Herbie has Arrived... What our Elf on the Shelf is up to so far...

Herbie our Elf on the Shelf updates...

Day 1: Hello Again!!! I brought Treats from Santa (Santa Hat Kisses)

Day 2: Welcome Breakfast with Friends (Murphy & Bella joined us)

Day 3: Rock'n Around The Christmas Tree

Day 4: Photo Fun in our Photo Prop!! Then Herbie Found a super long straw to drink from.

Day 5: Roasting Marshmallows

Day 6: Herbie made a Elf Sized Gingerbread House and gave the kids supplies to make their own!

Day 7: Photo Shoot

Day 8: It's way too HOT in Texas so he is chilling out

Day 9: Time to Trim the Tree



Day 10: Decored his tree, hung his stocking, and his wreath (All Elf Sized)

Day 11:  Hanging out in the Decorations.

Day 12:  Building a Snowman!!!

Day 13: Planting Magic Santa Seeds

Day 14: Treats from Santa Seeds & Herbie Counting Down the Days

Day 15: O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree, O Wait That's ME!!!

Day 16: Getting into the Goodies

Day 17: Photo Prop Fun!

Day 18: Hiding in the Stockings

Day 19: Elf Sized Food!!!

Day 20: Attack of the Army Men

  

Day 21: Zipline tour of the House

Day 22:  Doing the DIRTY work!!!

GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!

Back Home on Christmas Eve, but Herbie misses Disney too!

BYE Herbie See you next Year!!!

Lots more to come so check back to see Herbie's Adventures!

North Pole Breakfast 2012!

NORTH POLE BREAKFAST 2012!!!

It is that time of year again and Herbie our family elf is back with a huge breakfast treat!  He asked for some help to prepare this feast and I agreed.  He setup a few things and I did the rest and we all had a great breakfast with lots of sweet treats!!!

I premade a lot of the food making it easier in the morning to make Tree Waffles & Bacon tree trunks.

The setup was very festive...

The treats were overflowing!!!!

The kids had a blast with the food and gifts that were left for them...

Bella made elf sized Donuts and dressed up for the Party...

We also had our own picture time!!!!

What a fun time and now we have lots of memories already this season...

Can't wait to see what tricks and treats our Herbie has in store for us!!!

I love these little elf gift boxes I found!!!

I got all the ELF paper goods, treat boxes, treat buckets, ELF Suckers, ELF Shot glasses & Photo Banner from Oriental Trading

I got the other solid and polk a dot paper goods and silverware at Walmart

I got the ELF gift boxes from the Christmas Tree Shop

I got the large standing elf from the Christmas Tree Shop

I got the recipes for donuts, christmas tree waffles, etc from Pinterest

I found the free printables from Pinterest (I laminate these to keep also)

Gearing up for the 25 Days of Christmas!!

Christmas is my most favorite time of year.  I wait all year for this time of year!  Every year I like to do the 25 Days of Christmas Activities to get everyone in the Christmas Spirit.  These things can be big or small.  We do crafts, baking, watch Christmas Movies, drive around to look at Holiday lights, etc...  I have a craft item for almost every night thanks to 75% off clearanced stuff from the previous years.  Last year I believe I went overboard at the 75% off sales and we could have started Christmas Crafts in the Summer!  I make a Calendar each December that list what we do.  I also have a index card calendar that shows what we did on that day each year and I put photos from that day with each index card so we can see what we did each year.

We decorate the upstairs tree and start our advent calendars on Day 1, then continue with crafts, games, baking, and fun throughout the month.  One of my favorites is making RED & GREEN dinner.  You can find red & green nacho chips at World Market, Kroger, or Aldi in December.  Cheap craft activities are at Michaels, Dollar Tree, Walmart, Hobby Lobby and Target.  I also do little goodie bags that I put the craft activities and a goodie each day.  Party City, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, and Michaels carry items that are inexpensive that I use like stickers, candy, socks, and pens.

Day 1 We Decorated the Upstairs Tree, Received Advent Calendars, and Family Game Night with pin the nose on the Reindeer.

Day 2 We went to Prairie Lights in Grand Prairie for our annual drive around Joe Pool Lake to look at the Christmas Light Displays.

Day 3 We made Clay Holiday Figures, and Chain Garland all while watching Christmas Vacation!

Day 4 We wrote Santa Letters & made our Wish List, and Painted Holiday Disney Characters to get ready for our up coming trip to Disney!!!

Day 5 Grinch Night!!!! Grinch Dinner, Watched the Grinch, and did Grinch Activity Pads...

Day 6 Family Game Night!!! Christmas BINGO!

SPArty... Birthday Party for my 11 Year Old

SPArty Time!

This weekend I hosted a SPArty for my daughters birthday.  The girls had a blast!  Two hours of fun after spending months in the making.  I got a lot of the items on clearance after Christmas to fill the goodie baskets.  I hand made most of the candies to match the party colors, and we had cupcakes and cakepops that matched also.

The Candy Bar...

I made homemade rock candy, candy buttons, and sugar gummies.

The Flip Flop Creation Station...

I got clearanced Old Navy Flip Flops and cut up ribbons.

Facials...

Got these Chocolate Facials on Sale and was able to use one packet on three girls... Smelled like chocolate and all the girls wanted to taste it!

Lip Scrub...

I made this with sugar, honey, olive oil, vaseline, and cherry flavoring.  I tested it on myself before using it on the girls and was shocked at how well it really works.  The cherry flavor gave it a great scent and taste if you happen to get it in your mouth.

Nail Station...

Found polish in the party colors and bought a bunch for goodie bags and for the nail painting station. 

Cupcakes...

Cotton Candy Flavored icing and a Royal Icing K I made on wax paper with food coloring to match the party colors.  Little stands were found at Michaels in a 6 pack.

Goodies...

I have been collecting goodies since after Christmas last year where I got a bunch of items for $0.25 clearanced from Walmart that just happend to start my color theme.  Other goodies were picked up from Old Navy, Walgreens, and Bath Junkie in Rockwall (Who matched my colors perfectly!!!)

The party went over very well with all the girls who loved the goodie bags, and getting chocolate facials, lip scrub, and their nails painted...  The planning and hard work weeks ahead was worth it when I got text from the parents saying how awesome their kids said the party was...  To keep it as cheap as possible I bought almost everything clearance, made the candy myself, and used plain color paper goods...  Always check stocking stuffers after Christmas and start there.  Also the Target Dollar Spot clearances stuff cheap so just watch for it.

I made all the signs myself... I used the cricut and glitter vinyl paper in pink and blue.  I laminated everything so that the signs would keep if I ever needed them again...