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!

Home Management Binder: Budget

If you missed it, the overall post about the home management binder is here.

Ah, the budget. It is such a scary thing to tackle finances...or it used to be. I decided one day that in order to stay on top of my finances I couldn't rely on receipts. Receipts cause paper clutter. And it builds up until I can't deal with it anymore and just throw it all away, which results in us totally forgetting our budget and buying extra Blue Bell ice cream, which is not good for your figure OR your wallet. This resulted in me making a very small printable for my wallet. It was about the size of a dollar bill and I taped it to my check book. Any time I bought anything, I would record it on the piece of paper. [Cameron would let me know if he spent anything as well.] Once a week, I would update our budget totals and share them with Cameron so we were on the same page. It worked brilliantly, but it was a lot of work. I found myself re-totaling everything up all the time. I needed a ledger. And I needed a little more space to keep things clean.

Enter the binder. [Click image to download blank printable version.]

I'll spare you the actual details of our budget for September. It's not very impressive...we're on a student loans salary right now. But I will say that it saves me so much time! My binder goes with me wherever I go. I write down the total while the grocer is bagging my groceries or right after I get back in the car from pumping gas. I can make sure all of our utilities and insurance payments are on time and I know exactly what date they were paid. I know immediately how much we have left in each budget. There is no guess work.

Finances aren't such a daunting task when they're done as you go!

In my binder, I printed 3 of these, front and back, so I have enough for a year. [4 to a page, cut in half]. I am blown away by the peace of mind this little piece of paper gives me. It also allows me to have more fun, because I can purchase fun things guilt free when I know where the money is coming from!

Up Next: Kitchen [Meal Planning + Shopping Lists + Freezer Tally]

Custom Design: Home Management Binder

I am so excited for this post. I have been working on this project all summer long. Figuring out a system that really works for our family took a while, but I can't even begin to explain to you all the time this has saved me. Introducing, my home management binder!



In this post, I'll talk about the framework of the overall binder and its sections. Each section warrants its own post, though, so over the course of this week, the sections below will turn into links where you can get more information about each one.

Daily Docket
Budget
Kitchen
Cleaning
Projects
Scripture Study

First, I want to talk about the start of this project. My life is crazy. With Nash and Gray getting more and more active and Cameron starting Chiropractic School, I knew I needed to get myself organized. I started the summer with a motto of "set yourself up for success." That idea really influenced how I thought about this. I looked for things that I did over and over again and figured out ways I could streamline those processes [i.e. menu planning, chores, projects, etc.]. I also combined things that I knew worked for me [my six-list], and trimmed them down to fit my new lifestyle. I also used this as an opportunity to set new goals [better scripture study.]

I knew I wanted a binder because I love having a new docket for each day, I love things to look clean, which means I need to be able to throw away yesterdays docket, and start today's new. And I need it to be the first thing I see when I open the cover. I also don't want any of those annoying paper shreds stuck in the binding of a composition book/coil-bound notebook. Also, I have to be able to give myself a day off once in a while. This is why I didn't want a Franklin Covey planner. I used those when I worked full time. And it was great, because I went to work every single day. I was planned out. I was efficient. If I slip up, I don't need the guilt of a stressful/messy/gross house, a stressed/gross me, AND the paper reminder that I slipped up. It's highly discouraging. So, I nixed a calendar altogether in mine. I might add a monthly one/perpetual one in the future so I can keep track of birthdays and other special events, but for now, I'm doing just fine. [This is not an excuse to be lazy for me. Last week, Wednesday was HARD. I was so sad over something personal. And I could hardly function. So, I called the day off. I snuggled my boys. We watched movies. We ate leftovers. The chores didn't get done. I didn't fill out my docket for the day. The house was a nightmare. etc. But by Saturday, everything was back to normal. This is why I don't want a calendar. Because I needed that day to just be. But MOST of the time, I need my binder. :)]

I also knew that the cover needed to inspire me. Over the summer, I heard the perfect quote to use on the front. It explained my homemaking philosophy perfectly. It resonated with me completely. So I made it look pretty and outlined the page in Washi tape from Mindy Mae's Market. I couldn't be happier with it.

To download the printable, just click the image below.
For the rest of the binder, I used a half page binder. It measures about 6x9 and fits pages 5.5 x 8.5. I love how small it is. It fits in my diaper bag, fits on the checkout thing at the grocery store, fits in my scripture study stack. I also bought a package of 5 divider tabs for half page binders. They're sold right by the binders at any office supply store. [I did check if you could find a half-page binder + dividers at Walmart and Target and didn't have any luck, so if you're looking to make you own I would stick with Staples or Office Max.]



To make my dividers cute, I just added a strip of the same Washi Tape along the edge of each one. It polished it up so great that I didn't even mind the handwriting on the tabs!



Next Up, I'll go into the Daily Docket. It's the most important part of the binder. I've been asked before how I "do it all." And honestly, I don't "do it all." You can do anything you want to do, so long as you sacrifice something else. But you can do more if you are organized. And this little binder is my secret.

Little Guy Ties

I saw a link on pinterest for "little guy ties" and they claimed you could make one in 20 minutes. I got together with a friend of mine a couple weeks ago and we set about making some Sunday finery for our kiddos. I'm willing to bet you could, no doubt, put one of these ties together in 20 minutes if you do not currently have a little boy to put the tie on. Otherwise, count on it taking quite a bit longer. After an hour and a half, I still wasn't done cutting out my fabric. Following a 4 hours marathon, I had 8 half finished ties. The next day during naps, I was able to finish the neck bands for all 8, no sweat. They really are simple. Perhaps a project to do at home so your kids get really good naps instead of at a friends' house. Really Nash & Gray just decided that it was the perfect time to become extremely excited about everything I was doing. No sleep. No sir.

The main debate is whether velcro or elastic is better. In my opinion, elastic wins every time. I made 6 of the 8 with velcro. I will be changing those to elastic in the very near future. SO much easier to get on your boy! And if it ever gets too small, it is so much easier to fix. I sure think they make for handsome gentlemen though. I believe in white shirts and ties for church, so they need a variety to choose from, clearly. This is the equivalent of making fun headbands for little girls in my opinion. I have since made 4 more. 2 navy blue bow ties and silky pink polka-dotted neck ties.

If you do decide to do velcro, be sure to make it the full 16" the pattern calls for. I thought that looked too long for my little, tiny, babes. They are not so little tiny and the neck bands are already too small.

Love these, though! I love feeling like I can make new ties for any occasion. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Weddings, Family Pictures. So great.

 

 

HUGE Print for Cheap!

It is a GREAT feeling to actually finish something you set out to do. Before the boys were born, I found this pin. My baby shower was an adventure theme and my little sister knitted these adorable aviator caps for the boys. We tried taking pictures of them in them a while ago for our family shoot, but the boys were too young to get a shot like I was envisioning. About a week ago, we tried again. And oh, I am in love. The process was really easy. Start to finish, this only took us about an hour. And the printing went just like the tutorial said it would. $7 at Office Max. I emailed them the file. It was ready in minutes. Something they didn't mention [that I should have known, but didn't] was that the print is on regular paper, not photo paper. It looks perfect, though, so  don't worry! Our print had streaks through it every now and again, but I totally love the imperfections. I feel like it gives it personality. Not that the boys didn't add enough of that on their own... ha.


We measured the print onto the foam board and cut it out. Cutting foam is tricky. It's hard to make it smooth. Try to do as much in one shot as you can. If you have to stop and reposition your knife, you'll almost always get a jagged edge. Once the edges are painted, it's not very noticeable, but I did have to smooth a few places out...and it was annoying.



We used this spray adhesive. It is what I use to extend the life of my silhouette cutting mats. It is repositionable. And one of our corners needs to be re-glued. I would use permanent adhesive if I were going to do this again. But it's only one tiny corner and it's really not a big deal. We had this on hand, so we used it. But if you're going out and buying some, get stronger stuff.



We painted the edges black. I added an inky edge on the front face of the picture as well. I like how it finished and smoothed everything off. It was at this point that Cameron commented how nice and expensive it looked and he couldn't believe it. That, my friends, dubs this project a success all on its own.



We duct taped loops of twine onto the back and Cam hung it on the wall. It is SO light! I am in love. Also because if it falls off the wall, it won't hurt my boys. All the edges are rounded and it couldn't smash them if it wanted to. It's too big. If it did manage to get IN to the crib, it weighs about 2 pounds. I'm not concerned. And I feel like it packs a graphic punch. Plus, how cute are those boys? Makes my heart melt in a major way.

DIY Reusable "Paper" Towels

When I stumble across something that totally changes my life, I HAVE to share it and tell everyone I know about it. For real. And these? These are currently "The best idea I've ever had." I know that I am far from the first person to do this, but I don't want to be the last! For the cost of less than a pack of paper towels [I spent $4 and used other materials I had around the house], you will never have to buy paper towels again. Genius. Also, this took like 15 minutes to make. Any project that can be completed start to finish in one naptime or less? Sign me up. It is so simple, it hardly needs a tutorial, but just in case my thoughts are not as easy to understand...here goes!



Materials:

• Pack of washcloths [Mine were $4 for a pack of 18 at walmart. I bought white ones so I can bleach them when I need to. They're for kitchen messes, so bleaching is inevitable. I also like the look of white paper towels on the holder, so I stuck with the basic.]


• Paper towel tube


• Snaps [2 full sets per washcloth + 2 extra sockets for the paper towel tube] I had these left over from making my cloth diapers.


• Snap Press [$12 with a 40% off coupon at Jo-Anns. Again, I had mine from making cloth diapers.]


• Awl [You might not need this depending on your washcloths. If the weave is loose enough for the snap to go through on its own, this isn't necessary, but most snap presses come with one anyway.]


• Paper


• Pen

1. Make a hole 1.25 inches from either edge of one corner of the paper.
2. Use that template to mark a dot in all four corners of each washcloth.

3. Use the awl and snap press to install two snap prongs and two snap sockets on each washcloth. You want them facing opposite sides of the washcloth. So if your prongs are facing up, you want your sockets facing down.

4. Snap the washcloths together in one long strip.

5. Measure 1.25 inches in from either end of the paper towel tube.
6. Install the two extra sockets onto the paper towel tube.
7. Attach your strip of washcloths to the paper towel tube, roll up and place on paper towel holder.
8. Check out your handywork, you're done!

I have a little canvas bin to throw the used ones into in our laundry room. It has been a dream, seriously. Every time I use one, I get excited again at just how good of an idea this was, and how inexpensive! I had seen reusable paper towels before, but they wanted you to sew each towel yourself out of multiple layers of fabric, which ups the cost and time involved. I couldn't commit to that and I was dang sure there was an easier way to do it, so here you have it. This works for us!

Cloth Diapering Twins: Part 1 {The Making Of}

Once we found out we were expecting twins, I knew things were going to get expensive fast. I was neighbors with this super great girl at the time who had bravely entered the world of cloth diapering all on her own. If I hadn't been able to see how easy it was first hand, and ask her all my questions, I don't know that I would have been able to commit to cloth. I'm really grateful for her, because man this has saved us some money! To date, we have spent $30 on disposable diapers, and $170 on my cloth diaper stash. From what I researched online, you can count on spending roughly $2,500 on disposable diapers per kid from newborn to potty trained. That was $5,000 for us. ouch. and no thank you.

I joined a cloth diaper sewing group on babycenter and started researching. And it was like drinking out of a firehose. I probably read and re-read and clicked on new articles and re-read those and downloaded free patterns and tried to remember what kinds of fabric was good for what and what all the slang and acronyms meant and then I closed my eyes because my head hurt. And this went on for a couple of months.

Finally, I got stubborn and a pen. And I started writing things that I found out down. I got organized. It was go time. In my head, I figured that I am the kind of person that makes it work. I am not going to be selling these, they just have to work for us. Here's what happened:

1. Pick type of diaper. I had seen Dani use Pocket Diapers and Covers with Prefolds. So that's what I was planning on doing. They looked easy enough. And apparently the other types of diapers take forever to dry. She sold me. I'm making a decision. Decision made. (+10 if you can name the reference.)


2. All of the patterns that are off by minuscule measurements? Just pick one! The only things that really mattered to me was that it could be used for both pocket diapers and covers and that it was a 'one-size' pattern, meaning it would fit my boys from newborn to potty trained. I ended up using this one. [Not an affiliate link. I just like the pattern.]


3. Figure out how many you need, bare minimum. For my two boys, I needed 16 pockets and 6 covers, and I was committing to laundry every evening.


4. Figure out fabric. I knew I wanted cute diapers, and I wanted them cheap. My pocket diapers are made up of 3 layers, inner, outer, and hidden PUL. Inners are made of 'stay dry' fabrics, so they help keep your baby's bum dry. I used navy blue and dark brown suedecloth and white knit for my inners. PUL is poly-urethane laminate. And I searched discount PUL and found off-white PUL for $4.99 a yard. This is where I found it, but it was on clearance so the price is a little higher. Either way, it sure beats $15.99 at Jo-Anns. [And the women in my cloth diaper sewing group sure have issues with Jo-Anns PUL quality...] I ordered 9 yards, enough to make my 22 diapers and a wet bag. They sent me probably double that, because I did my measurements to scale in a photoshop doc and laid out my diaper shapes on the fabric and I have a mondo roll left. Maybe I'll give some away in a giveaway? thoughts? Anyhow, the outers, if you do hidden PUL can be made out of whatever you'd like. I bought cotton because it has the cutest prints. For a date, Cam took me up to a specialty fabric shop in this cute little place. He gave me a hard time about needed cute diapers, but before I had gone down the first aisle, he had 4 picked out. So I made some pirate diapers. [We bought a fat quarter of each fabric, OR 1/2 yard if we wanted two of the same. Don't just buy a 1/4 yard though! It will be too skinny to cut out the diaper shape.] I like when Cam's encouraging. Covers are made of 2 layers of PUL, but I didn't want 6 off-white covers so I bought 6 pieces of PUL in little packs from Jo-Anns with a 50% off coupon. They work like a dream and I don't know what my friends in the sewing group are talking about. Maybe they got a bad batch?


5. Figuring out how to actually sew the diapers was another story. I finally found this video tutorial and it cleared everything right up. Bless this woman.


6. I joined a co-op group on babycenter as well to score a good deal on snaps. I know you can make diapers with velcro, but people say they don't last as long, and that once your baby gets older he will be able to take them off. I don't want that. ha. So snaps were it for me. Through the co-op I was able to get 600 snaps for about $20. It's worth figuring out. I used another coupon to buy snap pliers from Jo-Anns. They work great. Cost me about $12. Because I went through a co-op though, it was going to take quite a while for them to get to me, and I didn't want to wait to start sewing the diapers until they arrived because I knew they wouldn't be done in time. So I sewed everything and added the snaps last. I asked around to see if it would be possible, and no one saw any problems with it.

When it came down to actually making the diapers, my mother, Cameron & I cut the pieces out over the Christmas holiday. It took a long time. I hate cutting things out and I couldn't hunch over the table with my belly, so it was really great to have such willing helpers. We traced the pattern piece with fabric markers and then could sit on the couch cutting away during a movie. And then the pieces sat in a bag in my living room. When I finally got the guts up to actually try to make one, I stared at the pieces for an hour and then took a nap. It's intimidating!

The next day, I was bound and determined to make one diaper. And it was so not bad. Figuring out how to make the pocket opening lay flat was the toughest part. But once the elastic around the back and legs ruffled up I was just beside myself. It took about an hour to make that first one, but then I was in business. The rest took about 35 minutes each to sew. I cranked out one after the other. And then I had a cute little stack. Once my snaps came in, I could sit on the couch and put them on the diapers. The snaps took for.e.ver to get on, but I wasn't sitting at the sewing table so it was alright. I would watch Cake Boss on netflix and just snap away. I would snap each diaper down to its very smallest size and put it in a pile for Cameron to admire when he came home.

It was a big job, but most places say to count on paying $400-500 for a cloth diaper stash. Mine [for the actual cloth diapers...not inserts] cost $120. I say that's worth it. And they're so much cuter!

This...

now looks like this...

And I can't wait to show you what it's going to look like! It was a fabulous Saturday. :)

Laundry & Pantry Makeover

Part of the major changes for our family mentioned in the 3 things post was that we'll be staying in Utah for another two years. C will be getting a business minor in addition to his Exercise Science degree. We think it will come in handy when he's running his own Chiropractic practice in the future. Because this means we'll be in this same apartment for a longer period of time, it means I suddenly have more motivation to make it a nicer place to be.

One of the biggest eye-sores in our home is the "pantry" or really, lack thereof. Our non-refrigerated food was stacked on a bookshelf out in the open right next to our kitchen table, like so:

cute, eh?

Eyesore #2 is the Laundry nook. It is also in the kitchen and just looks washed out, boring, etc. It wasn't terribly cluttery or dirty, but was far from being pretty.

And so, on our day off [Happy 4th!] C and I took a little jaunt down to the fabric store. $20 bucks and an hour later, our pantry and laundry nook got a major facelift!

I'm totally thrilled. My mom would be so proud. Now that corner has a major pop of color, we have room for a portable dishwasher [more for C, because let's be honest...dishes and me really don't get along.] and our cluttered pantry isn't glaring at us all through dinner. Win-win-win.