One Christmas Book A Day

A couple of years ago, we started the tradition of having O open one Christmas book a day.  Last year, I think I wrapped the books in tissue paper, and I wrapped them in newspaper the year before that.  Neither of those ideas was ideal as I really can't stand to wrap gifts in paper even if I can recycle it...I'm just not good at it, and they always look terrible. 

Every year, after Christmas, I buy lots of Christmas fabric on sale with the intention of making bags for the books.  This year it actually happened!

I cut the fabric into long rectangles.  My mom folded it, pinned it, and sewed each side.  She then cut the ends with pinking shears...done!  Hooray!  She finished all 25 bags and seemed to enjoy it!  THanks, Mom, you are the best! 

So, we've put aside the advent calender that I made last year (E has been slowly destroying it, and I am terrified that she is going to swallow a magnet), and we are now using the bags.  Each bag has one book and either a craft activity or a notecard with an activity written on it.  I've tried to tie the activity in with the book, but that hasn't always been possible. 

Wrapping the books in the fabric bags is so easy...I put a book in the bag and tie the end with a ribbon or fold the fabric over and tie a ribbon over it to hold it in place, so that it actually looks like wrapping paper. 





As the girls' open their book of the day, I take the bag downstairs so that I can use it to wrap gifts to put under the tree.  I'm hoping that we won't have a single piece of wrapping paper under our tree this year!  (although I'm just using these bags for the girls and Elliott, since we'll use them for our books next year, too).





O has really enjoyed searching through the packages to find the right number each day.  My plan is to choose the books for next year and go ahead and wrap them in the bags with an activity when I pack them away in January.  It will be great be organized next year!

Molly Monkey

I'm trying to share all of the handmade gifts we've made over the last few months just in case anyone still needs ideas for Christmas gifts.  Here's one that I meant to post months ago...
My mom and I made this sweet Molly Monkey for E's 1st birthday present.  The pattern and directions can be found at mmmcrafts.   This monkey was surprisingly easy and quick to put together for E's special gift.  Thanks to mmmcrafts for providing this free pattern!   

Nativity Felt Board Scene

There are lots of printable nativity scenes on the internet, but I think the one at Activity Village is the best!  The peoples faces are so sweet, and I love the colors.   We haven't used our felt board in a while, but I brought it out for this advent activity. 




I printed the nativity characters onto cardstock and glued a small piece of sandpaper to the back of each one.  I was pleasantly surprised by how well they stick to the felt board. 




Here's a close-up of a wiseman since BOTH of our girls are going to be wisemen at church next Sunday!



Take a minute to browse the Activity Village website...there is A LOT of good stuff there!

Christmas Playdough Gift Sets

These Christmas playdough gift sets have been in the works since last Christmas.  I started gathering my materials on the day after Christmas when I bought LOTS of Christmas cookie cutters (at least 50% off retail price). 

During the summer, I found the perfect 4 oz canning jars for storing the playdough.








I found the perfect rolling pins at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago (I planned to make rolling pins from dowels that I  was going to cut and sand, but these were inexpensive, and they saved me a lot of trouble!). 





Yesterday, I bought Christmas sprinkles and emptied the sprinkles out for later use.  I filled the containers with red, green, and yellow yarn to use as icing and beads to use as sprinkles on the playdough cookies.  What fun!

Homemade Playdough

O and I have had fun making chocolate and sugar cookie playdough this week.  We love making playdough...it's almost as much fun as playing with it!

O loves to mix everything with her hands.  She leaned down to get a good whiff of the cocoa and breathed in a little too much cocoa dust!  This playdough smells divine!




Here is the chocolate playdough recipe.  (I was going to include it in this post, but that seems silly since I'm in a hurry :)

The day after making chocolate playdough, we made sugar cookie playdough.  The recipe is similar, but we left out the cocoa and added vanilla flavoring and white glitter.  We also cooked this playdough on the stove instead of pouring boiling water into the mixture.  Here is the basic playdough recipe. 

O really enjoyed pouring and mixing in the glitter!

Personalized Paper Dolls AND Another Giveaway!!!

I saw these personalized paper dolls on Sandy Ford Design on Etsy and fell in love with them.  I emailed Sandy and asked if she would like for us to review a set.  She agreed, and I emailed her a picture of O.  I was so excited when she emailed me the paper doll and clothes!  (O was excited, too, of course!)

Sandy started designing these dolls last year when she was trying to think of a great non-plastic gift for her daughter's 5th birthday party.  They were such a hit that she started a business from it!

Immediately after seeing O's doll, I knew I'd need to order a set for E.  Since they are pdfs, I can print both dolls for both girls.  Also, if we lose or tear the dolls or clothes, we can just print more...I REALLY love that aspect of these dolls!




I printed O's doll on magnetic paper, but I liked it so much on lightly textured cardstock that I haven't even cut it out of the magnetic paper yet (I think I'll save the magnetic paper dolls for Christmas).
 


I wasn't crazy about the idea of using the tabs to hold the clothes on the doll, so I was excited to find the idea of using a sticky strip at the Lily & Thistle website.  The sticky strip works great!


I'm so excited by all of the things that I can make with these dolls of my girls.  Their personalized Christmas ornaments for this year will definitely be paper dolls!



Another great thing about these dolls is that Sandy is so great to work with...I emailed her several times to ask if she would make minor changes here and there to make the dolls perfect.  She did this happily and without hesitation.




As soon as O saw the paper dolls, she asked if we could get on to look like Laura (Ingalls...she still so obsessed with Little House on the Prairie).  She'll be getting a set of "Laura and Mary" paper dolls for Christmas, and I know that she is going to have so much fun having a doll of herself play and interact with Laura and Mary.  We may have to write a new book...Laura, Mary, and O! 




Sandy is offering a free paper doll set with color in costumes to one lucky reader.  Go to Sandy's Etsy shop and take a look around.  Come back here and tell me what you liked over there.  I'll randomly choose a winner on Wednesday.

How I Spend My Days

Just kidding..this does not happen often at all.  But maybe it should...what a workout!  I know I burned A LOT of calories!

I thought I would put E in the Beco while I cleaned the house a few days ago because she wouldn't let me put her down.  When I came upstairs and O saw the Beco, she insisted that she be given a turn.  So, I put O on my back, and E in the sling on my front.  I was weighted down!  They loved every second of it, but I only lasted for about 15 to 20 minutes. 

After wearing both of them, I could barely even feel E when I put her on my back in the Beco (where she stayed for the next hour or more while I cleaned and then made playdough with O).  I have a feeling my arm baby will be my back baby from now on :)

Magazines For Kids

Children's magazines by National Wildlife Federation are on sale until midnight tonight for 12.09 for a one year subscription.  I just subscribed to Your Big Backyard for O and Wild Animal Baby for E.  This is a Christmas gift that they'll love all year long!  Here's a link to the email I received. 

Cloth Christmas Napkins for the Kiddos

My mom and I are finally making stuff with the tons of Christmas fabric that I buy each year (75% off) after Christmas.  These sweet child sized napkins were our first project.  I cut, and she sewed.  We make a good team :) 

Color Matching with Peg Dolls

This rainbow peg doll set is another one of E's handmade Christmas gifts.  I think she is going to love it!



I bought the peg dolls and cups from Hobby Lobby.  They were 50% off, so I spent a total of about 3 dollars.



I painted the dolls and cups with liquid watercolors (from IKEA).



This was a fun and simple gift to make for my sweet girl!


Edit to add:  Check the fit of your dolls and cups before painting.  You may need to sand them a little, and you'd much rather do that before painting them!