RACK 2012 & A DIY Advent Calendar

I’ve had several messages asking if I would mind sharing my RACK ideas for this holiday season, so I thought I’d share it here incase anyone else is interested.  I surely didn’t invent the idea of Random Acts of Christmas Kindness, but I LOVE it.  I found most of my ideas for this year’s activities from the precious blog, Lil Light O’Mine.  If you want to read more about RACK’ing, you can check out what we did last year.

First up, I knew I wanted an advent calendar to keep myself organized this year, so I headed to Hobby Lobby to find some inspiration.  A few tiny little red clothespins and some red & white twine inspired me to make this as simple as possible. 

Everything I used was found at the Lob in the scrapbook/stamp section.  I made the little rosettes out of leftover leopard print fabric I had hanging around from another project.  Here’s what you’ll need:

*1 pkg. of Mini Craft Sacks {25 per pack…2.5”x4”}…$2.99

*1 pkg. Blank Tags {25 per pack…2”x2”}…$1.99

*1 pkg. mini clothespins {25 per pack}…$1.99

*Red & White twine…$4.99

*Vinyl {for the numbers} or # stickers

*Fabric {of your choice}…or anything else you can think of to fancy it up!

I used my Silhouette to cut the numbers {vinyl} to fit inside the tags}.  The font I used was “Century”…LOVE the way those numbers look!  So simple & sweet!  Then I adhered the tags to the front of the little sack.  You could also cut the circles out with a 2” paper punch OR with your Silhouette.  I made tiny rosettes with my leopard print fabric and adhered that to the top of the tag.  Then I just clothespinned the sacks to the line o’twine!  SUPER easy and SIMPLE!!!  And I love the way it looks over my window :)

The little sacks are the *perfect* size to fit all my little advent/RACK cards.  I created a set of little cards to fit inside and each card contains both a family Christmas activity and a {not-so} Random Act of Christmas Kindness.  I wanted it all in one little spot to make things as simple as possible!!!

 

Here’s a closer look at what we’re doing this holiday season. 

The top part of the card is our family activity and the bottom is our RACK for the day.  I can’t tell you how powerful RACK’ing was for my family last year.  My boys will NEVER forget the sweet lady who teared up when she caught us putting a candy cane blessing on her windshield.  Mr. Spouse & I will never forget the look on our server’s face when we handed him our Christmas tip and explained why we want to pay it forward. {If you want to know more about that, you can read about it HERE}.  There is no greater blessing than being able to bless others with kindness and this will definitely be a tradition we continue for years to come.  Such a blessing to spread God’s love and keep the TRUE meaning of the season at the forefront! 

If you’re looking for more RACK’ing ideas, you can check out my Serving Others Pinterest board.

If you’re looking for more Christmas advent family activities, check out my Deck the Halls Pinterest board.

Happy RACK’ing to you, sweet friends!!!  Hope your holiday season is filled with more blessings than you can count!!!!