An inexpensive Christmas gift idea and a visit with Santa Claus

Last year I read this blog post and thought it was a really neat gift idea. Unfortunately, by the time I decided to act said idea - the necessary supplies were no where to be found in our local craft stores. This year I decided to act a bit earlier and am happy to say it has been a success, so I though I would share it with you all.

Supplies needed for this craft are as follows:

Clear glass ornaments - they come in several different sizes.

Shredded paper in your color of preference...or any other "filler" you think would be cute. I'll tell you, if I still had my paper shredder I would have just purchased some card stock and done this part myself to save a bit of $$ but it's not real expensive so it's no biggie.

Nylon ribbon in the color of your choice and then I purchased bells from the craft department to tie on the top because I feel everything is a bit more "holiday-ish" when a bell is involved. Don't you agree?

 A black paint pen or as in the link above letter stickers for the monogram.

 I did a Google image search for Curlz font and then did my best to paint on the letters  in that font - it makes it pretty easy with the paint pen.

 Once the letters were dry I went over them with a clear coat of nail polish. According to the Hobby Lobby craft guru - it will make them last much longer - resisting "scratch off" damage. I then used a circular craft sponge & acrylic paint to paint on lime green polka dots. Once the dots were on I hung them to dry then clear coated the circles as well and voila ~ cute, personalized gifts!

 These are some others I did with beaded garland and green ribbon only - didn't they turn out cute?

I then wrapped each ornament with fun tissue and a cello bag. Now...the holiday cello bags were tempting but about 2-3 x's as much so these clear ones are with the other party supplies in most craft stores.

The ornaments have been quite the hit so far so if you need an inexpensive gift that's still personal and cute as a button, I highly recommend these! They do take a little time but I just did each task in a shift and then worked around the house or whatever. Tim helped a lot too (thanks honey!)

Now...if you are detail oriented like me I'm sure you want to know how much they cost and don't you worry ~ I've calculated that out.

36 glass ornaments $8.98

1 package of red shredded paper $2.49

1 tube of silver beaded garland (66') $3.00

5 rolls Nylon ribbon $4.98

multi pack of jingle bells $2.00 for 60 (craft section - not Christmas section)

1 black paint pen $2.09

1 bottle green acrylic paint $0.69

multi pack of craft sponges $3.00

cello bags (pack of 50) $1.99

red and green curling ribbon $3.98 (lots left over for other wrapping projects)

36 gift tags $1.06

Drum roll please - the final cost of each ornament with wrapping included: $1.09 y'all!
You can't beat that with a stick folks.

Now...onto our visit with Santa this past weekend - after all, it was the highlight as far as Kennedy is concerned. =)

Santa was participating in story time at the local bookstore Joseph Beth Booksellers. He read Twas the Night Before Christmas and then allowed all the kids to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. We met Kennedy's bff Matthew there.

A wildlife group was in front of the bookstore entrance with two 8 month old reindeer - how cool!

 SANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 It took every ounce of restraint these kiddos had to sit through this story.

 Patiently awaiting their turn to see Santa.

 This is Kennedy's first time to really acknowledge Santa - can you tell how excited she was to be sitting with him? Look at that grin! Hilarious!

 She pretty much just smiled the entire time she sat with him. He was talking to her but she was smiling so big that communication was near impossible. So funny.

 One more stop to see the reindeer on our way out.

Trying to get these two to pose for a picture is a chore but they are such buddies that I want to document their little friendship as best as I can. This one turned out pretty cute I thought.

Man....I love Christmas! So many fun things to do.