The holiday season is a great opportunity to spend time together as a family and create teachable moments of giving. There are so many opportunities to give back, especially during the holidays. Below are just some ideas on how to start a holiday giving tradition in your family.You can begin by thinking about the interests of your family and research ways to give to related organizations. There are organizations related to literacy, animals, homelessness and so much more. You may want to reference my recent post on finding a legitimate charity to support. You could also ask older kids to research their own organizations and present them to the family for a vote.Here are a few specific suggestions for giving during the holidays:· Frequently local social service agencies offer an opportunity to adopt a family or a child during the holidays. · Donate toys your kids no longer use to Second Chance Toysor a local organization serving children.· Donate gently … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
Advent Calendar Making
I remember when I was a kid that I had an awesome felt Advent Calendar to use every year during the month of December. My grandma made it for her kids when they were young and it was passed down to me. Sadly, I have no idea where the calendar ended up (I sure wish I knew). I was thinking to myself that it would be fun to have one for my kids to use every year....and maybe pass it down to their kids. So I got to work!I Google-searched 24 images of items I wanted for the calendar and printed them out on paper, then cut them out and used them as templates for the ornaments.I made 2-3 ornaments each week during the summer and really tried to add as much detail as possible to the ornaments to make them extra special. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. What do you think???I made a stocking for each one of the kidsSanta, Christmas bag, Cardinal (for my grandma), Candy CaneChristmas Tree, Hot Cocoa, Gift, BellGingerbread Man, Ice Skate, Baby Jesus, HollyPoinsettia, Snowflake, Light, … [Read more...]
Reese’s Stuffed Crescent Rolls
If you've been reading our blog for a while, you know that we love to stuff things into crescent rolls and we love to do things with left over Halloween candy. Today's Pinned it, Did it! post combines both of those things!My girls and I couldn't wait to make these as soon as I told them about the pin I saw. We LOVE Reece's Peanut Butter Cups and these are so easy to make!You'll need:4 Reece's Peanut Butter Cups1 can of crescent rolls (8 rolls)That's it!You'll start by unrolling the crescent roll doughs and laying them on your baking sheet. Next, cut each Reece's in half. Place one half on the fat end of each roll.Roll up each crescent around the halved Reece's making sure to tuck the sides so the chocolate doesn't melt out as it bakes.Bake according to the crescent roll package.Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. (I could not find my powdered sugar so it's not included in our final photo).The original website says they are best served warm but I didn't mind them after … [Read more...]
Bloggy Bootcamp Chicago Recap
As Lindsi said on Friday, I was away this past weekend for a blogging conference--Bloggy Bootcamp Chicago to be exact. What is Bloggy Bootcamp? It is a one day blog and social media conference put on by The SITS Girls and hosted in 4 major cities around the U.S each year. This year they added a 5th stop in Chicago for their first ever 2 day Brand Edition. The Chicago Brand Edition was focused on the business of blogging. Around 150 women gathered together to learn how to be better bloggers, to network, to learn how to enhance their social media presence, and the biggest reason, to learn how to work with companies and brands to earn more income from blogging. I can not begin to tell you how much I learned from Bloggy Bootcamp Chicago! I have 20 pages of notes and too many photos of slides to count! I'm still wrapping my head around all the stuff I want to do for our blog now! My trip, however, started with a little fun. The conference did not start until 2:00 on Friday but it … [Read more...]
Operation Christmas Child
"Mom, I want to respect the world.""What do you mean?""I want to help poor people mom."That was a true conversation I had with Nutty just a few days ago. I'm not sure where it came from, but I am so glad she wants to give back, and I had just the thing to help her "respect the world."I discovered Operation Christmas Child a few months ago. It is a non-profit organization that inspires people to pack shoe boxes with Christmas gifts for children in developing countries around the world. Filling a shoe box is the perfect way to teach your children values such as compassion, kindness, and generosity. After telling Nutty and Tottie about the shoe box gifts, and showing them some Operation Christmas Child videos (because they just couldn't quite understand it with a simple explanation), they were all excited about packing their first box! We ran to our local Dollar Store and Target to find some gifts that not only would fit in a shoe box, but also that my girls would love to have for … [Read more...]
Gingerbread Playdough
I am on playdough duty this month at my kids pre-school. This means I have to either buy a ton of Playdoh OR make three batches of my own. I chose to make my own. I like to do this because I can add glitter, colors, smells and other things to it to make it unique. November is a perfect month for some Gingerbread Playdough! Here's the recipe.1 cup flour1/2 cup salt2 teaspoons cream of tartar1 Tablespoon cinnamon1 teaspoon ground clove1 teaspoon nutmeg2-3 teaspoons ginger2 Tablespoons oil1 cup waterCombine all the ingredients in a large pot and mix while cooking over a medium heat. It will appear very soupy in the beginning but do not fret...it will thicken up as it heats. You will know it is done when it starts to turn a darker brown color and when you think your arm is going to fall off from stiring it. Dump the dough out on your counter top and knead with your hands until cool. Place in an air tight container or plastic bag. I'm giving these away this year to some kids so I made one … [Read more...]
