Hanukkah Fun!

Happy Hanukkah to you ! Our elves were playing with a homemade dreidel yesterday so the boys and I got in on the fun, too! (There are plenty of places on the web to print off a dreidel template and instructions for this simple game-or make your own using a small milk carton and a pencil)

Mrs. Claus finally found sometime to wrap the main Santa gifts for 'J' and 'A'. She tells me she hopes to add red ribbon, but that glitter isn't staying on that well so we shall see!

I'm off to get a mammogram this morning! I look at it as another Christmas present to my family and to me, although, it might be inappropriate to wear big red bows for my appointment...

They're early!! Toby and Jingles have arrived! When the boys hung up their coats yesterday after school they found two chocolate advent calendars and a note that read,

'Merry Christmas!! We are so excited to be coming to get the tree this weekend!

We circled the day we will be here on your calendars-

only eat one chocolate a day-or we'll have to tell Santa!

See you soon!

love,

jingles and toby

However...

there were a couple of really tired boys here last night and the car started acting up on the way to McDonalds, so we couldn't go And DS6 hurt his finger when we got home... you get the picture, right? DS6 just wished his elf was here to cuddle and... poof... outside the window appeared the 2 moose and 2 elves! Aren't Christmastime wishes the best of all?

I Refuse!

This week begins December(in case you hadn't heard, 'the most wonderful time of the year") and I absolutly refuse to be sick in bed with this miserable cold! There is far too much fun to be had! The outside arrangements need to be arranged, the presents wrapped, the elves to arrive, the tree to be lovingly found and brought from the woods via horse and sleigh and carried triumphantly into the living room. It sounds like a lot of work to some but it's the journey to Christmas and I love every minute! Right now the ideas are fighting for room in my congested head! My thoughts are, if I get the ideas out, the cold will soon follow! I hope...

My birthday present

I know this isn't Christmas related but I wanted to share what my very talented husband made me for my birthday! A new cabinet for the kitchen-perhaps not very romantic you say but what I actually asked for was more storage in the kitchen. I know- I'm not the real high maintenance type! LOL! I'm thinking maybe breakfast station and recycling underneath? He has everything ready to assemble for my new pantry too. Our kitchen is small so it will go in this broom closet. Can't wait to share it with you!

Folgers Containers

I don't know if any of you drink Folgers coffee or not, but they have a great sticker project to make their canisters into some pretty cute gift containers! Even if you don't drink coffee (What-no coffee!?) you could include it in your donation box to the food bank or in your Christmas morning baskets, as a gift. I've had this on my to do list for quite some time, maybe I'll get to it this year!

Small things Make me Happy...

Finally! The huge box of cereal was gone. It took up too much room in my cupboard! Pretty good box, though. 'AHA' moment...I was going to buy a box to wrap my brother's gift in for Christmas-duh! This got me thinking of more ways to wrap our gifts while saving money and the planet. Planet Green has some great ideas, including the old standbys (newspaper) and some things I hadn't thought of (a clay pot with drainage plate as a lid). I'm just happy I've finally got one present wrapped! Now how to wrap that big Santa figure?!

Christmas Houses

On a recent trip to the local Wicker Emporium I happened on these cute little houses! At $1.80 each, I had to buy all six! "What are you going to do with these?" asked the clerk. How much time did she have? So far I have been told by my DS6 that they would make great houses for his Lego guys(not likely), I have thought I should fill them with tiny treats for a 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift, paint them black for "Booing"use them for Christmas gifts, and keep one or two back for my mantel. Any ideas?

prep and landing

Disney's Prep and Landing has a great printable to help the kids get ready for Santa! It's actually on Family Fun's website. I reinforced the covers by gluing them to cardstock insted of just each other. And bound them with jute twine. I would love to have used the baker's twine from Bake It Pretty but I could see alot of procrastination in my future if I waited until I ordered it, you know how it goes-besides, the boys won't care!

Elf Magic

This year the elves will not be scrambling for ideas last minute-I hope! For those of you not familiar with elf magic-we have two elves that visit us each Christmas season and make sure the boys behave in order to recieve their gifts from Santa at Christmas. While they are here they bring lots of fun ,magic, and a bit of mischief!

The next idea I have is for them to light the boy's rooms with strings of Christmas lights. Red for DS10 and Green for DS6. Luckily, I already have the lights. So no buying required here! (every little bit helps!)

Four months 'til Christmas!

Can you believe it? Happy Rudolph Day! Today kicks off the 'month of the elf' at MHH. So we thought we'd try some "elf bread" (really fairy bread with Holiday sprinkles!)

DS6 gives it a 'Thumbs up'!

Not a creature was stirring...

I got the idea for these from Papercraft magazine. I thought they would be really cute placecards for a Christmas Eve dinner!

Materials and tools

poster board or heavy cardstock
grey, white, and red cardstock
pink stickyback rhinestones
black sharpie
wire or spiral paperclips
modpodge
scissors

glue dots


Using a glass, I traced an '8' on the poster board and folded it in the centre. Then I cut the bottom off so it would sit on the table. I printed the saying on white card stock and mod podged it to the bottom of the card.

I pulled my paperclips apart a bit and used glue dots (one on the top and one underneath)to fasten it to the card for a tail. Then I traced the shape on grey cardstock and pasted it to my mouse.Next I cut the hat shape from red and the cuff from white. I cut into the hat shape so the cuff would slide in a bit.

I gled the hat pieces together and stuck them on my mouse. Then I cut out little circular ears and folde one third inand stuck them to his head! Lastly I stuck a little pink nose on and drew a sleepy eye with a black sharpie. I printed a name on paper and slipped it into the paperclip!

May Rudy Day!

I hope you are grabbing a bit of Christmas for yourself today, even in the warmer temps!

Me? I'm getting geared up for Christmas in July-at least in that frame of mind. MHH is hosting a Christmas in July event with plenty of fun-so be sure to visit the forums in July!

ONLY SEVEN MORE MONTHS 'TIL CHRISTMAS, PEOPLE!! Let's step it up! After all-we don't really find it a chore, do we?

The First Rudolph Day of 2010!