Christmas a Week Away!

We have enjoyed so many fun things this past week, I haven't had any time to post any pictures or write about them! Tonight we were able to get some fun teacher gifts made - we made these for the men teachers.

 We purchased a gift card for each teacher to Starbucks, printed these cute cards, added a coffee holder and twine, and finished! We wrapped them in matching gift bags that almost even look like they could be from Starbucks!

The instructions and printable card can be found here: Printable Thanks-a-Latte!

Our Christmas Countdown has Begun! Day 1: December 1, 2012

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house! We have started a daily countdown to Christmas with a different activity each day! The kids look forward to finding out what the activity for the day will be by pulling a tag out of our new Advent calendar.


 

I made the calendar out of corkboard, scrapbook paper, and Christmas stickers, then

used small white tags to write the different activities on.

 

December 1 - Day 1:

Today was Christmas sock day and family gingerbread house decorating day!

I wrapped a new pair of Christmas socks
(.50 - 1.00 socks!) in cute little gift bags.

 Everyone had a new pair of socks to wear all day!

I even wrapped a pair for my hubby! (Although I tried not to get him such cutesy ones!)





After dinner, we made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers! Everyone was involved and had lots of fun! Chad even said, "Mom, this is one of the best nights ever!"

 

I think Caleb ate more candy than actually helping!

 

 

 The finished products were all so creative and cute!

Instructions for making these can be found here.

 

 



 

In Everything Give Thanks!

I have had lots of fun preparing for Thanksgiving this year. Thanks to some fun printables, I was able to make most of our decorations.

 

I made a "Give Thanks" jar and printed out slips of paper that say things like "I love . . . ", or ".... makes me smile." or "Thanksgiving is great because . . . ." We have each been writing something down at dinner at night and putting them in the jar. We will read them on Thanksgiving!

You can find the printable for this here: A Jar Full of Gratitude

I absolutely loved this set of printables and made several things using it.

This set can be found here: Dimple Prints Thanksgiving Printables

I simply printed the "Happy Turkey Day" sign and put it in a $3 frame from Walmart!

Next, using the round cupcake toppers, I made tags for "Indian corn" treat bags!

I simply filled a small treat bag with Reese's Pieces, added raffia in the top to look

like the end of the corn husk, then tied on the label with jute!

I also printed the treat sign about 1/16th smaller and tied it to the basket!

 



 

I put some fall puzzles in the bottom of the table for some after dinner fun

on Thanksgiving Day!

I used a dark brown tablecloth for the table setting and napkins with
Thanksgiving Scripture on
them for a finishing touch!




I printed out the "Happy Thanksgving" banners at half the size and hung them with jute across my large windows!

 

 

I also printed out the Kids Table sign and framed it in an old frame that I had in storage!

The kids made the pumpkins at Patch Club at church. They are so cute, and so easy!

They are made with a roll of toilet paper, a square of fall fabric,

brown paper bag, leaves, and pipe cleaner!

The instructions for these can be found here: Easy Pumpkin Project

 

Next to each child's plate is a checklist for what they ate for Thanksgiving dinner.

The printable for this can be found here: Thanksgiving Celebration printables

 

Another picture of our Indian Corn treat bags!

 



 

I printed out water bottle wrappers and glued them to water bottles!

I printed some from the same set as above and also some from this set:

Amanda's Parties To Go

This is a great blog with lots of fun party ideas!!

 



 

I also printed out these cute Mayflower treat holders! (This was also from the Amanda set.)

Instead of using treat cups, I baked pumpkin muffins using a can of Libby's pumpkin pie and

a vanilla cake mix. Simply mix the two together, fill muffin cups,

and bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes!

Delicious!!

 

Now I just hope everyone enjoys the day as much as I enjoyed planning and putting it all together!

Personalized Locker Magnets!

Here is a cute craft idea for your kids! I know Alyssa will love this craft!

For instructions, click here!

Idea from : www.plaidkidscrafts.com 

Fun Craft Ideas with Flower Pots!

 

Click here for instructions for making these cute pots!

Click here for instructions for these neat flower pot accessory holders!

Click here for instructions for these teacher thank-you flower pots! 

Ideas from: www.plaidkidscrafts.com

Paper Flowers!

I was trying to think of a craft that the kids at church could make for their mom's for Mother's Day when I found this cute idea for paper flowers. Since we are also decorating for a church fellowship the week before, I decided to have them make centerpieces out of them to decorate the tables and then they would also have a nice gift for their moms! Here is the finished product!

Here is how I made them:

First, cut 12x12" paper into 2 strips. I cut 2" strips for the larger flowers, 1 1/2" strips for the medium-sized, and 1" for the smaller size.

Next, fold each strip like a fan.

Glue the two pieces together.

Carefully twirl the strip into a circle (this is the tricky part!) and then glue the ends together.

Glue this circle to a smaller circle using a hot glue gun to hold it together.

I also added a little glue on top. Hold together for several seconds to secure.

At this point, your flower should look like this.

Using coordinating paper, decorate the top any way you'd like. I used buttons for the centers. Use scalloped scissors to cut smaller circles for the centers if you like. When you are finished, add a narrow wooden dowel with hot clue for the stem and place them in your decorative container. I found small glass milk jugs at the craft store and filled them with "straw." Finish by tying ribbon around the container and/or stems!

Using an old coffee pot I had, I made a larger centerpiece with even larger flowers. I used 3 strips of paper cut into 4" strips for the large flowers and 3 strips of 3" strips for the medium-sized ones here. The smaller ones were made using 2 strips of 2" paper.

Superhero Valentines!

Chad and I are going to attempt to make these for his Valentine's party tomorrow! They are so cute!

 

The full instructions for making these can be found here: http://www.littlebitfunky.com/2012/01/20-minute-crafter-superhero-valentines.html