CHRISTMAS 2013 - ADVENT CALENDAR

Here's our 2013 advent calendar.  It's actually an advent bowl this year. I really like origami 'lucky stars' and wanted to find a way to use them for Christmas.  After some experimenting, I decided the best way to display them, was simply to put them in a glass bowl. The kids dig through the bowl each morning to find the correct lucky star and open it up to see what we're doing that particular day.

For each star I cut a strip of kraft paper 22" x 1.5", which resulted in stars about 2" in diameter.  

Lucky stars are easy to fold, you can find a good tutorial here.  

Before completing the stars, I wrote out the advent gift/activity on the inside.  For gifts which obviously won't fit inside, I just wrote a clue as to what it may be and hid the actual gift in the house, the kids have to play "hot or cold" to find them.

The items for this year's advent calendar are similar to last year's, and include a lot of family activities. A few of them include:

+ Christmas Movies

+ Paying for the coffee of customer behind us

+ Leaving gas cards taped to pumps at the station

+ Buying food for a Christmas dinner and giving it to the food shelf

+ Bringing cookies to neighbors, fire station, and sheriff's office

+ Gingerbread houses

+ Donating toys to Toys for Tots

+ Leaving surprise gifts for little ones at the local library

+ Making snowflakes

+ Christmas lights display

Wishing you and yours and wonderful advent season.

CHRISTMAS 2013 - GIFT PLANNER

We are well into the Christmas gift planning season, and with a few less days this year I'm feeling a bit behind already.  Every year I like to make a gift planner, it helps me keep on track, and reduces the number of things I have to remember during an already busy season.  I like to keep it with me at all times, so if I'm out shopping I can keep track of what I already have and what is still to check off the list.  Fingers crossed, I'll have everything checked off my list soon!

If you'd like a copy, download it here.

AUCTION QUILT

For the kids school fundraising auction I made a baby quilt and small stuffed kitty.  Made with 'Nicey Jane' by Heather Bailey...found in the back of my fabric stash!  Hope it brought in a hefty sum!

MY BEESWAX

Used up some beeswax that was sitting around after a failed lotion making experiment.  Love the creamy color, and the aroma that has just a hint of honey.

munchkin's quilt

Here's the first "bed sized" quilt I've ever made.  It's a twin size, which I hand appliqued and hand quilted...perhaps a choice I will not make in the future.  But, the important thing is that it is done, that my munchkin enjoys it and it's all the more special because of the hours and hours spent on it!

And this is how it normally looks...because every little girl needs at least 14 stuffed animals to be able to sleep.

Everyday is Mother's Day

I love the surprise gifts that come home in my little girl's school work. In the U.S. we've set aside a special day to celebrate our mothers, and I know many women find this day to be very meaningful and important...I'm really not into it, I understand it, but I would be fine if it fell off the calendars forever.   To me, it's little things like these treasures that come home in the kid's backpacks that make everyday feel like Mother's Day.

ami friends

I was going through some older photos and came across these two little friends.  I made these little guys for my nieces this past Christmas. I used the pattern from this book, which I highly recommend if you are looking for cute, easy to follow amigurumi patterns.

easter bunnies

Time is flying this year, I can hardly believe it's already Easter.  I think all my Easter projects this year will fall into the "better late than never" category.  Here's a fun one to do with the kiddos...bunny cupcakes.  Super simple, super cute, super yummy.

First you will need to make some ears. 

+  Melt white chocolate chips in a double boiler. (Stir in double boiler until just a few lumps remain, then remove from heat and stir until smooth.  Don't let the chocolate get warmer than 110°F or it won't set!)

+ Use food color to create whatever colors you like.

+ Put chocolate into some kind of squeezing container.  ( I used small plastic bottles, but a plastic sandwich bag with the corner snipped off would work well also.)

+ Form ears on a sheet of wax paper.

+ Pop them in the fridge to finish setting.

Then it's time to decorate!

+ Frost cupcakes (I think the cupcakes look best when they are as close to a perfect dome as possible, so mound the frosting and smooth.)

+ Small pastel confectioners decorations make great cheeks

+ Dark icing and a small tip (I used a #2)

+ Insert the ears

Enjoy!

happy valentine's

Here are the valentine's I made for the special people in my life this year.   

...the printable file is available here.

happy new year

download here.