Unwrap A Christmas Book A Day

I thought about this idea for the kids to unwrap some items around the house and thought, what better gifts to unwrap than library books?  They get to open one Christmas book a day.  I wrapped about six books for now, but plan on getting more from the library. 

 It is so fun to see the kids open one a day to see what we get to read for story time!  I used my stamp set to write the name for each number, as Harmony is learning new numeral sight words in school.  I also used newspaper for the wrapping, which I thought turned out beautifully!  The best part about this Christmas fun is that it is FREE and didn't take me but five minutes to wrap the books up and toss them under our tree. 

If you need Christmas book ideas, visit Silly Eagle Books.  :)

Happy Holidays!

Candice S

Truth in the Tinsel: The Christmas Story

This Christmas I wanted to share something special with Harmony.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to create a new "advent calendar" tradition or to just experience something unique and enlightening with her.  For the Holidays, my husband and I have decided that we want to teach patience, giving, sharing, and appreciation.  So much of these qualities diminish throughout the holiday season because we all get so caught up in gift giving and seasonal purchases.  It is too easy getting lost in the clutter and crowds, isn't it?  My goal is to establish the sense of loving our belongings that we have now, instead of constantly begging for more, and taking the time during this holiday season to have fellowship amongst our families.  Fellowship is something that always gets left on the back burner when it's the gifts and wrapping paper that should be.  Well, not literally of course! 

Our Snowflake Advent Tree that has "clues" on the back leading us to the next part of the story..



In my search of advent calendars and other family traditions, I kept hearing all of these wonderful things about this book called, "Truth in the Tinsel: An advent experience for little hands."  This book includes daily activities that share the story of Jesus and his birth, as well as an ornament a day to go along with each part of the story.  Although our household is by far a religious household, I want Harmony to experience The Christmas Story firsthand, rather than guessing or wondering what the differences between Baby Jesus and Santa Clause are. 

Day 1:  Candle Ornament: "The Light"

This book is an absolute depiction of the Christmas Story, detailed on explaining most of the story through the creation of a daily ornament.  Harmony and I have had fun making our ornaments.  It has been rather hard keeping her "involved" in the story long enough to really explain what everything means, as some of elements and passages read in the bible are not too accommodating for a younger child but we read the scripture's none the less and discussed what it is we think the meaning of it might be. 



Day 5:  Mary

So, what have we learned?  I figured if Harmony didn't take anything else away from this fun experience than at least I could use it as a moral lesson on teaching kindness, giving, forgiveness, and to appreciate what we have.  "We should share our spark and our light to the entire world."  This is something that we have been saying a lot in our house and I don't mind that positive encouragement and enlightenment one bit.  :)

If you're interested in doing it with us and thousands of others, feel free to stop by and get Amanda's book here.  I promise, it is not time consuming unless you want it to be nor is it tedious.  You can use the materials you have on hand to create your ornaments and spend as little to no time everyday before or after your kids go to school.  The book is beyond worth it!! 

Happy Holidays!

Candice S

Last Minute- Thanksgiving Fun!

This pinup turkey is a 30 minute keeper that will provide some quick, last minute Thanksgiving fun, to your kids day!

I keep this enormous mess of recycling objects that I "might" want to use on the top of my refrigerator.  Haven't you had those frantic moments where you ask yourself if you saved that milk jug or that amazingly shaped plastic container?  :)  I have those often so I started keeping a stash of fun items for later use..  I saved the lids to our Parent's Choice baby wipes in hopes that I would some day find use for them.. and Sunday, was that day! 

We just glued all of the pieces together and then I used the hot glue gun for the heavier pieces, such as the clothespin.  We placed them up on a lamp shade.  :)

If you need more post- Thanksgiving fun, you can view earlier posts, watch a holiday movie, or read an amazing Thanksgiving book like "Over the River", "Turk and Runt", or "T is For Turkey".

Happy Thanksgiving!

Candice S

Tiny Prints: Holiday Cards!

Tiny Prints is an awesome company that offers customized cards and other gifts for all occasions.  They also have amazing sales and promotions constantly showing their customers that they do appreciate us!

I absolutely adore this Tiny Prints, Vintage Christmas Card.

What do you think about the above card?  What would you choose?  I would love for you to share the upcoming joyous season by looking to see what customized card you might choose!

Happy Holiday's!  (Sang in my best singing voice.. lol)

Candice S

Gobble Gobble

Happy, Early Thanksgiving!!  I am thankful for my beautiful kids and loving husband.  For our health, happiness, and the roof over our head.  I am thankful for so many things this year!

.. I wanted to share some of the fun that we've been crafting around in our house lately.  We've made hair bows, decorations, and have gone on nature walks to collect pine cones and rocks.

Simple Turkey Hair bow:  Ribbon, cheap $1.00 clips, hot glue gun, and some sequins.  :)  I've since made more to wear to Thanksgiving and NOT to the school playground ...

Fun Fall Wreath:  Harmony did this in school, but it's fun none-the-less!  Simple supplies are leaves, real or fake, ribbon, and a paper plate.

 This little festive guy is adorable!  Definitely one of my favorite crafts by far! 

 Hand Turkey's!  All you need is paper, crayons, and your little one's hand! 

This is a picture of our family.  :o)

 We made this cornucopia craft last year out of torn up construction paper.  Harmony really enjoyed tearing it and pasting it together.

 This turkey is our newest addition and was made with dollar store clothespins, paint, crayons, glitter, googly eyes, and lots of scrapbook paper.  Harmony is on a mission to find the perfect "girly" accessory to clip on her. 



I am looking forward to attempting more Thanksgiving themed activities over the weekend that I can't wait to share with you! 

Candice S

Linking to...

Fall Garland

I don't have a lot of space for Fall/Autumn inspired decorations so I have been very selective with what we have been creating and hanging around our home's living area.  I am so often inspired by awesome garlands of all shapes, themes, and sizes, and decided that it was time to grab my little Harmony helper and get to work!

We made Ghosts, Spiders, Pumpkins, Leaves, and used a shaving cream painting technique for our Fall Leaves.  I did most of the cutting.  Harmony is still learning to plunge into what she calls, "Snipping".. Everything turned out so unique and with an elegant appearance. 

Look at how we did...  My other helper was my glue gun and hole punch.  I used scrapbook paper for each fall creature and then hung each on up on fishing line.  Our spider was made out of a bottle cap, felt fitted and then glued on top.

 

Shaving Cream Painting:  Combine paint and shaving cream and then swirl with a toothpick.  Dip cardstock into paint (and you can remove shaving cream if there's excess..)  Wawwwllaaaaa.. Beautiful, Fall Leaves!

What Fall activities have you enjoyed doing?

Happy Fall!

Candice S

Autumn Apple Wreath

Did I mention, that I am utterly in love and completely addicted to Pinterest?  Well, I cannot help but find an amazing array of inspiration everywhere I click...Starting with this awesome Autumn Apple Wreath pictured below from The Crafty Crow.

Source: thecraftycrow.net via Candice on Pinterest

 I saw it and couldn't help but think that it was completely age appropriate for my 18 month old and my five year old to do together!  .. Let me tell you, it was a huge hit in our house this morning! 

Here's what you need:

Two Cereal Boxes

Red Paint for Apple Stamp

Green Paint for Thumb Prints

(I'm glad that I decided to go with our homemade finger paint recipe because Baby Brother enjoyed taking in between work breaks to munch on his apple)

Scissors to cutout the apple's after they dry.  I did Mark Jr.'s and Harmony dd her own.

Hot Glue Gun for Parent (Tacky glue did not hold)

Plate

Have fun making your Autumn Apple Wreath!

During the "drying process" we decided to have some story time.  The following is our Fall theme books that we selected from the library and we've enjoyed every one of them!

Enjoy!

Candice S