I was blog hopping the other day (yup, I'm a rabbit) and saw some really neat tutorials for Origami projects. One that really struck me was a tutorial for an Origami Wreath. I just happened to have a bunch of Christmas themed 12" x 12" paper laying around and I thought I would try to make a wreath with my oldest boy. I had to play around quite a bit because the tutorial was in Japanese (I think) and the measurements were in metric, but I think you could say our wreath was a success! (He...OK, I, didn't want to stop making them!) Here is what you will need to make an Origami Wreath of your own: 12 sheets of colorful paper (pattern and print of your choice) a ruler 1. Carefully mark each sheet of paper on the back side. One line should run horizontal 5 inches from the bottom of the paper, 2 other lines should run vertical about 5.4 inches from each side. Like so... 2. Fold two of the corners down to the lines as demonstrated in the photo. 3. Fold the … [Read more...]
Santa Trail Mix
Pintrest- you've probably hear of it, and if not you probably live here... it's a rock...in case you can't tell If you're not on Pintrest and would like to be then shoot me an email and I will be happy to send you an invite (it's exclusive like that). I saw a great idea for a Christmas trail mix on that site and I though to myself "self, that is some tasty looking mix! You should make some and add your own jazz and spice to it." My kids were happy that I had that conversation with myself because it sure is yummy! Here's what you will need: 2 cups of red and green M&Ms 1 cup of dry roasted peanuts 1/2 cup of Craisins or other dried fruit 2 cups of Chex cereal (I used the rice version) Pretzels (holiday shaped ones are best) Bugles mini marshmallows coarse sugar 1 package of red melting discs (candy aisle) 1 package of green melting discs (same aisle) 1 package of white chocolate chips (or almond bark) Shortening Assembling the Santa … [Read more...]
Catch Santa On Camera–DIY FREE!
I'm sure you've seen those websites out there that offer to help you prove that Santa was in your home by capturing him on camera for you. "Upload a photo of your tree or fireplace and for $10 we'll put Santa in your photo!" I'm here to tell you, that with a little effort, you can do it yourself for FREE! Don't worry, I'll walk you through how to do it step by step: I'll start by saying that I first posted this tutorial on my other blog (Mommy's Camera). Rather than re-watermarking every photo, I'm just using the Mommy's Camera watermarked photos (trust me, they are mine!). Also, this is Lindsi's fireplace. At the time I started writing this tutorial I did not have my house decorated or my tree up so I asked Lindsi to send me a photo of her house. She's an over-achiever ya know. Ok, on to the tutorial: Step 1) Download my favorite FREE photo editing software Gimp. If you have Photoshop you can still follow this tutorial. You just have to make adjustments for that … [Read more...]
Candy Cane Vase
My oldest (5yrs) and I really love candy canes. If I am being 100% honest with you (and I always am) I purchase boxes and boxes and boxes of candy canes every time this time of year comes around. I love to eat them and decorate with them (and he does too!) This year we made a fun and really easy festive vase for our table out of candy canes. Here is what you will need: a glass vase (either square, rectangle or circle- a vase with a neck doesn't really work for this) some holiday ribbon candy canes low-temp glue gun Gage how much space the candy canes will take up and use the remaining amount to fill in with ribbon. I used ribbon around the base of the vase. We kept our candy canes wrapped to avoid sticky fingers (and sneaky licks). Using a low temp glue gun apply a ribbon of glue to the candy cane (not the vase- it will harden before you have a chance to apply the candy cane). Once you have covered the vase with the desired candy canes attach a bow around … [Read more...]
Reindeer pops
Have you ever wondered how people made those adorable cake pops? (You know, the cupcake-like treats on a stick). Well here you go! Let me first preface this with "it is NOT like you thought." Both Jamie and I originally thought that somehow you baked the cake batter into ball shapes by using molds. NOPE! First thing you do is to bake a cake according to the box directions (or if you are a show off you can make a cake from scratch "insert eye roll here"). Once the cake has completely cooled you cut the cake into quarters and take each quarter and crumble it. Once you are done crumbling it, it should look like this: After crumbling the entire cake add 3/4 of a can of frosting to the cake and stir. Roll into 1inch diameter balls and place on a cookie sheet. Refrigerate the "balls" overnight. Cover them with wax paper to keep them from drying out. Once the cake balls are chilled insert some sticks into each ball. Carefully melt your chocolate in a double … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Snow
Wanna play with snow inside and not have it melt all over the place? Make your own fake snow! It's great for decorating , letting your kids drive their toy cars through or just plain playing in! You'll need: A few unused disposable diapers (It would be super gross to use dirty diapers.) Water A container to mix in silver glitter (optional) Ok, now this is so easy you are going to think you missed something! 1) Cut open the diaper and pull out the inside absorbent layer. 2) Put it in the container and slowly add water 3) Mix until it becomes snow consistency! For powdery snow use less water, for slushy snow use more water. 4) Add a bit of glitter for some sparkle. (optional) My girls had a TON of fun playing with the snow! We attempted to add more water and make a snowman but it wasn't really successful. My girls did however, enjoy adding more and more water to see how slushy they could make their snow. We are currently freezing the slush … [Read more...]
