The tree's officially cluttered!

I have friends far more crafty and creative than I am, so I "steal" ideas.  No harm's done during my thievery and my kids think I'm a genius.  One of the creative ideas I've taken on this December is an Advent calendar, but not one filled with chocolate (although that sounds good right about now).  I didn't snap a picture of my creation, but it just involves a large piece of cardstock with little paper pockets attached.  Each one of the 25 paper pockets has a little tag inside.  Every morning the kids pull out a tag that has listed our activity for the day.  The activities are for the most part very simple.  So far we've done wreath making (ha, ha, ha) and hot cocoa, a themed movie night, Christmas light tour, Christmas parade and ornaments.  Instead of sealed envelopes, I opted to use tags so I can fill them out as we go.  So, yes, most of the tags are still blank...shhh!  Spencer's asked a few times to peak at the next day's surprise.  If he did pull out a blank tag, I just might introduce him to the magic of invisible ink.   Do you think he'd buy it?!

I went to the craft store with the kids today.  Not only was a weekend day, but did I mention both my children were with me...shopping?!  Apparently popsicle sticks are all the rage this season, so I didn't find what I was really searching for.  I did found some neat wooden crosses the kids decorated with jewels and glitter.  While were not big-time Santa supporters, I think reindeer are pretty darn cute, so the kids made candy cane reindeer too.  

The reindeer have congregated in one section of the tree which just adds to our already cluttered look.  But the joy I saw as my kids placed their creations on the tree has erased any desire I had for that Better Homes look.  Tacky works just fine here.