It's a Winter Wonderland with DIY Snowflake Garland

  Between the extremely (and abnormal) temperatures and all of the snow that we have been getting, it is truly a winter wonderland out there!

 

 

This was a fun little craft that I made with my oldest that really brought back a sense of nostalgia of my childhood. I cannot begin to count the times that I sat down with my mom or on my own to cut out snowflakes. It never really got old because every snowflake invention came out different. 

 

 

I came across snowflake templates like these while doing a search on Google.

There are so many templates available, they really take making snowflakes to another level.

Google "Snowflake Templates" now and get cutting!

Snowman Ornaments-- Their Noses Light Up!!

Here we are in December and Christmas is less then 3 weeks away. I LOVE Christmas and so do my kids (what kid doesn't? LOL).

Pretty much everything we do this month revolves around Christmas-- Christmas crafts, making Christmas movies, making Christmas cookies, wrapping presents, Christmas shopping, counting down Christmas in at least 5 different ways... The list goes on... With that being said, of course all of our playdates are Christmas playdates of some sort! This week, we made these cute little guys.

 

Is he not the most adorable snowman ever?

He was a big hit at our last playdate!

All of the kids got to make their own (with help from mom) to take home and hang on their Christmas tree.

 

 

They are quick and easy to make too! All you need is a battery operated tea light candle, some ribbon, a pipe cleaner, some little pom poms, and glue. These can easily be done with the hot glue gun, I opted for glue dots since I was making these with kids.

 

 

Cut a piece of ribbon, fold it in half, and tie a knot to form a loop. The loop will be your hanger for the tree.

 

Glue the ribbon around the outside of the tea light and tie the loose ends in a knot to form his scarf.

Using a permanent marker, add eyes and a nose.  

 

Glue the ends of a small piece of a pipe cleaner and 2 small pom poms on to create ear muffs.

Turn your snowman on and watch him glow!

Christmas Sensory Tub

 

With Christmas right around the corner, I put together a Christmas Sensory Tub for my son.

For those of you that do not know what a sensory tub/tote is, it is a tub or a bin that you fill up with various items to let your child be hands-on. Sensory activities provide children with another meaningful avenue of learning.

This sensory tub is loaded with all things Christmas!

 

 

 

There is fake pine needles, little presents, little beaded candy canes that my son made, bells, and more!

 

I used Christmas shaped pasta as the filler.

 

For added fun and exploration, I added a Santa hat, reindeer ears, and a Rudolph nose.

My son wears these as he plays.

Do you have a toddler or preschool aged child? Put together a simple Christmas Sensory Tub for them! You'd be surprised  how easily you can throw one together with items that you already have!

 

Merry Christmas!

Simple No Sew Fabric Advent Countdown Chain-- Each Link has an Activity for Our Family to Do!

With Thanksgiving just days away, I have to start preparing for Christmas. I love Christmas, it is my absolute favorite holiday.  Christmas will be here in a month and I still have so much to do!

I figured I better get to work on our "Christmas Countdown Chain." Last year, I made a paper one with my kids and they loved it! Tearing a paper link off first thing in the morning was the highlight of my little one's day. Every morning, as soon as he woke hope, he would rip one link off and then count the remaining links so he knew exactly how many days were left till Santa came. I will probably still make a paper one with him, but I wanted to make a fabric version that I could reuse  year after year. Another idea that I had thought of, was to write a family activity inside we could do each day. This was the easiest and quickest way that I came up with to combine both ideas.

 

I picked up red, green, and white satin ribbon, and self adhesive Velcro circles from the dollar store. I pulled out white address labels from my stash (they also carry these in the dollar store).

 

I used my pinking shears to cut the ribbon into small strips.

 

I cut the address labels in half long ways to make small strips that would easily fit on the ribbon.

 

On each label, I wrote a different activity that we will do each day. Some of the different activities are: Cook Dinner with Mommy, Wrap a Present, Bake Cookies, Read a Christmas Story, Make an Ornament, Make a Christmas Craft, Watch a Christmas Movie, Popcorn and a Movie Night, Spend the Night in the Living Room, Make Reindeer Noses, Ice Cream Sundae Night.....

 

 

I put the labels and the Velcro circles on the ribbon strips and arranged them in the order that I wanted them in.

 

 

We will remove the first link the day after Thanksgiving, our activity will be to start decorating the house. Saturday's activity is to go cut our Christmas Tree down and on Sunday we will decorate it.

Have Your Children Call the Santa Hotline!

 

I found this number to the Santa Hotline, so I decided to give it a try. When you call, you get Santa Claus' answering machine to his personal hotline. His reminds the kids that he I watching them and that he knows when they are good and when they misbehave. He tells them to behave for their parents and to have a Merry Christmas. At the beep, the kids have the opportunity to leave him a message along with their Christmas list. I plan on calling again with my son next week, once we decorate for Christmas.

 

Merry Christmas!!