Painted block presents

I did these last year, but thought I'd share this idea again. Painted block presents. A fun Christmas decoration for a table, desk, counter or simply under the tree. They could also make a fun gift. All you do is paint a block of wood, sand the edges once the paint is dry to give them a distressed look, then cut a long strip of fabric to use for the bow. You can leave it like that or attach a wooden tag with twine. I really like the look of the fabric bow, I might just use that idea to wrap some of my own presents this year!

20-Minute Santa Hats

Last week, while John was at school and Joe was down for his nap, Dan suggested we (I) make some Santa hats. We had about an hour before John was going to get home from school, so I set to work and came up with a hat that could double as a hat to wear out in the cold. I had some fleece leftover from the kids Christmas PJ's, so I used that. It even came out looking somewhat Santa-ish, and I was finished with all 3 in 1 hour! Dan and Joe wore their hats for the rest of the afternoon and have worn them on many outings. Joe has even taken a couple naps with his hat on, so I consider it time well spent.




Read ahead for the tutorial...

Homemade Christmas Cards

Designing our family Christmas card is something I look forward to every year. In the past our cards have included a lot of cutting, gluing, time and energy (which, for the most part, is enjoyable to me). But this year, as a part of attempting to simplify every part of my life (something I'll write about in the future), I decided it's time to design a card that isn't going to take hours away from my time with my kids and husband. So naturally the answer was getting the kids and hubby involved! John drew the picture for the front of the card, I added the type and got them printed, all the kids helped color the fronts, and Pete helped stuff them one night after the kids had gone to bed. We also included a picture of our family and highlights from this year inside the card. The kids each colored a few every day for a couple weeks (thankfully they all really enjoy coloring!) until they finally got burned out. But they colored enough so that at least all our close family and friends could get a personalized card. And while they colored I was able to address all the envelopes. It was fun helping everyone feel apart of our card giving this year. And nice for me to not have to spend so much time on them. Success!

Christmas pancakes

This isn't anything glamorous or new, but my kids sure had a fun time doing it! It was John's idea to use our cookie cutters to make the pancakes into Christmas shapes. One way to make breakfast fun and festive.






Joe woke up after the other kids were pretty much done, so he was the lucky one who got to eat all the edges and remnants. He didn't seem to mind :)

NOEL blocks

We made these blocks at a Relief Society activity earlier this month. I love how they turned out! They took about 2 hours from start to finish.



Here's how you make them:
Cut 4 blocks of wood to the size you want them (these ones are 4"x5.5"x1.5") and roughly sand them down.
Paint blocks and letters (can be found at Michael's and other craft stores) the desired color.
When dry, sand edges of blocks and letters to give a distressed look.
Cut scrapbook paper slightly smaller then blocks and rip edges.
Mod podge the scrapbook paper onto blocks.
Use hot glue gun to attach letters.

That's it! And you could obviously use any word: joy, christmas, the last name of your family, peace... whatever you choose.

Christmas dice game

I found this idea at Pre-K Pages and decided to make my own printout to use. It's the perfect game for a toddler who is learning his numbers. John and Dan both loved it and understood it enough that they could play by themselves (they played it one afternoon while I snuck in a quick power nap!) You simply take turns rolling a dice and cross the numbers off as you go. The first to have his numbers crossed off wins! Try it with your toddler!




Click on the image below and print your own!

The best toy

The best toy is one that can be used in a lot of different ways. One that encourages imagination and creativity. One that can turn into a sword, a cave, a race track, a car, a train, a kitchen, a bed, or a target for shooting Nerf guns at. One that doesn't cost a single penny and that can simply be thrown in the recycling container when fun has been had and interests have changed. The best toy is a BOX! We have a big stash of them in our basement... moving boxes, shoe boxes, diaper boxes... that can be pulled out when the kids need something new to do or play with.

A diaper box turned into a race track with a tunnel for the cars.


A moving box made into a small kitchen.



Do you think my kids would be happy if we just gave them boxes for Christmas??? I'm pretty sure they would be just as happy with boxes as they would with any other toy... tempting...