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It’s Week 3 of our 4 Weeks to an Organized Christmas series!

This week I am embracing my inner crafty diva.  

I still have a few other projects in the works, but first I wanted to introduce you to my new little friend:

I learned how to make these cuties years ago from a friend’s Mom.  Since then, I have created another each time a new member was added to my family.  And now we have a little family of Elves:

This is such a simple project that anyone can do.  But to simplify it even more, I put together a little tutorial for you.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• an alphabet block (we like to use the letter of our first initial around here)
• a wooden ball bead (ours is 20 mm)
• three pom poms
• red and green felt
• a glue gun

All of these should be cheap and easy to find at Michaels!

Tutorial:

1) Print out this handy little Elf Template I made for you.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait.

2) Cut those cute little shapes out – don’t you like how fancy they are?  I made them myself thankyouverymuch.

3) It will be easiest if you trace them onto cardstock or a thin cardboard, but it not, the paper should work.

4) Once you have the shapes, you can trace them onto the red and green felt like so:

It doesn’t really matter which color you use for each.  I just like to mix it up a bit.

6) Next, glue the arms on top of the block.  (Important: You need to glue the arms on before the neck and the head.  Ask me how I know…)

7) Then you’ll glue the neck first and then the head.  You’ll see I cut out little triangles to make the neck look all fancy and stuff.

8) Then you’ll add the hat. It always takes me a minute to remember how to do this part. So I took pictures to make it simpler for you (and for me the next time):

The flat edge of the hat is the part that you will glue together.  Wrap it around your finger like so:

9) And then glue it on your little elf friend’s head like so:

10) And then of course we add the legs:

11) Add a few pom pom’s, and suddenly you have a new cute little buddy: 

We’ve enjoyed our little guys with no face, but if you’d like to give him some added personality, go for it!

This might also make a simple homemade way to start the Elf on the Shelf tradition this year!

I have an idea! If you decide to make these, I would be tickled if you shared pictures with me on The Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page.  I want to meet your little guys!

Want to transform your Christmas with us? My Book The Merry Little Christmas Project – Five Words that will Transform your Christmas has helped thousands of women do just that. If you have ever wished that Christmas didn’t have to be so stressful, I wrote this book for you. Click here to learn more and begin simplifying and organizing your Christmas with me! 

It’s Day 2 of our 4 Weeks to an Organized Christmas series! This week we are all about Simple Christmas Decor.  Today I finished up this:

I was inspired by this post.

Easy Peasy and so cute, don’t you think?

Tomorrow I have several more projects I’m hoping to tackle and share with you guys.  Plus I have a tutorial for these little cuties coming up:

Be sure to join us over on The Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page.  We are counting down the days until Christmas and sharing our Christmas tips and tricks!

It’s Day 2 of our 4 Weeks to an Organized Christmas series!

This week we are tackling our Christmas decorations. 

Today I pulled out my two power tools of choice: my glue gun and my spray paint can.

My inner crafty diva doesn’t come out often, but I think I like her when she does stop by for a visit.

Here’s what I came up with today:

I found the printable Christmas Subway art here – isn’t it fun?  I was all out of color ink, so it was a good excuse to stop by the library for a visit and print it out for just $0.15.

I scored the frame at the Dollar Tree and spray painted it red for a more festive feel.  The burlap was a last minute addition since I printed the subway art a little too small for the frame.

I like it. 🙂

Now here’s a little sneek peak at what I’m working on for tomorrow:

See you tomorrow!

It’s Week 3 of our 4 Weeks to an Organized Christmas series!

This week is all about Simple Handmade Decorations.

And when I say simple, I mean it.

The closest I get to a power tool is a glue gun, you guys.

And yes, it’s too early to get out the Christmas decorations.  But it’s never too early to plan, right? And that’s what we’re all about this week.

Here are 8 simple Christmas decor ideas that have inspired me this week: 

Chalkboard Christmas Graphic for less than $5

Click here to see more.

This week we are all about planning. 

I promised more info on how to use the free Christmas Budget Planners I put together for you.

So I made a little video for you with details on how to use the spreadsheet.  Click here to watch it and let me know if you have any questions!

I also wanted to explain the purpose of the Christmas Gift Pocket Planner pages that you should have received as a Christmas Deals newsletter subscriber. (Sign up here if you haven’t yet and these tools will arrive in your inbox right away!)

Here’s how I’m using mine:

For the past couple of years, I’ve been using a Christmas organizer that I purchased on Amazon.  It worked fairly well, but one of my main issues was that it was just too big.  I wanted something that I could slip in my purse when I head to the store.

So I got the idea to make my own pocket planner.  Using a plastic sleeve picture album from the dollar store and the mini spreadsheet I created, here is what I came up with:

I slipped the sheets behind the plastic, but if you’d like easier access, you might consider gluing them on the outside of the sleeve.

I also decided to label a Coupon section and Receipts section.  Now I no longer have any excuses when I lose either of them!

I’m excited to have a plan in place for my gift budgeting.   I hope these tools can be a resource for you as well.

How about you?  Have you had success with gift budget planning?  Leave a comment with your best tips!

It’s Week 2 of our 4 Weeks to an Organized Christmas series!

This week we are all about planning. 

I am very excited about a couple of planners that I’ve put together for you.  If you are an email subscriber, check your inbox for an email from me titled ‘Your Free Christmas Budget Planners’.

If you aren’t, head over here to sign up for my free email newsletter and you should receive an email right away with some lovely little gifts from me to help with your Christmas Gift budgeting.

Update:  I put together a post with tips on how to use the Budget Tracker and how I made my own Pocket Planner.  Head over here to check it out!

This week we are all about Christmas planners and printables. 

Let’s start off the week with a list of FREE planners and printables that I’ve found around the web.  Print your favorite now or pin this page for later when you are ready!

Printable Planners:

Christmas Gift Budget Tracker and Pocket Planner

20 Thanksgiving and Christmas Printable Planning Pages

Christmas Planner Printable Tags

Printable Holiday To Do List

Printable Gift Ideas Pocket Planner

Printable Christmas Your Way Planner

Organized Christmas Printable Planner

Collection of printable planners and apps

Printable Decor and Labels:

Printable Advent Calendar Cards

31 Free Printables for Christmas Decor

Make It Handmade Printable Labels (Ok – that’s 11, actually. :))

Tomorrow I’m going to share some of very own printables and planners with you – come on back! 

Find the entire 4 Weeks to an Organized Christmas Series here. 

It’s the end of Week 1 of our 4 Weeks to an Organized Christmas series!

This week we are tackling our Christmas decorations. 

Just as a little recap, here is what my Christmas Wrapping Station looked like a few days ago:

I guess you could call it more of a Christmas Wrapping Pile.

Now before the Big Reveal – a little disclaimer:

I have a 17 month old son who delights in creating chaos right now, so the only location that would be safe from his little clutches is my basement. (Or my closet – but that’s a little crowded.)

So if the pictures look a little dark and you’re wondering why my walls are a funky shade of green – that’s why.  It may be ugly, but it’s my new Happy Place.

What we are most concerned about is function, people.  And THAT is why I am GIDDY about my new wrapping station.

Ta-Da!

This is the exact same spot where my Christmas wrapping stuff was located before – little did I know what a difference a few bins and totes would make!  (In fact, I spent a total of $12 on this.  Honest.  Give it up for the Dollar Store!)

If you’re like me, you constantly play the “Where oh where did my scissors/tape/ribbon/etc go?” game when you are wrapping.  I’m hoping this shower caddy will answer that question for me!

Totes.  Labels.  Doesn’t get much simpler than this!

Remember those gazillion gift bags I told you about?  Here they all are in an easy to access bin!  I also actually matched the lids to the bottoms of my gift boxes and threw away any that didn’t have a match.  What a concept!

I’m pretty sure that taking an hour or so to make this happen is going to make my entire holiday season less stressful and more fun.  I feel ready to take on the world – or at least Christmas. 🙂

After all – there ARE only:

How about you?  Did you find time to organize any of your Christmas stuff this week?  Tell all!  I’d love to hear about it over on the MLC Project Facebook page.

Ready for Week 2 of our 4 Weeks to an Organized Christmas series?  This week we are all about Christmas Planners and Printables.  Can’t wait!