sunday kids' craft and classroom party audition: jingle bells

Welcome to classroom party craft audition THREE and Sunday Kids' Craft!  Two for one!  (Go here for audition ONE and here for audition TWO.)

By now you are seriously wonderful about my ability to make decisions.  I mean, who spends THIS MUCH TIME trying to pick a craft for a bunch of kindergartners? 

Me!  That's who!

Yesterday, we were stuck inside all day, and we spend about two hours of that at the table trying out crafts!  Most of the pics below are of me doing this particular craft because it's REALLY hard to get kids to pause in the middle of the steps for pictures.  But not only did my 5 year old make these bells, but my 2 year old did too.  So rest assured that these party crafts have been kid-tested and mother approved!  (I secretly LOVED every minute of our snowy day.  Snowed-in days are the best excuse to take a break from the world for a day!  And yes, we stayed in our pajamas ALL DAY LONG!  You can read a recap of our day here.) 
And here's number three:

Jingle Bells

Audition #3

Here’s what you need:

~an egg carton cut a part . . . each child will need two of those little egg cups

~one pipe cleaner per kid

~two bells per kid

~decorations - glitter glue, sequins, stickers, markers, etc.

Here’s what you do:

1) Poke small holes in the top of each egg cup.  I recommend that an adult does this part.  I used wooden skewers for this.  Someone gave us these as a wedding gift, and I'm pretty sure I've never actually used them for food.  I've used them for crayon ornaments, egg blowing and egg dying, and various other projects, but never as actual skewers.  You've got to get a set of these!

2)  Push the pipe cleaner down through one of the holes.

3)  Push the pipe cleaner through the opening at the top of the bell and pull it out about 1/4 of an inch or so.  Then twist this tail around the rest of the pipe cleaner to secure.   

4) Repeat with the other egg cup and bell.

5)  Decorate!

Done!

Hang these over a tree branch for a one-of-a-kind jingle bell ornament.  I made one of these in preschool 30ish years ago, and my mom still hangs it on their tree every year. 

I love these.  They aren't "perfect" or "polished" looking, but they are easy, allow for creativity and individuality.  (My girls picked mostly pink and blue decorations as much as I tried to influence them to pick the more traditional Christmas colors.  They like to put a their personality into every craft we do.)  And my 5 year old LOVED this one too.  She's been jingling her bells all day!

What do you think?  What's your first choice so far?  I have at least two more to audition before I make a final decision.  Weigh in!

Craft on!

This post is sponsored by Arise Shine Design!  Check this shop out for unique jewelry gifts.

holiday party craft auditions: yarn ornaments

This past September I entered into the world of kindergarten as my oldest daughter started school. I also volunteered to help with classroom parties. After the panic set because crafting with my own kids is way different than crafting with 24 kids, I started brainstorming easy craft ideas for each party theme. Thankfully, the teacher (who rocks, by the way) hasn't asked me to do very much . . . I wonder if she's skeptical that I can actually handle the job.  I would be skeptical if I was her looking at me.  (I'm pretty sure that didn't make sense to anyone but me!)

Okay . . . Let me get to the point.

I'm in the process of auditioning crafts for the holiday party on December 23.  I would like to have a couple different craft stations with the following themes:
1) Eat It - something food related for them to decorate/make and eat right there
2) Keep It  - a craft for them to keep for themselves or their home
3) Give It - a craft for them to giveaway to a neighbor or friend

I'm going to show off one possible kids' craft a day this week.  Will you help me decide which one you think would be best for a kindergarten classroom of squirrel-like 5 and 6 year olds?

Let the auditions begin!

Yarn Candy Cane or Wreath Ornament

Audition #1

Here’s what you need:
~Small cardboard wreath cutouts and candy cane cutouts
~White yarn cut into long pieces
~Red yarn cut into long pieces
~Tape

Here’s what you do:
1) Help child tape a piece of white yarn to the back of the cutout of their choice.

2) Show child how to wrap yarn around the cutout. My daughter was able to wrap the yarn easily around the candy cane, but she needed a bit more instruction to wrap the yarn around the wreath cutout.

3) Completely wrap the cardboard cutout in white yarn. When it’s fully covered help child tuck the end of the yarn underneath yarn wrappings on the backside of the cutout.

4) The red yarn is than wrapped around the cutout in the same pattern that an actual candy cane or peppermint mint would be. Help the child by securing the beginning and end of the red yarn.

5) Slip a long piece of yarn through a loop of the yarn on the top of the ornament and tie another pat the top for hanging.

Done!

I'm not too thrilled with this audition!  I think it's kind of boring for kindergartners and may require too much supervision.

Weigh in!  What do you think?

Craft on!

This post is sponsored by Arise Shine Design!  Check this shop out for unique jewelry gifts.

twelve (plus) days of traditions: themed family ornaments

I admit it . . . I'm feeling a bit sad today that twelve (plus) days of traditions is over.  :(  I so enjoyed the sneak peak inside the homes and families of each on the bloggers who shared.  And I have an entire list of new traditions to start this year!  I am still going to be highlighting a few of our traditions as well as a few of the traditions that were linked up over the past three weeks. 

And if you have a tradition that you are interested in sharing, feel free to e-mail it to me.  I would love to post a few of those every now and then up until Christmas Day.

So without further ado, here's Tiffany - busy mom and blogger - from Making the World Cuter . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello 12 Crafts fans! I love Elizabeth's blog and all of her ideas, I want to be just like her when I grow up...If I ever do such a thing! My name is Tiffany, my friends call me Tiff...among other things, so feel free to do the same. I blog over at a little place called Making the World Cuter.

I L.O.V.E Christmas and all the traditions that go along with it! I was always the first one up on Christmas morning waking up my siblings first and then my parents to get a move on so that we could see what Santa brought. That hasn't changed...I have to wake my kids up and bring them down all groggy with sleep still in their eyes because I just can't sleep on Christmas Eve. It makes my hubby a little crazy, but I'm sure it's one of the things he loves about me (wink!).

My tradition is one we kind of started by accident, but has been so much fun! 

See in my Pottery Barn dreams, my Christmas tree is gorgeous-all matchy matchy with a theme and people gasp in pleasant surprise when they see it in my front window.

In real life, we usually end up cutting down a Charlie Brown tree that my daughter insists upon and the ornaments are not in any way related-and they are usually dispersed along the bottom 3 feet of the tree where the kids can reach. 

On my daughter's first Christmas (she is 6 now) my husband brought home a little snowman ornament for me to paint because he knew I would like that. So I painted it, wrote her name and the year on it and hung it on the tree. The next year we bought another ornament that just happened to be a snowman again and did the same thing.

The next year we figured out this would be a fun tradition since we now added a boy to the house-we decided to start buying him Santa Clause ornaments, and the tradition began! 

My 6 year old's snowman ornaments...

 

We buy an ornament for each of our children now in the theme we selected for them the year they were born and on Christmas Eve, they open the ornament with their new pj's and put it on the tree. 

My 4 year old's Santa ornaments....

We decided that when they left home that we would let them take their ornaments with them, and they would have everything for their own theme tree.

My 2 year old's Reindeer ornaments

I will be getting my new little guy a train ornament for his first Christmas, for my step son we get him a nutcracker, and my step daughter, we get her snow themed items-such as snowflakes, ice skates and sleds. 

We realized that the kids liked this tradition so much that my husband and I started our own. We each buy...or make...one another an ornament that represented that year to us. It has been in the past the only gift we get for each other when money has been tight, and we so look forward to see what the other comes up with. Here are a few that we have collected. 

Even after my Pottery Barn dreams come true and my Christmas tree is truly something to behold, we will still have a little Charlie Brown tree somewhere in the house with these special memories on it, and we will continue to add to it each year.

Thanks Elizabeth for letting me share our family tradition and for all the other great ideas! 

And a great big thanks to you Tiffany!  Another fabulous ornament tradition.  I love the idea of themed ornaments. 

Tradition on!

If reading through subscription, click over here to add your own tradition post.

speaking of ornaments . . .

Kim has me totally thinking ornaments! 

She's inspired me to chuck my usual tree decor which is very prim and proper.  My usual tradition of tree decorating is to do the whole coordinated tree decor thing.  So basically, I spend the night decorating the tree myself and fending of the kids who want to help because I want the tree to look a certain way.  Then I spend a month keeping them away from the tree so they don't mess it up! 

Now, that I think about it that entire tradition seems completely silly.  Why on God's green earth would I try to keep my kids OUT of the fun of decorating.  I could kick myself for doing it this way for the past five years.  Sometimes I just need a swift kick to the behind as a good wake-up call . . . so THANK YOU KIM! 

BUT NO MORE!!!

From now on my kids are going to be part of our tree traditions. 

Enter the Memory Mitten Ornaments.

I actually did this ornament for Stephanie Lynn's ornament extravaganza over at Under the Table and Dreaming.  I was originally planning on starting this tradition and putting all these handmade ornaments on a special wooden ornament tree that I have on the piano.  However, with Kim's tradition swimming around in my head, I'm excited to add these memory mitten to the tree.

 

These ornaments combine two things I love around the holidays: memory-keeping and tradition-keeping.  Each ornament is made from clothing that my children wore at some point during the year.  Every time I look at these ornaments I will remember this year in their lives, and every year I will make a new ornament from another article of clothing.  Then as we pack away the ornaments for safekeeping until the next Christmas, I will ask them to write down one memory from our Christmas celebration (or write it for them) to tuck inside the mitten.  I imagine the Christmas celebrations to come as we read the memories tucked inside each mitten together.

Here's what you need:

~sweaters or other clothes that your children/grandchildren have out grown and hold a special place in your heart

~yarn or embroidery thread

~a yarn or tapestry needle

~ribbon

~felt or other embellishments and hot glue/fabric glue (optional)

Here's what you do:

1)  Draw freehand or use a mitten to trace a child's sized mitten shape onto the sweater.  Make sure you position the mitten or draw the mitten shape so that the open cuff of the mitten will be either the bottom edges of the sleeves or the waist of the sweater.  

2)  Pin the front and back layer of the sweater together and cut out mitten shape.

3)  Thread needle with yarn and sew the two layers together by using the blanket stitch to sew around the outside edge of the mitten.  Make sure to tie a hidden knot at the beginning and end to secure the yarn.

4)  Heat seal the end of your ribbon by running the ends very quickly through a candle flame.  Push ribbon through one of the blanket stitches toward the mitten cuff and tie into a bow.  Secure with a dot of craft glue or hot glue in between the folds of the center so the bow doesn't come undone.

5)  Use felt and/or embellishments however you want to decorate the mitten.  I cut out my daughter's initial and secured it with fabric glue.

6)  Add your memory.

Done!



Craft . . . and tradition on!

Check out the great parties I may link to by clicking on the blog name below or visiting my "I like to party" page that shows off all the party buttons.  These gals go to a lot of work to host these parties.  If you participate in parties please take time to look through a variety of the projects linked up.  They are a great source of inspiration!


Weekend - Somewhat Simple Holiday Party, a little lovely, Craft Envy, Under the Table and Dreaming, Be Different Act Normal, A Vision to Remember, 504 Main - Tickled Pink, Funky Junk Interiors, Tatertots and Jello, I heart naptime


Monday - Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, The Girl Creative, The Trendy Treehouse, CRAFT, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Between Naps on the Porch, Tools Are For Women,  It's So Very Cheri, Skip to My Lou, Sew Can Do, Polly Want a Crafter


Tuesday - All Thingz Related, Sugar Bee, New Nostalgia, Creative Itch, Lucky Star Lane, Hope Studios, These Creative Juices, My Delicious Ambiguity, Today's Creative Blog-Get Your Craft On!,


Wednesday - It's So Very Cheri, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Cricket Design, Trendy Treehouse, Tea Rose Home, Someday Crafts, My Backyard Eden, Sew Much Ado, Night Owl Crafting


Thursday -  Fireflies and Jellybeans, Life As Lori, House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, Seven Thirty Three, The Train to Crazy, PonyTails and FishScales


Friday - The Sabby Nest, A Little Knick Knack, Fingerprints on the Fridge, It's Fun to Craft!, It's a Hodgepodge Life, Kojo Designs, Simply Sweet Home, Frou Frou Decor, Remodelaholic, Momma's Kinda Crafty

the symbols of Christmas: a giveaway

Surprise!

I mentioned that there were going to be a few surprises throughout twelve (plus) days of traditions and this is one of them! 

My friend Chris, the creative blogger behind Pickup Some Creativity, has been had at work creating a new pattern for an amazing set of tradition ornaments.  Her inspiration for these ornaments stems from the traditions of her childhood.  But rather than me drone on and on about Chris' inspiration, I asked her to tell you about it in her own words.  Take it away Chris:

An important Christmas tradition while I was growing up was our Christmas Eve family gathering. After going out for Mexican food, we gathered around the Christmas tree and discussed the true meaning of Christmas. There were distinct activities we always did. My dad would read from Luke 2 in the New Testament. Then one of my brothers or I would take turns removing little trinkets from a bag that represented familiar sights at Christmas time. Did you know that there is symbolism in most of the familiar shapes and colors of Christmas?

Wanting to keep that remembrance alive for my children I began a quest. I used several versions of stories similar to what we used when I was a child, and came up with a simple narrative and accompanying ornaments. The culmination is my new pattern. I feel the need to teach children true principles is ever increasing. It is my earnest hope that this simple set of ornaments and story will help children remember the true meaning of Christmas.

To help you start this tradition in your own home, Chris is giving away a ready-made set of ornaments to one twelve crafts reader and a pdf pattern (which includes instructions, ornament templates/patterns and a printable explanation sheet to reuse year after year) to another reader.  That's right . . . there will be 2 winners. 

And don't worry . . . if you don't win, you can buy your very own pattern to make these ornaments and start your own family tradition.  Order from Chris' blog shop.

Here's how to enter:

**leave one comment for each entry

1) Be or become a follower of twelve crafts.

2) Be or become a follower of Pickup Some Creativity.

3) Link up a tradition post/idea to the linky below.  If you link up more than one, tell me how many you linked. One entry for each link.

4) Tell me what your favorite holiday symbol is.

5) In the spirit of Thanksgiving, tell me one thing you are thankful for.

**The first name drawn randomly will get to choose between the ready-made set or the reusable pdf pattern.  The second name will receive the remaining item.  Giveaway ends Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 11:59 PM (CST).**

If reading through a reader, click here to add your own tradition post.

twelve days of traditions: Christmas books with coordinating crafts

This is it . . . the moment we've all I've been waiting for . . . the first guest post of twelve (plus) days of traditions!  If you aren't sure what twelve (plus) days of traditions is all about, read more about it here and link up your own tradition ideas here.  

Hi!  I'm Jocelyn.  I blog over at We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ, where I share the many ways that I teach my children about the happiness that comes from living according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  I love how family traditions focus us on what is really important, but I also love how celebrating family traditions not only makes us feel that we belong together as a family, but that we belong to each other.

Growing up, my family celebrated with a lot of unique Christmas traditions--We always went Christmas caroling, we always opened our presents at midnight on Christmas Eve, and we always read a book called The Littlest Angel.  

Last year, to make the season special for my children, I decided to combine our love of crafting with our love for curling up together with a good book!  

I collected 24 of what I consider the best Christmas books for children and each day in December we unwrapped one book and made an ornament or a craft that corresponded to the story that we read.

Since not everyone has time to do a craft every day during Christmastime, I've put together a list of my top twelve books.  These stories really are special.  A few of them touch on the secular symbols of Christmas, but most of them testify of the real reason for the season.  

Whether you adapt this tradition with crafting galore, or if you merely read the books together, I am sharing this list with you so that hopefully you will find a few gems to add to your family's celebration of Christmas!  The list below has links to my original post with tutorials or links to how-to's for each craft as well as a link to where you can find each book online.  You can see my full book list here.  Enjoy!

And however you celebrate...Have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Book: We Were There: A Nativity Story

Craft: Wire Spiders

Book:  Who Is Coming To Our House

Craft:  Toothpick Ornaments

Book:  Santa Mouse

Craft:  Mouse

Book:  The Animals' Christmas Eve

Craft:  Manger

Book:  The Crippled Lamb

Craft:  Yarn Lamb

Book:  Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect

Craft: Craft Stick Christmas Tree

Book:  The Donkey's Dream

Craft:  Tea Bag Donkey

Book:  The Night Before Christmas

Craft: Sugarplum Ornaments

Book:  The Littlest Angel

Craft:  Paper Angels

Book:  The Gift of The Magi

Craft:  Felt Trees

Book:  Humphrey's First Christmas

Craft:  Camel

Book:  A Christmas Dress For Ellen

Craft:  Fabric Ball Ornament

Book:  The Polar Express

Craft: Bells

If you have your own favorite holiday book you read or craft you like to do during the holidays, link up here and let us in of the tradition fun!

Thanks Jocelyn! 

Jocelyn is hosting an amazing giveaway on her blog for $130 to CSN to spend on someone in need this holiday season.  Click here to hop over and find out more.  One of my favorite traditions as a child was giving a bag of toys to a family in need.  This can be one your holiday traditions too, and Jocelyn wants to help make that possible. 

Tradition on!