Thanksgiving Story Bracelets

I just wanted to pop in quickly to tell you to head over to my other blog to read about a Thanksgiving story bracelet project I did with my preschoolers today. It would be a fun one for you to do with your own children, grandchildren, nieces/nephews, etc. at home. Read all about it here. I did this at home with my boys a few years ago.

Hopefully I'll get my act together and finish up a few more Thanksgiving projects I've been (sort of) working on so I can post them.

A few things we've been up to

A week or so ago I headed down to my craft room and dusted off my sewing machine so I could make a Halloween pennant banner for our home. I had bought a pack of charm squares (pre-cut 5 inch squares in a coordinating variety of fabrics) at a quilt store this summer but had not been able to find them. When I was hiding the candy corn treat bags I made for the boys I found them! It didn't take me long at all to get this festive little banner stitched up. I just picked several squares that I liked (all different), folded them in half diagonally and ironed them. Then I placed the folded edge into the crease of some orange double-fold bias tape I had on hand and sewed it all together using a straight stitch. Easy peasy! I also made one with just fall fabrics that I'll hang up now that Halloween is over. Below you can see the Halloween one.

On Friday evening the boys and I cleaned out and carved our jack-o-lanterns. Here you can see the boys pulling out the pumpkin guts. I forgot to take an after picture to show the finished jacks. This year I used those little battery-operated LED candles instead of real candles. I love those......so much safer. For Halloween my oldest son who is 8 dressed up like a Patriot (the Revolutionary War kind, not the football kind) and my youngest son who is 4 dressed up like a racecar driver. We had great Halloween trick-or-treating weather. A little chilly but not too cold.......a full moon and a clear sky. I'll have to do another post about a great treat that I got on Halloween night.

Halloween Crafting.......I love it!!

You know, it's been a while since I've created anything. I really get a great sense of satisfaction when I make something. So I'm feeling pretty good right now since I've managed to create a few fun new things this weekend. This morning I woke up and read my Google reader and saw these great Jack-o-lantern jars on Chasing Cheerios. I immediately decided that I wanted to make these with my two boys today. I had one jar and my mom had one.........so once I picked up the extra one from her after our morning basketball game (with my youngest son) we were good to go. These were really easy and fun to make. Please see the tutorial on Not So Idle Hands for details about how to make these. I added green curling ribbon to the tops to make pumpkin vines but otherwise I followed her tutorial pretty much exactly. I didn't have any black tissue paper so I just printed the faces through the links on her blog and cut them out and Mod Podged them right onto the jars..........just the printer paper. It worked fine. I stuffed my candy corn lights into them and they look really cool on our "harvest" shelf.



(Sidenote: I hadn't "discovered" the Not So Idle Hands blog until today. I love finding new blogs. I am really wanting to try her tutorial for making your own gummy candy.)



The Jack-O Jar on the left is my youngest son's. He really didn't do any of it. He wanted me to do it all. He chose the face he wanted but I did the work. The other one is my oldest son's jar. He is 8 and did most of it himself. I just smoothed out the Mod Podge a little for him and put the face on.






The other thing I created this weekend was candy corn treat bags to give my boys for Halloween. I don't usually give them anything for Halloween, but I saw this tutorial on The Crafty Crow and thought these bags were so adorable I couldn't resist. They were SO easy to make. I plan to fill them with candy corn along with a little honeycomb pumpkin. I found these little honeycomb pumpkins at my favorite local thrift store for 50 cents each. When I was little I loved those fold-out honeycomb decorations. Since my mom was a teacher it seemed like she had a lot of these in her classroom. I don't think they're sold much anymore. I was happy to find these and I think my boys will love them.

(Sidenote: In addition to finding the pumpkins on my thrift outing, I got 2 "new" pairs of shoes for fall/winter for $17 total. I would have had to pay more than that for one pair if I had bought them new. I was really excited to find those bargains. I also saw a teapot with autumn leaves on it and a matching teacup that I LOVE. I've seen it several times in that store but so far haven't been able to bring myself to buy it. If it's there the next time I go in.........maybe I'll splurge on it. It would look great on my baker's rack.........and I would love to use it during the fall to hold my tea. Sorry for digressing.)

Christmas Gift Ideas

As you can tell from reading all my posts about the Christmas Book activities, I'm really trying to plan ahead this year for gift-giving. It seems like every year during about the first or second week of December I start panicking about what I'm going to give people like Sunday School teachers, piano teachers, bus drivers, etc. This year I'm getting a big head start. I went to Hancock Fabrics the other day and bought a few fun Christmas cotton prints. I'm planning to make up some reversible cloth napkins. Then I'll package a napkin or two with a Christmas mug (I've picked up a bunch of cute ones at Goodwill for about 59 cents each), a package of Minty Hot Cocoa Mix (recipe below), a chocolate spoon, and a bag of homemade star-shaped peppermint marshmallows. Wouldn't that be a fun gift to receive? I'm also going to use Christmas fabric to make an apron for my sons' teachers. Oh, I am my youngest son's teacher, so I guess that means I'm getting a new Christmas apron this year. YAY! I have made several aprons as gifts, but don't actually own ANY myself.

Here are the three fabrics I chose. Not the greatest picture, however.

Here is the Minty Cocoa Mix recipe. I got this recipe from this awesome book that I own. I LOVE Gooseberry Patch stuff.............if you are into homemade, be sure to check out their website here and order a catalog. Fun, fun stuff!!

OK...............now for the recipe:

Minty Hot Cocoa Mix

1 1/4 cup powdered milk

1/4 cup hot chocolate mix

1/4 cup mint chocolate chips

2 T. powdered chocolate non-dairy creamer

1 t. cinnamon

Mix all ingredients; pour into a one-pint jar. Attach a gift tag with instructions. Makes 2 cups mix.

NOTE: I am going to give approximately half of this recipe in a Ziploc bag, but I HAVE given this in a pint jar before.

Instructions: Place 1/3 cup mixture into a mug. Add one cup boiling water. Stir until mint chips are melted. Makes one serving.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

The book pictured above is the exact version of this story that we have at our home. I love the classic illustrations in it. There are many other beautifully illustrated versions of this poem. I thought this version which was featured on BellaDia last year looked really neat. For our ornaments, we will make these "sugarplums" that I found on CraftElf. When researching ornaments for all my other books I came across that gumdrop ornament idea and was hoping to pair it with a perfect book. Then I realized that the gumdrops looked like the "sugarplums" in the poem. I am looking forward to making these. (And maybe eating some real gumdrops alongside!)

The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell & Guy Porfino

There are many different versions of this book. I decided to order this one for us. I think the little boy looks so adorable. This is such a sweet story. I remember my mom reading me a version of this when I was little. We will definitely make an angel ornament to go with this book. I am thinking about these clothespin angels. Here is another possibility. Or maybe we'll make this version using white felt and doilies.

Santa's Snow Cat by Sue Stainton & Anne Mortimer

This will be a new book for us this Christmas. I think we'll all love it since we love cats around here. The illustrations look beautiful. For this book I think we'll make popsicle stick star ornaments. I chose this book and activity directly based on the idea presented by BellaDia (The Crafty Crow) last year.

Snowmen At Night by Caralyn & Mark Buehner

Technically this book is more of a winter story than a Christmas one. However, we already have it and it's a favorite. There are SO many cute snowman activities and crafts out there too. I looked at several and I THINK we will make these snowman craft stick ornaments to go with this story.

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado

This story by Max Lucado has such a powerful message about tolerance and acceptance conveyed within the context of the Nativity story. This is one of the new books I've ordered from Amazon for our Christmas book project. We have several other Max Lucado books and they are among our very favorite. I am pretty sure this book will leave a lasting impression on my sons. I hope so. For this story we will make wooly sheep yarn ornaments. I think they will be SOOOOO cute. They may turn out to be my very favorites from all our projects this year.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May

I love the original version of Rudolph. We have a hardcover copy of the original book that looks just like the one pictured above (photo courtesy of Amazon). However, I couldn't find an Amazon link for the actual book we own. There are many versions available. We will definitely make a reindeer ornament to accompany this story. We may make these clothespin Rudolph ornaments. These candy cane Rudolphs are also really easy and cute. And these popsicle stick Rudolphs may be the easiest of all........and still are very cute.

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff

This is a fun holiday book in the "Give a Mouse" series. We already have this book but I don't remember ever reading it to the boys! I just love the little mouse in these stories. He's so cute. I think an obvious "ornament" to go with this book is stringing popcorn for our "book" tree. I haven't done that yet with both boys and I think by this Christmas my youngest (who will be 4 1/2) will be able to do it without too much frustration. This link has a recipe for an edible popcorn wreath that would be fun to make.

The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown

I bought this book a few years ago after seeing it reviewed on someone's blog. It is THE most beautifully illustrated book. I'm serious. The little boy in this book is so precious and reminds me quite a bit of my oldest son. The story is so touching as well. It is about a little boy who cannot walk so his father digs up a little fir tree each year to bring into the house for him. My oldest son wept when I read him this story for the first time. It is such a sweet story. I won't tell you how it ends though! Since we are making pipe cleaner Christmas tree ornaments to go with another one of our books, I thought we would make pine cone Christmas trees for this story. Last year we made glitter pine cones as one of our Advent activities and those would be great with this book as well.

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola

This is one of the books I ordered especially for this year from Amazon. Tomie dePaola.........what more can I say. He has so many, many wonderful books. And now that I think about it, we don't actually own very many of them. (MOM.....................GIFT IDEA ALERT!!) This is a sweet, sweet story about a little girl's very special gift on Christmas. We will make felt poinsettia ornaments to go with this book. Luckily, I probably already have all the felt we need. I save all my scraps of felt from other projects and can finally put them to good use.

The Donkey's Dream by Barbara Helen Berger

I am not sure where I got this book, but it was in my stash. I don't remember reading it to the boys yet either. This book tells the Nativity story in a new way with the donkey as a central figure. Umm............finding a donkey ornament idea is kind of hard. However, I found a cute idea at Danielle's Place (scroll WAY down again to see it). It is listed as an Easter craft, but will work well for our purposes. It's a pretty unique craft idea in that it uses tea leaves from tea bags to make the donkey's fur. I think my boys will get a kick out of that aspect of this activity.

Dream Snow by Eric Carle

I bought this book at Barnes and Noble for 50% off after Christmas last year. I think I even used a gift certificate to buy it. I love Eric Carle. His illustrations are just so amazing. I haven't read this to the boys yet so it will be another new book for them this year. Our ornaments for this book will be white felt snowflake glass ornaments that I found on the Michael's website. I think they will look awesome on our tree along with all the other ornaments we will make. These ornaments are so simple but so beautiful. They would make great Christmas gifts.

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

I ordered this book from Amazon last year in anticipation of this year's Advent book activities. I didn't even read this one to the boys last year, so it will be fun to have a "brand-new" story to fall in love with. This is an adorable story about a tree that is too tall for its intended location. Each time the top gets lopped off and discarded, another creature is waiting in the wings to nab it for their own Christmas decoration. As the story progresses, the tree gradually gets smaller and smaller. It is such a sweet story.

I found the cutest pipe cleaner Christmas tree ornament on Danielle's Place. Scroll way down on the link I provided to see it. It is SOOOOO cute and I'm excited to make it with the boys.

The Christmas Hat by A.J. Wood

This book was a gift to my boys from my mom either last Christmas or the one before. It is a cute story with really beautiful illustrations. The pages are really heavy and embossed so it is a very tactile reading experience. After reading this book, we will make little Santa hat ornaments to hang on the tree. A great thing about these ornaments is that they are very easy and we'll be able to use materials that we already have.

J is for Jesus by Crystal Bowman

This is a great book (board book format) that I bought last year. My youngest son especially loved reading this at bedtime during December. Because he loves it so much I am including it in our list for Advent this year. Making a candy cane ornament is an obvious choice to go with this book. However, in addition to ornaments, there are so many fun things you can do with candy canes. This webpage has a lot of great information and ideas for using candy canes. Last year we made the traditional beaded candy canes with propeller beads and pipe cleaners. Here is a new variation on this that we may try this year.

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett (and a giveaway!)

I love the book Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. I love everything Jan Brett does. She is an amazing author and an even more outstanding illustrator. Such talent! We already own this book so it was perfect for our Christmas book activity list for Advent. As I mentioned in this post, I am planning to read several Christmas books with the boys during Advent. After reading each book, we will make a special ornament related to the book and hang the ornaments on a special tree set aside for just that purpose.



I have several ideas for ornaments to make to go with this book. Of course making a gingerbread man is an obvious option. You can find great directions here for making a cute gingerbread man out of felt. And this is a cute idea for making a gingerbread man out of sandpaper and using cinnamon to make him smell good. Another great option is making the cinnamon/applesauce baked gingerbread ornaments. My friend, Beth, made some of these for me over 10 years ago and I still hang them on my tree every Christmas and think of her. I also found a very cute gumdrop ornament that I would love to make. I'm not sure if it would be a stretch to make thse for the Gingerbread Baby book. I tried to find another Christmas picture book that featured candy or gumdrops but didn't come up with much. If you have an idea for a title, let me know!!

And now for the giveaway.............I found an extra hardcover copy of Gingerbread Baby when I was going through my Christmas book tub. I think I had bought myself a copy and then my mom bought one for us. So............I thought I'd do a giveaway for my extra copy to kick off my Christmas Book activity project. If you are interested in winning the extra copy, leave me a comment and tell the title of your favorite children's Christmas book. You have until Sunday night (July 19th) at 9:00 p.m. (CST) to leave your comment. I'll randomly choose a winner later on Sunday night.

I'm beginning to think a lot about.............

............Christmas. Last year in December I started this blog to keep some of the things we are doing at home separate from the things I document in my school blog. Many of my first posts on this blog were about Advent activities that I did with the boys during December. Even last year, I was thinking ahead to how I wanted to make this year's Advent season special. Last year The Crafty Crow did posts about Christmas books and related activities, one for each day leading up to Christmas. Then on another blog (I can't remember which one) I had read about an idea I really liked where you wrap up a bunch of children's Christmas books and read one together each day during the Advent season. To tweak the idea a little bit, I thought it would be really fun to do an activity to go with each book, kind of like our Advent activities from last year. Then as I thought about it more, I thought it would be REALLY great to make an ornament to go with each book. The boys could each make the same ornament and we could hang all our Advent book ornaments on one special tree.


I know it's still July, but it's really not too early to start planning this so I'm not stressed out at the last minute. So today I decided to go through the Christmas books we have and choose the ones I'll focus on. Then I searched the web for related ornament ideas. Then I looked at the list of books and activities from The Crafty Crow and ordered a few more books from Amazon to round out our selection. For the next few weeks, I'll be doing some short posts about the books I've chosen and will describe the ornaments I'm thinking about making including links to directions, patterns, etc. In addition to (hopefully) giving all of you readers some new ideas for your Christmas season, this process will motivate me to get all my book projects organized WAY early so they are good to go once December rolls around. Wouldn't it be great to just pull out a tub right after Thanksgiving with all the books and activities ready? That's my goal. For my list, I have only chosen 15 books. I learned from our Advent activities last year that it is sometimes really hard to fit in an activity every single day, especially during the very busy month of December. By choosing 15 books, I'm allowing for those days when we really won't have time to do a project. I'm also still contemplating how I'll organize everything. So it's not all figured out yet, but I think I have enough time to get it planned. :0)