12 Months of Christmas Challenge for January

Hello there! Happy New Year to you! I hope you had a chance to look back on 2014 and find that you were blessed beyond measure. I know I was. Always am. He never ceases to amaze me.

Anyway, I am back with the first of the 12 Months of Christmas Challenge. So how did you do with the pre-challenge? I did find some of those fuzzy socks I was looking for. Even found some that weren't specifically Christmas, so I can use them throughout the year. Woo hoo! We also picked up some filled stockings for our pets for next year, but not much else. I found a largish box to stash what we bought in, and to keep the craft projects I work on throughout the year. I found a spot in my closet for it, for now, but it may find a new home later.

So, here's my challenge for January. Get organized. Yep, that's it. I plan on making a notebook to keep all those recipes and ideas in one place. Somewhere for all the lists of what to make, what to buy, who to send them to, etc. I went back and forth on how to do this for quite a while. I, personally, love physical notebooks, writing things down and checking them off. However, I know that being able to access this notebook while I'm away from home would really come in handy, but carrying around a 3 ring binder everywhere I go, just isn't going to happen. In the end, I settled on using OneNote for my Christmas organizer. I can organize it the way I need, copy and paste ideas straight into it, and access it on my phone when I'm out and about. I also figured out how to put little "To Do" check boxes in front of my lists so I can check things off when they are finished. :o) Win-win.

I will post more about my notebook at the end of the month and how I decided to organize it, but I will tell you that the first thing I'm going to put in it is a list of who I would like to have gifts for next year.

Oh, and as I mentioned before, I plan on making 10 cards this month to go in my stash.

So, that's this month's challenge. Start putting together a notebook, whether it be paper or digital, put together a list of gift recipients, and make 10 cards. I can do this, and so can you! I hope some of you will play along with me this year. I would love to hear what you are doing and how you plan on making next Christmas a little easier, and more relaxing.

I just can't have a blog post without photos, so I will share with you an idea for an easy gift to make. These were little boxes that held a Hershey chocolate bar. The snowman hats and reindeer antlers were made from gloves, so it was kind of a 2-in-1 gift. I will have to find the template so I can put together a little tutorial for you.

What do you think? Cute and quick to make. You might want to keep your eyes out for inexpensive gloves this season.

Well, I'm off to start taking down the Christmas decorations and get my house cleaned up.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

12 Months of Christmas, or Homespun Christmas Challenge

Hello there! How are you? I can't believe 2014 is almost over, can you? It's actually Christmas evening as I type this. The presents have all been opened, the food has all been eaten, (not really, we have lots of left-overs), our company for the day have all left to go home, our littlest and my handsome hubby are currently playing a game together on their computers, and I am just relaxing.

All-in-all, it was a great day, and I will write more about it on our family blog, but leading up to it was just too hectic for me. As usual, I planned lots of fun things to make for family and friends, but I planned them too late, and spent the last several weeks in a flurry of busy-ness that I just didn't like. There were many other family oriented things I would have like to have done, but just didn't have the time to do it. I didn't even get Christmas cards out this year. I have quite a few made, just didn't get time to sign and address them, or write our annual letter. :-( Here's a picture of some of the projects I did get done this year.

While speaking with a couple other friends, I found that I'm not alone in this. Without planning ahead, the year just goes by too fast and once December hits, there's so many other things going on, that there's just not enough time to do all the fun, crafty things for others. I would like this next year to be different. I want to plan ahead and work on things a little at a time, month by month. I sat here this evening and made a list of things I could do ahead of time to make life easier next December and divided it up into month-by-month challenges. I find that I work better when I am challenged and when I have someone to hold me accountable, so, at the beginning of each month, I am going to post my challenge for that month, and then come back at the end of the month and let you know how I did. You are welcome to play along with me if you'd like. You could post ideas and projects you are working on, and let us know whether you met the challenge or not. Keep in mind that your challenges each month may not look just like mine. For instance, I plan on making 10 Christmas cards each month. That way, by the end of November I will have 110 cards ready to go. I don't need that many, but I can use the extras for gifts. You may need more than that, or a lot less.

Anyway, since this is December, and not officially 2015 yet, I am going to give you a pre-challenge. Get out there and take advantage of the after-Christmas sales. Stock up on some things that you are pretty sure you can use next year, whether it be for a handmade gift, or just a gift in general. I personally am hoping to find a bunch of fuzzy socks on sale since it seems like every little girl in my life right now LOVES fuzzy socks and I can use them for gifts throughout the year. I also make ornaments for my nieces and nephews every year, so I stocked up on some blank ceramic ornaments at 66% off yesterday. I think I may do something like this with them. I would love to show you the ones I made this year, using Stampin' Up's Simply Pressed Clay, but, as with many other things, I didn't have time to get pictures before I mailed them off. (Are you seeing a pattern here?) Well, since I think a post with just one photo is kind of boring, here's a picture of one of my past ornaments.

Don't forget that Stampin Up! is having a Year-End Closeout. There are quite a few holiday stamp sets, papers and embellishments on sale right now, some of them up to 80% off!

I have one other challenge for you, and that is to help me with a name for this challenge. My original idea (actually, it was my daughter-in-love's idea) was the 12 Months of Christmas Challenge, which I love, but I also like the image Homespun Christmas conjures up. What do you think? Any other ideas?

Well, it looks like my family is ready for bed now, so I will close here. Please let me know if you'd like to play along with our challenges this year and help me with my name of it. :-)

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!