'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'...

I've been finding a lot of things "Pinterest-ing" lately to get my creative holiday juices flowing. Beware! One can spend quite a bit of oh-so-precious time crafting, DIY'ing and draining your financial resources if one isn't careful. Luckily, most of the holiday projects that I've found are pretty quick and easy.

Here's a look at some Pinterest-ing ideas I've successfully executed:

Initial wreath

Wooden letter "banner"

And tomato cage Christmas trees

Last weekend we purchased and decorated the most perfect tree we've ever owned. Since we moved in to this house, we have been adding furniture and changing up rooms, so this year's challenge was to find a place for our tree. Since there really weren't too many other options, it had to go right smack dab in the middle of the room. Thus this tree really had to be perfect on all sides and it delivered. 

Normally, we use our colored bubble lights {a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember}. However for the past few years, less and less lights seem to actually bubble. So this year, I bought the old-fashioned, large, colored bulbs instead and I think they look so pretty.

We added the lights on Saturday, then proceeded to the Winter Festival downtown to view the lighting of the oaks {a first for me in all of my 32 years of living here}, participate in the Jingle Bell Run 3K with Ali {yet another first for me} and watch the holiday parade with our families.

Then Sunday, we added the ornaments to the tree. The kids enjoyed this a lot, but I think they liked climbing the step ladder more than actually decorating the tree.

The finished product...

The kids worked so hard that they had to have hot chocolate and marshmellows afterwards.

There are also numerous Pinterest-ing ideas for your Elf on the Shelf. Which has been a God-send since last year we got really bored with where to hide our elf. Murray {Christmas} has been up to quite a bit of crazy antics since he arrived on December 1st.

Snapping funny photos while the kids sleep...

Candy jar raids...

Monkeying around...

Reading tales of holiday cheer...

Decorating the tree with sweet treats...

Playing in ornament "ball pits"...

Baking up Grinch cookies  {yet another Pinterest-ing find} and leaving behind the classic story...

Playing with toys...

And hanging out in stockings...

Murray's got plenty more antics up his little elf sleeves. And if you're looking for more fun ideas with your elf, look here, here, here and here.

This weekend is full of more holiday cheer, like shopping at Jingle Jubilee, Breakfast with Santa, lots of present wrapping AND a little bit of birthday cheer as we prepare for the little girl's second birthday!

Oh what fun it is...this time of year!