The easiest way to deal with change is to simply accept it, embrace it and ride the wave! That’s the attitude that I’ve tried to take with this move from the city to the suburb. I have completely immersed myself in all things a good homemaker should, with the exception of sewing, that will come later 
After years of living in the city and traveling for the holidays, we had not really done too much decorating for Christmas before. We would hang some lighted garland, put up a tree and set out the nativity set. But this year, our son was fully aware of Christmas, Santa and Prep & Landing! This is the first year we had the house, the family and the means to fully decorate with the Christmas spirit.
Decorating the outside of the house turned into a monumental event. I had sworn off all Clark Griswold notions of being the brightest on the block, but still found that the 200 LED lights I bought didn’t cover all my shrubs….and the lit garland I already owned was not enough to cover the front porch columns….needless to say, my “simple” ideas took multiple trips to multiple stores, but in the end, I loved it!
Inside the house, we celebrated every morning with a countdown to Christmas calender and an Advent calender. We moved Bernard, our elf on the shelf, every night and our son was delighted to find him in the morning. I also was thrilled with the bright crimson and silver I was able to decorate the house with. With each passing day, it seemed that we made a new decoration or family gift with love. That was the true gift this Christmas, spending time with my son, making stuff!
The piece de resistance was of course, the stocking I knitted for my son with love. One of my fondest Christmas memories from my childhood was waking up before my parents & being allowed to open my stocking gifts in bed. It was a beautiful stocking my grandmother made me (and all my cousins) with my name on it.
Here are some of the fun things we made and can enjoy year after year going forward!
Decorative Monogram, Elf On The Shelf, & Moose Mugs
Macaroni Snowflake
Ornament Wreath
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Christmas Card Display
Cookie Mix Teacher Gifts
Handprint Tree
Prep & Landing!
Knitted Name Stocking
[...] was inspired on Pinterest. It also sparked most of my DIY crafts for this past Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’ve also tried numerous recipes because you can see what the food is suppose to look like [...]