Make: Easy Snow Globe

Waiting for a white Christmas? Create one inside a simple, plastic container!

Have you child pick out an item or two to put inside your snow globe. Happy Meal toys work great! We actually found this festive tree at the local Dollar Store ($1/each). Use a glue gun to adhere the figurine to the inside of the lid. Press down firmly.

While the glue is drying, allow your child fill the plastic container 3/4 of the way full with some sort of household oil. We used baby oil, but canola or olive would work too. Oil is preferred to water so that the sparkles float and flutter more slowly when shaken.

Add a couple teaspoons of glitter to the oil. Landon loved this part! 

Mom can now put the lid back onto the container. For an extra tight seal, I applied a thick layer of hot glue all the way around the lid.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Make: Light-Up Coffee Filter Ornaments

Pardon the hiatus...we've had some big things going on at our place. We have managed to fit some fun into the mix though! Here's a simple, fun little activity that I came across from Kids Craft Weekly. We altered the idea a bit to make our creations into light-catching ornaments. Hope you're having a fun holiday season! 

Materials: 

coffee filters, scissors, markers, clothespins, glue, water (spray bottle)

Cut Christmas bulb shapes out of coffee filters.

Color with washable markers. Press down firmly, and cover all white space.

Spray a little bit of water (one or two squirts) on each light. Let dry.

Glue a clothespin to the back of each light.

Clip to tree branches, turn on "real" Christmas lights, and be amazed! 

Make: Christmas Crayons

FunMoms is so happy to introduce Marcie from  www.dontwasteyourhomemaking.com!! She has a GREAT idea to share with us. Spoiler alert: If my little boy is friends with your child, THIS is what he or she will be getting from Landon this Christmas...Cute. Easy. Practical. Affordable! It doesn't get better than that! Thanks, Marcie!

This past week I have seen cutsie crayons popping up all over the web! I thought I would try them and see if I could make a few for Christmas gifts for the little ones. I tried it and I LOVE it! It's super easy to make and fun!

Ingredients

Crayons (Box of 64 for $1 @ Dollar Tree)

Ribbon and jewels (craft room)
Silicone Bakeware (mine cost $2.50 @ Target)

 

Step 1

Peel all the wrappings off the crayons. This is the longest process of the project... don't do it alone! I took a ton of crayons to the youth and asked for their help before church. 

Step 2 Break the crayons into small pieces {the smaller the pieces the better they will blend}. You can use the same color or mix colors. For thick crayons fill to the top of the shape, for skinnier ones only fill half way in the shape.

Step 3

Place in the oven at 200 degrees for approx. 20 minutes. I checked on the crayons and stirred them about halfway through. Once the crayons are completely melted remove the bakeware from the oven. Let the crayons cool completely before getting them out.

Here's what they look like when their cooled off! So cute, I can't wait to give these to my kids!

You can also fancy it up a little with some ribbon on hand and a jewel!

 

 

Marcie says, "I'm a girl who has been undeservedly saved by grace through Jesus Christ. I've been a wife for four years and love serving God through my home. It's my passion not to waste my life but, to make it count for the glory of God. Therefore,I am seeking to do this in every area of my life including my role in the home. I want to encourage women who are homemakers to use this delightful occupation for the glory of God."

Munch: Gingerbread Nativity

A fun way to bring the "Reason for the Season" into the kitchen...and to other people's doors! These turn out so cute, you won't even want to eat them! But don't worry, your kids probably won't hesitate at all! :)

L-R: King, Shepherd, Jesus, Mary, Joseph

A whole batch, ready to be sorted and given to our neighbors. 

Make: Thanksgiving Cards

A few years ago, I started doing Thanksgiving Cards, instead of Christmas Cards. I've been asked why many times. For us, there are several reasons. First, it makes my budget a little bit happier in December.  Second, I have more time to enjoy making them (which I love to do!), and sending them out before the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Third, and most importantly, I love the opportunity to share why Jesus should be the reason for this season too! And, finally, we really do feel so tremendously blessed, we can't help but share it with all of our loved ones!

I don't have your home address, or I'd send one your way. So, this is for you, friend. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Leslie

Operation Christmas Child Winner

Thank you to everyone who participated in Operation Christmas Child this year! So many children will be blessed this holiday season, and your family helped make that happen!!! 

According to www.random.org, the winner of the VeggieTales DVD Giveaway is...Jennifer!


Jennifer said,

"We turned ours in last night at church. Our sons really enjoy putting these together and we have done it for years. Thank you for spreading the word on Operation Christmas Child and encouraging others to participate!!!"

November 11, 2010 9:32 AM

Jennifer, I'm not able to find a way to contact you. Please email me at emailfunmom@yahoo.com, so that I can get your prize mailed to you and your kiddos. Congratulations! :)

~Leslie

And the Winner Is...

Thank you to everyone that left a comment on yesterday's post, Mayflower Mercy Ship and Giveaway. Your sweet words meant so much! I just visited www.random.org to get our winner for the book. 

Congratulations to...the 6th commenter, Alyssa, from Loving Life 365!!

I will be announcing the winner of our OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD GIVEAWAY on Tuesday morning. If you packed a shoebox this year, please click here. The giveaway for that drawing is the VeggieTales movie, Saint Nicholas,  a Story of Joyful Giving. Good luck! :)

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Make: Mayflower Mercy Ship and Giveaway!!

Today I'm posting over at one of my favorite sites, Women Living Well about how to make this yummy decoration. My little boy and I have been calling it our Mayflower Mercies Ship, and our family has been filling it with notes of thankfulness all week. It has created such a feeling of gratitude in our house, and was fun (and tasty!) to create!

I also used the following book to teach Landon about the first Thanksgiving, and the pilgrims journey on the Mayflower. It's a GREAT resource! He likes it so much I think we're going to still be reading about Thanksgiving in February! :) If you'd like to be entered to win a copy of this book, simply leave a comment below! In hopes to get the book to the winner as quickly as possible (before Thanksgiving?!?), this Giveaway is for today only. Name will be announced Saturday morning. Good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!!

~Leslie

PS. If you participated in Operation Christmas Child this year, be sure to leave a comment under this recent post too! We're giving away a Christmas Veggie Tales DVD about the joy of giving to others. :)

Make: Thankful Trees

This great idea was shared by BEV. You can visit her regularly at her blog, Sweet Tea and Sass.

Thankful Trees

Here’s a fun, simple project to do with your kids, or grandkids. 

Materials needed: 

A sheet from a large drawing pad

Markers

An egg carton

Several tubes of finger paint

Package of sticky googly eyes. 

My grandsons went with brown for the trunk of the tree, but you might want to let your child use his imagination. Imagination is fun! 

Have them trace their entire arm, or help them if they’re a bit too young, opening their fingers up at the top of the ‘tree’. The arm will form the trunk and the branches will be formed by the fingers reaching up and out. 

Once the trunk and limbs are drawn, they can dip their finger(s) into the finger paint, making ‘leaves’ on the trees. We used a lot of fun colors for this part, and layered the leaves on top of each other. We even added some that had fallen on the ground. 

When the leaves have dried, the kids can stick a pair of googly eyes on each leaf, two for each member of their family, or even for other things they might be thankful for. Grayson added some of the characters from Star Wars, and one for his great-grandmother, who is in heaven. Caiden added family pets, and friends. I helped Grayson with some labeling of the leaves because he’s just learning to read and write. 

The front of many refrigerators are not magnetic these days, but a piece of tape will easily remedy that.  

The googly eyes, added to the boys’ foreheads, are optional but they sure had fun wearing them the rest of the day, as we went out to lunch and ran errands 

Make: Treasured Turkey

One of the best parts of decorating for Christmas is pulling memories out of boxes. For me, this means ornaments my husband made in Kindergarten, a 25-year-old nativity sheep missing two legs (thanks to my childhood Golden Retriever), and a picture of my little boy as a slumpy, sleepy infant on Santa's knee. Why not add some sentiment to Thanksgiving too? Landon and I made this picture last year...there's not much to it, but it made me smile to pull it out of storage last week. I held it for a minute remembering us making it together...how chubby his sweet little fingers were...how proud he was to show it to Daddy later that night. And then, I marveled at how much he's grown in the last year! I found it a place of prominence in our house, where it's bringing smiles to others' faces. :)

Step 1: Cover your child's hand in either paint or stamp ink. Help them press firmly onto the paper.

Step 2: Use paint or stamp ink to add a red thumbprint below Turkey's head. 

Step 3: Add legs, beak, eye, and year it was done.

Step 4: Frame. Display. Remember.