I liked the lollipops I did for the kid’s stockings so much that we gave them as treats to some friends as well. If I remember later this week I will try to put up a template for the flag!

Surprisingly, Santa has gotten the kid’s stocking stuffers put together early this year! Our 2 and 4 year old make sure that presents are always even- so there is just a little variation from his and hers.

Santa doesn’t like to spend much on stocking stuffers, this year the treats include: chocolate Santas from Publix, old fashioned lollipops, jump ropes from the dollar store, stickers and paper from Target, tubes full of small figurines, bubbles, tiny markers from Pier One, bouncy balls and a kitty measuring tape and lion ornament from Ten Thousand Things.

We’ve gotten our teacher and babysitter gifts out for the holidays. Our first round were freezer-paper stenciled heart bags (with a contribution to the class group gift). The second group received Target gift cards. What is your favorite thing to give beloved kid-caretakers?

I’m officially done decorating the house for Christmas 2011! I’ve been wanting to try out an idea I had for a cotton ball garland, above. It took longer than I thought, and there are definitely some revisions I would make if I did it again, but I think it’s pretty cute.

We had so much fun driving around tonight singing holiday songs, looking at the lights- and even had a successful trip to see Santa Claus. I hope you’re loving this season as much as we are this year!

I love a homemade gift. This sweet one arrived yesterday and I had to share! Just perfect to me.

I loved doing this ‘party tree’ for my dear friend Gen. She had a fab party last night that I can’t wait to share!

I really love the holidays, though it takes me awhile to get all of the decor up. We kicked off the season this past weekend and will probably continue decorating through next week (at least)! My crafty momma made us a version of Brooke’s advent calendar, with a couple of modifications. I love how it turned out- but she’s killing me a bit with her egregious use of purple. She was trying to appease her purple-loving granddaughter! Snaps from our house, above.

We’ve almost wrapped up the month of birthday insanity at our house! If you want to see more of our son’s 4th birthday, click over to the main page right here.

Isn’t this a pretty floral arrangement? I spotted it at a friend’s house in the mountains.

My mom turns 70 today- where did the time go?

We made her a freezer-stenciled bag with her silhouette and filled it with goodies, including pictures of the kids and their drawings. Last picture shows the bag in progress…

Happy 70th, sweet mom!