Hobby Lobby haul: Stocking Stuffers and Show

I love Hobby Lobby! No matter what I go looking for I never come out without a cart full of clearance! They are a creative minds playground! So when I get the chance to just wander around the store, I find the coolest things.

I also try to buy ahead for Christmas stocking stuffers, as well as, for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. I try to get the most bang for the buck so if I can find multiples in a pack for a smaller price it's always a score. Here are the items I found this week. Your results may vary as every store will have different items in stock. But you can get the idea.

These marker sets were only 99 cents marked down from $3.99!

These sand cross necklaces and Fuzzy Art Lions come in 24 packs!

These paper puzzles and paper glasses also come in 24 packs for under $1!

These little wooden nativities are in a 6 pack and these are 2 packs of wooden masks!

These ark sets also come in a 6 pack. And check out these cross zipper bags in 40 count!

24 packs of cross erasers and 4 pack of canvas could be broken up for multiple gifts!

These are drawstring backpacks 2 for 99 cents! And these cute feather boas are only 74 cents. 

These masks are only 49 cents and this 4 pack of glitter party hats are under $1.

I thought these little frisbee rings were a steal at 12 for 99 cents. And 8 cube games for $1.24!

These little monkey toys were pretty good quality for 99 cents. And check out these little notebooks 4 for 99 cents.

I'd pair these little pens with one of the notebooks from about for a great teacher gift! Check out these cute little pencil pouches!

Washi tape is a great stocking stuffer and $2.49 for 8 rolls you can't beat it! These cute cards could be divided up for multiple gift sets.

This is a fun little set of cards. They come in lots of colors. And these wrist wrap bracelet kits make a great gift!

This could be a fun little stocking stuffer or just good to have around. These little pocket crosses make a great stocking stuffer!

These necklaces are little more pricey as far as stocking stuffers go but they could also make a great gift. These coaster sets are beautiful and make a great hostess gift or stocking stuffer.

These lanyards a pretty cool and would be great stocking stuffers for guys.

Free Christmas Advent Calendars and Printables

I've been homeschooling for a long, long time. Did I say long? And I've created a few worksheets and printables over the years to accommodate whatever need we had at the time. You can check out some of my printables over on scribd.com.

But this post is about the Advent Calendars and Printables for Christmas that I am offering. They are embedded here for your enjoyment! The links on the bottom of the printables are all wrong so disregard. But the copyright still stands. It's free to use just don't sell it please. And if you decide to pin it on pinterest I wouldn't be opposed :)

I hope your family enjoys them as much as we do.

This one is the activity calendar. We placed each in an envelope and we open them each day and do the activity.
Activities Advent Calendar

This is the Santa's beard calendar. Each day we glue a cotton ball on the picture till the final day when Santa's beard and hat will be fluffy and white. Our kids don't really "do" Santa but we've had fun with it.
santa countdown to christmas

And finally our family favorite which we've done for years now is the Countdown to Baby Jesus! It's pretty self explanatory. You glue/tape a star on each day until it's Jesus' birthday!
Christmas Advent Calendar

New stuff to be excited about!

I started blogging for books! I'm really excited. The first book I received was "Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball" by Donita K. Paul. I'm really loving the book so far. Kind of a "You've Got Mail" type story. The review is coming as soon as I finish reading. But in the meantime, here's a book trailer for it. It's not really descriptive but here it is anyways.

Enjoy!

Merry Holidays???

OK, warning soapbox moment. And if you have a comment that's great but I'm not open to a debate right now. There are, I'm sure, plenty of places to debate this issue online. This just isn't one of them at this time. Thanks.

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I am a Christian. I hope you've picked up on that by now. If not hopefully it's not a huge shock. But anyways I am and I'm proud of it. That fact is the most important thing to know about me. I believe in Jesus Christ. It is a deciding factor for everything I do. It makes me who I am. It decides what I am doing on December 25th every year. I'm celebrating my holiday.

Traditionally, Christians(Evangelicals) don't have that many "Christian" holidays. I can think of 2. Easter and Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth and Easter is the celebration of his resurrection from the dead. That's it. Our 2 holidays. We get 2 days of the year that are distinctly Christian celebrations.

And this brings me to the problem. We aren't even allowed to proclaim it. We can't "Go Tell it on the Mountains". People aren't allowed to tell us "Merry Christmas" because they might offend someone who doesn't celebrate the birth of our Lord.

I think this whole "Don't say Merry Chrismas" thing is getting out of hand. I in no way think that we "own" the cold weather or the month of December. But we do "own" Christmas. It's named for our Savior. No matter how you celebrate it, everyone knows that it's "Christ"mas.

People know that the star on top of many Christmas trees stands for the star the wisemen followed to find the Baby in the Manger. The Angel on other trees stands for the Angel of the Lord that proclaimed the birth of the Christ child to the shepherds watching their flock. I think most people know or have seen a nativity. That's the point of this holiday. The birthday of Jesus Christ.

I know that there has always been debate over the origin of the traditions, the specific date of His birth, confusion over the tree in the house, guilt over the excessive spending, stress, hustle and bustle and all the rest. But basically, if no one has ever told you the story of Christmas. Here it is:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

(John 3:16)

It was so simple Charlie Brown. God loves you. He sent his son as a baby into this world. God put on skin. He came into "your" world. And why? So that you would believe and accept His gift to you. He loves you.

A baby was born and I don't know of any society that doesn't celebrate that. New life is always a celebration. It's a big deal everywhere. Let Him have his birthday. Allow us the 25th of December or any day for that matter to say Merry Christmas or Happy Birthday Jesus. If you see me on the street or anywhere wish me Merry Christmas. I promise it won't offend me. It would be very much welcome. Cause although the stores and apparently the library have no problem with carrying Christmas books, gifts, toys, decor and what not they have a huge problem with words.

Okay, that was long but I'm glad I got it off my chest. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Also, I thought this
video was pretty funny so I thought I'd share. Enjoy!