It's Christmas! Intro

It’s Christmas! is a 25 day blog and vlog segment that I’ll be doing this December to bring you crafts, reviews, and ideas to make your Christmas season even more fun this year (especially, with this pandemic thing we’re all trying to navigate).

Hopefully, my family can inspire yours to not let this crazy year ruin the holiday season for you.

My #1 tip this year: Have a good attitude. Seems simple enough, right? Well, apparently it’s not. I know I struggle with this sometimes and let my frustrations come out. However, Christmas is my favorite time of year. My birthday is in December. I love holiday music. Christmas lights just put me in a great mood. I watch so many Hallmark movies in the months leading up to Christmas. But along with all of these great things, comes a lot of stress, which can lead to anger and frankly, disrespectful behavior. I’ve already seen plenty of people having a bad attitude online this year. People are complaining about Santa being behind a plexiglass wall. I’ve seen people complaining about wearing masks everywhere. I’ve seen people complaining about everything being so expensive. Here’s what you could do instead. Be excited that you get to see Santa! Here’s something I’ve learned. If you have a bad attitude, your kid is probably going to have a bad attitude. If you’re excited, your kid is probably going to be excited. They feed off of our energy. About the whole mask thing, I’m pretty excited to wear a mask this winter. My least favorite thing about being outside is constantly having a cold nose. If I wear a mask, it’s going to keep my face warm! As for things being expensive, think about all of these businesses that have lost so much money due to the Caronavirus. I feel terrible for these businesses and people that are losing their jobs. If I can support these places, I feel good about it. Do I have the money to support everyone? No. Which is why we’re going to be doing plenty of activities at home and taking advantage of some free activities. However, we will do our best to support some of these businesses (regardless of how expensive they are). And if you don’t have the resources to do this, don’t get upset. You know what your kids want to do? They want to spend time with you. As hard as this is to believe, Christmas isn’t about spending money. It’s about spending time with your family. It’s about embracing the joy of the season. I know that your holiday season, just like mine (fingers crossed), can be amazing if we all just keep a positive attitude. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have emotions. I’m saying that there are a lot of things we don’t have control over. There are a lot of things that won’t go as planned. And getting upset about every little thing is only going to make us more miserable. I know my family is going to get a little sad when we think about celebrating without my husband’s grandma that passed away this year. And that’s okay. I know my son is going to be sad that we’re not going to spend as much time with family as we normally do. And that’s okay. Those things are kind of a big deal. But we’re not going to get upset about not going to a cookie decorating class this year. We’re not going to get upset because we’re not going to a Christmas festival. We’re going to focus on having fun, creating new memories, and spending time with each other. And if all of that isn’t good enough for your family, feel free to be upset and negative, but don’t bring my family down with you. We’ll just be over here, spreading all the Christmas cheer.

Check back on December 1st to see all our family fun! From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Free Crochet Pattern: Braided 5 Strand Headband/Ear Warmer

This pattern came about for the sole purpose of keeping my ears warm while we go on bike rides in the country. Seriously, the last time we went, I was fine everywhere except my ears. They were so cold, they hurt!

So, I looked online for some inspiration and saw an ear warmer that was braided. The one I saw was only 4 strands, but it was made with bulky yarn. I had a worsted weight yarn that I wanted to use so I decided to just make my own pattern. Without further ado, here it is!

Materials:
-worsted weight yarn (I used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn! Metallic in Ivory)
-5.5mm hook
-yarn needle

Terms:
ch = chain
hdc = half double crochet
in front 3rd loop = when looking at your work, there is a loop in front of the 2 that you would normally put your hook through, so you'll put your hook in the extra loop in front in order to work in the 3rd loop
sc = single crochet
sl st = slip stitch

Instructions:

Strands: Make 5
ch 87
Row 1: hdc in 3rd loop from hook and across (85)
Row 2: ch 2, hdc, hdc in front 3rd loop x 83, hdc (85)
Finish off and weave in ends (except on the 5th strand).

Face all strands the same way, working across all 5.

Row 1: ch 1, sc in each strand end twice (10)
Row 2: ch 2, hdc in each st across (10)
Fasten off and weave in ends.

With the textured sides of your strands facing up, braid them together, making sure to keep your braid somewhat tight.

When you're done with your braid, pull up yarn at the end of the strand at the far right and repeat rows 1-2 from before, just like the other end.

Join your ends together and sl st the ends to form your headband. Fasten off and make sure all ends are woven in.

And that's it! I was able to finish this in just a couple hours, using less than a skein of yarn. Now that's my favorite kind of project!