DIY Christmas Is Uber Fun!

I’m participating in the Spend-Less Holidays: Saving While Savoring the Season Blog Carnival, hosted by The Frugal Fil-Am and Dainty Mom. We’ll be sharing our tips on how to spend less this holiday season, so that we can have a more meaningful Christmas. Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of carnival entries.


When I was still a kid, I have always looked forward to Christmas. Who doesn't? I bet that if you ask the kids what their favorite holiday is, I'm sure they will all shout CHRISTMAS! We all look forward to the Christmas lights, decors, carols, presents and of course, celebrating with our families and loved ones!

I grew up with fun memories of Christmas although I didn't come from a wealthy family. My mom didn't buy much Christmas decors but she managed to decorate our house beautifully every year. She has the knack for creating decors mostly from styrofoam, wrappers and crepe papers. I have always admired her creativity and frugality. She showed me that it is possible to make beautiful decors by spending less.

We made Christmas Tree ornaments from styrofoam and paint. Back then, National Bookstore sold styrofoam shaped as socks, bells, candy canes and snowmen. The only thing I had to do was to paint the styrofoam then Mama would sew a gold string in each decor and let me hang them on the tree. I could still remember how proud I felt with my "creations".

Now that I'm a mom, I am more excited for Christmas not because of the presents (which are getting less and less every year) but because I now have my own family to spend it with. I already have our Christmas Tree standing in our living room but it didn't feel like a major accomplishment to me. I wanted to do something that I will be proud of. Then I remembered what brought joy to me when I was a kid---creating DIY decors with Mama :)

My daughter is still a toddler so this year, I had to do the DIY decor by myself but I'm looking forward to sharing fun memories of creating DIY decors in the next years with her --- just like the memories that me and Mama shared :)

You too can have a DIY Christmas fun with your kids! I'm not really artistic but I feel very special when I create something. If I can do it, so can you! So what if your DIY craft is not so perfect? The important thing is that you and your kids have lots of fun together while doing it with less cost. Just don't forget to take photos while you're in action. My mom forgot that part!

I would like to share with you my DIY Snowman decor, inspired by www.diynetwork.com but modified to suit materials available. Like what I said, I'm not artistic enough but I feel really proud with this. Hubby said it is beautiful and that's all I need to know. Lol! This only costs Php 100-150 :)

If you like what you see, then follow these steps :)

Materials you'll need:

1 small styrofoam ball

1 big styrofoam ball

1 big square styrofoam

2 small square styrofoam

3 toothpicks

bottle cap 

all-purpose glue

liquid glue

buttons

embellishments

silver glitters

felt paper

foil paper

ribbons

paint/permanent marker

Here are the steps:

1. Apply liquid glue all over the 2 styrofoam balls then sprinkle silver glitters on them. Once dry, push a toothpick into both balls to create the snowman's whole body.

2. Paint the bottle cap with your desired color. You may use paint but I chose to use a red permenent marker. The bottle cap size depends on how big you'd like the hat to be (I used Dr. Edwards water bottle cap). Cut a square from the felt paper. Again, size depends on your preference. Stick the painted bottle cap on the center of the square felt paper using all-purpose glue. Once dry, glue it to the snowman's head.

3. Glue 2 buttons for the eyes using all-purpose glue. For the nose, you may insert half of a toothpick. In my case, I used a portion of a plastic fork which I found lying around the kitchen and glued gold glitters around it. For the mouth, stick a mouth-shaped foil paper. You may also use other embellishments like glitters or just simply draw a mouth with a permanent marker.

4. Cut a long rectangle from the felt paper. Trim the edge to create a fringe. Wrap this around the snowman's neck and glue edges together to form a scarf. Use embellishments to add details to the scarf. You may also glue buttons down the body if you want to.

5. Push a toothpick between the snowman's base and the square stryofoam to create a more stable base. You may also wrap the square styrofoam if desired.

6. Wrap foil paper to the 2 small square styrofoams and tie a ribbon to create the gifts. Glue these beside the snowman.

And there you go! Your very own snowman :) Feel free to add more embellishments to make it prettier. Let the kids take care of the glue or let them sprinkle the glitters. Whatever makes it more fun for them.

I hope you have fun making this snowman with your kids. It's spending less and at the same time making fun Christmas memories with the little people that matter most to you.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!! :)

    

Check out the rest of our Spend-Less Christmas Carnival Participants!

Domesticated Goddess 

The Learning Basket 

Apple's World 

A WAHM's Life 

Changing Nappies in High Heels 

Savvy Saving Couple 

Kids Party Hub 

My Life in Letters 

Super Mommy Wannabe 

The Frugal Fil-Am 

Mrs. C's Sugar-Coated Life 

Henry's Mom 

Roller Coaster Ride 

Saved By the Miracle of Baked Mac 

Mommy Journey 

City Girl, Country Home 

Ate Maui 

The World is Our Classroom 

Lique's Antics 

Mommy Bares All 

Consumer Queen 

Truly Rich Mom 

Saving Well, Spending Less 

Dainty Mom 

Supermom, According To Merriam-Webster

I was surfing the internet and googled the word "supermom". I found a lot of interesting blogs and I was surprised to see a Merriam-Webster link defining a supermom and here it is:

Main Entry: su·per·mom
Pronunciation: \ˈsü-pər-ˌmäm\
Function: noun
Date: 1974
: an exemplary mother; also : a woman who performs the traditional duties of housekeeping and child-rearing while also having a full-time job

I agree that a supermom is an exemplary mother but why does it have to be only for moms having a full-time job??? I don't know about you but I don't agree with this.

A Full-Time Mom is not weaker than a Full-Time Working Mom and vice-versa. They both share the same hopes and dreams for their families but they differ in ways on how to achieve them. My opinion is that any mom can be a supermom in her own way. At the end of the day, what's important is how we moms made a difference in our loved ones' lives.

I'm sure that our little Yanna thinks that I'm a supermom. I'm sure your little ones think you are too :)

Mommy May

Goodbye Fussy Eater!

I love food! I eat lots of food! I have a very good reason to eat a lot: Breastfeeding. My husband laughs whenever I use this excuse but really, breastfeeding moms get hungry (famished is the correct word!) fast!

I get so happy when I eat good food so imagine my frustration when Yanna refuses to eat the yummy meals we serve her. At 11 months, she still preferred the pureed baby food when she should be eating more textured food as advised by her pedia.

Well I am partly guilty. You see when I was still a working mom, I didn't have time to think of her meals. We relied too much on her organic baby food jar ( Earth's Best from Healthy Options). She loves those and it was always a happy mealtime back then.

I felt dumb when her pedia told me that Yanna should already be eating regular food like rice, fish, chicken, etc. So when we went home, we served her porridge. Just one taste and cue the waterworks. She hated it.

It was the same drama for a month. I've exhausted all techniques - sweet talking her into eating...pretending to be a baby who eats her food...playing the old airplane style, etc. It's frustrating but how can I get mad with this silly little girl?

She made her toys "eat" her food then grinned at me!

She'll get used to it. I often remind myself. Then one day, it just happened!

Yanna started eating without a fuss :)

Now she eats anything we serve her and I'm so happy that she's a healthy eater. She loves her veggies, my broccoli & cheese soup, my own version of cheesy tilapia & pasta. I love modifying dishes that will suit her!

Eating pancit and mangoes on her 14th month birthday :)

If our problem before is how to make her eat, now it's how to stop her. She imitates us. She eats what she sees that we eat. So goodbye unhealthy food! Or maybe just eat in secrecy. Lol!

My lesson learned here is to be patient. Little kids will learn everything at their own pace. I'm such a worrier so I need to constantly remind myself that Yanna will grow up just fine :)

Mommy May

My Short Vacation Trip with Yanna (Part 2)

Day 2 of our trip -- We strolled along the beach early in the morning to catch Mr. Sun. This was the beach we regularly went to when we were still kids. When I was still young, I really enjoyed swimming here, until I discovered Boracay haha! I never thought I'll enjoy this beach again but this time with Yanna, I learned to appreciate it again. This beach was full of childhood memories and now I'm back with my own daughter. Sniff!

Yanna was having some colds then and my mom said that sea water can cure it. You know how grandmothers are. I don't know where they get those ideas! Well, moms know best so I took a handful of sea water and wiped it on Yanna's face. I think I did that 5 times. (Result --- effective!!!)

Before heading home, Yanna had a crying fit again when I left her to take a bath. Her cry was so scary! It's as if she's going to lose her breath! I had to quickly finish my bath. That was not a good bath! Eeww! But a Mom's gotta do what a Mom's gotta do!

At around 10am, we were back in the car to head home but of course, a trip isn't complete without stopping by Tagaytay. We went to Bag of Beans and we were surprised that it's now bigger! The last time I went there was 8 years ago. They now serve buffets and everything in the brunch buffet menu was absolutely delicious! If I remember it correctly, it costs PhP 385/person.

 Lots of saffron rice for me! Breastfeeding eh! 

Chloe shows some love. They're so sweet together!

Yanna's really happy :)

 With my sister and her Chloe. I think Yanna adores her Ate Chloe. 

We stayed at Bag of Beans for close to 2 hours! The place is so relaxing and we kept on getting food! Yanna was very cooperative this time so I got to eat a lot! Breastfeeding really makes me hungry!

The drive home went smoothly. Yanna dozed off by herself again while watching her fave video in the car. As I looked outside the window, I can't help but smile. I knew that I did really well. I was glad that I had this yaya-less experience. I have proven myself worthy to be a mom. 

Yanna can be a challenge sometimes but my love for her makes me stronger, wiser and happier. In my quest to mold Yanna into a good person that I want her to be, I realized that she also molds me into a better mom that I can be.

Cheers to more future trips with Yanna! I am so ready!!! :)

Mommy May

The Newbie Homemaker

In my previous post, I mentioned that I'm having difficulty being a homemaker because I grew up having helpers do things for me. I have been disappointing my husband several times now in this department. I hate it when I disappoint people so I decided it was time to work on my homemaker skills!

I didn't blog last week since I want to focus on improving myself as a homemaker. At first, I didn't know where to start! I kept on walking around our humble condo unit to check on things that I can improve on. Finally I came up with 3 projects.

1- Fix that messy living room corner

With all of Yanna's toys and stuff, it's really hard to organize our home. We lack storage space and so some of Yanna's stuff (toys, mats, balloons, etc.) have been sitting in the corner of our living room for quite some time now. I cringe whenever I see that corner! I didn't like it but I was too lazy to think of a solution. Now it's a different story. Take a look! :)

Before: See that messy little corner?

After: Now our family photo is on the wall. This lamp was a wedding gift from my sister & brother-in-law but was only used now.

2- Change but be resourceful

Again, due to limited space, we had to place our little altar on top of a small bookshelf. Hubby had this bookshelf in his apartment before we were married. It serves its purpose but it doesn't match our home's color scheme (the rest of the cabinets are dark brown). I didn't want to buy a new one just because I don't like its color. Good thing my sister sold their furniture (they're moving to the States) and I immediately bought their dark brown shelf for only 250!!! What a bargain!!!

I transferred the altar and the books to the (almost) new shelf and placed the old one in the other room for extra storage for Yanna's stuff (originally from the living room corner in Project #1). I'm so happy with this! Hitting two birds with one stone!

The old bookshelf behind Yanna

The new bookshelf (I forgot to take a photo w/ the altar!)

3- Add a Christmas touch!

I wonder why putting up a Christmas Tree is a woman's task. My mom did it every year. I did it every year since we were married but I'm not complaining :) I love doing it! I want to make Yanna's Christmas a happy one. We didn't buy new tree ornaments but I feel as if the tree is prettier this year! We only bought a stocking for Yanna and a Christmas tree skirt. Yanna's face lit up when she saw the Christmas tree with the lights on :)

I'm still looking for the perfect star or angel for the tree's top...

I think I did a good job! I know these are small projects compared to some of the expert homemakers but it is a good start. I need to practice and get ready before we get our dream house. Soon? I hope so!

I'll do everything to make my husband and little Yanna happy :)

Happy Yanna :)

Watch out for more newbie homemaker posts! :)

Mommy May

How Not To Go Crazy

When Yanna was still a baby, it took me several months to really get the hang of it. Breastfeeding, changing diapers, soothing a crying baby and putting her to sleep --- physically and emotionally draining! I had to try different techniques to make life easier but just when I figured it all out, she's not a baby anymore!

I'm starting to miss those baby days. This is Yanna at 3 months :)

Now enter toddlerhood. It's a whole new story again! Yanna's smarter, more active but still clings to me like glue. She now demands more from me and she has the right to do so. Toddlerhood can sometimes be very scary for the little ones because they're stuck in the middle --- they want to gain more independence but at the same time, they still need us.

The newbie toddler :)

There were lots of times when I just want to scream!!!

When Yanna's making such a mess when eating or when she refuses to eat...

When I feel immobilized because she breastfeeds so many times in a day (I don't think she's hungry. More on getting comfort from me.)...

When all I can watch are baby DVDs (I've memorized the songs!)

And when she cries whenever I just need to go to the bathroom.

She can sometimes drive me insane! How can such a small person do that to me? I love her to bits but sometimes a mom just really needs a break. But we moms know that sometimes that's not possible so the best thing we can do is control ourselves since those little people can always argue that they're innocent. ( I miss being a kid! )

To save me from being a mad, crazy mom, these are the things I do.

1- I take a very deep breath! I don't want to show her that I'm mad since usually it's not her fault. It's my fault for losing my patience. Maybe it was just a tiring day for me.

2- Kiss and hug. I may be really frustrated but I manage to still kiss and hug her. Touch has its calming effect. Yanna often smiles when I do this. She knows I'm a softy whenever she smiles.

3- I ask for help. When Steps 1 & 2 won't work, I ask for help either from hubby or yaya. I leave Yanna with them and isolate myself in another room until I am calm. Sometimes I just need a short break. During isolation, I begin to miss Yanna and then I forget why I'm mad in the first place.

I've read from books that it is normal to feel this way. Thank God, I'm still normal! With the high expectations that moms place on themselves, it's no wonder why moms sometimes get easily frustrated. Others even break down. Every mom has her own way of coping with the frustration and these three steps proved to be helpful to me.

As I'm writing this now, Yanna is throwing a fit again. Now time to do Step 1 :)

How about you mommies? What do you do to stay sane? Do share! :)

Mommy May

My Sleeping Beauty

I love looking at Yanna while she sleeps. So peaceful. So innocent.

I hope these photos will make you feel serene too! Happy Wednesday!

Mommy May