A couple of years ago I spotted an old print in a second hand store and fell in love.  I straight away knew I wanted to turn it into a framed blackboard, but at the time we were about to move house, so it was stored away in our attic once we moved and almost forgotten about... that was until Kelle Hampton (from Enjoying the Small Things) went and got all Christmassy with her brown paper holiday bucket list.

Cute huh?

I got my dearest hubby to drag down our old print from the attic, and while I was away partying it up for my 40th, he started lovingly turning this print into a blackboard for me.

So now from this...

I have this...

And we have compiled our Christmas Bucket List for 2017!

Now let me just get frank and a wee bit serious for a minute... I know what some of you are feeling (cause I have feelings too you know!).  There are so many amazing people out there doing amazing things all the time, and it's so easy to compare and get down at your lack of 'amazing thing planning'.  Can I just say that if you are having a tough time or things aren't going too well, give yourself some slack.  If your main goal at the moment for each day is getting your family fed and clothed, you are seriously doing an amazing job.  All these little fluffy extras are just that... fluffy extras.  They shouldn't be a burden or something to beat yourself up about if you don't have much fun stuff happening around your neck of the woods.  

But in saying that, as a Mum who is busy and a bit slack when it comes to planning fun things for the family, making a little list like this has helped me get motivated to make an effort... and the extra cool thing is writing stuff on there that you've already done and ticking it off like a boss just because (cause I'm one of those people who writes myself daily task lists and add stuff I've already done just so I can tick it off and feel good about myself - and I know I'm not alone there).

So now we have our list!  We may finish it, and we may not, but it gives us something as a family to work towards and it definitely has helped get that Christmassy vibe happening around these here parts.

Traditions are an important part of giving kids that sense of family and belonging... and that includes making new traditions as well.

After Christmas, I can't wait to compile our Summer Holiday Bucket List!!

If you have any ideas of things we can add to our list, please add in the comments.

Thank you Symon for being the best husband ever!!