Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #24

Today brings you a printable gift tag round-up (because I KNOW you haven't finished wrapping yet!). Why sift through all the cheesy tags in the shops (and pay for the good ones) when you can simply throw a heavier piece of paper into your color printer and hit 'print'? Oh yes, there are TONS out there and I'm only highlighting my favorites, so here we go!

Domestifluff 2009 (1) and from 2010 (2). She also made these tags for Paper Crave (3). Love these!

Givers Log has adorable red and white tags (4).

Creature Comforts has some darling labels to use for gifts or food boxes (5).

I liked these pretty snazzy tags from the Jones Design Company (6).

Sodapop Designs offers these sophisticated gray and gold tags at SoLebIch (7).

Illustrator Helen Dardik has these fun tags at her blog Orange You Lucky (8).

Blush Printables - so sweet (9). They also offer these cute holiday cupcake flags (but I think they'd also be fun labels!) (10).

August Empress's fancy Christmas labels (11).

Bonnie over at Going Home to Roost has 3 gorgeous Christmas tags for you to download (12). She also has some lovely free paper and tags in her eMag, Celebrate (13)!

From advent calendar 2010

The German culinary magazine, Lecker (meaning 'tasty' auf Deutsch), has these free printable Christmas cards if you find you need a 'gift tag' with a little more space (14).

Ez of Creature Comforts also posted some pretty printable pink, aqua, and blank gift bows on Simply Modern Mom to decorate your packages (15)!

ps - looks like Jessica over at How About Orange has a few additional free tag finds,not to mention the cute Julia Rothman tags at Design*Sponge.

I know there are tons more out there, but these are the ones that caught my eye! If you have any extras to share, add a link in the comments!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #23

Gift wrap...drawing a blank? Here are some fun ideas for something different under the tree this year! Check out Knock Knocking's tips for extreme gift wrap.

The Australian site, Home Life, has a lovely slide show of inspirational gift wrap ideas.

Leslie Shrewing did a lovely red and white holiday post for her Color Me Pretty series over on Decor8 last year. I knew when I saw this last year that it would be my inspiration for our next Christmas at home (this year!).

ISLY has another cute printable candy box for the Christmas season. Check out her 2007, 2008, and 2009 versions as well! Great for small items!

The Nice Package Blog is also a great source of inspiration. I love their finds...something for every season!

Free printable giftwrap from Mae. Such pretty patterns! Honestly, I think printing out enough for all my presents would be wasteful of my printer ink, but a sheet or two, cut into strips, would be great for accents against a kraft paper wrapping! This blogger used some Mae paper to decorate matchboxes, what a great idea!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #22

I know I've already mentioned different holiday garlands here and here, but this twisted felt garland from Purl Bee is just too amazing not to mention!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #21

Today brings a pretty simple, yet high impact dessert recipe. I like how this one involves fruit, so it doesn't feel as guilt-inducing as a lot of things floating around right now. Poached pears...in honey and vanilla...with puff pastry spiraled around them? Um, yes please. Check out Sprinkle Bakes' recipe for honeyed pears in puff pastry!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #20

I must say that giving a hostess gift, even for a party or dinner invitation, was not something I often did when I lived in the US. Here in Germany it could often be considered rude if you didn't bring something, so today's post is one I'll be taking to heart, especially with all of these holiday invites! A bottle of wine is a very common gift to bring your host here in Germany, so coming up with a creative presentation idea can be daunting.

A Little Hut offers this fun recycled mixed-media wine tag tutorial. I like how she incorporates fabric scraps without making it feel frumpy. I definitely think whipping up a few of these would be smart to have on hand...or shoot, even to give a stack as gifts if you know somebody who gives wine often!

Infarrantly Creative's no-sew felt wine wrap is also a great idea, especially when it comes to hanging an ornament from the neck of the bottle.

I love these ideas! Do you typically present hostess gifts? If so, what are your favorites to give (or receive)?

Fourth Advent Sunday

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Today we get to light the fourth candle in our wreath! I'm all sorts of excited; it means Christmas is happening this week!! We've been putting the lights up out on the balcony, baking like crazy people, wrapping gifts, having guests stop by, shoveling snow, and oh the hype!!! Christmas is truly a celebration - and I love the Advent season to get us ready!

I love how the Advent readings are about telling the exciting back-story leading up to Christmas day. We've been following the story of two women and their unusual situations, and today we're hearing about the first woman's child (and here's what he grew up to be). I've posted weeks one, two and three, so now here's the set of readings for week four.

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #18

Salt dough ornaments. I remember making these as a child (um..and chewing on them, too, so gross). Prudent Baby has a nice no-color tutorial, but I really like Lorajean's Magazine blog's salt dough ornament tutorial for the pictures and the food coloring recipe that gives you that gingerbread-y color. These take a while to make in the oven, but just set that timer, right? You can totally squeeze in at least one Christmas movie while these bake!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #17

This was just too fun: a holiday tinsel manicure from Seablanket. I know, what? here? But really, how easy and subtle is this manicure idea? I also love how this will carry you through Christmas and onto New Year's.

This would be so easy to do one night when you're watching your favorite Christmas movie!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #16

We've had a LOT of snow in our area of Germany this month...so much more than typical! It's taking me back to Boston...except for the lack of good plowing. Ahem. Still, it's kind of fun to be slopping through the snow with Christmas tunes playing; makes mundane grocery shopping trips a tad more fun.

If you find yourself at the grocery store soon, pick up the ingredients and try Elsie Marley's recipe for peppermint meringue snowmen. Maybe the aforementioned snowy days make you cringe and want to stay in; this would be a great stay-in project for both kids and adults!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #15

We're getting into the 'crunch time' part of the month when it comes to prepping for Christmas and decking the halls for holiday guests. I like today's freebies because they only use regular white printer paper. One requires a sewing machine, others may require a black and white printer, but they're all low stress projects for these busy days.

I like instant gratification projects like D.Sharp's post on Santa beards, angel decor, snowman garland, and the dove ornament.

I also really like these garlands from Fawn & Forest - a bow, an acorn, and a bird on a tree. What a nice way to fill up some blank wall or shelf space! This requires a sewing machine, but really, this is just a straight line, so no stress. Check out the free printable template for Cottage Hill's white paper tree. A lot of these things will carry you throughout the winter season, not just Christmas. Do you think you'll try any?

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #14

Need some holiday decor in a snap? I love eighteen25's free printable Christmas subway art and coordinating paper bunting. You can print the bunting at home and just put the poster file on a flash drive and take it to either a local printer/copy shop or maybe your drugstore will also print out smaller posters like this one. Love it!

There are also some fun ideas on this printable Christmas art round-up at Tatertots & Jello. You could print any of these out, throw them in a frame (even one you're already using), put a small sprig of greenery in front of the frame and suddenly have a decorated corner!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #13

Ok, so I've been meaning to try this felt slipper tutorial for, oh, over a year now. I'm going to try a modified version with a low/no heel, but this has got to happen! Most everybody in Germany takes their shoes off when they come into a home (even guests), and most hosts (except us, ahem) have a little basket or bin full of extra slippers for them to use. Since most of the floors in our apartment are stone, I am feeling particularly guilty about this. So here's to Martha Stewart's felt slipper tutorial! (but I feel like they need some sort of embellishment, don't you?)

Third Advent Sunday

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Shopping, presents, gifts, giving and getting, even the handmade projects...it's all stuff. I love U2's lyrics to their song 'Walk On'. About love, about leaving everything else behind, about taking only your love with you. It's liberating, and not only in this season of Advent.

We've been reading about great loves in our story; so many dimensions of love. One of the women from our story talks of her great love. You can continue reading the story here.

What do you love?

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #11

If you have access to Photoshop or Photoshop Elements you can make your own mini photo calendar for 2011(fits easily into a CD jewel case). I think this is a great idea and one that is highly underrated. I received a handmade photo calendar last year and we've really enjoyed seeing what each new month brings. The photos chosen tell us something about the photographer and what they think is special for us that month. I'm looking forward to doing something similar myself this year; maybe with this 2011 calendar file from Shutter Sisters you'll be making one too!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #10

Deck the halls -with garlands and other quick paper decorations. Belinda Graham over at The Happy Home did a great series on easy paper decor with pom pom and bauble garlands, starbursts and doily stars. Don't you love them? While we're on the garland subject, I have to throw in Martha Stewart's everlasting garland; it's too interesting looking not to mention!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #9

Dill dip. Yes, really. 'Tis the season for quick snacks, veggie trays, and parties. Erin Vale posted her favorite dill dip recipe to help encourage the healthier holiday snacks. I think I actually have all these ingredients in my pantry already! Do you?

What healthy holiday snacks do you like?

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #8

Today brings some cute and simple decorations in the form of little trees. Martha Stewart has paper evergreens and AllYou has some winter felt trees. They share the same concept, but have different textures and overall 'feels'. I like these as mantle and centerpiece ideas!

And then, just to be fun with the whole trees-from-skewers thing, here's another one! Dutch blogger, Jurianne Matter (she also has a cute paper design shop), shares this free holiday tree printable.

So cute, right? I made 4 of my own and used double sided tape to avoid potentially messy glue situations. I stuck mine in foam board for storage, but I think I'll be adding height to a holiday food table by sticking them in some food later this month!

Our own Advent decor

Running the blog Advent calendar has been fun. We've had a slightly bumpy road around here lately and it's been nice to just spend some time being creative and thinking in silence. Maybe it sounds strange, but sitting down and working on a creative project frees my mind up to wander elsewhere. Anybody else identify?

One of the things I was working on was an Advent calendar for my husband. I definitely drew from ideas found on my Advent calendar round-up post. I decided to go fishing in our recycling pile, visit my Christmas decor bag from last year, and drop a couple of Euro on some gingham fabric. Not every container has a lid, so there was some strategic stacking going on! I used these Advent number tags from dSharp and changed them to green in Photoshop.

My husband was so pleased, but then he felt bad that I didn't have something of my own to open. He's a bit of a work-a-holic (and frequently tells me he's so uncreative), so you can imagine my shock and pleasure when he surprised me with my own Advent calendar! He spent an entire afternoon driving around town (no small feat here b/c parking spots are rare finds!) making purchases, and then holed himself up in his office to type out notes and Bible verses for every day. How cute is he?!? Every day has brought me a verse and a special blend of tea, along with some sort of treat. We are big tea drinkers here, and since each tea packet brews enough for two big mugs, we've made it a priority to try the new tea together each day. Yes, major points!

We also have our Adventskranz (Advent wreath). I make one every year per German tradition; this year I went simple on the adornment using only a few Pilze (mushrooms) and straw ornaments. I love getting to light a new candle every Sunday of Advent! We also light our candles when we share our tea together at the end of the day. It's a nice way to keep our focus straight during all the crazy Christmas stuff.

Oh, and our Herrnhuter Stern (Moravian star)! Can't forget that! These are very common to spot in German homes during Christmas. Now that our daylight is so short, it's nice to have this lovely Christmas decoration up in the living room window!

Do you decorate for Advent? Any favorites from Advents-past?

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #7

Ornaments can be fun to make, but they can also be overwhelming. I like these two simple ornaments that can be made from strips of paper or felt. These are easy to make, have a modern, but seasonal flair, and I'm sure you already have everything you need to make them! Elsie Marley has a very user-friendly tutorial for this felt dove ornament (also can be made with paper).

Sometimes craft ideas involve so much spending and shopping that I just get a headache thinking about it, let alone actually getting around to doing it, so projects that use things I already have at home are pretty much perfect! I love how A Little Hut uses holiday colored paper to create paper teardrop ornaments for their hotel room (I could see using felt strips for this as well). Not everybody gets to be in a home when they visit relatives for the holidays, so this small and easy project brings a little warmth to an otherwise generic space!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #6

Happy Monday! Today's fun project comes from the talented Ez over at Creature Comforts. I was really into yarn wrapped wreaths last year, but this might be my new thing this year: tinsel wrapped wreaths! How fun is this?

Second Advent Sunday

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Sometimes it's hard to believe in the irrational. It's my job to edit scientific research articles; I know. But I think if you're truly open minded you'll give the irrational a chance. Let's open our hearts and go beyond ourselves this year, not just in our giving, but in our believing.

Last week was the beginning of one woman's story, this week a second will join her. You can read the next section of their story here.

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #4

I thought I would do a little series for Advent this year. I'll be posting short meditations on the four Sundays of Advent as well as fun projects, free printables and tasty recipes for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. I had a lot of fun pulling this together and I think you'll really like the series! Stay tuned!

Today I wanted to feature three special holiday magazines. I talked about Gifted already, but Sweet Paul's free online magazine, the lovely Pure Green free online magazine and Amy's Inspired free online magazine are well worth a mention.

These are all full of oodles of holiday decor, gifts and projects, so enjoy! The rise of these free online magazines is such a treat for this expat (where typical english magazines run about 17 Euro and you can forget finding holiday editions!). Any others I missed?

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #3

I thought I would do a little series for Advent this year. I'll be posting short meditations on the four Sundays of Advent as well as fun projects, free printables and tasty recipes for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. I had a lot of fun pulling this together and I think you'll really like the series! Stay tuned!

Today brings a lovely project from the Purl Bee, the felt flower wreath. Isn't this gorgeous? I can see this being nice holiday decor in your own home or as a gift for somebody special. It would be a nice weekend project to work on, but I can also see several ways to make some shortcuts if you're busy. I like how they have templates for all the lovely shapes -makes it seem that much more do-able! Check it out!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #2

I thought I would do a little series for Advent this year. I'll be posting short meditations on the four Sundays of Advent as well as fun projects, free printables and tasty recipes for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. I had a lot of fun pulling this together and I think you'll really like the series! Stay tuned!

Lots of parties and family gatherings are happening this month, so I've included a handful of recipes you might like to try incorporating into your tried-and-true holiday repertoire. This apple cinnamon cheesecake from Sweet Savory Life looks nothing short of amazing and it's on my to-try list this month. Doesn't it sound delish?!

Advent Blog Calendar: Projects and Freebies #1

I thought I would do a little series for Advent this year. I'll be posting short meditations on the four Sundays of Advent (see the first one here) as well as fun projects, free printables and tasty recipes for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. I had a lot of fun pulling this together and I think you'll really like the series! Stay tuned!

Alicia over at the A Typical Type A blog has some fantastic free printable Christmas planning lists. I think they make a great 'first' for the blog advent calendar. Head on over and check them out!