Christmas Book Advent Calendar--A Collection of Favorite Christmas Stories

I love advent calendars. I love Christmas books. I love traditions. This project is all three!

Twenty-four Christmas books, one to read each night from December 1st through the 25th. What I love so much about this idea, is that you can customize it depending on the age of your children. And it's not as hard as you think to come up with 25 great Christmas stories.

If you are just starting your book collection, or want to try out some new-to-you stories, the library is a great option. At our local library, books may be checked out for three weeks, making it possible to use library books in this project.

Here is our list of favorite Christmas stories:

The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus' Birth by Dandi Daley Mackall

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr Seuss

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomi dePaola

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

The Light of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans

Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

The Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall

Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck

A Charlie Brown Christmas

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston

The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers

Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect by Richard H. Schneider

Legend of the Christmas Stocking by Rick Osborne

The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans

The Little Drummer Boy

The Twelve Days of Christmas

The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

Bethlehem by Fiona French

I posted here about some new books added to the collection after this post was written.


You could  line the wrapped books on the mantle like this:

Photo Credit

or set them in a basket by the fireplace like this:

Photo Credit

No matter how you present the books, they will be a Christmas tradition for years to come.


(I love the convenience of shopping online and I think you will too. The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Trade in Your Items for an Amazon Gift Card

If you have books, video games, or DVDs gathering dust, you'll want to check out the Amazon trade-in store. 

You may be able to trade some of those unused items for Amazon credit.

I just traded in a few DVDs and a book for over $30.00. Trade-in values vary considerably, but if you have items you are no longer using, this is a very easy way to get an Amazon gift card. Here's how.

You can check to see whether Amazon is offering to trade for an item by going to the trade-in store. Here, you will be asked for the product category (textbooks, video games, or movies and tv). The textbook category covers a lot more than just text books. I have traded cookbooks, fiction, and nonfiction books. All were included in the textbook category.

When you identify an item you would like to trade, simply click the "trade-in" button. You are then given the option of adding more items or submitting your trade as is.

When you submit your items for trade you will be able to print out a postage paid shipping label. If video games are included in your trade, your only option is shipping via UPS. If you have not included video games, you may ship either via UPS or USPS.

Box up your trade, affix the pre-paid shipping label, and drop it off at a UPS drop-off location. You probably have a UPS drop box nearby. Check the UPS website for drop-off locations.

My experience has been that it takes about a week for the package to arrive and the contents checked. You will then be credited with the appropriate gift card amount which you are then able to spend on anything on Amazon.

For me, this has been a great way to clear some shelf space get money to spend at Amazon. Check out the Amazon trade-in store.

(I love the convenience of shopping online and I think you will too. The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Make- Ahead Pancake Mix

Mornings can be hectic and anything I can do to shorten breakfast prep time is a big help. We often have pancakes in the morning so I like to get my from-scratch pancake mix prepared ahead of time. Since I grind my wheat flour and flax seed, I store the mix in the refrigerator to help retain the nutritional benefits.

Preparing the mix ahead is a real time saver. I get the equipment and ingredients out just once instead of five times. It's a simple activity for the weekend that results in prepared mix for the next week or two.

I store the mix in quart size freezer bags (which I reuse). I place the quart size bags in a larger gallon size bag to keep them corralled in the fridge. My pancake mix is simply the dry ingredients from this pancake recipe. 

When I want to make pancakes, I simply dump the mix into a medium-sized bowl. I mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl. Then combine the wet and dry ingredients and you are ready to cook pancakes.

It's my morning sanity saver.

Update: I have had several questions regarding how I grind wheat and flax. You can read all about it here.

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Make Custom Binders for School or Home

Check out these great binders for back-to-school. They were made with simple clear front binders and scrapbook paper. 

A decorative label was added. So simple!

Custom binders on the cheap. Aren't they adorable?


You can also use this idea for your recipe binders. I love recipe binders!

This is why I am organizing my recipe binders.

If you have ever considered creating your own recipe binder, this is the perfect time of year to do so. Stores are stocked with back-to-school binders and supplies so you are sure to find what you're looking for. I recently purchased white 1" Avery binders at Walmart. I prefer to have several smaller binders as opposed to a larger one but that's a matter of personal preference.

I print most of my recipes off the internet. This works well because I then have an 8 1/2" x 11" paper with plenty of room to make notes and changes. The paper then fits perfectly into a page protector for inclusion in my binder.

I am in the process of reorganizing my recipes and reassessing categories so I've been scouring the internet for great recipe binder ideas.

Take a look at some of these sites for inspiration:

Complete Organizing Solutions has a step-by-step pictorial of everything you need for a recipe binder.

Delicious Days adapts a moleskin notebook to make an awesome recipe book.

Prudent Baby has a very practical yet great-looking binder (see photo below) using the white Avery binders like the ones I purchased at Walmart. This is what I'm aiming for!

Check out PrudentBaby.com for printables.

This post is shared at  Practically Functional, Simply Sensational Tuesday, Mop It Up Mondays, Busy Monday, Tutus and Tea Parties, It's Overflowing and I Heart Nap Time.

Clean Your Plastic Shower Curtain Liner

I have a plastic shower curtain liner that was really dirty with soap scum and mildew. I had read that you could throw these in the washing machine, but I was hesitant since mine was a heavy-duty liner.

The liner is similar to this one . It's a heavy duty liner.

Well, I should not have been concerned because it really works!

I put the liner in the machine with some white towels, regular detergent, and 1 cup of vinegar. I had read that the vinegar will remove the soap scum, and it sure did! I ran it through a cycle with warm water. When it was done, I hung it back up on the shower curtain rod to dry.

Good as new! Keep the liner looking great with this homemade daily shower spray.

More shower items:

Tension Rod , Shower Caddy , Roller Rings , Fabric Shower Caddy 



For some great tips that will save you money on laundry, check out these posts:

Add Softness to Your Laundry with Vinegar

Eliminate Static with Aluminum Foil in the Dryer

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Do You Know What is in Your Freezer?

If your freezer is jam-packed with all the bargains you've collected, you may not even know what's in the back corner. Maybe it's time to clean out the freezer, use up what you have, and then get ready for another day of "freezer cooking". Start with these steps to an organized freezer.

Remove everything from the freezer. It's important that you examine each item to determine it's usefulness. Do you know how old it is? Do you even know what it is? If in doubt, throw it out. Clear the space for food you will use.

Repackage items. To create more space in the freezer, it helps to repackage existing items and new items. For example, if you have a half empty box of popsicles, you could transfer the popsicles to a freezer bag. For new items such as poultry or fish, repackage in the sizes typically used in your recipes. This will take up less space and help to simplify meal planning. As you add new items to the freezer, be sure to label each item so that you know what it is and when you placed it in the freezer.

Store like items together. Once your items are ready to go back into the freezer, it will help to keep like items together on the same shelf or in the same drawer. For example, place meat and poultry together, breads on a separate shelf, and frozen vegetables on another shelf. You could also purchase wire baskets or plastic bins to fit on freezer shelves to help organize these categories.

Develop a freezer inventory log. A freezer inventory log lets you know what's in the freezer without opening the door. A log will help with meal planning as well as planning shopping trips because you know what you already have. However, a log is only useful if you keep it up-to-date. Here are some of my favorite printable freezer inventory logs from around the web:

I really like this simple template from Organized Home. Use a slash mark to denote that you have the item. Complete the X when you have used the item. Simple and useful.

This cute list from Little Bird House separates freezer contents into four categories: Entrees, Meats & Dairy, Sides, and Miscellaneous. It uses the same slash mark and X system.

This cute template from Faithful Provisions lets you fill in the list by typing it on the computer before printing. You can't save the list but a typed list always looks neater than one that has been written by hand.

How do you keep your freezer organized? Let us know!

Cook Something Each Day: My Make-Ahead Solution

Photo Credit

I have not been very successful at devoting a day to "freezer cooking". So my solution is to take a small step every day to reclaim my grocery budget and save money. My goal is simple: cook something every day.


How will this help my grocery budget? Knowing that there is something in the refrigerator, even a small part of a meal will prevent that "let's-just-pick-something-up urge".

I might make soup one day and cook a roast in the slow cooker on the weekend. If I put together my favorite Black Bean Salad, I'll have lunch, a snack, or a side salad (depending on how I want to use it) for several days to come.

If you reach a point where the fridge is stocked with "meal" food, you may want to cook something like brownies or muffins. My goal is to never be faced with cooking an entire meal from scratch.

So when I cook something each day this week, my goal is to make something that will last for more than just one day. That soup? I'll make enough for lunches during the week and some for the freezer. That roast I make on the weekend will yield enough for sandwiches and perhaps a stir fry.

I may not be totally organized this week, but that does not mean that I'm going to throw my hands in the air and hit the nearest drive-through. Armed with a meal plan and a goal of cooking one item each day will get us in an "eat-at-home" and "use-what-you have" routine.

Streamline Your Recipes with Spice Packets

When I find a recipe I like, I tend to make it a lot. One such recipe is Cincinnati 5-Way Chili. This recipe happens to use a total of seven spices. That's seven containers to retrieve from the pantry, seven containers to open and close, and seven containers to return to their proper spot.

I recently implemented this time-saving tip: When I make chili, I fill six extra baggies with the dry spices required for the recipe.

I store these six baggies inside a larger plastic bag. Now the next six times I make chili, I don't have to retrieve, measure, and return those seven spices. I just open the baggie and pour them in.

This post is linked to The Purposeful Mom and The Frugal Girls.

The Best Way to Clean the Bathtub

I don't know how my kids' bathtub gets so dirty--it's a combination of dirt and soap scum I guess. This photo is not my bathtub, but mine was just as bad.

Photo Credit: Finely Ground

Thanks to Marissa at Finely Ground, I now know how to clean a mess like this. The secret is Borax.

I've tried all sorts of different ways to clean my kids' bathtub. I found a few commercial cleaners that seemed to do a fair job (with a lot of scrubbing), but not like Borax!

I ran the shower just to get the tub wet, sprinkled on the Borax, then went at it with a stiff scrub brush. That grime was no match for the Borax and a brush.

At less than $5.00 for a five pound box, this is my frugal solution for cleaning the bathtub. Thanks, Marissa!