A Tree for Ingrid

Every season brings a new batch of holiday traditions to be remembered or created with Ingrid. It's hard not to get swept-up in the moment. Let's take today for example - as I was a few phone calls away from booking an unnecessarily expensive Breakfast with Santa when a coworker reminded me that we don't have to do everything this year. 

Breakfast with Santa can wait. Wish lists for Santa can wait. Cutting down our family's first real Christmas tree can wait until next year when we're in a bigger place. 

I love that Ingrid only understands a small percentage of what's going around her this month. She loves looking at the Christmas lights twinkling on front yards. Tonight, the holiday section of Target blew her mind as she yelled "Sparkly balls! Sparkly Balls! SPARKLY BALLS!" Hilarious and accurate. 

The decision to postpone the "real" tree was a slight disappointment for me but, I perked up when I saw this little Pinterest-gem: A Felt Tree for Toddlers.

It took Dan five minutes to cut out the tree from green felt, while I created as many ornaments as Ingrid would let me finish. At first she called the ornaments "makeups." It was one of those moments where she looked at me with such conviction as if to say "Excuse me Mom, these felt circles are now referred to as makeups, not 'ornaments'. How old are you?" 

At least once a day, she'll toss her baby to the side and happily jog over to her tree to "pat-pat" her ornaments (felt sticks to felt!). She'll admire her handy work and then aggressively wipe the tree clean and decorate it once again. 

She loves it and uses it daily. It cost roughly $5 and took 20 minutes to create. Our real tree can wait until next year. 

Nice ornament layering. 

Patting the ornaments to make sure they stick.

What's happening?
Someone cut my bangs. 

Although her expression would lead to you believe she's in a tragic situation -
Harper actually loves snuggling under this tree. 

Here's what I used: 

• 1 yard of cheap green felt 
• Leftover felt 
• Double-sided tape 

Thankful Tree

Last November, I shared what I was thankful for with a good old-fashioned A to Z list. I had a great time compiling, writing and sharing this comprehensive list.

This year, I wanted to start a family tradition around the idea of giving thanks, but didn't want the effort to be complicated or feel forced. I stumbled upon the idea of a homemade Thankful Tree - to take a few moments to write down what we are thankful for that day on a little card and hang it on a tree. Simple, painless and fast.

After finding these cute, free printable tags, the rest was easy.

photo via 

We gathered branches during our weekly Sunday morning and during an episode of Fashion Police, I assembled our Thankful Tree with minimal effort and a little twine:

Before

Free printable tags

After 

Although Ingrid will express thanks when you give her a chunk of cheese, she doesn't understand the true meaning of gratitude but, I know she'll love gazing at this new little addition to the living room (and will want to play with the tags). I'm hopeful this will morph into an annual family tradition where we can all participate.

Dan humored me and filled out a tag for Cell Phone Service, My Friends and Breakfast. I shared my thanks for Harper, Yoga, Ingrid's Laugh and of course, to all Veterans everywhere for their service and sacrifice - including Dan, my husband.

DIY: Family Planner

A part of me misses the "back to school" transition.

There's something wonderful about fresh school supplies, a new haircut and a fresh start every September.

We might not be headed back to school - but with school supply prices at the ultimate low - I wanted to clear my desk o' clutter and organize everything into a family planner.

For me, that meant creating a binder that would {hopefully} cut down on the annoying coupons, schedules and lists that always go missing in our little home. A cheap, convenient way to stay organized without going overboard.

Here's what I purchased: 

- a three-ring binder 

- 10 dividers 

- cheap pencil case 

- sharpies (Can you ever have enough?) 

Then, pinned these ideas as starting points for organization, categories and overall tips.

I'll admit, I spent far too much time clicking through lovely (and free) printables to organize everything from carpools to cleaning schedules but, to be honest, I just need one central location for schedules, a meal plan and these categories:  

• Week at a Glance Calendar - for workouts, Ingrid's daycare, Dan's ever-evolving work schedule.
  
• Meal Planning - this should really be title "In a Perfect World Meal Planning" because I have yet to make a meal plan work. I'm never in the mood for what I "scheduled" and I'm always missing some random, critical ingredient.
  
• Budget - In hopes that if this information was close to to-do lists, I would check it regularly. High hopes. High hopes indeed.
  
• Goal Setting - I wish I could apologize for this - but for me, this is the only way I can achieve results. If it's written down, it will eventually happen.
  
• Blog Calendar 
• Travel - Ideas for places to visit, travel sites to remember and places of interest to check out. No unnecessary planning or budgeting here!
  
• The Rest - a place for writing down passwords, housing random Groupons

My favorite site was The Project Girl - great tips and free printables. 

After an hour of organizing, hole-punching and throwing all coupons into the pencil cases - tadah - now things are sort-of organized. 

My goal of clearing my desk of clutter has yet to be realized, but now there's a pretty binder in place of piles of paper. I'll take it for now! 

What about you? Do you set aside time weekly to plan? What tips and tricks have worked for you?