Homemade Ornaments Christmas Day 1 (a little early)

Here are a few simple supplies that you can use to create some homemade ornaments for you and your kids to decorate:

Glitter Glue ($1.99 at Michael's)
Chipboard (or you can use the cardboard from cereal boxes)
Cuttlebug portable die cut machine (or a punch)
Tag Shaped Dies (or metal rimmed tags from an office supply store)

Cooper has a miniature Christmas tree from our friend Angie in Elko, NV. She was Jake's co-worker at the Chiropractic office in Elko. One day she was talking to Jake about Christmas and he was telling her how we didn't have a Christmas tree and didn't intend on getting one for a long time. We both figured that as long as we spent Christmas somewhere else, we didn't need one for our house. I'm not a huge decorator...(have you seen my condo?), and I have no clue how to decorate a Christmas tree. That was always my mom's job. She could always make it look amazing. I was planning on buying some banner paper and drawing a huge one for Coop, then letting him draw ornaments on it. Afterall, we already told Cooper that Santa wasn't real anyways. When Angie heard that, she told Jake that we were horrible parents. The very next day she brought in the mini Christmas tree for Cooper. "Thanks Angie!!" So, I decided that since Jake and I don't have any Christmas traditions to call our own - except ruining Christmas for our kids - I was going to start our first official "Decorate Ornaments for the Mini-Tree Day." Seriously, this is one of my best ideas ever and the kids had a blast...even my sister wanted to get in on the fun since it looked so cool. I'll post an after picture of the tree, but I want to strongly encourage you moms to do this with your kids. It's soo fun...and if you need some of these cardboard cut-outs, I'll be willing to help you out with making some. Just bring your cereal boxes to me. This is definitely going on my future Advent Calendar of Christmas Activities. I'm finally getting into the spirit.

Coop, Kate, Kenz, and Steph - taking a minute to pose for my picture

Kate using markers for hers. She finally caught on to the fact that everyone else was using the glitter pens and I gave in and let her have a go at it.

Coop decorating his ornaments. He was so cute - he wanted them to all look "beautiful" for his tree. I'm curious to see what he does next year.

Steph displaying a few of the ornaments that she and I decorated. Yes, I was really into this activity too.