More Effective Than a Snow Dance

Here’s our family Christmas photo for this year…

Having moved from Washington State to Wisconsin last summer, we sold the kids on the move by telling them there would be tons of snow here. They’re sledding fiends…we made the two hour drive to Mt. Rainier many times last winter to get our sledding fix. To say that we’ve all been disappointed by our sledding-less winter thus far is an understatement.

Having lots of time that I would rather have spent sledding but couldn’t, I finished our Christmas baking, crafting, and gifting a few days early and was chatting with my friend Krista. She told me about a coffee filter wreath she’d made for a fundraiser, and that gave me a great idea for a door decoration in our snowless Wisconsin.

Had I only known…as soon as this snowman was complete, the snow started to fall! It’s only a couple of inches so far, but the kids did manage to sled a little yesterday.

I bought 3 different sized wreaths from Dollar Tree (one was grapevine, one was floral foam, and one was styrofoam, but they were covered, anyway, so who cares?) and 4 packages of coffee filters. The scarf was an extra I had from making them for my boys for Christmas…the width of fabric made 3 scarves instead of 2. The eyes and mouth are pompoms of different sizes and the nose is just a cone of paper. I’m still looking for a fake carrot to put there. The hat is a foam one from the craft store…I just cut the back brim off so it would sit flush against the door.

You can find tutorials on coffee filter wreaths online. I just folded each filter in half, then again, then again, folded the point a little, and hot-glued them in place. My sweet husband helped with the folding and lots of encouragement. It took 3 nights of watching Christmas movies, folding, and gluing. But I’m quite pleased with the result…I’m sure the movers will be thrilled in a couple of years, too, trying to figure out how to pack this. ‘Cause we’re not making another one!

On a different topic, I’ve failed (again!) to point out that Stampin’ Up! is having a huge online clearance sale. They’ve changed the body of their punches so that they stack, and, as a result, all the old body style punches are vastly reduced in price. This suits me fine, since my punch storage is designed for the old style, not the new. And I’m all about saving money, after all!

If you’d like to check out the savings and deals, you can just go to my Stampin' Up! website. You can shop 24/7 directly from there, and the clearance ends on 5January, so don’t dilly-dally!

I’m prepared to be thankful…

I try to write thank you notes in a timely manner. I really do. Otherwise I forget. (By the way, Kimberly, I really did appreciate the Halloween gifts!) Here’s the problem, however. I want to send handmade thank you notes, of course. I never seem to have exactly the right one on hand, so I have to wait until I have time to design the perfect one for the occasion. And sometimes that falls through the cracks. My life is very cracked, you know.

But I’m on the ball for Christmas…already designed my thank you cards. Still have to make a bunch more, but they are designed!

All Stampin’ Up! supplies: Thank You Kindly stamp set
Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Silver Glimmer, Black, Pumpkin Pie,
and Whisper White cardstock; 1 3/4” Circle, Small Heart, and Snowflake punches;
Cherry Cobbler Polka Dot ribbon; Not Quite Navy, Black, and Pumpkin Pie markers
Dazzling Details Glitter Glue

I think it’s all self-explanatory. The hat is just a square piece and a rectangle piece. The eyes look a little odd in the photo, but I covered them with the Dazzling Details and they look cool in actuality.

Now, doesn’t that make you want to give me a gift, just to get such a cute thank you note?

Hope your last week before Christmas is smooth sailing and filled with joy!