Felt Christmas Tree

The days following Thanksgiving, I so look forward to picking out our family's Christmas tree. We've had an extremely busy holiday season thus far full of family gatherings, traveling, weddings, and hours spent in the studio for my final critiques. So... we squeezed in our tree-picking-outing after a long day at work & school. After dinner, we bundled up and headed to a small tree-lot just a minute up the street. 

The space we have designated for our tree isn't huge, so we picked a small one! As we approached the lot, the tree-handler asked us what kind of tree we were looking for tonight... I quickly replied with, "short and fat!". I don't know why... but they're my fav! 

Walter had fun at the tree-lot and was completely occupied by his first candy-cane. 

Having a fresh (I loooove the smell) and fully decorated tree with all of the lights, garland, and glass ornaments is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. As soon as we set it up I told Matt that I wish we could keep it up all year. He responded with... "Well then it wouldn't be as special then, would it?" This is true! 

As much as I adore the aesthetic of our tree, with a curious toddler, it is a task to teach him to not to touch! I don't know about you, but my little boy is a hands-on learner and loves to "feel" everything. He thrives in all things arts & crafts. In aims to give him something special to touch that isn't necessarily our big tree, I created this felt Christmas tree!

This is a very simple craft that can be done in under an hour, during nap time or while you're catching up on Netflix in the evening ;-) It's also cheap! Costing me under $10! Felt sheets are 35 cents at Michaels. Joann's Fabric Store carries larger sheets of felt fabric for the tree green. I got a yard for $3 and it made two trees! Command strips are just a couple dollars as well. 

Supply list:

-Green felt for the tree, brown for the stump

-Variety of colored felt for the "ornaments"

-Command strips 

-Pom-poms (optional)

-Scissors

-Hot glue gun (optional)

I used command strips to attach the tree to the wall, next to our real tree. The command strips prevent any paint from being damaged! 

^^ Fold your green felt sheet in half and draw half of a tree (sharpie) on the folded edge. Cut along your marker lines. This ensures a symmetrical tree! 

Now cut different shapes for the ornaments! You can be fancy and use your hot glue gun to add pom-poms or just use sharpie markers to decorate them. Don't add anything too heavy to the felt ornaments (like rhinestones or jingle bells) or else they won't stick to the tree! Luckily, felt sticks to felt, so there is no velcro or adhesive needed! Your kiddos can have fun rearranging the ornaments over and over again! 

Lastly, attach your tree to the wall. I placed our felt tree in the same room that our "real" tree is in. This visual and tangible craft helped him realize that this is "Walter's Tree", while the more fragile tree is just for looking! 

 I hope you have fun making this Felt Tree for your kids, and I hope it helps save an ornament or two on your tree! ;-)

xo,

Monica

Thanksgiving + Gender Reveal!

Having a little boy has made the holiday season SO much fun! The week of Thanksgiving, we found out that we will be adding another BOY to our family!! We are over the moon for Walter to have a little brother; I cannot wait to see them grow up together! Since we decided to host our families for Thanksgiving, we had a fun gender reveal too!

We purchased a variety of colored glitter and small fillable glass ornaments.

I made a small paper funnel out of a magazine page and some tape. This made filling each ornament with glitter much easier!

I tied each ornament with this small gold ribbon instead of the wire hangers... only because I thought it looked nicer!

To keep the colored glitter hidden, we put each ornament in a small gold box with a lid. This way, we could hand each family member their own gift-box, and on the count of three, everyone could open theirs at the same time! 

It's a boy! Cooper Charles Turley. 

As Walter David was named for our family... Walter (my grandfather) David (Matts dad), it was important for us to do the same with our second son. Cooper is a family name on the Turley side, and also Matt's middle name. Charles is my dad's name, Walter's Pa who we love so much!

We prepared two turkeys for our feast and all of our guests also love to cook, so everyone brought a side! "My" turkey was cajun roasted in the oven and "Matt's" turkey was slow smoked on the grill. 

This was our first time smoking a turkey and, man, was it a show stopper!

Posing with my turkey & my bun in the oven :-)

It was absolutely gorgeous on Thanksgiving this year, 65 and sunny! Luckily, we were able to enjoy this sunshine and ate on our deck, mid afternoon. We spanned 3 long tables together and covered them with craft paper. We also had about 25 people joining us (and we left town early the next morning) so we kept the clean up simple with paper products. 

Each napkin and utensil was housed by this cute holder I found online. I used card stock that matched our table paper... click here for the free printable. 

The table was decorated with low mason-jar floral arrangements and votive candles.

The kids table :-)

We started off the afternoon with a couple appetizers, baked brie and grilled oysters. With oven space limited, we chose these appetizers for their convenience- short bake time & the grill was already hot. (Our turkeys were resting on carving boards). Perfect timing.

Baked brie couldn't be easier- frozen puff pastry, brie,  jam of your choice, and a little brown sugar. I placed the brie at the center of the puff pastry, topped one with peach preserves and the other with raspberry jam. Sprinkle on the brown sugar, wrap them up with the remaining pastry, and pop in the oven at 375 for 20-25 minutes! Serve hot with crackers and a knife. 

Grilled oysters are also super easy. Place on a hot grate, cover them with a wet burlap bag and wait a few minutes till you hear them "pop!"... We placed them out on our picnic table accompanied by oyster crackers, hot sauce, and a shucking knife. YUM!

I found these cute coloring placemats at Target. They did their job & occupied the kids for a few minutes ;-)

We had quite the spread with all of our combined efforts!

After dinner... the reveal! 

Cousins!

Dessert time! We had sour cream pie, apple pie, coconut-creme pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and tagalong cookies! 

It was the perfect afternoon that soon turned evening... with tired kiddos and full bellies everyone headed home with grateful hearts. Each year I find more meaning to this special day- always finding more to be grateful for. 

This year... we are especially grateful for our sweet Cooper Charles and his big brother Walter David. 

xo,

Monica

DIY Advent Calander

Although I am not a fan of this cold and dreary weather, December is one of my favorite months of the year! The Advent countdown to Christmas, the day of our Saviors birth, has always made each day of December exciting and full of surprises! 

Last year, Matt and I made this pallet Christmas tree calendar. DIY instructions & last years post, click here! We hang it in his room on the eve of December 1st. Opening the "new day" is the first thing he wants to do each morning!  Last year, we decided not to fill the days with gifts or candy- wanting to focus more on doing daily family activities. So, we created a list of 25 activities and added a scripture reading for each day as well. It is important for us to make sure we teach our kiddos to focus on why we personally celebrate Christmas! 

Last year I also decided to develop a "theme" or lesson for our scripture readings to focus on, creating a new theme each year. This year I have framed the 25 scriptures around strength. 

Here is a list of our scriptures and fun activities:

Day 1: Go to the tree lot to pick out our Christmas Tree!

Philippians 4:13

Day 2: Decorate our Christmas Tree.

Isaiah 40:29

Day 3: Make Christmas paper chains to decorate the house.

Ephesians 6:10

Day 4: Pick out an Angel Tree Child and buy him/her a gift.

Isaiah 40:31

Day 5: Make cinnamon salt dough ornaments.

Mark 12:30

Day 6: Watch the Christmas movie, Elf.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Day 7: Make homemade hot chocolate and marshmallows.

Psalm 46:1

Day 8: Bring our story time class and librarians sugar cookies.

Nehemiah 8:10

Day 9:Donate cat/dog food to our local pet shelter.

Psalm 22:19

Day 10: Make & deliver Christmas cards to our friends.

Psalm 28: 7-10

Day 11: Pick-up milkshakes and drive through the Botanical Garden Lights.

Psalm 118:14

Day 12: Visit Santa!

Isaiah 12:2

Day 13: Decorate a gingerbread house.

Isaiah 33:2

Day 14: Make hanging paper snowflakes.

Isaiah 40:29-30

Day 15: Watch the Christmas movie, The Grinch. 

Habakkuk 3:19

Day 16: Clean out our closets for Salvation Army Donation.

Ephesians 3:16

Day 17: Go Christmas shopping for our family.

Isaiah 41:10

Day 18: Make handprint reindeer and magic reindeer food.

Exodus 15:2

Day 19: Leave cookies in the mailbox for the mailman.

1 Chronicles 16:11

Day 20: Bring Daddy and his office a special Christmas treat for lunch.

Psalm 18:32-34

Day 21: Deliver cookies to our neighbors.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Day 22: Make paper crowns and talk about how the wiseman brought gifts to Jesus.

Psalm 119:23

Day 23: Make shoebox manger display.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Day 24: Make chocolate waffles to leave under the tree for Santa.

Psalm 27:1

Day 25: Jesus is born! 

John 16:33

I hope this list helps you and your family celebrate each day of this Christmas season together! Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

xo,

Monica

Boo Brunch! Walter's 2nd Birthday!

This past weekend, we took advantage of this rare "Halloween Saturday" and partied all day! We celebrated our Walter's 2nd Birthday with a Boo Brunch at our favorite local park, went home to rest, and then continued the festivities with trick-or-treating in our neighborhood! 

W was spiderman for Halloween, so I kept with that theme for a spooky cake! Chocolate cake vanilla buttercream, and marshmallow web.

This web was a fun & sticky project... but simple! Place a bag of mini marshmallows in a microwave save bowl, microwave for 1 minute, stir the marshmallows fast until it forms a paste, then string between your hands and pull it across the cake. Repeat this until the cake is covered with marshmallow strings. 

We reserved the same park shelter we used for his first birthday last year- click here to see those pictures! We truly lucked out in terms of the weather, 65 and sunny!

^^ I made these webs by melting white chocolate, placing the chocolate in an icing bag, cutting a tiny hole in the tip of the bag, and piping the pattern on wax paper. Let set at room temp for an hour, and easily remove. 

We were excited to host a "Boo Brunch" at the park and landed on a menu of apple crisp yogurt parfaits, deviled eggs, clementine pumpkins, white chocolate strawberry ghosts, and a biscuit bar.

Hosting a brunch can be difficult since most breakfast items need to be served hot! Eggs, pancakes, bacon, bagels, french toast, oatmeal... you name it. 

We landed on these dishes because they still maintain a brunch-feel and can be served cold or at room temp. 

We made the biscuits and roasted and sliced the turkey & ham the day before the party. 

Biscuit-building toppings!

These Apple Crisp Parfaits were so good. The day before the party I peeled and chopped honey-crisp apples and sautéed them over medium heat with coconut oil (or butter), cinnamon, and brown sugar until the apples were soft. I kept them in an air-tight container in the fridge over night, then layered them with plain yogurt and granola in the morning. 

** Layering for just before the party. If you layer too early, the granola will become soft.

^^ Pumpkin clementines. Another prep ahead item... the evening before my sister helped peel the clementines, and chop small pieces of celery to use as the pumpkin 'stem'. 

We dipped the strawberries in melted white chocolate and placed mini chocolate chips for the eyes and regular size chips for the mouth... strawberry ghosts. Place on wax paper (for easy removal) and refrigerate over night. 

^^ And brunch isn't complete without coffee! 

^^ Apple Cider Punch: apple cider, apple juice, ginger ale, and sliced honey crisp apples. This punch could easily be used for Apple Cider Mimosas by topping your glass with champagne... but alcohol wasn't allowed at the park! 

Crisp, bubbly, and refreshing!

Little Miss Roma... the Roma Tomato! 

W loves his oldest cousin, Ty!

Teething Tomato...

The best part of having a Halloween Birthday Party was seeing all the kids (and some parents) in costume! 

Chocolaté and sprinkles for my boy!

Princes Ella! 

Auntie Alex was a huge help putting everything together! W loves having her home!

Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Sullie Bear!

Walter's abuela (my mom) made the most adorable pumpkin piñata! We filled the piñata with individual goodie-bags to avoid confusion since there was a wide range of ages. The kids hit in order of age/size, it busted open, and everyone grabbed a goodie-bag!

Since the kids were going trick-or-treating later on, I decided to fill the piñata bags with non-candy items: play-doh, spider-rings, glow-sticks, bubbles, and stickers.

W's beloved Pa

W's grandma! 

Cousins!

Superman loved his costume & took full advantage of the swings!

After nap time, we went trick-or-treating.

His face after his first house... realizing what trick-or-treating really is! Candy!

Most families who are participating in handing out candy set up chairs in the driveway. This house had Halloween movies playing on a projector too!

3 amigos!

Uncle Kevin... Nacho Libre for the night.

^^ And he ended the night with a lollypop in each hand...

On Halloween night, the neighborhood builds a tiki bar around the corner from our house! So after trick-or-treating you can grab a hotdog or burger with your kids... and an adult beverage for the parents! The tiki-bar party continues after the kids go to sleep- most of our friends take turns at the tiki-bar with their spouses. And a few of us are lucky to have a baby-monitor that reaches the corner!

We ended the night down the street at the Harrisons, our life-long family friends. Chili, grilled oysters, caramel apples, and chocolate covered pretzels. It's safe to say this was Walter's most fun (& sugar) packed day yet! We had a blast sun-up to sun-down and can't wait to share Halloween with our new addition next year! 

Happy Birthday, W!

xo,

Monica