonderland". See you there!

Make a Fall Garland for Under $5

I don't know about you, but I love to decorate! One way I decorated for the fall is I made a fall garland. 
Here's how I did it:

Supplies:
Paper
Sticks
Clear or white thread
Safety pin or something that will allow you to poke holes.
Glitter
Glue


The 7 Simple Steps: 
1. Go outside and find that perfect stick for your "base". 
    -Make sure it is thick enough not to break.

2. While your out there, find some twigs that you can wrap around it.

3. Hot glue the twigs to your stick in whatever way you think looks best.

4. Cut out your leafs. 
    -You can find an outline for a leaf online or make one yourself.
     I preferred to make my own. If you
     want to, you could also use real leafs.

5. Glitter your letters.
    -Use you glue to write the letter on your leaf then pour the
     glitter on before it dries. If you do this 
     on a paper plate it reduces the amount of glitter that will
     scatter.  It also comes in handy when you 
     dump the extra glitter off your leaf.

6. Use a safety pin to make a hole one the stem of your leaf. This is where the leaf will hang from.
    -Be careful not to tear the stem.

7. Strategically hang your letters on your branch however you want using a clear (or white) thread.
    -I used fishing line but it bends awkwardly so I wish I would
     have used a thread.

8. With the same thread, hang your branch evenly. I used push pins and hung it on my fire place mantel. 

 

With this project there are a lot of ways that you can make it your own. This is simply how I did mine. Feel free to vary it however you would like.