The coolest Father's Day craft idea ever. (Really.)

Are you trying to come up with a special made-by-the-hands-of-children gift idea for Father's Day? Because I have found just the thing. My creative and talented friend from high school, Bergen, has sewn up these neat white 100% cotton neckties, ready for decorating. Dad's Day just got way cooler. Just hand the kids some fabric markers and/or permanent markers and let them do their thing.

 

Bowie drew circles and scribbles and Lo drew stripes and happy skateboards. So good. You can pick up your own nifty white necktie at Bergen's shop, Lilla Barn. (She also makes super cool clothing for babies and kids.) You should definitely follow her on Facebook, too. 

Happy Dad's Day to you!

A few more of my favorite things.

We're down to the wire, folks – there are only nine days until Christmas! But I love taking in all of the holiday fun and celebrating the season with the people around me. I think the kids and I will be baking cookies tonight and I can't wait. I also can't wait to show you some of my favorite holiday-related things. Like the cool customizable holiday prints from my friend Chrissy at Domestica, shown above. (They're on sale for only $10!) Read on to see more of my faves.

Adorn your tree with these geometric ornaments from SketchInc. 

I love Purl Soho's beautiful Learn to Knit kit.

Who can resist these bold black and white gift tags and gift wrap (that you can download for free) from Hey Look?

These bright and lovely felt ornaments from Purl Bee are a treat.

And after running into Oliver Jeffers at a book signing in NYC a few months ago, I have become obsessed with his books. I'm giving a copy of The New Sweater to the kids for Christmas. If you want to see how cool and talented this guy is, watch this video.

If you have a skater in your life like I do, check out the re-issue skate decks, the documentary and skate gear featuring everyone's favorite skateboarding legends at Bones Brigade. You can even download a free copy of Animal Chin. Which is completely awesome.

Everyone loves Field Notes. And Field Notes pens. And Field Notes pencils.

And last but not least, more free printable gift tags from Hey Look. I found these a couple of years ago and they've been my favorite ever since.

Hope you're taking a minute to embrace and enjoy all of the holiday-ness these last few days before Christmas brings. It's a busy time but always so much fun! Enjoy.

our Advent calendar

For the past few years, I've been trying to find the perfect Advent calendar. I was going to make one. And then that never happened. I was going to buy one, but it had to be just right. I wanted to be able to put almost anything inside each compartment – tiny toys, notes, treats, whatever. I wanted something that wasn't too small. I didn't want it to be massive. I didn't want it to be fragile. And then, for my birthday last year my sister-in-law surprised me with the perfect Advent calendar. 

 

I'm not sure if this exact style is still available, but she gave me this gray linen pocket calendar (from Land of Nod) that hangs from our metal fireplace mantel with four magnets. It's perfection.

I filled it with some small surprises (mostly from the Target dollar spot, mixed with other things I already had around the house.) We've always used Candy Cane Hershey kisses in our Advent calendars past. (Lo started calling them 'mintys' when she was three years old. So they're a keeper.) And Lo dances in The Nutcracker each year, so I always get her an ornament with the name of her part + the year written in Sharpie on the back. 

For the rest of the days, I made little activity cards. (I think I found the perfect use for Project Life grid cards ... these worked so well.) I'm not doing an activity every day of the month ... I'm only human, after all. But I made a bunch to choose from and will stick them in pockets when I can, depending on what we have time to do each day/evening. A lot of these activities will depend on the weather. I made one for a snow day in case we have a snow day. Ice skating, snowman/snowcat making and sledding, too. Making the memories is way more fun than the tiny toys, in my opinion. Although Lo is a big fan of Silly Putty.

Now I just have to make sure the kids don't peek. Bowie hasn't even tried to pull this down yet, surprisingly. I love our family traditions and celebrating each day of the holiday season by trying to make it a tiny bit extra special. Whether it's making cookies together or reading a Christmas book at bedtime, it's time spent together and that's the best part of all.