Cheap and Easy Neighbor Gifts for the Procrastinator

Okay, I admit it. I'm horrible at remembering neighbor gifts,especially since I haven't given them in over 3 years!

This means that once again I waited until the last minute to find something that was cheap, easy, and not so time consuming considering it was Christmas Eve by the time I put them together.

So, I bought some boxes of brownie mix (any cookie or cake mix works, too) and slapped a bow on top with a poem attached.

{I like the idea of giving out gifts such as mixes beause 1. I don't like baking things for other people in my house. I'm really clean when I bake, but I do have a German Shepherd and I don't ever want to be "that neighbor who gave you cookies with a dog hair in them"...EW!.}

There are all sorts of cute poems on Pinterest or other blogs that you can find out there, but at about 3am I woke up and had this one in my head (I must have been having a Dr. Suess type dream...)

It reads:

"The holidays as usual were busy and crazy.

Not a second to spare to sit and be lazy.

In the hustle and bustle, your gift needed making.

Up in the pantry it sat ready for baking.

Eek!

The calendar read the 24th and I had meant to make it back on the 4th!

...and with Christmas tomorrow, my stress is sky high,

so, I'm leaving it at your front door while running right by.

But we hope you will still enjoy making your own treat.

We're sure it will still taste mighty darn sweet!

And we beg for forgiveness for not managing our time.

As well as for making up this silly little rhyme!

With love from the Farkles (who have ADD).

Hopefully next year, a tad earlier we will be!

Merry Christmas!!

Jen, Studly, Diva and Destructo Farkle"

A tad cheesy, but you can always adapt it to fit your family!

Gift Idea for A Dance Teacher

(or any other adult who works with children on a regular basis for that matter...)

If you know me, or read my blogs, you probably know that Diva is a dancer. She's been competitively dancing since she was 8 and dances at an incredible dance studio with girls that are very down to earth and all very sweet to each other (well, as sweet as girls can get). We are very happy there.

Anyway, one of the best things about the studio is her teachers. They are amazing and I love all of them. I consider them friends, so of course they were on my Christmas list this year and in my quest to try to be more creative, I wanted to come up with ideas that were unique which is never easy and I was pretty stuck on what to do.

However, the perfect gift idea for one of her teachers finally hit me last night, as I was in the shower (where I always get my greatest ideas, as Diva would attest to). What is even more awesome-sauce is that it was free! I already had everything I needed, so I got to work.

10 minutes later, I had something made out of this:

Read on for the details.

Cuss-Cuss, Bang-Bang: the story of my Christmas mantel

For a while, I have been trying to think about what to put over my faux fireplace in my living room, which looks like this for the most part:

I have thought about a picture gallery, a mirror, a sculpture, and maybe a huge Boudoir photo of myself.

I have yet to have any luck with it.

However, I did want to do something fun with it for Christmas and about a week ago, I started to get an idea. You know, one of those ideas that starts off pretty small and then before you know it, you're buying chicken wire at closing time on a Sunday night at Lowe's?

That's pretty much how my idea evolved, and here is the result:

But really, the fun part is the story of how it came to be...

DIY Holiday Wreath: In 5 Easy Steps

Hello Folks,

Today's step-by-step tutorial will be on how not to make your own holiday wreath. I'll demonstrate how I did it and you can modify your method, accordingly.

1. I got the spontaneous idea that "making my own wreath would be so much more fun and less expensive" while going into Lowe's and seeing the $5 evergreen wreaths on display.

2. Then, I went to Hobby Lobby where their Christmas stuff was 50% off and looked for crap decorative items to throw put on my wreath. I saw some snowie stuff and added that to my cart, too.

snowie stuff

2 coats. You can add more, but then you have to wait for it to dry and I didn't want to.

3. I used the snowie stuff on it, because I wanted it to be all white and silver-ish. Mostly because my front door does NOT match red and there are limited choices when you leave red out. Also, I think flocking may be on its way back (I hope). When I read "indoor use", I assumed it meant that you could spray it indoors...Well, kind of. Then there is the warning not to spray it near your furnace or water heater (which I ignored and ended up doing it about 10 feet away). 

4. I turned to my accessories and literally threw the crap on it wherever it fit (after I put a crap-ton of hot glue on them).

5. Then, I sat in wonderment of my new DIY holiday wreath and how...umm...nice it looked.

Well, At least I gave it the old college try though, right?

Project Break Down:

wreath at Lowe's $5
Snowie stuff (Hobby Lobby) $3
Ornaments, and ribbon (Hobby Lobby) $12
Total Cost: Approx $20 

Love Ya!