Craft: Finger Painted Christmas Tree

This craft was SO simple and SO much fun! I can't believe this is my first craft on my Blog using a paper roll! I think this is a must for anyones home with children in it! Kids love to create on a large roll of paper! For this craft you will need:

• Large roll of white paper
• Green Acrylic paint
• Construction paper
• any kind of ribbon or string
• Stickers (optional)

First I rolled out the paper to the length I wanted my tree. You don't have to do it as large as I did but for this craft I say, the bigger the better! Then I drew a simple tree shape. You can draw it in pencil first then outline in marker so you can see your line after the kids paint it!

                          

Pour out some green paint on a paper plate and let the kids get their hands in it to paint the tree! This was so fun, I even got my hands in on this part! =)

Let the tree dry for a few hours! Then cut out your tree shape.

 Using different colored construction paper, cut out light bulb shapes and with black paper cut out little squares.

Then tape the black square to the bottom of you light bulb shape piece of paper and you will have a bunch of christmas tree lights! I took red curling ribbon and taped it to the back of the tree, stringing it across as the lights would be on the tree! Then tape or glue each light to your string. As I was assembling this part, I let the kids color the lights! This kept them entertained until I was done!

The next step you can get really creative with, making different ornaments out of paper or pipe cleaners....etc. What I have here on our finished product is free printable coloring pages that I found online of ornaments which we glued on and then we finished it off with christmas stickers! All kids LOVE stickers so this part was really fun! If you have a Michael's Craft store by you, they always have  sticker books with around 300 stickers for a dollar! Don't forget to cut out a star or angel for the top of your tree and a brown rectangle for you tree trunk! Lastly, I found a cute coloring page with elves carrying presents to add under the tree! =) HERE is the link to the elf picture if you want it!

String Snow Balls

To make String Snow Balls you will need:

• White craft glue
• balloons
• white cotton string
• glitter (optional)

First thing you need to do is mix craft glue with a little water.

Blow up a balloon to the size you want your Snow Ball.

Tie your white string to the top. Now here is where you decide how long you want your string. Get it pretty long. We found by doing a few of these that the longer the string, the better.

Then an adult can wrap the string around the balloon until it ends and tie it to the top again. A child could get frustrated if you let them do the wrapping because it easily comes undone. When wrapping is done, have your child paint glue on the string. Don't miss a spot! After all the string has been glued you  can sprinkle glitter on it (remember this step is optional)!

We made like a cloths line and hung the balloons up over night before popping them.

When they are completely dry take something sharp and pop the balloon. I did this over the sink because of the glitter. It will look like the string is messed up but just get it all unstuck and the snow ball turns out nice! Pull the balloon out of the inside and cut it out!

Here is your snow ball! There are many things you can do with it! Incorporate it in your decorating around they house!

Put the on your christmas tree! 

And My kids favorite, let them play with their snow balls! They aren't gunna hurt anything.....after all it's just cotton string! =)

American Girl Doll Tutu!

This idea came to me one day when I was thinking about how expensive American Girl Doll clothing and accessories are. My Niece wants American Girl doll clothing for christmas and I am not a sewer so the only thing I could do is spend $30 for ONE outfit, RIGHT? Wrong! Anyone can make this simple tutu for a fraction of the cost. You can make one for your daughter AND one for her doll! This is what you will need:

• White elastic
• simple sewing needle and white thread
• tulle (whatever colors the child will like)
• Ribbon(Optional but always makes for a prettier tutu)

The first thing I do is cut my tulle and ribbon. For an american girl doll 5 1/2 inches length for a tutu is pretty good so you want to make strips of tool 11 inches long, they will be folded in half when making the tutu so you double the length. Tulle normally comes in rolls about 6 inches wide. If you are making a tutu for your daughter, leave it this wide but if you are making one for her doll I make my strips 3 inches wide (or half the width). So you cut an 11 inch strip and then cut it down the middle of the width to make two strips of tool 11 inches in length & 3 inches in width! Cut your ribbon the same length as your tulle!

The next step is to get your elastic ready! For an American Girl doll, the waist is about 11 1/2 inches. But for your elastic you always want it to be stretched a little when on the waist so it stays on! I cut my elastic at about 10 1/2 inches. This gives me 1/2 inch to overlap and do a few hand stitches to connect the elastic together and 1 1/2 inches to stretch so I know it will stay on the doll! If you are making one for your daughter just get her waist measurement and subtract 2 or 3 inches for stretching but don't forget to leave a 1/2 inch to sew the elastic together.  Seriously, if you have NEVER hand stitched before... it's not hard at all. Just take a needle with a few inches of white thread and go back and forth threw the overlapped area.... it doesn't have to be perfect...I mean look at mine! =) Just so it's secure!

 Next step is to find something your elastic will fit around preferably stretching the elastic a little! I used this puffs container. I ended up turning the container upside-down and pushing the elastic to the top so it stretched the elastic a little! It's best to use a paper towel roll when making a tutu for your daughter. If you have a half used roll that will work the best for making the dolls tutu.

Now all you are going to be doing is basically tying knots of tool around the elastic to make a BEAUTIFUL tutu! Here is the step by step:

Get a piece of tulle and fold it half with a little loop at the top.

Pull the tulle under the elastic with the loop side down!

Pull the loop up and put the other end of the tulle through the loop!

Then pull it tight and here is what your knot will look like!

Simple as that! You just keep going all the way around the elastic!

These are pretty spread apart, once you get the pattern going on the elastic, make sure you push the tulle together very close. This makes for a fuller tutu!

Here are two doll tutus that I made!

Here is what the skirt looks like on an American Girl doll! SO CUTE!!! I borrowed the doll so sorry if the whole outfit doesn't match! 

Here is my daughter with the 4th of July tutu I made for her this year! It seriously took me like an hour to make! The length of a little girls tutu is really up to you!

Lastly, say your child doesn't have an American Girl doll but they do have a favorite doll! Make one for their favorite doll! Obviously you will have to change some measurements but it's so easy and fun to do! The little girls in your life will LOVE it!!!! The model below is WELL loved! His name is Koala Jack, which my 3 year old daughter named after Jack Black(who she LOVES)!

Guys, Post me a comment to let me know if this is easy to understand!!!!!

It's such an easy project and I hope I'm explaining it well!

Advent Storybook

I wanted to share with you all a book that our family has been reading since 2009. I wanted to have my children focus more on the birth of Jesus and what the season is REALLY about instead of PRESENTS, PRESENTS, PRESENTS!!!! I found this really cute story book about a bear who follows a star to Bethlehem. There is a page reading everyday with a picture so it's really short. I also wanted to add bible verses so I read the book and added verses to read each day which go with the theme. Below is a picture of what the book looks like and I added the link so if you wanted you can take a look inside the book on Amazon.com. Just click on the picture below and it will take you there!

I couldn't stop at this! I wanted something visual that we could all see to symbolize each reading and the journey the little bear takes. There are titles to each days reading like: The Eagle, or The Star With A Tail!  So I made a huge Christmas tree out of felt with 24 spots for an ornament each time we read the book. The christmas tree turned out REALLY BIG!!! Bigger than I expected!!!! I would probably make it smaller next time but that would mean my ornaments would have to be smaller too! It was so much fun making these ornaments with the kids. I even had help from the kids I nannied for at the time! We all had fun making this. (A shout out to one of my BIGGEST helpers: Thanks for the help Sarah!)

I know December has already started but you can still go out and get the book and catch up a few days reading on the first day. If you enjoy it, next year make a tree with ornaments that match each reading! It doesn't have to be Martha Stewart style! Just do your best! It's better when it has it's own family FlArE! =)

Here is a picture of our tree and below I will put the bible verses I added to our book which match the reading for the day!

I made it like a scroll so it can be rolled up each year and the ornaments just Velcro on to the tree.
If you want more info on how I made the ornaments and/or what I did for a specific day, just leave me a comment and I will reply! =)

These are the verses I found that go along with each days reading. If you think of one that I didn't put down, USE IT! The more verses the better. I have a feeling as years go by we will just keep adding verses to each day of reading. I can't wait for the day my kids will be able to look them up and read them to us! Happy Advent!!!

1. The Star with a Tail: Hebrews 13:5
2. The Eagle: Deuteronomy 32:10-14 & Exodus 19:4-6
3. The Blind Man: Psalms 27:1 & Psalms 119:105
4. The Giant: 1 Samuel 17:32-51
5. The Ant: Matthew 21:21-22, Matthew 17:19-20, & Mark 11:22-26
6. The Man in Red: 1 Kings 17:12-15
7. The Rosebush: Romans 8:38-39
8. The Beggar: Acts 9:36-42 & Galatians 6:2
9. The Well: Psalms 86
10. The Pear Tree: Psalms 136
11. The Angel: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 & Proverbs 27:17
12. The Lamb: 1 Corinthians 13:4
13. The Dog: Titus 3:14
14. The Robber: Mark 2:1-12, Numbers 14:18, Psalms 103, & Ephesians 4:31-32
15. The Cane: Joshua 1:9
16. The Crown: Luke 15:24
17. The Precious Stone: Proverbs 15:1-7 & Proverbs 4:6-7
18. The Bird, the Hare, and the Squirrel: Ephesians 6:18-20
19. The Wolves: Proverbs 24:17 & Proverbs 25:21
20. The Donkey: Hebrews 11:6
21. The Animal Train: Isaiah 9:6
22. The Apple Tree: Matthew 8:23-27
23. The Ox: Exodus 34:10 & Psalms 103
24. The Manger: Luke 2:13-18

UPDATE!

A sweet man named Eric commented below that he made document with all of the verses typed out for each day of the advent and he shared the link with us! I will be the first to say, THANK YOU SO MUCH ERIC!!!

Click HERE to be taken to the document to print it out to add to your Advent book!

Mashed Potato Snowman

A few days ago, I decided to do a little something different with Thanksgiving leftovers. I was only going to add fresh steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes to what we had left over. I saw an idea on my friends blog which I thought was so cool and stored it in the back of my head for later. She took boring old mashed potatoes and made them into a snake on the plate during Halloween time. Here is the link to her blog: http://walkinthesunshineblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/spooky-fast-meal-ideas.html She also has many other cool ideas so check her out!

So this is what I did to make our boring leftover meal fun! First, I wanted to show you how I added veggies to our mashed potatoes. I steamed potatoes and carrots together and when they were soft I added them to my food processor. I added a little milk and butter (almond milk and earth balance for dairy free) to make them a little creamy. Then let you processor do the rest of the work! YUMMY!

Here is what my meal looked like: Left over turkey and sweet potatoes with fresh steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes and don't forget the gravy! The kids have seen a meal or two just like this already so this is what I did to theirs!!!!

I put a few scoops of mashed potatoes into a plastic ziplock bag and then cut one corner of the bottom of the bag. 

Since it's christmas time I decided to make a snowman with what we were eating! Here he is! I used broccoli for the arms, buttons and eyes. I used a sweet potato for the hat and  I used turkey for the scarf! This was so much fun and you should have seen their faces when I showed them dinner! My son practically LICKED the plate clean!!! This was so easy, just use your imagination and what you have in front of you! Another idea you could do at christmas time is make a huge snowflake all over the plate with all of the things you made for dinner!

Christmas Tree Skirt Keepsake

Every Mommy or Grandma LOVE projects done with handprints. It's so fun for you and your child to look back on and to remember how little they once where and how big they are getting. I just never know where to keep all of the handprint projects from year to year. A few years ago I came up with a way to put my children's handprints on something we bring out each year! I bought a white tree skirt. You don't have to buy white just make sure it's plain! Then EVERY Christmas, when you start decorating, have your children put their handprint on it along with the date. We just put the first letter of their name on their hand but you can write out their name in puffy paints if you like. It's so easy and one of the best Christmas decorations in our home and will be so much more fun as the years go by and as our family grows! 

Another idea you can do with this is get all of the Grandchildren to put their handprints on a Tree Skirt with the current year and give it to Grandma for Christmas!

Here is a new picture of our Tree Skirt! This year I have THREE little hand prints. My husband and I also decided to add our handprints by the trunk of the tree. We wrote Mommy and Daddy on top of our print!

I also want to share another fun decoration idea. Since you already have the paints out for your Christmas Tree Skirt then you can also make this cute Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer. You just need two googly eyes and a red puff ball to add to your child's foot and hand prints!

Beaded Wreath

Here is a simple holiday craft that is very good for little ones! Beading helps to develop fine motor skills and can be frustrating for younger children but doing it this way will help your child feel proud that they can bead AND by themselves! What you will need to make Beaded Wreaths:

• Different types of beads (I chose a green package and metallic stars)
• 16 Gauge craft wire
• wire cutter (out of your tool box)
• ribbon
• hot glue gun

Here is the secret! When you use craft wire your child won't have that many problems trying to get the bead on by themselves! You know how frustrating it is using string!!! First step is to measure out your wire and cut it with wire cutter. I measured the kids at about a foot (12 in) and mine I just went longer and didn't measure. Then the next step is to take one bead and wrap the wire around it so when your kids are beading, it will stop at that end. Give your child a plate of beads and let them create!

Here's my girl with her finished circle of beads!

 As you can see, at the top of my sons wreath, I left a little wire and made a loop so you can hang it from there! I also wanted to show you that my son, by himself, made this a school lesson without even knowing it! He counted out green beads 10, 9, 8, 7,,,,down to zero and placed stars in between them! That's his pattern! Patterns are a HUGE part of early math!

Then I took a piece of ribbon and hot glued it into a bow and hot glued it to the top of the wreath. Another idea you could do for this is one of those already made bows that you just stick on presents!

Here are all of our homemade wreaths! There is a different bow on mine for another way to make it! Finishing touch is to puffy paint the year and child's named on their wreath! REMEMBER: this is also a wonderful gift that your child can feel proud of to give to a family member!

Another idea you could do with this is make a bunch of small wreaths and you can hang them as ornaments on your tree!