Marshmallow Snowman Ornament

I realized that having the same title (25 Day Ornament Challenge) from now until Christmas would get pretty redundant. So I dropped it! But you are in the right place and this is the third day of my challenge. It was a busy/crazy day today. Lots of running errands, picking up these kids, dropping off those kids...and our oldest had HIS school Christmas program tonight.

I'd like to pause here and mention Louie's school program. It was FANTASTIC! They do a great job every year and it is a wonderful way to really get into the Spirit of the Season! A few "shout-outs" to two of Louie's BFFs...Joe did a great job with the opening second grade reading and Andrew did a great job playing Santa and popping out of the chimney! Fun times!

So, with that type of day...I didn't even THINK about ornaments until about an hour ago. Luckily I found this little gem here at Craft Goodies! I heart the absolute cuteness and easy factor of these little snowmen. And you can get as carried away as possible...or stay as simple as I did!

Here's what you need:

I found these empty ornaments at Michael's and they're PLASTIC! And they were 79 CENTS! Because of the time crunch I raided the construction paper box, but some cute scrapbook paper would be great to use, too. I hole punched the black to make eyes & a mouth and then I cut out a triangle from the orange to make a nose. Then I enlisted the help of my three year old and told him to "stuff" Frosty!

You get the idea. Fill up your ornament with mini-marshmallows. J. did his best stuffing while his tongue was hanging out. He pulled it back in when he spotted the camera. Anyway, fill up the bulb, but don't overstuff. Then put the top back on and glue on your eyes, nose & mouth. And TAA DAH!

You have achieved Homemade Christmas Cuteness in about five minutes!

25 Day Ornament Challenge...Tube Wreath

I'm back for Day #2 of my Ornament Challenge!

But first I have to share...tonight was John's first ever Holiday program with his pre-school. ADORABLE! John is our super shy guy and is a very big Mama's Boy. However, he did great! He sang all the songs and did all the actions!!! The teachers and their aides do wonderful, WONDERFUL work with the kids. Highlights were the final song...Ballin' The Jack complete with fancy hats and little tuxedo shirts they made from paper towels and construction paper, AND being presented with a beautiful gingerbread house and scene complete with a pond and Santa Claus. And I only got a little teary eyed. (pics to follow...they're on my other camera and I need a new connector to download them to my computer)

So. On to Ornament #2 (appropriate because you use TP rolls!). I've been seeing many crafts done with cut up toilet paper rolls. And they look so darn cute. And we use lots and lots of toilet paper around here. So...why not?!? What you need is: two empty toilet paper rolls, three pipe cleaners, ruler, pencil, scissors, hole puncher, and super duper muscles in your hands to use the hole puncher (either my puncher is getting too old...or I am!!!).

I've tried to write up some coherent directions, but I must be getting tired, because they didn't even make sense to me! I found these ornaments here, and they have an awesome and easy to follow guide. I did take some pictures as I went, though:

I've gotta say...I loved the way these looked on Family Fun's website. On our tree...not so much. It kind of turned out big and klutzy. But it was a fun project to do. The boys had a blast. And that's what counts!

25 Day Ornament Challenge...Blingy Snowflakes

Hello…anyone out there??? I’m hoping to drum up some more followers and/or lurkers, but I realize that I’m not the most consistent blogger on the block. SO! I decided to challenge myself this month with 25 Days of Handmade Ornaments. Yep. We will end up with 25 new ornaments in time for Christmas Morning! To quote my mother, “Really? You’re going to make 25 ornaments?” That’s the plan.


For my first ornament, I decided to go super easy and make one that sparkles so much it makes me want to shout, “Bling! Bling!” I got the idea here, and it was very easy to do. Did I mention easy?

Okay. For these Bling Bling Snowflakes you need: Waxed Paper, Puffy Glitter Glue (I’m sure there is a more technical term, but I threw away the empty bottle already), and something from which to hang your new pretty ornament on your tree. That’s all!

First you lay out your paper. The instructions told me to use a pencil to sketch out a snowflake design on the paper first. Here’s where I got cocky. I thought, “Hmmmm. How hard can a little snowflake be?” Well. My wonky flakes testify that an artist I am not. So sketch out your snowflake. Then trace over your lines with the Glitter Glue. Here’s a look at what you’ll have:

After you’ve finished snickering at my weird looking snowflake…walk away. That is, let the paint dry and harden. I left mine overnight and for half the next day. Slowly pull the snowflake off the waxed paper and tie a string through it, or attach it to a hook. Then you’re good to go. Adds some definite sparkle to your tree. The site I found this on said they also make good window clings. I plan on making up a bunch more in different colors and hanging them from our kitchen windows.

Fall Crochet Scarf

I am a complete newbie to the Art of Crochet. It's something I've always wanted to learn and something that my Mom has tried to teach me countless times. We've always chalked my failure up to me being a Lefty and my Mom being impatient (sorry Mom. Love you.). But I gritted my teeth and she gritted hers and we worked it out. Maybe my will to learn is stronger now that I have a daughter and I want to make her all these cute hats, flowers, scarves, ponchos...and whatnot's I see you ladies making all over the place. Anyway. It worked. But I'm still a newbie.

I am also a glutton for punishment. I found myself alone at the library. This doesn't happen often. Maybe once or twice a year. And when I'm by myself in the library...I tend to get into trouble. The kind of trouble that has me asking the librarian, "What's the book limit...?" And I found a couple of crochet pattern books. And in THIS one:

...I found a really cute scarf project. (Please forgive me...I'm also a newbie to blogging and I need to figure out how to get a cool professional picture from amazon to show up on my blog). Obviously this is a great pattern book because it looks like it's seen a lot of love. And I loved it!

I was able to figure out the pattern on my own and it's the first project I've completed without my Mom telling me what to do every step of the way! Here's what I ended up with:

There is a fringe on the ends that you can't see in my "Model's" representation. She LOVES it, so I'll be making her a Kat sized version. It's special, also, because the keen eye of my oldest picked out the colors for me. Quite nice and cozy.

Ghostie Footsies!

Booooooo...those are some Scary Steppers trying to come in our window! This is a super cute & fun & EASY way to make a Halloween decoration/keepsake. This is also a family tradition and our front door is COVERED with these Ghostly Prints...eight for Louie, four for J. and this is Kat's second Spookable.

I snagged this idea from a very good friend, Kathy. Back about a decade ago, I was helping her out in her at-home daycare. She did this project with the kids and I thought they were so cute. A couple of years later, Louie entered the scene and we've done this every year since!

You need: Black construction paper, white paint, a black marker & some (willing & ticklish) feet! That's ALL! Paint the foot bottoms and step on the paper. Let the paint dry and then draw on the face you want. Google eyes would be cute, too. Then I cut around the foot print. Taa Daa! Instant Cute Spookiness! We also laminate them so we can hang them up every year.

Apple Pickin'

I feel so lucky to be living in the middle of the USA. We are towns-folk to the core, but it's nice to be able to drive in any direction and, within 10 to 20 minutes, be in the middle of beautiful green countryside! This also means we are close to MANY apple orchards and we literally have our "pick" of where to go get fresh apples.

So we headed out a couple of weeks ago (I have been incredibly slow and lazy about downloading these photos to my computer) and did some apple pickin'! The three kids rounded up 10 pounds total. Enough to make Apple Butter (ohhhhh sooooo gooooood), homemade applesauce (eh. I'm looking for a better recipe) and my Great Grandmother's Apple Strudel. And we still had left-overs to munch for breakfast and with lunches!

Here's Miss Kat. Perfect round apple for chubby little Fingers.

Here's J. Three seems like the PERFECT age & excitement level for this job!

Here is Louie...can't you tell he is SO excited to have Mom taking MORE pictures of him?

Back with a Project

It seems that I've fallen off the Blogging Wagon! This summer was a crazy hodge podge of activities, crafts, zoo trips, road trips...you name it! Now that we're in the school groove, it's time for me to dust off the computer and get back to blogging.

Yesterday my 2nd grader and pre-schooler both had a day off from school. It was a beautiful Fall day and we got LOTS of stuff done. Something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but never gotten around to was Crayon Cakes. I've got a leaf rubbing project that I want the boys to do this weekend and these cute little cakes are perfect for that and for chubby Kat hands!

I borrowed the idea from here, and followed the directions that I found here. This is our version:

Grab a bunch of old crayons. I found these packed away with my old toys at my parents house. They were battered and abused and ready to be repurposed! Pick off all the paper (kept Louie busy for half an hour!) and break them up. I didn't do anything to prepare the muffin tins. I also separated the colors, but I think mixing colors up would be fun, too!

Here they are ready to be "baked"!

I set my oven to 275 and checked on them every couple of minutes. I think it took about 8 minutes before they were completely melted and looked like this:

We let the tins cool for a few minutes and then put them directly into the freezer. Then we went for a walk (much like the Three Bears) and did some leaf gathering and playing at the park. We were gone for an hour and when we came back I turned the tins upside down and the Crayon Cakes popped right out!

This was a great fun project! The boys helped to peel and break the crayons. J was fascinated by the melting process and how something solid can become something liquid and then turn solid again only in a different shape. Louie loved the reuse/recycle aspects and I think I'm creating a Trash to Treasure Monster. We'll be doing this again. And again. And again...