Five on Friday

Two weeks from Christmas!  I still have a few gifts to buy, and I haven’t wrapped a single thing.  I’m planning to drink extra coffee today and knock out some of my to-do list!

(p.s. If you have some more gifts to buy, I have 2 gift guides coming tomorrow!  These are for the foodie/home chef/hostess/bartender, etc.  Come back tomorrow to see those)

I am linking up with April, Natasha, and Christina; Karli; Erika, Narci, and Andrea for Five on Friday, Oh Hey Friday!, and Friday Favorites.

ONE: Star manger scene ornament perfect for preschoolers!

I volunteered to help with Davis’ preschool class Christmas party yesterday.  I was in charge of the craft (not exactly my strong suit), but I think it turned out well!  I found the original idea on Pinterest, but I couldn’t find a link to any directions, so I just did my best to figure out how to make them.

I started with yellow wooden stars, tiny little anchor hook/screws, gold pipe cleaners, light brown paint, American style moss, off white cardstock,  tan cardstock, and a brown marker.  I also used a ruler, foam paintbrush, a pencil, a glue stick, and Tacky Glue.  I painted on the brown marker 1/3 of the way from the bottom, screwed in 2 “hooks” at the top, and made a loop through those with the pipe cleaner.  For baby Jesus, I cut out 3/4″ circles from tan paper and gave him a simple smiley face with brown marker.  For his swaddling blanket, I cut strips of paper from cream-colored card stock.

I put the stars in a large ziplock bag, then the hay in one snack-sized bag, and baby Jesus plus some star stickers in another snack-sized bag so that the craft would be organized for Davis’ class.  We used craft glue sticks to glue on baby Jesus, the kids applied the star stickers, and after his teacher put some Tacky Glue over the brown paint, the kids glued on the straw.

TWO: These are a couple recent outfits from the week.  I had a really cute model helping me. 🙂

I bought these black legging pull-on jeans from Gap recently, and I have been loving them.  They are higher-waisted and stay put, which is perfect for us moms!  And this black faux leather jacket has become one of my top 5 favorite pieces in my closet! 

Leather jacket off, plaid scarf on. Mine is from Target last year (a gift from 2 of my best gals), but here is a similar one (under $20!) for this year. 

Nothing too new about this outfit!  I have posted about my military vest before.  But I did buy a new ring set from Forever 21 and I’ve had fun wearing them in different ways.

THREE: Tomorrow we are going to decorate cookies, and I am planning to use this cookie recipe!  I have made lots of decorated sugar cookies in the past, but I want these to be soft, and for the icing to not be too hard.  These have awesome reviews.  And aren’t they adorable?!

FOUR: We are quite behind with Christmas cards this year.  I should receive them some time next week, but by the time I get them mailed, I’m sure it will be cutting it close!  I do love this idea from Better Homes & Gardens of displaying Christmas cards on evergreen garland.  It would be fun to change it up from putting them on the fridge!

FIVE: This time of year is mostly full of joy and fun times with family and friends.  But it can also be hectic and stressful, or you may be experiencing a difficult situation.  If you need some encouragement today, you should listen to these songs!  Meredith Andrews “Soar” and Lauren Daigle “Light of the World” are two of my favorites.  “Light of the World” is also a perfect reminder of why we celebrate Christmas.  I could listen to them both on repeat (and I may do just that today!).

 

Happy Christmas season!  Thank you all for reading my little blog!  Have a wonderful weekend.