Merry Christmas to All!

I hope you all have a very blessed Christmas!

Homemade Lanterns

We did a very quick, easy project this morning. We made lanterns out of mason jars and tissue paper. We even got Dad to make one. This is a simple craft that is great for even the littlest of hands. All you need is a glass jar of any type (we just happen to have an over abundance of Mason-type jars thanks to my mom), some watered down white school glue and tissue paper.

Mix your glue with water to get it pretty thin. "Paint" sections of your jar and stick on tissue paper. I was so thankful to have my tissue paper already cut. Keep going around your jar until you have the design you want. You can cover up the entire jar or leave little holes in spaces. If you want to get real creative glitter is always fun too!
After we got all the tissue on we painted over it with a real thin coat of watered down glue to make sure the tissue was secure.

I wish I had some craft wire because I would have made a lantern handle. But I still think they are cute without. I still may get some today when I run into town. I think they would look "finished".

Put a candle inside your jar and you have a beautiful new creation!

Chocolate Playdough

Cold, rainy days call for something special so we whipped up a batch of chocolate playdough. Be warned though, once you make it your hands will smell like yummy chocolate all day. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing. Seeing it in that bowl makes me think of chocolate pudding......another yummy thing!


So, you think you want to make some? It's probably one of the easiest playdoughs I have ever made.





Here's how:

1 1/4 c flour
1/2 c cocoa
1/2 c salt
2 tsp cream of tartar



Combine and mix ingredients thoroughly. Once mixed, add in 1 1/2 T cooking oil and 1 c boiling water. Mix and knead until you have a nice soft ball of dough.

Store in either a plastic baggie or airtight container. I always keep mine in the refrigerator,I don't know if it really prolongs the lifespan or not, but I do know that I have playdough that is about 1.5 years old now and it's as good now as it was the day it was made.

Who could resist a chocolate heart made by their favorite kid?

Magic Reindeer Food

It's been ages since I have posted anything. Maybe its the weather, maybe I've just been lazy. I don't know. I do know I keep thinking I should blog, but just haven't had the "umph" to do it. So here I sit, in front of my computer getting out this bad blogger funk I have been in!

Today is a lovely rainy day. I love these days. We have a fire going, roast in the oven and Maggie and I are sipping peppermint tea with a candy cane. It's been a good day!

We got up this morning and thought it would be fun to make some Reindeer Food. Maggie wanted to make some for her friends down the street, Heather and Shawn. So we put their bags together and while they were gone we snuck up and put it on their doorstep. Maggie is excited for them to find it.

The idea of Reindeer Food is to sprinkle it on your front lawn on Christmas Eve before going to bed. It helps the reindeer find their to your house so Santa can leave packages!

Here she is getting ready to walk down to their house


And leaving the scene of the crime.....


If you would like to make your own Reindeer Food it's SUPER easy! This is how you do it:

1/2 c oatmeal
1/4 c red or green sugar crystals
handful of birdseed (we used chicken feed)

If you need to make colored sugar crystals, just put your sugar in a bowl and a drop or two of red or green food coloring. Mix together.

I put mine in a plastic sandwich bag. You could put it in anything you like. Whatever is easy for little hands.

I found the cute little labels on The Idea Room.

The poem on the back says:

"Sprinkle on the lawn at night
the moon will make it sparkle bright
as santa's reindeer fly and roam
this will guide them to your home"

I stapled the picture and poem to the top of my baggie and our project was done. I was going to get "fancy" with a red ribbon and a bell, but couldn't find my ribbon. hhhmmmppphhhh


**Since this will be sprinkles outside your home, please remember to keep it bird/wildlife friendly. As much fun as it would be to put glitter in it, it would hurt our little outdoor friends.

Now go make some Magical Reindeer Food!