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Simple Snowflake Advent Calendar

Friday, November 21, 2014

Countdown to Christmas with this simple and meaningful advent calendar. Use pre cut snowflakes or have the kids join in and cut out their own! Use the free printable activity ideas and follow the tutorial to make your own Snowflake Advent Calendar.

December 1st is sneaking up on us and its time for the countdown to Christmas to begin!! I shared our snowflake advent calendar a few of years ago – we’ve been using this simple countdown since 2009. This little advent is made up of 25 snowflakes, each one when turned over reveals a Christmas related activity to do each day from December 1st through Christmas day.

We’ve stuck with this advent calendar for quite a few years now and it’s become a tradition my kids look forward to every year. Every year, I pack these paper snowflakes up in a box, with a roll of twine and some mini clothespins to be used again the next year.

I wanted to share a few more details on how you can put your own simple snowflake advent together and share how we display our snowflakes in our home.

Supplies you’ll need:

-white and kraft colour cardstock

-you can use pre-purchased snowflakes

-get the kids involved and make your own paper snowflakes

-if you have a silhouette or cricut machine you can cut your own snowflakes out of cardstock using this flakey dingbat font.

-glue dots or foam adhesive squares

-a list of 25 Christmas activities – click here to download and print ours

-twine and mini clothespins

How to put it together:

1. Cut out all 25 of your snowflakes. I alternated between white and craft cardstock for mine.

2. Print out your list of countdown activities & cut each one out in small strips.

3. Attach the word strips to each snowflake using the glue dots or foam squares.

4. You can punch a hole in the top of each snowflake to hang them or display them like we do, on a string by a mini clothespin like a bunting. That’s all there is to it!

The snowflakes would look really pretty hanging from a mantle, but we don’t have one so we just hang them on the wall in our living room.

You can make it a fun family activity to make the advent calendar and then enjoy the daily activities together throughout the month of December. When we put up our advent we hang the snowflakes so the activity isn’t showing and each morning the kids take turns flipping over the days snowflake to display the activity for the day.

We keep things really simple as far as what we do on the countdown. Sometimes it’s read a Christmas book, or watch a Christmas movie. Other days we may make a Christmas treat together, write letters to Santa, address Christmas cards – or other things we’d already be doing during the holidays.

There are so many fun Christmas advent ideas out there. I’m always drawn to ideas that are simple and classic. I’ve heard many families enjoy the Lego Advent Calendars. We’ve never purchased one ourselves, but I have no doubt my kids would love one of them.

This vintage inspired Christmas calendar from Ella Claire is just beautiful. Simple white envelopes + that ladder + the striped ribbon is perfection!

This little advent idea just might be the simplest one I’ve seen yet, but it’s so awesome! I love the washi tape and that it’s displayed right on the fridge!

We also do a Christmas Book countdown each year and often times the two countdowns run into each other. I have “read a Christmas book” dispersed a few times throughout our advent calendar to allow some rest days from activities because I don’t like having our days over scheduled, especially during the holidays.

You can read more about our book countdown here – why it’s so special to me and the kids and find out what some of our most loved books are.

I’d love to hear about what your family does to countdown to Christmas! I’m always so interested to hear what holiday traditions other family’s enjoy! Please share with us in the comments! 🙂

I believe in the magic of the holidays. I believe in family traditions, celebrating the birth of the Savior and the joy that comes from giving to others. Over-spending, stress-filled holiday preparations, elaborate decorating projects and baking ideas have a way of overshadowing the real meaning of the season. Join me in an effort to keep things simple this Christmas with easy to follow craft tutorials, inexpensive gift ideas, no-fuss baking projects and more!

Follow along as I pin simple Christmas ideas and share tips, easy crafts and meaningful traditions at www.simpleasthatblog.com this holiday season.

Follow Rebecca – Simple as That Blog’s board Simple Christmas on Pinterest.

DIY Photo Cards using Digital Templates

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Creating your own, personalized holiday photo cards is easy with these simple to use premade digital templates! Keep reading for your first look at the 2014 Simple as That photo card templates PLUS you’ll find freebies and deep discounts on past designs along with a video tutorial on how to use templates in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Believe it or not, it’s that time of year again! Time to start thinking about holiday cards. I love sharing my Christmas card templates with you to help make it a little easier to get those holiday greetings in the mail! I’m excited to debut my brand new designs for 2014!

These templates are layered PSD files and they are fully customizable to suit your personal style. Simple drop in your photos, add your names and customize the greeting and/or the colours or leave them as is and they’re ready to go! I absolutely love using templates for creating cards, beautiful photo collages and unique art displays for my home. Follow along in this simple video tutorial as I show you how to use these templates!

I’m really excited about these new designs – the style is simple but I love that little bit of a retro feel. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did creating them! For a limited time, get the new 2014 designs at a discount!

Click here to Purchase 2014 Holiday Card Template Set

A special thank you to Talia Audenart photography and to Kim Loewen for supplying all the gorgeous photos used in the template examples. Talia is natural light and studio photographer located in Edmonton, Alberta. You can find her online here: website | blog | facebook | pinterest

As I mentioned, past template designs are currently available for 50% off for a limited time only! You’ll find the template sets listed below along with links where they can be purchased and keep scrolling to the bottom of this post for a fun freebie set!

Click here to purchase the Simple as That Template Collection

Purchase ALL the Simple as That digital Christmas Card Templates together and save! The entire collection comes with 12 fully customizable templates for just $7.50! Photographers can inquire about commercial use pricing.

Click here to Purchase 2012 Holiday Card Template Set No.1

Click here to Purchase 2012 Holiday Card Template Set No.2

Click here to Purchase 2012 Holiday Card Template Set No.3

Click here to Purchase 2012 Holiday Card Template Set No.4

Click here to download FREE Simple as That Christmas card Templates

Crazy for Christmas Party on Pinterest & a Giveaway!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Mark your calendars and SAVE THE DATE

for December 4th!

Cozy up with some cocoa and get ready to PIN Everything in Sight!

Because we are pleased to announce the…

Crazy for Christmas Party ON Pinterest

with your Favorite Bloggers!

So there is this MUST-FOLLOW Pinterest Group Board filled with extreme craftiness, beauty & fashion tips galore, genius organizational & DIY ideas, plenty of kid-entertaining and hubby-lovin’ suggestions, and ways to SAVE more moo-lah? Basically EYE-candy at it’s finest! (Following this board ensures your Pinterest feed will be on a balanced diet of daily inspiration!)

Well…we have been invited to be a part of this Pinterest board and {with 13 FANTASTIC other bloggers} throw a LIVE PARTY on PINTEREST!

So pull out your virtual party hats and get those pinning-fingers ready because we are ready to par-tay

CHRISTMAS STYLE!!!

That’s right- this party is alllll about Christmas! Come get lots of pinspiration on: easy Christmas gift ideas, yummy holiday recipes, fun family traditions, festive home decor, free holiday printables, and SO MUCH MORE!

OH! And…

We should mention, there is a GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY too, of course… with TWO winners!!

{Keep scrolling down to enter!}

But that’s not all… EVERYONE’S A WINNER!

That’s right- everyone who parties with us will also get their hands on some gorgeous party favors!! {Designed specially for you by the oh-so-talented Kristin of Yellow Bliss Road!} Just you WAIT!!!!! They are to die for & you will DEFINITELY use them for Christmas! Sneak peek will be emailed to you once you register!

Ummm….I’d attend JUST for those alone!

So, mark your calendars for December 4th!

…and check out all of bloggers involved in the meantime! You are gonna fall in LOVE with them!

The Dating Divas / The 36th Avenue / Somewhat Simple / Lil Luna / Mod Podge Rocks / One Good Thing / Maskcara /Kids Activities Blog / Twist Me Pretty / The Crafting Chicks / Yellow Bliss Road / Simple As That / Thirty Handmade Days / Living Well Spending Less

A FUN Christmas-themed pinning party that all of you can attend from the comfort of your own home- what’s not to love?!

**IMPORTANT: Fill out the form at the bottom of this post to get your OWN invite to the Crazy for Christmas Party on Pinterest and information on how it all works! You’ll also receive a few reminders to make sure you don’t forget! AND registering will automatically hook you up with the amazing FREE digital party favors made by Kristin of Yellow Bliss Road that you’ll receive at the close of the party!**

**All you need to worry about today is entering this

FABULOUS KICK-OFFGiveaway below and RSVPing for the party!**

#1) ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

**Winners will be announced at the close of the party.**

It’s SUPER easy to enter!1. Follow ALL of the bloggers in the widget below {you get entries for each blogger you follow} 2. Be present at the party (a.k.a. watching the pinning countdown on our group board from your computer or mobile device) to claim your prize!

#2) RSVP FOR THE PARTY BY FILLING OUT THE FORM BELOW

**You will get to see your “official” party invite AND read all about how this works once you click “submit.” If you don’t “RSVP” – you will not receive reminders OR get the freebie printable party favors. **

Free Printable Disney Frozen Gift Tags

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

My kids are always so excited to give their friends a special gift for Christmas. We’re keeping things cute, inexpensive and “snow” much fun this year with these Disney Frozen themed gifts and free printable gift tags! Scroll down for download links.

Each year we try to come up with a simple and inexpensive gift for the kids to give out to their friends and classmates. Keeping things within a budget, while still giving out something their friends will enjoy is always a challenge but it’s fun to get creative! Here’s one thing we’ve given out in the past – Holly Jolly friend gift + printable tags.

My two youngest girls (ages 7 and 4) love anything Frozen and I think it’s pretty safe to say, a lot of their friends do to! We’ll be giving out Disney Frozen lip gloss and pencils this year and we’re dressing them up with these cute Frozen themed gift tags.

To put together these simple friend gifts you’ll need:

Frozen Lip Gloss

Frozen Pencils

Frozen Printable Gift Tags

You can use any of the small gifts listed above or find your own, there are all kinds of inexpensive Frozen themed gifts available! Check out these Frozen socks, Frozen Pens, Frozen Stickers and Frozen Jewelery. These gift tags will work for anything, there are variety of styles available. Let’s start with the pencil tags.

The pencils can be given out individually or as a set. To package your pencils simply download and print the Frozen Pencil Tags. You can get fancy and cut the shape out or simply leave them rectangular with white space around them to make it easy. Once you have them cut out, write your names in the spaces provided then punch a hole above and below the text. Next slide your pencil through the holes, and voila!

These pencil tags are available with Anna and Elsa or with Olaf. You can also use the generic “Merry Christmas” tags to gift a set of pencils. Simply print the Anna and Elsa or Olaf version, cut out and punch a small hole in the corner then attach with twine. Download links are included at the bottom of this post.

For the lip gloss, there are a couple ways you can package them as well. I created the larger “Thank you snow much for being my friend” tags to attach an individual lip gloss using a glue dot. These particular tags are available in a JPG 4×6 version for printing at your favorite photo lab or as a PDF for printing at home.

Again, you can cut out the decorative shape like I did, or leave them rectangular with the white space around to keep things easy. To package the lip gloss in multiples, these 3×5 clear cellophane bags by Wilton worked perfect! Put 3-4 of the lip gloss in a bag, print and cut out your gift tags, then punch a small hole in the upper corner.

You can use the generic “Merry Christmas” tags or the smaller size “Thank you Snow Much for Being my Friend Tags.” Download, print and cut them out, then punch a small hole in an upper corner and attach to the bag with twine.

Click here to download Disney Frozen Merry Christmas Pencil Tags – Anna and Elsa

Click here to download Disney Frozen Merry Christmas Pencil tags – Olaf.pdf

Click here to download Disney Frozen Merry Christmas Tags – Anna and Elsa.pdf

Click here to download Disney Frozen Merry Christmas Tags – Olaf.pdf

Click here to download Disney Frozen Thank You Snow Much Tags – Anna and Elsa.pdf

Click here to download Disney Frozen Thank You Snow Much Tags – Olaf.pdf

Click here to download Disney Frozen Thank You snow much Lip Gloss Tags.pdf

Click here to download Disney Frozen Thank You snow much Lip Gloss Tags 4×6.jpg

Stay tuned for two more quick, easy and inexpensive friend gift ideas coming soon! I’ll have printable tags and everything you need to put friend gifts together for boys and for tween girls!

If you liked this post you might also like:

Best Disney Frozen Gift Ideas this Christmas

25 No-Fuss Elf on the Shelf Ideas that are Fun for Kids and Easy on Mom

14 Festive Fonts for the Holidays

Merry and Bright Printables for Holiday Decor and Gift Giving

50 Fabulous Christmas Books for Kids

Holiday Gift Guide for the Little Artist

Merry & Bright Christmas Printables for Framing

Friday, November 14, 2014

Add a touch of modern flair to your home or party decor this holiday season with the Merry & Bright set of Christmas art prints. Perfect for framing and hanging around your home! Available for free download at www.simpleasthatblog.com.

Yesterday I shared a sneak peek at the Merry and Bright holiday party that I had the chance to put together with some of my blog friends here in Arizona. There are so many exciting recipes, DIY tutorials and more coming on all of our blogs and today I wanted to share a few of the printables I created for the party.

I had a lot of fun creating these coordinating prints – and many more fun printables to go along with the Merry and Bright party theme. We were going for a vintage / modern theme and I think the geometric pattern, mixed with the moose and other traditional Christmas elements from the party do just that! Have a look below at some more detail of the prints.

These are some of my favorite printables I’ve created yet! I just love the combination of the simple gold foil elements and that moose – I just love him! The moose print pictured above comes in size 8×10, you’ll find a download link at the bottom of this post.

That geometric pattern was so fun to work with! A total stretch from my usual style, but I just love the modern feel it gives these printables. The Merry and Bright print above looks so pretty in a simple frame. It’s also available in size 8×10. Download link below.

One last print, this cute little Happy Holidays tree print is a cute one. It’s available in size 5×7. Makes for some cute holiday decor but could be printed, framed and given as a gift this Christmas!

Click here to download 8×10 Merry Christmas Moose Print.

Click here to download 8×10 Merry and Bright Geometric Print.

Click here to download 5×7 Happy Holidays Tree Print.

There are all kinds of fun details from the Merry and Bright party being revealed over the next two weeks. Some amazing recipes, DIY tutorials and I’ve got even more printables coming your way! Be sure to stop by these fabulous ladies blogs and check back here for more coming soon! 🙂

Rebecca from The Crafted Sparrow, Elisha from Pneumatic Addict, Mallory + Savannah from Classy Clutter, Kristi + Kelli from Lolly Jane, Sunny from Dandelion Square, Brandy from BD Designs.

Merry & Bright Holiday Party

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Stay tuned for all the details from this modern vintage Holiday bash! Free printables, recipes, DIY projects and more! Everything you need to throw a hip and happening holiday party this year!

Last week I had all kinds of fun with some of my AZ blog friends putting together a Merry & Bright holiday party! Rebecca from The Crafted Sparrow, Elisha from Pneumatic Addict, Mallory + Savannah from Classy Clutter, Kristi + Kelli from Lolly Jane, Sunny from Dandelion Square, Brandy from BD Designs and I all had a fabulous time putting together this traditional party with a modern twist. All the elements for this party came together perfectly and we can’t wait to share all the details with you!

There’ll be DIY projects, recipes and free printables being shared on all of our blogs over the next few weeks so check back often! We’ll be sharing everything that you need to create the perfect Christmas Party!

FunBites Shaped Food Cutter Review

Monday, November 10, 2014

Last week on Facebook I mentioned how excited I was about this cool little gadget – the Fun Bites Shaped Food Cutter. One of my least favourite “mommy jobs” is cutting up food so I ordered this bad boy off Amazon and couldn’t wait to try it out!

Our Fun Bites Shaped Food Cutter arrived over the weekend and I tested it out with the kids school lunches this morning and I’m happy to report — I loved it! It worked like a charm and my kids were thrilled about this simple (and easy) twist on their everyday sandwiches.

My thoughts on the FunBites Shaped Food Cutter:

-My kids really liked the fun, crust-less shapes it cut the their sandwiches into. It helped them get excited over something I always put in their school lunch!

-I liked the adaptor that easily pops the cut pieces out of the food cutter. Other cutters I’ve used have been tricky to get the cut pieces out once cut.

-I think the curved shape of the FunBites cutter makes it so much easier to cut. That rocking motion makes all the difference. It sliced through our meat sandwiches easily.

-There is some waste that occurs around the edges of the sandwich where the food cutter doesn’t reach if you’re using larger slices of bread. If you’re ok with that, fine, if not this product may not be for you. You can see how much sandwich is left around the edges in the bottom left image above.

-Did it cut the pieces as neat and tidy as the product photos? No, but it still did a great job in my opinion.

-I love that the fun bites food cutter is dishwasher safe. I used it, ran it through a cycle and it came out good as new!

I’m excited to use this handy little tool again and again! I can’t wait to try it out on something other than sandwiches next time.

**This review is not sponsored. I saw this product and purchased it on my own because I thought it would be a great tool to have in the kitchen and I’m happy to say, I love it!

For more school lunch inspiration you may be interested in these posts:

A weeks worth of Simple and Healthy School Lunch Ideas

Pizza Buns Recipe, a Family Favorite for School Lunches

Easy Rudolph Christmas Lunch for Kids

Best Disney Frozen Gift Ideas this Christmas

Monday, November 10, 2014

The Frozen frenzy continues this season and I’ve been gathering christmas gift ideas for months now for my youngest girls (ages 8 and 4) who love anything to do their favorite Disney movie! Today I’m sharing some of the best Disney Frozen gifts ideas this Christmas! Some that will be under our tree and others that have caught my eye while combing through all the hundreds of Frozen products out there!

To get a head start on Christmas this year I started my Christmas shopping way back in September! The first things on this list are things we already own and love or items that we’ve purchased and have hidden away, waiting to be wrapped to go under the tree. While my girls love this movie and anything to do with it, I’ve tried to stick within a budget – it’s easy to go crazy with all the fun Frozen toys out there! I’ve also tried to find items that I know my girls will love and get good use out of!

Disney Frozen Purchases we’ve made:

Disney Frozen Spot-it! Game – We love the game Spot-it! and I’m excited to add this fun Frozen version to my 7 year old’s stocking. It will be perfect to play with at home or on the road and is a great game the whole family can enjoy!

Disney Frozen Figurine Playset – This is for my youngest (age 4) who especially loves pretend play with any small dolls that she can get her hands on! I know she’ll love these and they’ll be great for throwing in my purse when we need to go somewhere and are the perfect size for her to play with in her dollhouse.

Disney Frozen Sparkle Princess Elsa Doll – I purchased the Elsa, Anna and Kristoff dolls for both of our girls as a joint gift. They specifically requested Kristoff and these dolls were on sale for $12.99 each a few months ago. These aren’t official Disney dolls, but these are the exact ones I ordered and when they arrived I was really happy with the quality, especially for the price!

Disney Frozen Sparkle Anna of Arendelle Doll

Disney Frozen Sparkle Kristoff Doll

Crayola Frozen Color Wonder Activity book – This is for my youngest daughter (age 4) as well. She already loves color wonder and I love these mess-free sets that we can take with us in the car, to doctor’s appointments or to church.

Disney Frozen Floor Puzzle – We’re big puzzle fans around here and I know this floor puzzle, because it’s Frozen, will be a big hit!

Disney Frozen Ultimate Sticker Book – We get these sticker books often, especially for long road trips. All my kids enjoy them and I know my girls will get hours of fun out of this Frozen sticker book! I love that it’s something they can do all on their own at the ages they’re at now!

Disney Frozen two-pack of Puzzles – We got these for our girls last year and these puzzles have been used over and over and over again! They were so inexpensive (I think I found mine in the $ section at Target) but were the best money I ever spent on stocking stuffers! My girls still get these out and play with them often.

Disney Frozen My Busy Book and Figurine Set – I got this for my youngest (age 4) who, as I mentioned, loves playing with little figurines but I’ve owned a couple of books like these through the years and the little figurines are perfect for playtime in the bath!

Crayola Frozen Giant Coloring Pages – Combining my 7 year olds love of coloring and Frozen will be the perfect

Frozen Magic Ink Activity book – I got this activity book plus an Olaf one for my girls stockings and hope they’ll enjoy them.

Frozen Little Golden Book – this is another inexpensive stocking stuffer I picked up. I love giving books for Christmas, so this is just one of a list of books my kids will be getting this year.

Elsa Snow Queen Gown – This is the Elsa dress my 7 year old wore for Halloween this year and we’ve really liked it. The color is perfect and the fit was spot on. It would make a great gift for any girls who love Frozen and dress-up play! It’s a good $12.00 cheaper now than when we got it at Halloween time!

Anna Coronation Gown – We got this dress for my youngest for Halloween and she absolutely loves it! She puts it on and dresses up as Anna almost daily. It really is a beautiful dress and you can’t beat the price for the quality on this one!

Other Disney Frozen items on our watch list:

Disney Frozen Sister Plush Doll Set

Disney Frozen Plate, Cup and Bowl Set

Disney Frozen Elsa Girls Skateboard

Frozen Anna and Elsa Sisters Tee

Disney Frozen Memory Match Game

Disney Frozen Inline Scooter

Disney Frozen Toddler Elsa Doll Playset

Disney Frozen Pencils

Disney Frozen Lip Gloss

Disney Frozen Nightgown

Disney Frozen Lip Balm

Disney Frozen Invisible Ink Activity Book

Disney Frozen Jumbo Coloring Book

There are all kinds of Frozen toys, apparel and novelty items available out there – it can get a little overwhelming when trying to find the perfect gift for your little one. I hope this list helps you narrow things down and find the gifts that are the right fit for you!

Ideas for Keeping Things Simple this Christmas

Saturday, November 8, 2014

It’s never too early to start preparing for the holidays! My plan for simplifying Christmas this year is to get an early start — on shopping, planning and our yearly traditions. I’m excited to share some ideas for keeping things simple this Christmas on the blog and gather my favorite inspiration on my Simple Christmas Pinterest Board!

Follow along as I pin simple Christmas ideas and share tips, easy crafts and meaningful traditions at www.simpleasthatblog.com this holiday season.

Follow Rebecca – Simple as That Blog’s board Simple Christmas on Pinterest.

Remember How Blessed You Are

Friday, November 7, 2014

These past few months have been some of the busiest, more difficult ones our family has experienced and it’s been so easy to fall into a rut of “why us” and focus on all the stresses that surround us each day. I came across this quote that served as the perfect reminder to me to stop focusing on those details in my life that were a burden and see just how incredibly blessed we are!