Forgotten Christmas Decorations

I spent this weekend putting away boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations. It is my one time of year that I like to go all out and decorate everywhere. Now my house is looking a little bare because I said good-bye to December and welcomed a new year! I am sure many of you did the same. (Assuming you're not the person that leaves their Christmas lights out all year round in order to avoid the "taking down and putting back up again" routine.) Then, you shut the attic door and dusted off your hands. Mission accomplished!

But, wait...what is that hanging on the door? What rolled under the couch? A "Noel" door hanger..a shiny, round ornament that fell off the tree? It happens to everyone. Just when you thought you have put everything Christmas related away, you find the forgotten Christmas decorations.

What do I do with these leftover Christmas decorations? I choose a pretty box that I don't mind seeing all year long or at least until my next trip to the attic. I stick it on the top shelf in my closet so it will be out of the way. (I lost my "under the bed" storage when we purchased our bedroom set. But, those roll under the bed containers work great for this type of storage, too.) It's true that for the next couple of weeks or so I will continue to find small reminders of Christmas throughout the house. But, I don't worry much because now I have a designated spot just for them. I also use this box to house any small Christmas items that I may find on clearance this month.

Find a cute box, container, or even a simple shopping bag to store these forgotten Christmas decorations and save yourself several trips to the attic or basement!

Adventures of Elf on the Shelf (The Last Week)

It is a very sad day in this house for today marks the last official day of our visit from Elfie Scout! Well, the kids were sad, but then they also realized this meant it was Christmas Eve. My son talked about the presents that they would get tomorrow. He also remembered that tonight would be the Christmas pageant at our church. All three of my kids will be participating. My seven-year old will be the "light child" who lights the room in the beginning of the pageant. She then hands the light over to the Angel Gabriel. (A very important part!) My son will be a Shepard. He looks so cute in his costume by the way. He was very happy with this role because this meant he would be taking care of my three-year old daughter. She is an adorable sheep :)

Anyway, today it is good-bye to Elfie. He will be back next year I am sure! Here is what he was up to in our final week with him.

Elfie on top of a tree of photo albums.

He found the Christmas pictures in one of the albums.

Elfie and his army vs. the enemy army.

Elfie hiding on the rocking chair and surrounded by lovies and stuffed animals.

Elfie on his last day with us. He built a "Bye" sign with legos.

Good-bye, Elfie Scout! We will see you in 2014!

Adventures of Elf on the Shelf (Week 3)

 This is our last full week with our Elf on the Shelf. It has been eventful, and fun! As I said before this is our first year with Elfie, and I have found that his time with us has really flown by!

 



Sunday was the day I hosted my annual Cookie Exchange Party. My daughter was convinced that Elfie Scout would do something with cookies on this day. We woke up that morning to find that he had left each child a container of "elf-sized" chocolate chip/mini M&M cookies. He had taken a bite of his own cookie and was sitting on the TV stand with a "Will Work For Cookies" sign.

 

 

On Monday, he made it to mommy's Christmas village. He was sitting on top of one of the houses and holding onto the chimney.

 

On Tuesday, he borrowed a bike from the dollhouse and rode through some of my son's mini construction cones. Apparently, he took a bad fall. We found him on that morning with a bandage on his arm and two tiny Band-Aids. Poor Elfie!

 

On Wednesday, he took the time to recall the "reason for the season." He found his way to my dresser and knelt before Baby Jesus.

 

 

 

On Thursday, he was quite naughty. He got into my flour in the kitchen. We found him that morning lying on his back where he had made "snow angels" in the flour. The counter and Elfie were a floured mess!

 

 

 

On Friday, he was found in the domino's tin can. He set up the dominos in a swirl or an "e" as my daughter pointed out.

 

 

Oh, how this elf has kept my kids on their toes! Just a few more days of his wild and silly ways!

 

 

 

 

Peppermint Gift Basket

 

I bought the gifts that would go into my children's teacher's gift baskets awhile back. But, it took me forever to purchase the stuff I would need to put it all together. So three days before school I make a quick run to pick up the fixings for the gift basket. The good thing about this gift is it can be whipped out in no time. In other words, if you are looking for a last minute teacher gift then here is an easy DIY gift basket.

I found these adorable reindeer hot/cold insulated cups with matching green and white reusable straws last Christmas. I thought they would be a perfect teacher gift. I put some hot cocoa packets inside the cups for those cold days. Then, I added a bag of  Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark candy. Yum! (I wouldn't mind getting some of that sweetness!)

Hobby Lobby had some cute peppermint patterned tin cans. I filled these with some of our favorite hot cocoa toppings (marshmallows, peppermint candies, caramel candies, and chocolate chips.) I divided those into mini zipper close baggies that I also found at Hobby Lobby.

I lined an open gift box container (also peppermint themed) with red tissue paper and filled the box with all the sweet goodies. I sprinkled more peppermint candies for fillers. I bought some gift basket wrapping and tied it all up together with a pretty ribbon.

I was short on time so I quickly wrote a tag that read, "You were 'Mint' to be my teacher!"

I like homemade gift baskets because you can fill it with the stuff that you love! You know exactly what is going in there...and, they just look so darn pretty! I put two of these baskets together for my two school-aged children to give to their teachers. But, I think just about anybody would enjoy this sweet and delicious gift basket!

The Adventures of Elf on the Shelf (Week 2)

Another week has passed with our special houseguest. My family is loving this new tradition. This week we have found him in some fun places again, and one day he even showed us a bit of his naughty side.

Here is Elfie Scout during Week 2:

 

I know. Darn those night pictures with my camera phone...and the less creative nights when Elfie only flies to the top of our kitchen cabinets. Oh, well. The kids liked it ;)

 

 

The kids know better than to play on the laptop. But, maybe Elfie didn't get the memo. Or, maybe he was just trying to fix that old thing!

 

 

This is where Elfie showed his true colors. He tied up the bus driver and hijacked his bus.

 

 

The bus driver was tied up and his mouth was taped shut. I don't know about you, but I think Elfie Scout looks pretty proud of himself.

 

 

Restoring peace with a dinner party?

 

 

Elfie borrowed my son's rocket to fly to the North Pole.

 

Elfie Scout has gone fishing..for our pet fish.

 

 

After his long flight to the North Pole, our Elf on the Shelf needed a little midnight snack. Here is Elfie eating cereal in the pantry.

 

 

Only about 10 more days till we have to say good-bye to Elfie Scout. He sure is keeping the kids entertained. They can hardly contain their excitement each morning!

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Egg Nog Cookies- Recipe Swap

I was very excited to sign up for a Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap with Julie from White Lights on Wednesday. She and her co-hosts from I Love My Disorganized Life and Real Housemoms organized the swap so that cookie lovers everywhere can exchange cookie recipes online. Everyone that signed up for the swap was assigned a partner. I was partnered with a fellow blogger, Amy from Whipped. I sent her my recipe for Fudge Ecstasies and she sent me a favorite recipe for Egg Nog Cookies. I made them for the first time this week! They turned out great, and I will be making more of these this weekend for my Cookie Exchange party that I will be hosting on Sunday.

Here is the recipe for all to indulge in!

Egg Nog Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup SALTED butter, softened

1/2 cup eggnog

1 tsp vanilla

2 egg yolks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together.
4. Add in the eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks.
5. Mix well until smooth.
6. Slowly add in the dry ingredients until everything is combined.
7. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the bottoms turn light brown.
8. Remove and allow to cool before frosting.

Frosting ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup UNSALTED butter, softened

1/3 cup eggnog

Directions:

1. Beat powdered sugar and butter until combined.
2. Slowly mix in eggnog until desired consistency is reached.
3. Ice the cookies and sprinkle with nutmeg if desired.

Love to bake cookies for Christmas? Want to see more recipes?

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DIY Gift Bags with Cookie Cutters

If you're looking for an easy way to dress up a plain gift bag or paper sack this is the way to do it! When I was teaching Kindergarten the children would make gifts (usually like an ornament) for their parents around Christmastime. Then, the children would decorate bags to wrap up their gifts. After all, there is nothing like a homemade gift from a child!

          Materials:

• Plain gift bag or paper lunch sack
• Acrylic or Tempera paint (tempera or washable paint works best for a children's craft)
• Cookie cutters (metal or plastic cutters in different shapes and sizes)
• Paper plate
• glitter or glitter glue (optional)

          Directions:

1. Pour a small amount of paint on the paper plate.
2. Dip your cookie cutter in the paint. Make sure the bottom edges are well-coated.
3. Stamp your paper bag with the painted cookie cutter. Slowly lift the cookie cutter upward. (If the shape of the stamp has a void you can slowly reapply the cookie cutter to the paper and try again or you can leave it like that. I think leaving it alone makes it more authentic and homemade looking.)
4. Continue to stamp with remaining cookie cutters or until your bag is covered with prints. Sprinkle glitter on the paint and dust off for a sparkly look or use glitter glue to add more designs.
5. Allow to dry completely.
6. Place your gift in the bag with tissue paper and tie with a cute ribbon.

*This method also works well with craft paper and plain wrapping paper if you want to wrap a box or gift.

 

 

 

 

This is a quick and simple way to make your own gift bag or wrapping paper. It's also a great way to get your children involved in the presentation of a gift for a loved one!

The Best Christmas Books for Kids

The Christmas season has arrived...and, so have the Christmas books in our home. I will start off by telling you that my family has a bit of an obsession with books. Bring out seasonal ones like our huge collection of Christmas books and the level of excitement doubles! That's exactly what happened this past weekend when I pulled out my collection of our favorite Christmas books. My children started jumping up and down with excitement. I know a lot of other parents are trying to choose good Christmas books for their kids right now, too.

 

There are a lot of Christmas books out there that you don't want to miss!

 Here are 25 of our Christmas favorites!

 

1. Elf on the Shelf  (Author unknown)
2. The Gingerbread Man  by Karen Schmidt
3. Gingerbread Baby  by Jan Brett
4. I've Seen Santa by  David Bedford
5. A Special Place for Santa  by Jeanne Pieper
6. Too Many Tamales  by Gary Soto
7. The Night Before Christmas  by Clement C. Moore
8. The Jolly Christmas Postman  by Janet & Allan Ahlberg
9. The Polar Express  by Chris Van Allsburg
10. Clopper- The Christmas Donkey  by Emily King
11. If You Take a Mouse to the Movies  by Laura Numeroff
12. Bear Stays Up for Christmas  by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
13. Merry Christmas, Curious George  by Margret and H.A. Rey
14. The Legend of the Poinsettia  by Tomie dePaola
15. The Wild Christmas Reindeer  by Jan Brett
16. Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad  by Mercer Mayer
17. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
18. It's Christmas, David  by David Shannon
19. Clifford's Christmas  by Norman Bridwell
20. Pinkalicious Merry Pinkmas!  by Victoria Kann
21. Fancy Nancy- Splendiferous Christmas  by Jane O'Connor
22. How Do Dinosaurs say Merry Christmas?  by Jane Yolen
23. Peanut's A Charlie Brown Christmas  by Charles M. Schulz
24. The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear  by Stan & Jan Berenstain
25. Froggy's Best Christmas  by Jonathon London

 

These are just a few of our favorites, but I hope this booklist will help you on your trips to the library or bookstore! I know that reading good Christmas books in December makes for a great snuggle time with my family. What are your kid's favorite books to read during the Christmas season? What are some Christmas classics that you pull out every year?

 

A St. Nicholas Tradition

I love traditions, and a favorite family tradition of ours is one centered around Saint Nicholas! 

Our Tradition

Each year my husband’s family took part in a German tradition that celebrated St. Nicholas. All over the world people celebrate St. Nicholas’ Day on the 6th of December. Now my husband and I carry on this same tradition with our own children. Our family is Catholic so this is also a good time to learn about saints. The night before St. Nicholas’ Day we like to read the story about this favorite saint. Then the kids create their Christmas lists. The children put their letters to St. Nick in their shoes or boots. They leave them by the front door and hope that St. Nicholas will fill them with fruit, nuts, candy, and treats that night. In the morning, the kids are overjoyed to find their shoes stuffed with some delicious and fun treats.

 

Who was Saint Nicholas?

St. Nicholas was a real person and a very generous one, too! His parents were rich and when they died, he inherited their wealth. Because he was a devout Christian he  knew that God wanted him to help people in need. A famous story about St. Nicholas is  one where he helped a poor man with three daughters. The family did not have enough money to pay a dowry for the daughters to get married. St. Nicholas dropped a bag of gold down their chimney to help them out. A sock was hung by their fire to dry. When the bag of gold was dropped, it fell into that “stocking.” (Hence, the tradition of stockings hung by the fireplace.) He continued to drop money down the chimney each night to help the family. The father waited up one night to see who was leaving the gold. He discovered it to be St. Nicholas, who quickly became known for his generosity!

 

Image Source: To Europe With Kids

 

If you are looking for a tradition to start with your family this one may be the one for you. It is a tradition of fun mixed in with a little history.

 

 

 

Elf on the Shelf Arrives

Thanksgiving is over...and, now it is time to officially move into Christmas mode. Last night we had a new visitor. An Elf on the Shelf scout joined our family for the first time! The kids were so excited this morning when they saw who had arrived from the North Pole! My seven year old had been wishing that he would come to our house this year. She called it a miracle. Haha!

He was sitting in a Christmas cup waiting for them to wake up. A table runner was made with red and green felt pieces. He brought them each their own Christmas cup, the Elf on the Shelf book, and Christmas foam stickers. After going back and forth a while they decided to name him "Elfie Scout."

 I cannot wait to see the many adventures our Elf on the Shelf brings this Christmas season!

Is your family participating in the tradition of Elf on the Shelf? What adventures will your elf go on this year?

Santa Hat Cups

When I was in Kindergarten my mom made some adorable Santa cups for my class. She filled them with goodies for all my classmates, and I have never forgotten them. Her craft inspired me to make these Santa Hat Treat cups that were similar to hers. Use them for classroom treats, party favors, cookie/candy gifts, or hang them on your neighbor's doorknob for a nice Christmas surprise!

Supplies

• Red Felt
• White Felt
• Clear plastic cups (9 oz.)
• Hot glue/glue gun
• Sewing Scissors
• Yarn (White, red, or green)
• Tapestry Needle
• Candy or Treat of your choice

Instructions

1. Cut a 9" X 12" piece of red felt in half lengthwise. Use one half for this project and set the other half aside for another cup. Cut about a 24" strand of yarn. You can trim it at the end if you want a shorter string.
2. Thread the yarn onto the tapestry needle. Hand-stitch a straight "running stitch" across the top of the red felt piece. Tie off the ends. 
3. Hot glue about 3/4" of the bottom of the felt all around the rim of the cup. The ends will overlap so finish with more hot glue there.
4. Cut about a one-inch strip of white felt (lengthwise.) You can either do a straight cut or weave your scissors in and out to make a squiggly line. I like adding that textured line at the bottom of the hat.
5. Glue the white strip around the entire rim of the cup. (The white will overlap the red a little bit.)
6. Fill your cup with your favorite goodies. Cinch the top of the Santa hat closed by pulling the ends of the yarn. (Trim yarn, if desired.) Tie the ends together.

Fill your Santa cup with stacked cookies, wrapped candies (Hershey Kisses, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Peppermint candies, etc.) or Christmas trinkets and gifts. Make somebody's day by dropping off this cute Santa Hat Treat cup!