5 Little Monsters Top Ten Posts from 2017

It is always fun to look back at the end of the year to see which posts were the most popular. I like to look back at  all of the things that I have made throughout the year and to see if my favorite projects were your favorites as well. For this post I am only counting projects that were published to my blog in 2017. If you saw my post from a couple of days ago, The Best of the Best crafts of 2017, where I got together with more than 30 craft bloggers to share our best posts of the year, than you already know my top post but I am going to count down anyway. So here goes, my top posts of the year are:

Best of the Best Crafts of 2017 - Top Posts from 30+ Craft Blogs

It's always fun to see my top posts of 2017, and I will be sharing the top 10 for my blog in a couple of days, but I thought it would also be fun to see the top post from a bunch of other awesome craft bloggers - a list of the very top post of 2017 from lots of craft bloggers... and I have that here for you today!! Over 30 of the The Best of the Best Crafts of 2017.

Feed the Hungry Christmas Stocking Service Project

Last year our family participated in Mormon.org's #LightTheWorld initiative and it was a lot of fun. One of the things we did last year was take hats to our local children's hospital. The kids really enjoyed it and as a result we were really excited to see that they were going to be doing it again this year.

Kid Friendly DIY Wooden Nativity

-Product for this post provided by Oriental Trading Company-

I found these cute little wooden nativities on Oriental Trading and I thought they would be really fun for kids to make. The sets of little peg dolls include Joseph, Mary, and the Baby Jesus. You can also get a stable to set behind them. I thought the kids would love painting and decorating them so I ordered a set with the stables. I also ordered some painting supplies and felt to use to decorate. They come in a set of 6 which happens to be perfect for my family. 

Gift Ideas to Encourage Creativity in Kids

-Product for this post provided by LEGO. All ideas and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links-

I have been meaning to get this post up for a while and now Christmas is just around the corner. The last couple of years as it gets close to Christmas and I am thinking about the gifts I want to get for my kids I have felt like it was really important to find some gifts that did 2 things, first, did not use technology. I don' t have a problem with technology in general and I think that there are some great things that use it and even fit my second requirement, however my kids can be a little addicted and if I let them they will sit and play video games or watch YouTube videos of other kids playing video games (something that I do not understand at all) for hours. I feel like for my family it is important to find ways to unplug. Second, I feel like it is really important for me to find gifts that encourage creativity in my kids. Whether that be toys, games, books, or art and craft supplies I feel like it is really important to encourage kids to be creative. I thought I would compile a list of gift ideas that I think fill both requirements.

Cricut Snowflake Welcome Banner

-I was provided with product and compensatoin for this post. All ideas and opinions are my own.-

With Christmas just around the corner it will soon be time to take down all of the Christmas decor and change it out for new things. I decided that I wanted something wintery to hang on my front door when Christmas comes down. Nothing says winter like snowflakes so I decided to make a snowflake welcome banner to hang on the door.

Crocheted Snowflakes

-This project sponsored by Darice-

I shared this project over on the Darice blog over a month ago but somehow in the holiday craziness I never got it up on my blog. Luckily it is a super quick Christmas project that you still have time to make. I love the look of crocheted snowflakes but I don't particularly like working with thread so I decided to make some out of yarn instead.

Silent Night Free Christmas Printable

Today I am participating in the Christmas Wonderful series on Design Dazzle. I made a free Christmas printable inspired by one of my favorite Christmas songs, Silent Night. The lyrics are on a blue watercolor background along with a star and a manger. It is available as an 8" x 10"  that you can print and frame. A quick and easy addition to your Christmas decor.

Gingerbread Man Ornament

-This post sponsored by Fairfield World-

Another new ornament that I made for Fairfield World this Christmas is this little Gingerbread Man Ornament. It is crocheted all in one piece, no sewing parts on at the end. A some decoration with felt, buttons, and stitching to complete him.

Button Christmas Tree Banner

-Product for this post provided by Oriental Trading Company-

My oldest daughter loves to help me make things and she was really excited to make this Button Christmas Tree Banner with me. It was easy enough that she could have done most of it by herself, maybe with a little help, or at least supervision, with the glue gun and iron. She loved picking out the buttons and laying them out to make the tree.

Crocheted Unicorn Ornament

-Product and compensation provided by Fairfield World-

I just posted a couple of new ornaments on the Fairfield World site. One of them was this unicorn ornament. I have seen a ton of unicorn ornaments going around on Facebook that are made with glass balls and a clay horn. A couple months ago I shared a pattern for a Unicorn hat that was pretty popular. I thought I could use the same idea to make a crocheted version of the glass ornaments I had been seeing all over. This little ornament is the result of that idea.