Perfectionist DIY

It’s finally Christmas season and I couldn’t be happier! 🎄 I made this Advent calendar basket of sorts to do with my 13 month old daughter since this is the first year she’s really alert and experiencing the joy of Christmas. I try to alternate between presents and experiences so that it’s not too materialistic of an experience and so that it doesn’t cost a fortune. I recommend snagging some of these items on Black Friday sales because I’ve seen a lot of them marked down this week. I also tried to make things by hand where ever I could to keep the cost down and I plan to use many of these (like the Advent Calendar) year after year so I won’t have to buy as many things in following years. Many of the things like the pjs I actually bought after Christmas last year when they were on sale and just tucked them away in a closet. All of those strategies help to make this a more affordable experience. Hopefully some of the things below bring you ideas for toys or activities you can do with your little one this season. Enjoy!

FYI this post may contain affiliate links. All that means is that if you purchase something through one of the links, you won’t pay a cent more but I might make a small commission.

1. Melissa and Doug Advent Calendar

I thought this was a great way to start out the month because it’s 2 in 1, a toy she can play with as well as a way to count down the days until Christmas.

2. Decorate Felt Gingerbread House

I made this felt gingerbread toy using my Cricut cutting machine. I thought it would be a fun interactive Christmas decoration to add to my daughter’s playroom. If you have a Cricut and want to make this yourself, my pattern is free here on design space. I also found a similar option available on Amazon, linked here if you’d rather buy one already made.

3. New Christmas Pajamas – Kyte winterberry (Family matching set)

Kyte pjs are hands down my favorite kiddo pjs. I always wait and buy them during their annual sales- typically done in January and July. I was able to score all these for 50% off this past July. They are BEYOND soft. Their adult stuff is amazing too, just a little pricey so it’s a special treat I don’t often splurge on.

4. Make Christmas Ornament with Finger Painting Kit & Wooden Cut Outs

I love making seasonal crafts with my little one that actually have a purpose! This is my version of those paper ornaments we all made in school growing up but these will actually last so you can put them on the tree year after year 🎄 I made these wooden cut outs using my Cricut cutting machine but Amazon has some similar ones, linked here.

5. New Christmas Book – Biscuit’s Pet & Play Christmas

This book includes two of my daughter’s favorite things- touch and feel elements, and Biscuit the dog. “Dog” was her first word and she is obsessed with the original Biscuit book. Anytime we turn the page of a book and she sees a dog on it she immediately starts squealing “dog” so I’m sure she’s going to love this.

6. Decorate Playroom with Christmas Garland

I used my Cricut to cut out snowmen and snowflakes and plan to string them on a ribbon to hang in my daughter’s playroom. This year her decorations are mostly blue and a general wintery vibe rather than traditional red and green Christmas so I wanted to stick to that same color palate with this garland. Amazon has tons of options but I like the look of this similar one. Or if you want to make this yourself too the patten is free on Design space, linked here.

7. Family Christmas Movie – Polar Express

We don’t have any active streaming subscriptions that carry this right now but you can rent it on Prime Video for $3.99. I have some saved up e-credits from opting for slower shipping so we’ll use those to rent it without any cost. You can also rent it on Apple TV for the same price or buy it for $9.99

8. Family Shopping Trip to Pick out Christmas Gifts at Barnes and Nobel

Pick your favorite store and head out to buy a few stocking stuffers for everyone. Our family’s favorite store is Barnes and Nobel because we’re all such book lovers 📖 They’ve got a great selection of toys and knickknacks too.

9. New Christmas Pajamas – Kyte deer print

Because there is no such thing as too many seasonal pjs 🦌

10. Christmas Pompom Sensory Bin

I used mini presents and drums, bows, bells, and pompoms to make a Christmas themed sensory bin. The ribbons and bows I had lying around with my wrapping supplies, the little metallic presents and drums are from the dollar store, and the green pompoms and red pompoms are from Amazon. I went for jumbo sized pompoms that are 2 inches in size because I didn’t trust the smaller ones around my daughter who still loves to put everything in her mouth. See a reel on Instagram of it all put together here

11. New Christmas Book – The Spirit of Christmas

We have four other Nancy Tillman books and LOVE all of them. They are just so heartwarming so I am super excited to see what this Christmas one has in store.

12. Taste-Safe Christmas Play Dough

I haven’t made this before but plan to follow this recipe for marshmallow play dough.

13. Dancing Max Toy

I found this in person at the store At Home and unfortunately can’t find it online to link. Amazon has several other dancing Christmas toys though like a Christmas Tree, a Reindeer, and a Snowman.

14. Family Christmas Movie – Illuminations The Grinch

This is available on Peacock.

15. New Christmas PJs – Burts Bees (Family matching set)

I bought these last winter during Burts Bee’s big after-Christmas sale. While they aren’t as soft at the Kyte pajamas, they are warmer and more reasonably priced. And I love that they have dog bandanas that match as well. Even with their good pricing, I still recommend waiting for a sale. They typically have one over Black Friday week.

16. Drive Around and Look at Christmas Lights

This is a classic Christmas activity that I look forward to every year. Our neighborhood typically goes pretty big with holiday yard decorations so we don;t even have to leave to find some good sights.

17. New Christmas Book – Babies Love Christmas

I’ve heard great things about this book brand and lift-a-flap books are always a hit with my daughter so I expect she’ll love this.

18. Melted Snowman Sensory Bin (play snowballs, toy carrots scarves, buttons, pipe cleaner arms)

The idea behind this it that it’s all the components to make a snowman, just deconstructed. So there are the fake snowballs (classic and with LED lights), ribbons to symbolize scarves, pipe cleaners that I’ll shape to look like little stick arms, and my daughter has some little toy carrots from a Lovevery toy that I’ll add as well for the carrot noses. This could have been done with cotton balls or fake snow you make at home, but I wanted this to last for multiple years so I opted to get the actual snowballs. I imagine they’ll get used in many different ways as my kiddos get older. I found mine at Marshalls but linked similar classic ones above on Amazon. I couldn’t find LED light ones though so I suggest checking your HomeGoods and Marshalls stores to see if you can find them.

19. Festive Christmas Sun Glasses

I found an old pair of heart shaped sunglasses a few months ago and gave them to my daughter and she was immediately obsessed with them. She tries to put them on both me and my husband whenever she sees them so I thought these Christmas glasses would be a fun toy for her to play with and for us to wear around the house to elicit some giggles.

20. Christmas Handprint Art

Each holiday I use ink or paint in seasonal colors and capture my little girls hand and feet prints. I plan to do some variation of this every year and build up the collection. So far I have Valentine’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, and Halloween. I’ll do Christmas and then add it to this little gallery wall display in the playroom. I use these frames from Amazon to make it look more polished. I also use these clean touch ink pads so that I don’t have to deal with messy little hands and feet.

21. Family Christmas Movie – Elf

We don’t have any active streaming subscriptions that carry this right now but you can rent it on Prime Video for $3.99. I’m also considering just buying it for $9.99 because I know we’ll want to watch it every year. It is also on Apple TV for the same prices to rent & buy.

22. New Christmas book- Merry Christmas Mouse

This is another one of my daughter’s favorite book series. She has the Valentines Day, Easter, and Halloween ones so of course we had to get Christmas as well.

23. Walk around Lowe’s and Look at Christmas Displays

I’ve seen adorable videos on social media of little ones in awe of all the fun lights and moving figures on display so I thought this would be so fun to do with my little one.

24. Christmas Themed Breakfast on New Christmas Plate

For the final day before Christmas, I’ll make some kind of festive breakfast like Grinch pancakes or christmas tree cinnamon roles. I’ll serve it on these new super cute Christmas Pooh Bear dishes.

I wrapped all of the presents, labeled them 1-24, and placed them in a basket so my daughter can have the experience of pulling one out each day. For the activities that don’t have a physical item associated with them I just wrote the activity on a folded piece of card stock and included it in the basket. I have a reel on Instagram showing all of the items too if you’d like a better visual.

I hope this gives you some inspiration to make wonderful memories with your kiddos this Christmas season! Merry Christmas! 🎄