Need a last minute gift idea?

The past couple of years, I have been a bit of a scrooge. I know the reasons why... and this year I decided I just wasn't going to let them get to me anymore. I want this Christmas to be amazing, magical and so much fun...not only for the kids, but for myself as well!

So...I decided to host an ugly sweater party for my besties. And WOW...we sure wear those sweaters well! Aren't we HOT?!? I was even sporting stretch pants, with stirrups and everything! Never thought I would wear those again.

In preparation for the party...I knew I wanted to serve all of the food that have been traditions in my own family for as long as I can remember. I wanted to try and motivate myself to remember all the magical things about Christmas, in hopes of feeling less scrooge-ish. I also wanted to share these important recipes with my friends...

Luckily...I stumbled upon this FREE DOWNLOAD!

How amazing are the people at shabbyprincess.com!?!

Not only do they have so many amazing FREE DOWNLOADS...but they also have so many cute, cute kits in their shoppe as well. Their prices are pretty amazing as well.

I printed the box at Kinko's on nice card stock. They were $1.24 a piece. You could do it on your own printer as well...but I wanted the printing to be really nice. (My printer doesn't work that well) It prints on a regular 8.5X11 sheet of paper. I cut it out and scored the edges that needed to be folded. Then just hot glued the sides in place. I embellished it with a little crochet flower and button. Super easy! You could also cut out little flowers from felt if you don't know how to crochet.

The recipe cards are all set at 4X6 for easy printing. If you don't have photoshop/elements to type in your recipes...you could just hand write on them. I think you are supposed to put in pictures of the food...but I would rather put pictures of my kids:)

I just put the recipes in the box and tied it up with a simple red ribbon. With 8 recipes at $.13 a piece (printed at Costco), the box at $1.24, ribbon was free (I have way too much ribbon) and the embellishments were also free since I already had the materials...that makes this adorable and very useful gift so cost friendly coming in at under $2.50! You could even do it cheaper than that if you needed to. Just print the recipes and tie a ribbon around them for a perfect $1 gift! My cute friend is giving banana bread to her neighbors this year so we typed the recipe on one of these cute cards and she is attaching it to her banana loaf. How cute is that?!? So many possibilities with this free download!

Thanks shabby princess! I think you are amazing for sharing your gift.

Christmas gifts....

I'm trying to be a little more creative with the gifts I give my kids this year for Christmas. I love to give homemade things...I just have more ideas than time these days!

I am soooooo very excited for what I have planned for my little miss this year.

I took her for a special photoshoot today

with the most important thing in her life....

"Doggy"!

Doggy has been her favorite since she was a year old. He has been everywhere we have been. Seen everything we have seen. Been washed 10,562 times. Soothed all her tears. Only missed 3 restless nights. Torturous, awful nights. It is safe to say that doggy is the most important accessory in her life. I am making a book all about Haleigh and Doggy. I am pretty sure it will be her favorite gift ever. Check out snapfish photobooks. I think their prices are great! The quality is wonderful! I can't think of a more perfect gift for a kid, than a book all about them!

Anything creative, different, or wonderful that you have planned this year?