Create with Kate. 01.

DIY Advent Calendar

My godson just turned 3 in October, so I wanted to do something interactive for him for Christmas since he's at the age to understand Christmas and actually enjoy opening gifts. I don't live in the same town as him and his mom, but it's not too far from me. So by doing an advent calendar where he gets to open something each day in December before Christmas means I get to be a little part of his pre-Christmas even without being there! In case you know someone who might enjoy the same thing, it's a pretty quick process and it's actually fun to make!

I used some bags that I got from Michael's a while back and then printed off some decorative numbers on label paper from here. 

Cut out each number and label a bag. I did them all interspersed so none of the same patterns were next to one another. 

Then, my favorite part...go shopping! I got little toys and gifts and some candy to fill each bag. You can fill them with whatever you want really, but I think he'll like these. Lay them all out so they get a good mix each day. 

And then get to packing...

After all of your goodies are packed, grab a hanger and tie the first 6 towards the top. To be honest, it might be easier to start with 24 and work your way to 1 tying them higher and higher. 

 Then, tie the rest on the hanger until you get the 24th bag in the bottom right corner. 

The hanger looked a little out of place to me, so I took a bag, slit the sides, folded it in half, and cut a hole in the middle to fit over the top. It tied the hanger into the whole project. 

And ta-da! Now he'll have something to look forward to each day before Christmas!

Let me know if you guys make one! I'd love to see it! 

Tag me on instagram @rearviewvintage

xoxo, kate

decorate with kate

I don't particularly like to decorate. Or I guess, I don't like to take down decorations. 

exhibit a: 

In undergrad, my roommates and I left our fake Christmas tree up until June of the next year…now given it was only like 4 feet tall and the decorations were just neon poof balls, so it was year round…so to say…

exhibit b:

We had a halloween party after we moved in, which was about four months later…we got a 10ft black bat (that was made from black trash bags and balloons that filled the body) to decorate. We hung it in the corners of the vault ceilings above the television. I named him Gilbert. He became our 5th roommate. He moved out when we did…2 years later…

Anyhow, last year I got a real tree, which you have to get rid of in a timely fashion…otherwise it just makes a huge mess. This year, I'm debating about doing the same thing or doing something completely different. So to pinterest and google I went for inspiration…

 

For Fake Trees: I love the white look with bright ornaments!

For Real Trees: I love burlap and white for decorations.

This one caught my attention, but seriously…never gonna happen. It's hard enough trying to put up a Christmas tree the regular way with one person…(thankfully my landlord is amazing and helps with random things like bringing in and putting my Christmas tree in its stand)

Now this, this is me, to a T. I love this, minus the branch wings…

Seeing these totally made me want to create my own version…so here is what I came up with...

What do ya think?

xoxo, kate