Mason Jar Advent Calendar

December is one of my favorite times of year. I can't get enough of all the kindness and fun and joy that is almost tangible in the air. I would be lying, though, if I didn't acknowledge all the busyness that comes along with it. Before I know it, December 1st hits and I have presents to wrap, food to make, church functions to attend [or plan. yikes!], cards to address, gifts to buy, phone calls to make, and without fail some major appliance bites the dust [this year, it was our washing machine. mid-cycle. whee.]

It took my husband and I a while to have kids and because of that I had a lot of time to think about the family traditions that were important to me. And I am determined to make our Decembers memorable in a positive way. More than anything, I want my children to know that feeling of Christmas magic. Christmas spirit. Christmas Joy. The best way I figured to do that was to set aside time every day to spend as a family or doing an activity that is a little out of the ordinary for us. Making each day a little special. My boys are only 8 months old right now, but I believe in habits and knowing myself, a couple trial runs before they will actually remember their Christmases is probably a good idea!

Anyhow, I set up an advent calendar to fill with activities instead of treats. It was so fast. And it is probably my favorite Christmas decoration. It is so bright and cheery! I love it.



Using 25 jars of all different sizes. From a 4oz fruit butter jar to a salsa jar to a quart size mason jar and everything in between. You don't have to have all mason jars. The different textures add interest and the varying heights make sure each color is seen. I put up a wanted listing on a community free-sale site and had more jars than I knew what to do with. If your neighborhood is all out of jars, check your local thrift store. I've found jars for as little as a quarter there.

I first laid out the jars in the arrangement I would want them, so I could figure out my colors. I picked a little non-traditional Christmas color scheme. Mostly because we already had yellow and black paint, and traditional doesn't really happen in my house [we have a purple couch and a yellow piano...bless my husband.] Large jars in back, and I staggered the jars forward so at least part of the jar could be seen.



I used interior wall paint and plain old craft paint to color the jars. There was a tutorial I looked up to do it [that also said you needed a specific type of paint. not true. use what you have. It'll turn out great!], but you don't need it. You squirt the paint into the bottom of the jar and twist it around until all the surfaces are coated. Then turn the jar upside down and drain the paint into the next jar of that color. Repeat. 25 times. Or 5 times if you enlist a small army to help you. I fed my siblings Sunday dinner. They painted jars for me.



After the jars were dry [or a little earlier, because I have zero patience] I arranged them on our piano and cut numbers out of silver vinyl using my silhouette machine. Number stickers would work great too, with a quick coat of glitter spray, you'd be in serious business.



So simple. This year our jars are filled with planned activities, like church Christmas concerts or parties at the local library, and impromptu activities, like making cookies for neighbors, taking pictures with Christmas lights, making a chocolate train, and watching polar express with snow cocoa. I have long forgotten what is in each jar even though I am the one planning the whole thing, and it is so fun to see what's in store for me and my little family over breakfast that morning.

I can't wait to see how this family tradition unfolds. Hopefully someday we'll be adding snowball fights, pajama days, and children's Nativity pageants to the list. What matters most to me is that it brings the focus back around family for the busiest month of the year. And even if we miss a day, the past 3 have been better than I ever hoped for!



Kristin Call is a stay-at-home mom to two rowdy boys and wife to one gorgeous man. She blogs their life over at Call Me Kristin. Her "me-time" consists of doing graphic design work for Designer Blogs and trying to tame her inner voice that constantly says "I bet I could make that." She loves Psych and White Collar, Chai Tea, Sushi, and Penguins. Drop by and say hi!

A Silhouette Living Room Makeover

Cam and I have been trying to clean out our 2nd bedroom to make room for these two boys that are coming in March and it's taken a little bit of creativity. We've ALMOST done it, there are just a couple more things to clear out. (If you are interested in buying our elliptical machine, let me know!) However, this sparked a need to re-do our living room. We love our purple couch, but since we finished it, our piano was still red and looking mighty out of place. Also, I was sick of the "shrine" to the television. Also, the couch was way too far away from the TV so watching movies was a pain (rough life, eh?). I also really just like change. So we rearranged the room one Saturday. Cam promptly broke the coffee table while trying to move it out of the way so we could try different couch layouts. The flimsy little thing just completely collapsed, which turned into a blessing in disguise. We went to Lowe's, bought some yellow and black paint and the projects began.

Before:

Note the "shrine" to the TV. Hate that thing. Also, please take note of all the gross cords and the nasty gold cabinet. Blech.

After:

We painted the gold cabinet black. Trashed the top drawer, used part of the wood from the recently broken coffee table to make a shelf and created ourselves a little TV console that goes on the back wall of the living room. From the front door, it is the very last thing you see, which just makes me so happy. Also, the couches now face each other which encourages conversation rather than TV consumption. For the pattern on the drawer front, Cam painted it silver first and I cut a "stencil" out of contact paper using my silhouette machine. We applied the stencil, painted the rest black, and voila, we're in action! I'm really REALLY pleased with how this turned out!(And I'm bummed the picture is blurry. I'm trying to figure out how to use my new camera...It's hit or miss right now.)

(This pic is a little better, but I was trying to avoid using the flash. O well. Practice, practice, practice!)

Please note that you can't see a single cord on the wall. This was BIG. Cam figured out how to hide all the cords for his surround sound system and all the cords from the Bluray player. I hate cords, and now they're invisible. I'm happy. Also, the picture doesn't show this very well, but the black paint inside that top portion really hides the media. It all just blends together. It makes it a lot less distracting/prominent in the room.

Cam then used the top of our little splintered coffee table to make me 3 shelves for the desk area. We moved our computer desk down out of the 2nd bedroom to make room for the boys and he built me a gorgeous new office area off in the nook of our living room. We have even MORE stuff in the living room now, but it's never felt so spacious. Funny how that works. :)

That was the small part of the makeover. (Sometimes I'm amazed Cam hasn't thrown in the towel yet. I am slowly but surely weakening him to my "wild" color schemes and patterns. Also, due to being prego, most of "my" projects quickly become "cam's" projects while I sit on the couch and watch. Marry a good man, ladies.)

Thus began the piano makeover. (The red was clashing with my purple couch.)

And because I LIVE to have little bits of ourselves injected into every piece of home decor I possibly can, after Cam finished painting, I started cutting vinyl for the front of the piano face. It took a long time, but was so worth it!

The finished product:

The vinyl on the front face is scripted song lyrics that we love. We try to keep it classy...ha. I picked a nice cursive/handwritten font so the overall appearance would get the effect I was going after. I also think it makes for a really fun little "treat" for those who look close enough to actually try to read the words. Things start off with a raucous "Rah rah rah ah ah" from Lady Gaga. There are tributes to our roots with the words "I'm ready to go for it! I'm ready to reach for the Northern star!" (shout out to my other EFY counselors and kids!) I believe Katy Perry actually makes 2 appearances. ("Own the night like the 4th of July" and the slightly more risque "let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans"). The entire right side is dedicated to Phoebe Buffay. "Are you in there little fetus? In 9 months with you come greet us? I will buy you some adidas!" Among other gems.

It's quite possibly my favorite project. Ever.

(And thus we see a "hit" with the new camera. Hoo-rah for a sweet shallow depth of field! That was my goal today, and I figured it out. Boom baby!)

Overall Room After:



All I need now are curtains. I'm thinking grey and white chevron. Cam is thinking we don't have money in the budget for that. We shall see, we shall see. :)