1983, the "Year Of The Paper Christmas Tree" is a Christmas I will treasure for the rest of my life. It is both one of the saddest and funniest Christmases I have experienced (so far). It started a few weeks before Christmas when we went to pick out our "fresh cut" Christmas tree. It was perfect! In the weeks leading up to Christmas our perfect tree began to lose some needles, but what real tree doesn't lose a few needles-right? Christmas Eve brought a terrible snow storm and some of the coldest temps on record. It also brought a sound, then a site, that horrified my mom... She awoke to what she thought was the sound of running water. She followed the sound into the living room where she witnessed what she calls "a shower of pine needles". Almost every needle was falling off our Christmas tree in one big cascade. She had never seen anything like it before. My sister and I woke shortly after my mom and freaked out when we saw what was left of our beautiful … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2011
Snowflake Suncatchers Using CDs
Early last month I posted a tutorial on how to make rainbow fish sun catchers using old CDs. We had them hanging by our patio door for an entire month and go tons of compliments from people who saw them. December came, however, and the rainbow fish really didn't fit into my winter/Christmas decorating scheme. I got the brilliant idea to make snowflake sun catchers using old CDs! Those have now replaced the fish and fit perfectly into my current decorating! Here's what you'll need: White paper 2 CDs per snowflake Glue Scissors String/ribbon This is super easy to do yet my girls had a ton of fun with it! Step 1) If you are using regular 8.5 x 11 paper, fold one corner to the edge. Cut off the non folded edge to make a square. From that square you can make a circle or just leave it square like my girls chose to do. Step 2) Have your kids fold their circle or square however they want. You'll want them to fold it at least 4 times. (At this point in time, my … [Read more...]
Russian Tea
I was a bit of a tomboy growing up but every now and then I liked to be girly and invite my friends over for a tea party. My favorite tea that my mom made was Russian Tea. My friends loved it too! Here's what you'll need to make Russian Tea for your little girl's tea party (or just for yourself!): 3 cups powdered orange drink (such as Tang) 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup instant tea 2 packages lemon jello 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves large mixing bowl air tight storage container The above recipe makes quite a bit of tea so if you don't think you'll drink it very fast, I would cut the recipe in half. Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make sure to mix well. Store the powdered mix in an air tight container. Serve 3 tsp mix per 1 cup of hot water (or mixed to taste). That's it! Super easy and super yummy! … [Read more...]
Ivory Soap Explosion
I will be the first to admit that this ivory soap explosion is one super cool, fun science experiment! You'll be just as impressed as your kids when you try it. Here is what you will need: Ivory soap (It MUST be the brand name IVORY soap. Other brands will NOT work! It must be a fresh bar too.) A microwave 1) Take one bar of Ivory soap and cut into half then in half again. Place one piece of the quartered soap in the microwave. 2) Set microwave for 3 minutes (even though you won't need that much time) and push start. 3) Sit back and watch! After about 90 seconds the soap will expand to about 6 times it original size!!! It won't be too hot to touch either. Let it sit for about a minute or two and then remove it from the microwave and watch for your kids' reaction. I will admit that I wanted to see what would happen to a FULL bar of soap....learn from me...don't do it...fight the urge! I had to stop it before it finished because my … [Read more...]
Holiday Soap
Ever notice how the price of hand soap is more when it's put in a festive container? Solution-------- do it yourself! Here is what you will need: Hand soap Stickers Carefully peel off the manufacture labels from the hand soap (and shhhhh, don't tell them you are doing this) Remove and excess goop left behind and simply place stickers on the bottles. My kids think these are fancy shmancy soaps from the store...little do they know it cost me all of $2.00 (soap and stickers). *a little edit for ya- I also like to add a few drops of my favorite essential oil-peppermint to make them smell festive!* … [Read more...]
Make your own ornaments
Something my mom and I used to do a lot when I was younger (and pre-kids) was paint Christmas ornaments. It's really simple to do and MUCH cheaper than some of those fancy shmancy ones you can purchase. Here is what you need: GLASS ornaments (trust me the plastic ones don't work) Acrylic paint Add a few drops of paint to the inside of each ornament Roll the ornaments carefully around to get the paint to cover the entire inside Allow each ornament to dry upside down and the excess paint to drip out You can stop there and hang them or you can glue pretty ribbon to the tops of the ornaments...it's really up to you! … [Read more...]
