Today I am thankful for fire trucks, marching bands and clowns on stilts because they make my kid THIS HAPPY.

To Ohio, to Columbus, Thanksgiving, to Connecticut, CHRISTMAAAAAAAAAS.

Sunday:

DIY in car entertainment center. It worked like a CHAMP.

Rest stops are EXCITING

We were at the in-laws for less than 2 hours before the kids got to open their Christmas presents.

Monday:

This is the ONLY TIME she slept all week.

How many braids can I fit on my head? (Answer: four, this time)

Learning the fine art of eating peanuts at a roadhouse.

Tuesday:

This was the first picture I took all day.

This is the only other picture I took. TUESDAY WAS NOT GOOD.

Wednesday:

Obviously Wednesday was MUCH better.

I should stop calling her a weirdo, but not until she stops doing stuff like this.

C-bus. That's what the cool kids call Columbus. If there were any cool kids in Columbus.

Thursday:

The cousins LOVED the iPad, almost as much as they loved Little Evan.

Turkey shaped turkey and cheese ball is cheesy. Bahahaha I'm hilarious.

She wasn't as excited about the vintage dress as I was.

Friday:

Towing a plane with your car seems like a really, really stupid idea. Planes don't sit in traffic.

She's ashamed to be seen wearing the same jammies twice in one week.

Back to our regularly scheduled TV zoning out.

Saturday:

My GIANT HAUL from Joann's. Spent about $90, saved $112, and I won't need any craft supplies for months.

Went out to hunt and kill our own Christmas tree like good Americans.

Walked three houses down the street to watch the parade. One of the best parts of living in town.

Future eyelash model

Naked tree. Don't worry, it's fully dressed now.

Whew! That was exhausting. Tonight I am putting some of those craft supplies to use and finishing up my list of shopping to do tomorrow while E is still home to watch the kids. There will also be napping. I need to make up for some of that sleep I missed while Caroline was trying to kill me in Ohio. Or maybe I’ll get started on my Christmas baking. SO MUCH BAKING TO DO!

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

I saw these adorable felt trees in my Garnet Hill catalog and decided I wanted them:

But $20 seemed pretty steep for felt and glue, so I set out to make my own (Also, they’re out of stock).

Meh.

It was a LOT harder than I thought to a) get the cones the right shape b) get the felt tiers even and c) not burn the crap out of myself with hot glue. But after a couple of hours I came up with my own version which I think is just as cute as the original AND won’t make you throw your scissors across the room in frustration:

You could make them in any color combination to match your Christmas decorations (what, you don’t pick a new color scheme for your holiday each year?). Felt comes in TONS of colors and costs about 30 cents a sheet. I bought 11 sheets total but used only 8 of them for both sets of trees – plus lots and lots of mistakes. The only other cost was two 99 cent sheets of poster board, so DIY was DEFINITELY cheaper than store-bought. (I already owned a glue gun. Duh.)

If you want to do it the easy way, just buy a few foam/florist foam cones from the craft store. They run between $3-$8 each but there are always coupons and sales. Find the best art and crafts supplies like epoxy resin and more on this website.

If you want to make it the cheap way, you’ll need a couple pieces of poster board. Trace something large and round (I used my egg plate) and cut out the circle. Then fold your circle in half, then in half again so you have lines showing 4 quarters.

Cut out one of the quarters and roll the board into a cone. The more it overlaps the pointier the cone will be. Use various size circles to make different sized cones for a staggered look or the same size a bunch of times for a more uniform look. I used a line of hot glue to secure the cone, but tape would probably hold just fine.

For the felt leaves, fold a square of felt in fourths (just like how you started your cone). Cut the outside into a scalloped edge (or points, or use pinking sheers, or fancy patterned scissors) then cut the center out so it’s a ring. Cut through the ring in one spot so it becomes a strip. Glue one end to your cone and wrap the felt around so it overlaps up the cone.

Repeat with more felt, varying your colors and lengths. Try to line up the ends so you can have a “back” that is less pretty and can face the fall.

To make them fancier, paint on a little clear glue with a paintbrush an dust with glitter, add beads as ornaments, or add construction paper stars to the top. So cute, so easy. At least now that I know what I’m doing.

Today, I am thankful for my creativity, perseverance and that cold water soothes hot glue burns.

Oh, right, I had a giveaway going on. Sorry for the delay, folks! Winners coming atcha right now!

#17 – Katrina!

#43 – Henria O!

#36 – Jenn Smith!

Congrats guys! I hope you love your Shutterfly cards. I’ll email each of you a code ASAP so you can get started. I ended up spending WAY too much time today looking at EVEN MORE designs but eventually I managed to choose. Want to see?

(That card is attached to the Shutterfly site and if you were to click through and purchase a card I think I get a coupon. I’m not trolling for commission, I just couldn’t figure out how to get a screenshot that wasn’t super blurry and/or possibly violating their TOS.)

My BFF Erin took the photos. Expect a whole post of them for Wordless Wednesday!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

I spent two hours yesterday trying to pick a family photo from our beach pictures to put on our Christmas cards. I was super excited to get them designed and ordered and maybe even addressed before Thanksgiving. I am On Top Of Things! I am Planning Ahead! I have 9 whole weeks to get this done! People will know I thought of them BEFORE January 1st! (Although last year’s late card can probably be excused due to the baby-having I was busy with the week before Christmas.)

Of course, after two hours staring at 300 practically identical photos I decided I didn’t like ANY of them and we’ll have to take a new one. I just can’t bring myself to put a photo of myself in a tank top on a Christmas card. OK FINE, so the real reason is I’ve lost 10 pounds since that trip and who wants to send every single person you know a picture where you’re fatter than you actually are? So “take a really awesome family photo” is on our list of things to do this week, right along with “clean entire house” and “knit a couple of sweaters”.

FORTUNATELY, Shutterfly makes the rest of the card super easy. Even more fortunately, they offered me free Christmas photo cards this year (although my beach photos were already all uploaded to their site, since I ordered an adorable photo book for Sara, the friend whose birthday we were celebrating) in exchange for telling you all which one I like best. How could I say no?

Pros: Lots of pictures, classic design, short and sweet

Cons: My family is never going to look that picture-perfect and I’m jealous

Pros: Cute and creative, I look good in blue

Cons: Not very Christmasy

Pros: I don’t have to write a separate Christmas letter!

Cons: I don’t think we did enough interesting stuff this year.

Pros: Fresh design, love the message, could use a black & white picture so our clothes don’t have to match

Cons: I CAN’T MAKE UP MY MIND!

Now here’s the best news of all: Shutterfly has given me three codes, each good for 25 free cards, to share with you.

Leave a comment below telling me about your holiday card tradition – do you skip them? do you write the BEST family newsletters? do you make your family wear matching pajamas and pose in front of the tree? – and I’ll use Random.org to pick a winner next week. You don’t have to be a blogger to win, just make sure you use an active email address when you leave your comment so I can contact you if you win.

Good luck! Are you totally freaked out now, thinking about how Christmas is only 9 weeks away?