Chasing Cheerios

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Jingle Bell Bracelets & Necklaces

When M (my niece)got home from school today, she wanted to know when we were doing our craft :) O and I had already built the church, but I had the materials ready to make jingle bell bracelets. You need pipe cleaners and bells. That's it! I quickly wrote a note with the craft idea written on it and put it in M's advent house. The girls weren't overly excited by the activity, but they enjoyed it once they got started :) O needed lots of help getting the bells on the pipe cleaner because the holes were VERY small. M also needed a little help when the pipe cleaner got stuck. M had the idea to also make necklaces and crowns. Thanks to Laura for this fun idea!

O has finished her bracelet and is choosing colors for her necklace.

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Working on her crown, which she later decided would make a great necklace!

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My little O was worn out and almost fell asleep at the counter. We finished the activity shortly after I took this picture, and we all laid down and read LOTS of Christmas books :)

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My Etsy Favorites

Since you may still have shopping to do for extra special gifts, I thought I'd share a few of my Etsy favorites. I love to look at Etsy for ideas and to shop for handmade items. It's really a wonderful place!

These art blocks are amazing. I also love Lissa's wood people family and this rainbow quilt. I bought 2 of her cloth balls for O for her 1st birthday, and they are wonderfully well-made. Lissa is definitely one of my favorite Etsy sellers!

Okay...maybe I'll share more than a few of my Etsy favorites! This leafbuddy is adorable.
These cotton crochet veggies look yummy!
I love these needle felted wool baby necklaces.

I've been reading about a new law that may go into effect in February that will make the regulations so strict that these and many other sellers of handmade items will be put out of business. Click here to learn more about how you can help prevent this law from putting makers and sellers of handmade toys out of business!

We Built a Miniature Church :)

For O's 16th day advent activity, she got to choose a craft kit to complete (I bought lots of foam craft kits last year after Christmas...super cheap!). She chose the church, and she was VERY excited about building it. I was surprised taht she chose the church over the castle and train, but she was very adamant that she wanted to build a church :)
1st she opened a door to get out her note. (We are using M's, my niece, advent calendar house since we are at G & G's house, and I forgot to bring O's advent boxes).

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She enjoyed punching the foam out of the holes on the church walls.

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Building the church.

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Putting on the roof.

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Decorating the church with a wreath, garlands, a tree, and birds. This was O's favorite part!

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Here is our finished church! O was VERY proud :) I was surprised and happy by how engaged she was in this activity. I expected it to be difficult for her, and I almost didn't get the craft kits out of the closet since I thought she might be too young. I was wrong :) She needed a lot of help, of course, but she was able to really help and participate, and we had a great time! I love the look of pride on her face when we finish a project :)

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Monday, December 15, 2008

Easy Oil Paintings for the Artistically Challenged

I painted this painting of O in utero shortly after she was born, but I decided to share it since it would make a fun handmade gift. I've always planned to do more oil paintings using pictures, but I just haven't painted much since O's been born.

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Here's how I did it...I printed an 8 x10 of my favorite 3d ultrasound picture. Then I placed a piece of carbon paper on top of an 8 x 10 canvas and put the photo on top. Then I traced around the image with a pen (pressing down fairly hard and evenly). I then removed the image and carbon paper and painted in the lines. It was fun and easy. Obviously, it's not perfect! I'd prefer you didn't notice her hands or feet :) I promise that she has 5 toes on her right foot, not 3! I could never decide how to finish the painting, so I never did anything. Now I've decided that I like it the way it is :) I'd love to do more of these paintings. I really love to do oil paintings, but I don't like to be interrupted once I start painting which is an impossibility at this point in my life :)

Embroidered Handprints

I loved this idea from Plum Pudding so much that I knew I had to try it. These are the perfect Christmas gifts for our family. They were so easy and fun to make. Now I need to make one for me :)

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To make these handprints, I photocopied M and O's hands (I could have just as easily traced them, but I had access to a copying machine:). I cut out their handprints, pinned them to the fabric, and traced around them using a disappearing ink pen. That ink disappears FAST! I had to stop and retrace several times while I was working, and I really wasn't sewing that slowly! I used the back stitch to embroider the hands which is super easy to do :)

Building a Gingerbread Cottage

For O's 15th advent activity we made a gingerbread cottage! I bought a kit last year after Christmas (50% off!), so we had everything we needed. (I decided that it didn't matter if the cookies and candy were old, since we won't be eating it anyway.) We had lots of fun, and we were excited that Elliott was here to help us.

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Elliott enjoyed making the gingerbread cottage much more than I anticipated :)

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Here's our finished cottage! (along with the messy table!)

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Making & Drinking Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows!

For O and M's 14th day advent activity, we made hot chocolate with marshmallows. O has never had hot chocolate, so she was THRILLED (the girl LOVES chocolate!). My sister had Godiva hot chocolate that she shared with us. Thanks, Mem! The girls were so excited to stir in the chocolate and then drop in the marshmallows. The hot chocolate was YUMMY!

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Mixing in the marshmallows.

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Delicious!

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The Nutcracker Ballet

For O's 13th day advent activity, we went to see The Nutcracker Ballet! O was enthralled! It was a family event (Guh-guh, my niece, my sister, my BIL, O, and I), and we had a wonderful time. After the ballet, we were allowed to walk on the stage, explore the scenery, and meet the dancers. This was a wonderful experience that we plan to make a yearly tradition. We hope our cousins and their little girls will be able to join us next year!

O is walking through the door of a gingerbread cottage. Sorry for the poor image quality...I don't like the look of pictures with flashes, so my pics are often blurry :)

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The fake fire was very neat! O was impressed!

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Guh-guh gave each girl this book as a souvenir of our theater experience :) This book is really great...it not only includes the story of the nutcracker, but it also has 2 fold out stages and paper dolls, so the girls can reinact the ballet :)

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Mesmerized...

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O is mesmerized by this tree with a train running through it. Guh-guh is an Avon lady, so she has lots of neat Avon Christmas things. O and my niece, M, LOVE this train or as O says "tain."

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Chasing Cheerios