Day 1 - Elves are Back!

Our little elves always come back after we get home from out Thanksgiving dinner at Grandmas.  This year the kids could not wait until we left Grandmas to find the elves at home.  So after a wonderful meal, dessert and some play time outside in the snow, we decided to head home.

I told the kids, be prepared, it's been a while since we've seen the elves, hopefully they didn't forget to come.  So the kids walked in, took their coats and boots off and ran into the living room.  They were looking high and low and finally I hear "there they are!"



Here they were in the fireplace and chimney I made.  One of them got stuck coming down the chimney.  The kids thought it was hilarious!

DIY Cardboard Fireplace

I have always wanted to make a cardboard chimney for the holidays.  A real one would be better, but since I don't live in a place where that can be allowed that's not going to happen, I thought for years how great it would be to have a fake one.  Well, I could got buy one for like $400.  Nope, not what I want to spend.  So one day while I was surfing Pinterest, I came a cross a pin that excited me.  It was showing you how to make your own cardboard fireplace.  I loved it!  I said that's it, I'm going to make one this year!

So today I did!  Unfortunately, the pin does not link a source but I will link the pin that shows the images on how to create one:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/497014508851561224/

This is how mine came out!  I'm very excited.  I ended up using a lightweight vinyl brick roll.  It was easy to put on and I just cut off the extra that I didn't need and secured it with strapping tape.  For the inside of the chimney I used black card stock.  For the top, I had some left over wainscoting that I used for my daughter room, so I secured it to the top of the chimney as a shelf.   It was pretty easy to do and now I have a fireplace for our stockings to hang.