Christmas is just over one week away. Have you finished your shopping? If not, we've got nine last minute DIY Christmas gifts that you and your children can make! 1) Minion Shirts With all the hype about Despicable Me 2, why not give the gift of a Minion shirt. 2) Love Photos These are super cute for any family member. 3) Custom Lift-The-Flap Books Got a little one in your life? They will love these interactive custom books! 4) Sun Catchers A beautiful way to brighten up anyone's yard. 5) Custom Bleach Dyed T-shirts Perfect for the hard-to-buy for teenager. 6) Easy Personalized Mugs A coffee lover's dream. Put on any message you want! 7) Personalized Water Bottles Great for a fitness guru or even a school aged child. 8) Marshmallow Shooters Kids (and adults) will love these! 9) Personalized Games The perfect family gift. What types of gifts have you made for people? … [Read more...]
Easy Oreo Truffles
Are you looking for some easy, last minute Christmas cookies to make with your kids? These Oreo Truffles are perfect! Not only are they simple with just three ingredients, they are also super fun to make! Those three ingredients you'll need? One package of Oreo cookies, one 8 oz brick of cream cheese, and 2-3 bricks of white baker's chocolate. Red or peppermint sprinkles are optional. 1) Start by crushing the whole package of cookies into crumbs. You can hand crush them, but using a food processor or blender works best. 2) Next soften the cream cheese and blend it well with the Oreos. 3) Take a spoon full at a time of the Oreo-cream cheese mixture and roll them into balls. Set aside on a cookie sheet until you have rolled all of the mixture into balls. Put the balls in the refrigerator until hard (about 1/2 hr). 4) Using a double boiler, melt the white chocolate. If you don't have a double boiler (we … [Read more...]
15 Must Do Family Christmas Activities
It seems like every year Christmas creeps up faster and faster. Life gets super busy with the hustle and bustle of the season and you forget to slow down and spend quality time as an immediate family. We've got 15 must do family Christmas activities to encourage you to stop and have some fun. 1) Cut your own real Christmas tree. Take your family on an adventure to a Christmas tree farm and enjoy the hunt for the perfect tree. It's definitely more fun than you think! 2) Go ice skating on an outdoor rink or on a lake. When was the last time you bundled up and went ice skating outside? Get outside and enjoy the fresh air! 3) Go Christmas caroling in the neighborhood next to yours. Grab some friends and neighbors and spread Christmas joy with the lost art of caroling. No one will care if you can't sing. 4) Go shopping for toys to donate. Teach your children the importance of giving in this time of "I want..." by shopping for those less fortunate. 5) Have a family movie … [Read more...]
Popsicle Stick Soldier Ornament
Yup, it's more make your own Christmas ornaments time again. Over the past few weeks, you may have read about all the popsicle stick ornaments we've been making. Today we make a popsicle stick soldier ornament. I realized as I went to write this post that I only have one photo of Nutty making this adorable ornament. We made so many ornaments at the same time that I forgot which ones I took photos of and which ones I didn't. Oh well... As with the other ornaments we've made, you can pretty much figure out how to make the soldier just by looking at the photo. However, if you need actual directions on how to make it, they can be found in the original post from which I pinned the idea (scroll down to #6). Nutty is 7 so she needed a little help with the finer painting (ie. the face) but otherwise she loved making the popsicle stick soldier and she says it's her favorite ornament she's made. Does your child have a favorite ornament that they've made? … [Read more...]
Gingerbread Biscotti Treats
This time of year my favorite thing to do is bake. My kids and I are awfully fond of anything Gingerbread-ish. So I came up with a gingerbread recipe I thought I'd share with you. Gingerbread Biscotti Combine first: 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1 1/4 tsp baking powder 2 tsp ginger 1 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour Once these ingredients are mixed well then add: 1/4 cup dark molasses 2 large eggs Mix well and create log shaped cookies from the dough. The other method you can use is to create a large circle shape and then bake and cut immediately after removing from the oven with a pizza cutter. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes and then ENJOY! … [Read more...]
Christmas BINGO- Free Printables
BINGO is such a fun and easy game for kids to play. I thought it was a good idea to make a set of BINGO cards for Christmas parties and print them off. I'm sharing them with you today and hope you like them. Simply click on the photos and print them. Easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy! The first photo is for the cut outs, simply print and cut out each photo for the game caller. The Merry Christmas can be used as a Free Space if you chose or it can be a regular game play. Card one Card two Card three Card four Card five Card six Card seven Card eight Card nine … [Read more...]
