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Santa Proof: Magical Santa Bootprints


Santa Proof: Magical Santa boot prints in your home!

I’m not sure what it is about our house but legendary figures are always leaving messy footprints in our house after a visit. First Leprechauns, then the Easter Bunny, and now…Santa Claus!

For the past two years Santa has magically descended our non-functioning chimney and left his sooty boot prints on our carpet on his way to the Christmas tree.

Santa leaves his dirty boot prints!

In 2011 Santa left a trail directly to the tree.
He must’ve ran out of soot on the way back.

Santa leaves his sooty bootprints on Christmas morning!

But in 2012 Santa wasn’t quite so neat.
He left footprints everywhere…what a mess!
Luckily Santa’s boot prints vacuum up quickly and easily.

Santa Proof: Santa leaves his sooty bootprints on Christmas day!

…and we noticed something interesting. Santa’s boot prints are truly magical indeed, in fact they change while he’s walking! Every so many steps he would leave a “Ho Ho Ho” or “SC” foot print behind.

Santas Magical Bootprints

In some homes Santa leaves white snowy boot prints with magical North Pole snow that doesn’t melt. For us, it’s soot. I’ve also heard reports from some families that get reindeer hoof prints inside their house! I guess it’s a good thing that we set our oats and carrots for the reindeer out on the back porch.

Santa Soles, make Santas sooty boot prints!
The product used to create Santa’s plain soot boot prints was Santa Soles. While I’ve seen many other products for creating Santa’s snowy boot prints, this is the only one that I’ve found that imitates soot. Visit SantaSoles.net and like the Santa Soles Facebook Page
Santa Soles allow you to create Santa’s footprints in your very own home, adding to the magic of Christmas morning. Santa Soles are the footprints that dreams are made of!  Santa Soles are templates that allow you, along with our non-toxic, non-staining “soot” to create Santa’s footprints right in your home! Our “soot” is safe for use on all types of flooring and vacuums up easily, making clean up a breeze!

Other stencils/templates used: “Ho Ho Ho” and “SC
Hohoho Santa BootprintSC with Snowflake Santa Bootprint

Disclosure: I found, purchased, and reviewed the product “Santa Soles” and the additional boot print templates on my own. I was not given the products for free, I was not compensated in any way, and I was not asked to post a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Santa Proof: Santa leave sooty boot prints

Does Santa leave boot prints in your house?
Let me know in the comments!

This post is linked to:

Creative K Kids

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Santa Proof: Phone Calls from SantaPhotos of Santa in your home!Watching Santa feed his reindeer


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How to Celebrate LEON Day! (6/25)


How to Celebrate LEON Day

Happy LEON Day! Leon is “Noel” spelled backwards and Leon Day, June 25, marks the halfway point to Christmas…just 6 more months!

Here are some ideas of how to make Leon Day special!

1. Celebrate a mini-Christmas: Get out some of the Christmas decorations, Santa hats, and Christmas books, movies, and music, put on those Christmas jammies and ugly holiday sweaters and get into the Christmas Spirit a little early this year!
(The easiest way to do this is to get some cheap, tacky Christmas decorations on clearance after the holidays and stash them in their own little box just for this occasion!)

2. Christmas Luau: To really celebrate a summer Christmas, have a Christmas Luau! Use silk poinsettia flowers in your hair, tinsel garland for leis and grass skirts, and hula away to Mele Kalikimaka.

Mele Kalikimaka Hawaiian Christmas Party @ Lynlee’s Petite Cakes
Also featured here

Mele Kalikimaka Christmas Freebie Tag @ Loralee Lewis

Tips on Hosting a Hawaii Theme Christmas Party!
Planning a Hawaiian Christmas Luau

3. Have a backwards day:
Since Leon is “Noel” spelled backwards you can have a backwards day.
(You can incorporate this with the Christmas stuff or do it alone.)
A few backwards ideas:
*Write backwards, read backwards
*Wear your shirt/clothes backwards
*Walk backwards, talk backwards, sing backwards
*Turn the furniture backwards or sit backwards in your chairs
*Backwards meals:
-Serve breakfast for dinner or serve dessert first.
-Set the dinner table with all of the plates, cups and utensils upside down or backwards (cups where plates would go, etc.)
-Serve food in a glass and drinks in a bowl or on a plate?! (Messy!)
-Sit on the floor and eat off of your chair.

How do you celebrate LEON day with your family? Let me know in the comments!
Enjoy LEON day and I can’t wait to see you back here
in about 5 months for some great Christmas posts!

How to Celebrate LEON Day

*Originally posted on June 25, 2011


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Uncle Ugly’s Christmas Sweater Jamboree 2011


In 2010 our family started a new Christmas Eve tradition: Uncle Ugly’s Christmas Sweater Jamboree, which is just a fancy way of saying “Ugly Christmas Sweater Competition”. It was a hit and my very own Cool Daddy came away as the victorious champion!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Tradition (Coolest Family on the Block

For 2011 some contestants upped their game, others dropped out altogether (party poopers).

2011 Ugly Christmas Sweaters Tradition

Let’s start things off with a group photo of the cool family.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Tradition

Here is Cool Daddy, last year’s Ugly Christmas Sweater Champion. We were all relieved that he chose to ditch the creepy mustache from last year.

It’s difficult to describe what’s happening with his sweater, because I honestly don’t know. He’s sporting a lovely lady’s sweater vest with flashing snowflake lights on one side and candy cane garland on the other. Look closely and you will see a gold and a red tinsel tree on either of his shoulders (blends into the background, boo!). He added some Christmas underwear from the Dollar Tree because…well, I don’t know. I have no idea why anyone would pin underwear to their sweater, but it happened. I apologize.

He paired his sweater with some Christmas tree pajama bottoms and a snazzy plastic candy cane cane. Yes, a cane cane.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Tradition

Here I am rocking an ugly Christmas sweater, maternity style! I was almost 8 months pregnant with Jonathan.

Maternity Ugly Christmas Sweater

I trimmed a red sweater vest with tacky multi-colored disco ball garland. My baby bump is adorned with a Christmas wreath with flashing snowman lights. The wreath is topped with double bow goodness, a giant felt red bow and a giant shiny silver gift bow. A Santa Claus stocking on the side is the perfect place to tuck the battery pack from the lights.

Maternity Ugly Christmas Sweater

In 2010 my sister totally flaked out on the sweaters and barely participated. This year she wore a red sweater, which was an improvement. She altered the sweater by writing “Merry Christmas” in magic marker and attaching a baby onesie, or is it a dog shirt? She’s wearing a baby bib around her neck. Why? I don’t know. I’m confused by the whole thing. Perhaps the “bah humbug” on her shirt is the key to it all. I do enjoy her headgear which is actually a tissue box cover.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Tradition

Last year after my sister dropped the ball my brother-in-law was stuck with a completely un-Christmasy sweatshirt. He did bring home the title of “Most Naturally Ugly Sweater” in 2010 because his was the only one completely unaltered. In 2011 he was in it to win it. This completely unaltered black sweater vest has charming plaid accents that add country appeal. The sweater is perfectly complimented by a turtleneck covered in poinsettias on a field of green.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Traditions

My mom is stuck on Christmas in this red sweatshirt accented with puffy Christmas stickers in the shape of a Christmas tree. The children had taken quite a few of her stickers off of her shirt before I could get a picture. A sticky situation to say the least! (bah-dum-ching)

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Tradition

My cousin, Ben, took the loss hard last year. He had come with his game fast on, an entire Christmas tree on his chest, and presents on his feet and he still failed to bring home the title of “Ugly Christmas Sweater Champion”.

In attempt to keep history from repeating itself, Ben kicked things up a notch with this celestial beauty. A swatch of blue framed in fluffy fiber fill is the perfect heavenly background for this dollar store plastic doll posing as an angel. Perched on a tuft of cloud she is just out of reach of her harp made of Styrofoam. She is accompanied by a few other heavenly hosts and doves. Accessories include a marabou halo, angel wings, and puffy cloud shoes.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Tradition

My cousin Aunia is a brick house, or at least her sweater is. Strategically placed strips of white foam on a red shirt creates the illusion of bricks. In the center sits a door decorated with a lovely lit wreath. That’s not all…open the door to find a festive living room complete with Christmas tree and presents! Ugly or adorable?

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Tradition

Now is your last chance to guess who was the winner of the 2011 Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest.
Click below if you need a refresher on the rules.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest Rules

Announcing the 2011 Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest Winners…

Ugly Christmas Sweater Champions

Ben was more than pleased to earn the title of Ugly Christmas Sweater Champion. My baby bump and I waddled away with the title of “Most Overall Festive Attire”, and Matt claimed the title of “Most Naturally Ugly Sweater” for the second year in a row.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Champion

Just a boy kissing his trophy. Nothing to see here, people, move along.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Tradition

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Tradition

Which sweater gets your vote for ugliest? (Mine!)
Does your family have an Ugly Christmas Sweater Tradition?

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Ugly Christmas Sweater Competition Tradition (Coolest Family on the Block)Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest Rules10wayschristmaspjs1


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Age 14 9th Grade: (N)O Christmas Tree


This is the 11th post in a 12 week series joining Mommy’s Piggy Tales to record my youth!

1993-1994
9th Grade
(N)O Christmas Tree



It was 1993 and I was entering my freshman year of high school and turning 14 years old. I was just as scared to go to high school as I was to go to middle school. I wanted my mom to walk me to my home room again, but she refused. School ended up being alright, just as it always is. I don’t remember getting too nervous about the first day again after 9th grade. Maybe I finally learned my lesson. There are many stories that I could tell you about this year, most of them involving my best friends Kelly, Kendra, and Thadina. But I’m still feeling a little Christmas-y so I thought I’d go with a Christmas story. It’s short, but sweet.

My grandparents moved to FL sometime after I started school and we had been down to visit them every summer since then. Most Thanksgivings we’d meet them in North Carolina where we’d celebrate the holiday with other relatives. But we hadn’t spent a Christmas together since they moved away. In 1993 we were going to Orlando to spend Christmas with my grandparents.

The truth is, that I can’t tell you much about this trip. I don’t remember if we drove or flew (my guess is drove, since we rarely ever flew), I don’t remember what we did while we were down there or what gifts I got (except for one). I remember that I didn’t like the warm weather and palm trees. It was fine for summer but weird for Christmas (I’m from Pennsylvania). I remember that the FL residents were wearing sweaters while we were wearing shorts (um, it’s hot here people). I remember that my grandparents gave me a Bible that I used all throughout high school. I’d still have it now but I lent it to a teenage girl that I was mentoring a few years ago and never got it back.

This is a photo of the same Bible that belongs to my sister.

We didn’t get a Christmas tree that year since we were going to be out of town. I suppose it would’ve been a waste of money and would’ve died while we were gone. Still, it made my sister and I a little glum that there were no decorations in the house. The morning that we were going to leave on our trip our mom called us downstairs. We stumbled downstairs in the dark to find that mom had taken a string of colored Christmas lights and formed them into the shape of a Christmas tree and taped it to the fireplace. We had a Christmas tree :)! My sister and I thought that it was the coolest thing ever. I sure wish we had a picture of it. I don’t remember anything else about that Christmas, but I’ll never forget that little Christmas tree made of lights.

This photo is actually from a Christmas a few years later.
Just imagine that all of the decorations are gone and
there’s a Christmas tree made of lights above the fireplace 😉

The only photos I could find of our Christmas trip to FL
(Mom, sissy, me, and Dad)



My sissy, Grandma, and cousin

*My 14th Birthday

My Piggy Tales:
*My Birth Story: I’m always late!
*Ages 3-5: Dancing in a box
*Age 6 First Grade: There’s a bra in my lunchbox!
*Age 7 Second Grade: Bossy Wheels and Shady Deals
*Age 8 Third Grade: I will not talk in class
*Age 9 Fourth Grade: I didn’t really need those fingers anyway!
*Age 10 5th Grade: Nothing’s Scary in the Fifth Grade
*Age 11 6th Grade: Jenny Got Ran Over by her Grandma
*Age 12 7th Grade: Youth Camp Stinks
*Age 13 8th Grade: “Talent” Show
*Age 14 9th Grade: (N)O Christmas Tree
*Age 15 10th Grade: The Newsboys Wouldn’t Ditch Their Friends
*Age 16 11th Grade: Acrophobia Gets You the Good Seats
*Age 17 12th Grade: In School Suspension

My Young Adult Years
*Dreams and Aspirations: The Long Road There
*Friends and Fellowship: Friends Don’t Get Friends Grounded
*My First Job
*How I Met Cool Daddy Part 1
*How I Met Cool Daddy Part 2
*Colonel Mustard on a Rollercoaster with a Plastic Fork

Coolest Family on the Block is committed to helping you find creative ways to have fun and make memories with your family all year-long. Don’t miss an idea, tip, or trick…subscribe and have updates sent directly to your email!

Uncle Ugly’s Christmas Sweater Jamboree 2010


Cool Daddy came up with the idea of having an Ugliest Christmas Sweater competition for our Christmas Eve celebration. It sounded just like the weird sort of thing our family would love, so I agreed and we made our plans.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Tradition (Coolest Family on the Block

On Christmas Eve Cool Daddy and I hosted The First Annual Uncle Ugly’s Christmas Sweater Jamboree. Everyone in the family participated except for the babies since we figured that a tricked-out sweater might be a choking hazard.

The Ugliest Christmas Sweater Champion would be awarded the Ugliest Christmas Sweater Trophy of Awesomeness. Contestants also had the opportunity to win the title of overall Most Festive Attire and Most Naturally Ugly (unaltered) Christmas Sweater (they’d win the title and bragging rights, but no award).

Here are all of the 2010 Ugliest Christmas Sweater Contestants…can you guess who won?
(The winner is announced at the bottom, so don’t scroll down and cheat! Cheater.)

2010 Ugly Christmas Sweaters

First here we are, the Cool Family.
I think our sweaters prove just how cool we really are. Ahem.
When planning the party I didn’t consider the fact that Adaline might be freaked out by all of the sweaters.
I thought she would love them and try to pull at them.
Well.
Adaline was freaked out by all of the sweaters.
Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Isn’t that the ugliest Santa head?!
I found it at The Dollar Tree. What a treasure.

There were lights around the Santa head but they didn’t show up on camera 😦
My hat had Santa legs coming out of the top (so that it looked like Santa was going down the chimney), but the legs kept flopping over, so it just looks like I’m wearing a brick-print top hat 😦 .
Still awesome, but not quite the same. Sigh.
Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Cool Daddy can rock a woman’s sweater vest like nobody’s business.

There’s lights on the front and back (but again, they’re hard to see) and it’s covered in glow sticks. I’m not really sure why.
He’s wearing a Christmas tie that plays Jingle Bells (um, awesome, anyone?).
He purposely shaved off his goatee to have his creepy mustache compliment his sweater.
You better believe it was gone before the night was out. *Shudder*
Ugly Christmas Sweaters

So my sister waited until only a few days before to get her sweater together. Then decided that she couldn’t find anything (that she was willing to pay for), so she turned a shirt inside out and wrote all over it with a Sharpie. Um, okay.
She did even less for her husband having him wear an old sweatshirt, which for some reason he decided to fold up into a mid-drift. Sure.
Ugly Christmas Sweaters

I wised up when taking the picture of my mom’s sweater and turned off the flash so that you can see her lights. The lights on her sweater were sa-weet! They were shaped like stars and changed colors!
(P.S. The tinsel on her sweater forms a Christmas tree…in case you couldn’t tell.)
Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Oh Christmas Ben, Oh Christmas Ben, how lovely are thy sweater…
My cousin Ben is sporting a Christmas tree sweater, complete with presents for shoes. A jingle bell fur collar adds musical appeal while tinsel and Christmas trees on the back make sure that you have a Happy Holiday from every direction. Oh yes.
Ugly Christmas Sweaters 2010

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
a peacock in a pear tree…

Okay, so I think that my cousin, Aunia’s, sweater is actually kinda cute. And I would totally wear it to the grocery store peacocks on the shoulders and all.
(Then again I would wear my totally rockin’ Santa sweater to the grocery store too because I’m super weird and have no shame…)

She’s stylin’ with a pear tree on the front of her sweater, peacocks on her shoulders (because apparently partridges are hard to come by) and feathers on the sleeves.
Ugly Christmas Sweaters 2010

My aunt, A.C., is trimmed in lovely green tinsel and featuring giant candy canes surrounded by puffy balls.
My uncle, U.A., is wearing a sweater that I originally thought was a reindeer head…and now I think might be a clock. Not really sure.
Either way, my favorite part was that he had real mini candy canes in the stockings. Tee-hee 🙂
Ugly Christmas Sweaters 2010

Now’s your last chance to pick your winner
before scrolling down to see the results.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters


Okay. So here are the 2010 winners of Uncle Ugly’s Christmas Sweater Jamboree Ugliest Christmas Sweater Contest.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Winners 2010

My brother-in-law, Matt, won the title and bragging rights for Most Naturally Ugly (unaltered) Christmas Sweater because he had the only unaltered shirt…even though it wasn’t Christmas-y. But my sister said that it has red and green on it so it counts. I guess.

Ben won the title and bragging rights for overall Most Festive Attire.
Wearing an entire Christmas tree on your chest will do that.
Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.

My very own main squeeze, Cool Daddy, rose victorious as the Ugliest Christmas Sweater Champion.
I think we all voted for him because we were so creeped out by the mustache.
And we wanted it to go away.
Very quickly.
And never return.
Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest Winner 2010

And this is supposed to be a picture of Ben sad because he didn’t win the trophy, but the sad picture that I took of him ended up being really blurry and so I used this one instead wherein he is kinda smiling and holding up one finger even though he was very sad and truly tortured to the very core of his being for not having won the trophy and he must be pretending that he is number one in order to make himself feel better and not cry in front the entire blogosphere. I thank you for not laughing at him during his hour of great pain and distress.
(Nothing says, “Feliz Navidad!” like a good nonsensical run-on sentence.
You are welcome.)
2010uglysweaters12bensadwm

2010 Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Which ugly sweater is your favorite? (Mine!)
Let me know in the comments!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Competition Tradition (Coolest Family on the Block)

labelschristmas300Ugly Christmas Sweater TraditionUgly Christmas Sweater Contest Rules 10wayschristmaspjs1


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10 Days of Christmas PJs! Day 10: 2010 Part 1



Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! Here we are on our 10th Day of Christmas PJs…but I can’t show you our Christmas jammies photos from this year yet because…well, we haven’t taken them yet! I didn’t think that through when I came up with this whole thing. Oh well.

So…for this post I’ve decided to include one (or two) photos from each year that I’ve posted so far to tide you over until I can post photos of this year’s jammies.

Enjoy.

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006


2007


2008


2009

10 Days of Christmas PJs:
Day 1: 2001
Day 2: 2002
Day 3: 2003
Day 4: 2004
Day 5: 2005
Day 6: 2006
Day 7: 2007
Day 8: 2008
Day 9: 2009
Day 10: 2010 Part 1 You are here 😉
Day 10: 2010 Part 2 Still to come!

If you’re looking for ideas for your Christmas PJs tradition check out my post 10 Ways to Shake Up Your Christmas Pajamas Tradition

What are your Christmas pajamas traditions?

Other Christmas Posts
*Dear Santa: Part 1 Writing a Letter to Santa
*Dear Santa: Part 2 Mailing a Letter to Santa
*Dear Santa: Part 3 Paper for Writing to Santa: Free printables and more!
*Dear Santa: Part 4 Emailing a Letter to Santa
*My Letter to Santa 1984
*10 Ways to Shake Up Your Christmas Pajamas Tradition
*Phone Calls from Santa
*Uncle Ugly’s Christmas Sweater Jamboree Rules
*Uncle Ugly’s Christmas Sweater Jamboree 2010 Photos and Winners
*Traditions, Truces, and Cartoon Moments
*Food as Tradition: Norwegian Butter Cookies

Coolest Family on the Block is committed to helping you find creative ways to have fun and make memories with your family this holiday season. Don’t miss an idea, tip, or trick…subscribe and have updates sent directly to your email!
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