Mason Smith

This is year 2 of a tradition that I hope lasts forever! Don’t let this video fool you. This little Polar Express took me 3 long days, 2 smashed fingers, 20 sheets of plywood, and a whole lot of Christmas spirit. And what you didn’t see is that 2 hours before the parade it came down to the wire, our generator quit working, the mower exhaust broke, and it started dumping rain, but we didn’t let that stop us. Because there was a dream that needed to be made… To be 7 years old in a parade with all your friends and family handing out chocolate in a city you love… Does it get much better than that? #parade #float #christmas #Christmasparade #paradefloat #tractortrain #train #polarexpress

This video needs a backstory. Let’s start at the beginning. We’ve always dreamed of having a space where we could workout together as a family, and so the plan to create a “garage gym” started about 3 years ago. Over the past 3 years I have diligently collected everything you see in this video for way under actual cost, if not free in a lot of cases. Like all the blue and black mats you saw I got for FREE. My local gym had them piled up outside and they were going to throw them out because they got new ones, so I scooped them up, sanitized them and they were good as used. Then the dumbbell set I got for $100 from an estate sale last year. I built the ball pit from scratch. That’s our old tv from our first house 8 years ago. I got the mirrors discounted because they were returns due to chips in the corners. And the list goes on. So with all that said, if you dream of having a garage gym, just start looking for good deals, and over time, you may too collect an entire home gym for a fraction of the cost. Now we have a place where while the adults workout, the kids get to be kids and have a blast! #DIY #garagegym

Was it perfect? No. Did I forget to order the cake until the last minute and have to make it myself? Yes. Did it take longer than what I thought? Way longer. Did it taste good? Yes. But most importantly, Did she love it? Absolutely. Drop a tip or trick in the comments to how I could improve my baking skills! 🙏🙌 #baking #cake #unicorncake #birthdaycake

Have I ever wrapped a wall before? No. Was it harder than I expected? Yes. But more importantly, was it worth it? Absolutely. I asked one of my county’s elementary schools if there was anything I could do to help, and since the weather prevented us to do anything outdoors, we decided to focus on something indoors. They initially asked if I could do a painted mural on the wall, but I didn’t trust my artistic abilities to span 50 feet across a wall, so I learned how to vinyl wrap. Thankful to have a friend who helped me design and print this wrap out that I got to donate to the school to help bring this cafeteria back to life. Thankful for the opportunity to help and can’t wait for the next project. #DIY #wallwrap #donation

Yes, I literally learned how to sew so that I could make this project. So this is both the most cozy sleeping bag ever, and also the biggest stocking you’ve ever seen. Thankful for a wife who still thinks I’m funny, even after 12 years of marriage! Who wants a giant stocking? #giantstocking #DIY #stocking #christmas

Parents night out, but still home before 9. The best kind of night! Great food, and even better company. Thankful for these amazing friends who feel like family! #chrisgiving #christmas #potluck #decirations

Yes, this will be anchored to the wall when not in mobile use. But the real question is, why do we have 4 kid’s cars? Apparently we are the place where people donate their old Power Wheels to hopefully have another life. So be expecting some more projects coming soon. I was going to just build a simple rack, but you know me, I can’t just build a basic stackable rack. I had to make it look like a mini hydraulic parking garage, because well…. Why not? #DIY #powerwheel #parkinggarage #powerwheelparkinggarage

6 hours, 3,500 Christmas lights, 5 sheets of plywood, 3 rolls of tape, 2 rolls of wrapping paper, and a really slow drive to the parade. After building The Polar Express parade float, I realized I needed somewhere to store enough chocolate for 3,000 people, so the day before the parade I decided to toss this together! Thankful for an amazing community that puts on these fun events for my friends and family to be apart of! #DIY #trucklights #christmastruck #christmas #parade

#ad “These are the good old days” has been mine and my wife’s motto since we started dating. So what better Valentine’s Day gift than using my @Cricut to bring our motto to life. #ad I changed up the saying for our kids hoodies and went with “every day is a good day”. Because kids always seem to find the good in each day, no matter what. I hope everyone that reads this posts is having a good day and feels loved, and if no one’s told you yet today, you are incredible, and you are loved. #happyvalentinesday #cricutmade

Who votes that I open a pancake house where I make character shaped pancakes for kids all day?! #pancakeart #breakfast #pancakes

#ad There's only one thing better than building a parade float for your daughter and her friends to enjoy. It's being able to also hand out the most amazing chocolate bar in the world to over 2000 people in the town you love so much! Thank you @Tony's Chocolonely US for helping me not only make everyone in this town smile, but also for helping us win first place for best overall parade float!!! Now go get your Tony's Chocolonely from @Walmart right now, because these holiday flavors are incredible!!! #TonysChocolonely #TonysPartner

Who doesn’t love hot chocolate during Christmas time? But more importantly I love teaching my kids that it’s better to give than to receive. This is a fun gift because after the hot chocolate is enjoyed the jars can be washed off and used for whatever they want! Hope everyone has the best Christmas ever!! #hotcoco #DIY #christmascraft

I’ve done a handful of DIY projects in my life, but this might actually be the most useful one I’ve ever done. Does it always stay organized? No. Does it still help? Absolutely! Especially with the chargers where we can charge our phones and watches and know where all our items are at all times. If you have a little closet by your door, I’d for sure encourage an extra way shoe closet addition!! #DIY #shoecloset

Considering we’ve had our porch decorated in Christmas decor since the day after Halloween, we were both ready for a clean porch to start the New Year! Now I’d love to know, are you the type of person who leaves their Christmas lights up year round, or take them down type? #christmas #cleanup #parenting

I mean, what did she expect to happen? 😉 I made this last year, think I should try to build a better one this year? #snackstadium #SuperBowl

Something I learned about 24 hours after I met my wife was that she had a VERY healthy obsession with Christmas movies. So I knew every year we were going to watch, rewatch, and watch again, any and all Christmas movies! We’d love to know what’s your favorite Christmas movie of all time?!? #datenight #christmasmovies

Our least favorite part isn’t the clean up, it’s the fact that Christmas is over, but picking it up with your best friend makes it a whole lot better! I’m probably going to make some enemies here, but we have a couple birthdays the week after Christmas, so we take this stuff down so we can celebrate them! Are you the type to clean up right after Christmas or leave it up until New Years? #cleanup #christmas #parenting

This is our Christmas tradition! Is it a pain to clean up? Yes. Do we end up leaving this up for a week? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. We did this last year and it was a hit, so I knew my kids were going to love it. And honestly, it’s the comfiest seat in the house! #movienight #ballpit #dad

Now that our garage is officially a gym, we needed a place to park our cars, so I called my buddy who owns a construction company, and we got to work. Of course somehow we ended up doing this during the rainiest week of the year, but I’m not complaining. Thankfully I have friends in just about all trades, so we got the gutters up quick, everything painted and then had another buddy who’s an electrician came out to install the lights. I learned a ton throughout this project and most of all I had a blast doing it with some of my best friends! I even stained the beams to match my front door, so hopefully it all ties together. I’d love to know, do you like it before or after? #DIY #parkinglean #shed

Raise your hand if your kid has ever had a rainbow and unicorn themed party! I think we’ve been to three in the past year, that’s why I built that photo wall for other people to use also. And to answer your question, yes, those unicorn balloons are still floating around our house. #birthdayparty #decorations #birthday