Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt

I saw this in passing on Pinterest, and decided to create my own list to suit my lovely hometown of Smithville, TN.   This was quite interesting, as that I am only in my hometown a few times a year, and I was not the driver.   My husband, who is from another end of the state, drove and my dad was in the backseat telling him where to drive.  (Lots of jokes here, I know.)  I had the list, pen, flashlight, and camera.  It was raining and we put ourselves on a timer, so the camera was not used this time.

Rules:
1. Time limit: I think we gave ourselves between 30 and 45 minutes to find as many as we could. 
2. Area boundaries: We did not give ourselves any road boundaries (like "only in the city limits"), but I would recommend that for a larger community.
3. Items per house: More than one item on the list could be checked off at the same house. It would be more challenging if a "one house, one item" rule were used.
4. Photos: In a team competition, must have photo proof of each item checked.

Our list is below.  Feel free to add comments for things you think should be included!  Happy hunting!!

Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt – Photo Ops

Lighted snowman

Santa with a sleigh

Boat on the water with lights

A house all in white lights (Bonus 5 points if all of another color)

A vehicle incorporated into yard decor (Points based on vehicle used-car, truck, tractor, etc)

Three or more inflatables in one yard

Lighted Christmas tree in a yard

House with 8+ wreaths

Penguin

Disney character in yard

Peanuts character in yard

Nativity scene with spotlight (Bonus 10 points for live nativity)

Yard with at least 5 reindeer

Grinch

Train

Giant candy

Cross

House columns wrapped with ribbon to look like candy canes

House with candles in the window

Chaser lights

Moving yard decorations

Decorations that incorporate a college football team

Store front on Main Street with a lighted tree

Solid white tree

Santa on the roof of a house

Light up presents

Christmas lights on a non-Christmas tree in the yard

 Boat, Disney, Grinch, moving decorations, and college team decor were the only ones that were not spotted.  Not too shabby for our first year!

I do have some Christmas light photos, but they are from the Huntsville Botanical Gardens walking tour in November:

Have a very merry Christmas and blessed new year with lots of light in your life!

Holiday Placecards - Candy Theme

I happened upon this place card idea on Pinterest, and I thought that I could modify it a bit for our church's Holiday Gift Drive dinner. Our decorators had chosen "Candyland" as our theme. Click on LINK to see the original by Martha Stewart.

For my version, you will need the following items:

Paper Studio Candy Cane striped paper, 8 1/2" x 11"
Vellum paper, 8 1/2" x 11"
Vellum adhesive
1 1/2" wide red ribbon

And the following tools:

Computer
Printer
Die Cut machine, like Big Sizzix
Oval die cut
Hole punch
Paper trimmer

I prefer to do each step individually, knocking out the whole batch.  Also, if you have a group of minions, you can delegate tasks.

Step 1:  Printing.  Print the names onto the vellum using Microsoft Word.  I created a document with two rows and two columns and chose a font in size 72 that would work for our event.   Then I moved the line between the two rows until it was at the 4" mark on the side of the document on the screen.  This evenly placed the names on the page.

Step 2: Straight cutting.   Cut each of the candy cane striped sheets into four 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" rectangles.  Cut each of the printed vellum sheets into four 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" as well.

Step 3: Sticking.  Adhere the vellum to the striped paper for each.  Since this is going to get trimmed in the next step, I recommend just putting adhesive where the name is and about 1/4" above and below.

Step 4: Die cutting.  Using the oval die cut, center the name for each and run through the die cut machine per instructions. Cut only one at a time.

Step 5: Hole punching.  Punch one hole on each side of the name, 1/4"- 1/2" from the edge of the paper for each.

Step 6: Ribbon cutting.  Cut an 8 1/2" length of the red ribbon for each.

Step 7: Ribbon adding.  Fold and feed the ends of the ribbon into each of the holes.  Adjust the curve of the paper to your liking.

Step 8: Ribbon trimming.  Fold the ribbon in half and trim the end toward the fold to make a V cut.  Unfold and fluff out.

For "regular" place cards where one is going to be placed at each seat, these will sit up nicely on the table by themselves.  We use these to identify a group, so I attached the card to a Skinny Stick. The brilliant ladies that decorate for our gathering came up with the idea of using brightly colored PlayDoh and glitter to make gumdrop bases. This raised the name about 6" so it could be seen from a distance.