I really enjoy seeing every family’s unique personality show itself on their Christmas tree. Color lights or white, homemade ornaments or fancy ones, artificial or real…all Christmas trees are both alike and unique.
This year, I wanted to add something to my tree to really make it special. It’s already easy to make a tree beautiful…white lights on evergreen branches are so pretty! So surely I could come up with just one little creative touch to make our tree truly spectacular. I wanted to hire a portrait photographer to have pictures of the entire family placed around the tree but they were already booked with other Christmas shoots, so that’s when I decided to turn to Pintrest.
After much Pinterest-induced frustration, I came up with something that I am really excited about! It’s fairly inexpensive…however, this project was a little on the complicated side. But if you’re looking for something to really make your tree stand out, at least give this idea a shot!
Ok, here it is…drum roll please…
Notice the stunning display of toilet rolls delicately and strategically placed on the evergreen branches…
Ok, I’m totally kidding! Please, please, for the love of Christmas trees…do not replicate this tree! 🙂
This Pinterest Assassination Tree is the result of the creative genius of my two-year-old boy, Mark. I had been in the kitchen, and when I walked into the den this is what I stumbled upon.
To my mama heart, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. To my care-what-people-think-about-me heart, it’s been the source of many an explanation. 🙂
Ok, on to the real out-of-the-box Christmas ideas…no more tricks. 🙂
I want to share with you a very simple list of boy-inspired stocking stuffers.
When it comes to shopping for stocking stuffers, most of you are probably like me and head straight to that dollar section at Target, or just straight to Dollar Tree. (not Dollar General for goodness sake! that place is so expensive!!)
Those dollar aisles are great and all, and can definitely save you a few bucks, but don’t you feel a little like you’ve fallen into a shopping assembly line when you buy that stuff? Everyone buys those squooshy balls, and tiny coloring pads, and jacks kits. And your kids have seen those toys a thousand times, too…inside birthday party grab bags, at the ticket counter at Chuck E. Cheese, inside their stocking year after year…
I don’t want to buy something just for the sake of buying something.
So, after studying my kids’ brain for a few days, I figured out a super fun stocking stuffer idea! (and cheap, too!)
Let me give you some fair warning first, though: This great idea all hinges on one thing – that where you live boasts a Harbor Freight Tools store.
Harbor Freight Tools is a low-cost tool and gadgets store. It has become my boys’ all-time favorite place!
So instead of buying run-of-the-mill toys for stocking stuffers, I grabbed my Harbor Freight flyer and went shopping.
Let me share with you what I bought:
- 4-pack of funnels: for sand-box play, bath time, or science experiments…$.79
- 12-pack of Bungee cords: for Rudy’s love of hooking things together and building “spider webs” across the kitchen…$2.99
- Multimeter: random, I know! Once the batteries are removed, this can be used for “fixing” their toy cars, or any other imaginative play…FREE with any purchase!
- 2-pack of flashlights: for their new love of building tents in the dark…$1.99
- 6-pack of heavy duty clips: can be used for their tent-building or any other “project” they have going on…$1.50
- Grabbing tool: to pick up scary bugs, grab hard-to-reach things, or bother people and get lots of spankings because I bought the worst idea of a present ever 🙂 …$1.50
- Rope: for their new passion of tying up “bad guys”, dragging things, learning knots, or any other ideas they may have…$.99
I distributed everything evenly among both boys, and they both ended up with quite a cool pile of stuff! All of their fun boy-stuff will get them outside playing and using their little noggins! 🙂
I am really looking forward to them ransacking their stockings on Christmas morning.
Hope this idea helps! Any other creative stocking stuffer ideas out there? I would love to hear…still have to fill hubby’s stocking! 🙂
Header photo by: JKehoe
