Each year our school does an auction fund raiser. Each class makes a collaborative art project and an auction basket. My 8th grader’s class worked together to create a wooden Christmas ornaments for the school fundraising auction this year.
Collaborative Christmas Ornaments
I had each child a wooden circle with a whole near the top. Then they decorated their hand with paint markers in a Christmas design. After they decorated them, we put twine through the whole and added a wooden bead or bow.
Dinner Menu Gift Cards/ Auction Basket
We found a chalk board that said “Weekly Menu” on it. Then strung twine back and froth across the front to hang gift cards from. We used tiny wooden clothes pins to hang the cards.
I made these Cinnamon Stick Candles for Christmas gifts. Each year we give small gifts to all of teachers, coaches, neighbors, coworkers, and our church pastors along with our family Christmas card and photo.
I used the hot glue to attach the cinnamon sticks to the outside of the candles. Some taller candles needed two rows of cinnamon sticks, one above the ribbon and one below. Then I glued the twine and ribbon around the candle and added the holly and jingle bells.
Each year we take a Christmas photo to put in our cards. This year I had the kids dress in their Christmas pajamas!
Our family Thanksgiving tradition is making Gingerbread Houses. This year we used a Wilton House Kit with the icing and candies.
We use the icing like the glue to hold the gingerbread house together. Then once it was pretty sturdy, we used the glue to attach the candy decorations.
This is a tradition that my little sister and I started when we were teenagers. I have continued it with my kids (and sometimes their cousins) for over 20 years now.
We don’t have a fireplace in our house, so I wanted to see if I could make a cardboard fireplace for Christmas this year. We placed our Charlie Brown Christmas tree on the fireplace and were able to take pictures of the baby girls in front of it too.
Cardboard Fireplace
I wrapped 5 diaper boxes with brown packing paper and glued them together. Then I wrapped 3 giant pizza boxes and glued them to the top of the boxes for the ledge.
Next I put red and black paint on a paper plate and used a damp sponge to make painted “bricks” all over the boxes.
I got a flat piece of cardboard and painted the back of it black and then I painted red, orange, and yellow flames. Then I placed it in the opening of the fireplace and taped it in place.
I put some pine garland on the top of the fireplace with some Christmas decorations. I also placed our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree on the top of the fireplace too.
Charlie Brown Christmas Tree
I went out to the yard and found a pine branch that looked how I wanted. I nailed two by fours together and straightened out a wire coat hanger to attach trough the two by four stand. I attached the tree branch to this coat hanger wire to help it stand up. Then I placed a single red, round ornament bulb on the top of the branch and wrapped a thin blue swaddling cloth around the bottom of the tree as Linus’s blanket.
Gingerbread Christmas Tree
Gingerbread Ingredients:
4 cups flour
¾ Cup melted butter
¾ Cup sugar
½ Cup Molasses
½ Cup water
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp ginger
1 TBS Cinnamon
1 tsp Salt
1 egg
Gingerbread Directions:
Combine all ingredients.
Once dough begins to form, dust generously with flour.
Cover dough with plastic and chill for 4 hours.
Dust surface with flour and roll out dough to ¼ inch thick.
Place the largest start on the bottom and then add the next largest on top. Hold it in place with a bit of butter cream. Continue stacking the tree with smaller and smaller stars until you get to the last one. Place the last star upright. Dye the butter cream green and place a bit on each arm of each star. Lastly add the Christmas Light Candies.
Butter Cream Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup Crisco
4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon milk (if thick)
Butter Cream Directions:
Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.
Christmas Day Snacks
Fruit Dip Wreath
I used fruits to make it look like a green wreath with berries and a bow.
Fruit dip is made with one package of cream cheese with one jar of marshmallow cream!
Vegi Tray Wreath
I used vegetables to make it look like a green wreath with berries and a bow.
Vegi ranch is made with one tub of sour cream with one Ranch packet for the vegetables.
I decided to take the girls Christmas photos in front of my DIY Fireplace. You can check out how I created my fireplace from diaper boxes at my Christmas Fireplace & Crafts post. You can also see how I made my Charlie Brown Christmas Tree there, it is in a few of these pictures.
She’s such a toddler… all over the place! I tried to get her to stay still, but I guess only Jesus can calm the Storm! I dressed her in a red velvet Santa dress and curled her hair a bit. She is also wearing her red earrings from this multicolored earring pack that I got for her a while back. We like these screw on earring backings for babies and toddlers.
Such a sweet 9 month old… She is much more relaxed than the Storm was, but she still wants to move about since it is a new thing for her. I love how she put her toes together and her hands behind her head. She was just wearing a red and white striped diaper cover and a baby sized Santa hat. I found a red basket at a thrift store and glued on the white batting and black Santa belt. I just added a blanket in the basket to make it a bit more comfortable for her.
This was a very challenging photoshoot with a 2 year old and and 9 month old. They just want to move and move so much, and the baby is new to sitting up on her own.
We made cookie boxes for our neighbors, teachers, and coworkers this year. We make several different kinds of cookies and then wrapped them in festive DIY peppermint packaging. This is the KitchenAid mixer that I use.
In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt and put to one side for later.
In another larger bowl cream the butter and cream cheese together until the mixture is smooth. Then beat in the egg and the food coloring.
Add to this mixture the dry ingredients you set aside earlier. Mix it all together until dough is formed.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the dough to chill for around 2 hours.
Place the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Separate the dough into 1 inch balls and roll each ball into the powdered sugar. Place dough balls onto a greased baking tray.
Bake cookies in an oven pre heated to 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Leave cookies to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled store in an airtight container. They should keep for 3 days.
Hot Chocolate Cookies
Servings 36 cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
4 packages hot cocoa mix
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 Cup mini marshmallows
INSTRUCTIONS:
Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with standing mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.
In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Gradually beat dry ingredients into butter mixture until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop 2 tablespoons dough, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes; remove to wire racks and cool.
Gingerbread Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups flour
¾ Cup melted butter
¾ Cup sugar
½ Cup Molasses
½ Cup water
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp ginger
1 TBS Cinnamon
1 tsp Salt
1 egg
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all ingredients.
Once dough begins to form, dust generously with flour.
Cover dough with plastic and chill for 4 hours.
Dust surface with flour and roll out dough to ¼ inch thick.
Use a cookie cutter and place pieces on sprayed cookie sheet.
Lots of teens and tots in our family photo this year! The toughest part of family time these days, is matching the schedule of these kids going every which way. They are all involved in so many activities, I am sososososo proud of them all.
I set up my props in the backyard by our firepit and picnic table. I used vintage sleds, firewood, checkered tablecloth, my son’s guitar, and some evergreenery. We all dressed in denim, red, and black. I also tried to add as much red and black gingham that I could.
The Tots
These girls did very well for being so young. I had this vintage baby sled that I had found at a garage sale a while back. It fit well with my red, wooden, vintage fireside Christmas scene.
I also place a couple artificial Christmas trees because we don’t have real evergreens in this part of our yard. My dad will collect these after Christmas on the curb in his neighborhood.
The Picnic Table
Our picnic table became the center of our photos despite my efforts to include all of the props that I set out and the fireplace.
The Tree
The big kids leaned against the tree by the woodpile for some of our photos.
The Guitar
I love that he plays guitar and enjoys music so much. He enjoys playing for fun, but also gets to play his bass in church on Sunday mornings.
The Storm
She is so beautiful and loved sitting in this little seat at the woodpile. She wore her little red and black checkered jacket and canvas shoes.
I put together some small fall items that I found at our local dollar store to create a fall themed Tot Sensory Tub. She liked sorting and using the toddler tweezer.
This tub kept her happy for a long time and we could practice sorting and counting all the objects. We sorted by color and by item, then we counted each pile. We had orange pumpkins, leaves, feathers, and fall jewels; yellow corn, leaves, feathers, and fall jewels; red leaves, feathers, and fall jewels; and brown acorns, leaves, and fall jewels.
We visited some family for Thanksgiving. We played a few Minute-to-Win-it challenges together. Our family has a large age difference, so we tried to choose games that would be equally challenging for each of all.
Give each player a mini pumpkin to balance on their head.
In under a minute…
The players must run from one end of the yard to the other without the pumpkin falling off their heads. If you want to make it more difficult, you can set up an obstacle course.
(our pumpkins were too small and light for this one… I suggest an actual tiny pumpkin)
The kids are growing up so we tried some more activities geared toward teens this year! We carved pumpkins, had chili and caramel dip, roasted hotdogs and smores, then we finished with a Candy vs. Chocolate bracket.
Campfire
We let the kids roast hot dogs and s’mores. Storm really loved meeting the “big kids” friends that came over for the evening.
Fall Foods
Roasted Hot Dogs
S’mores
Carmel Apples (red, green, yellow apples) with mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, and sprinkles
Hot Cocoa & Apple Cider
Chili with cheese, crackers and corn chips
Homemade Chili Recipe
Ingredients:
Chili Brick
2 lb. ground beef
3 cans of kidney beans
1 can tomato soup
1 Cup water
Directions:
Brown the beef and drain.
Mix all of the ingredients in a big pot and bring to boil.
Lower heat and simmer until chili brick is dissolved, at least an hour, stirring occasionally.
Pumpkin Carving
The kids carved their own pumpkins with our pumpkin carving tools. I helped Storm care a lightning bolt in her pumpkin while the baby watched.
Candy vs. Chocolate
This was one of the kids favorite activities this year! I purchased a bit of each kind of candy and the kids all tasted them one by one and filled out their brackets as they went. Then we looked at them all to find the winner “Kit Kat”.
Storm Trunk -or- Treat
We decided to participate in the kids school Trunk-or -Treat at the last minute. We decided to use a STORM theme because I still had the props that I had made for her STORM birthday party that we could use. She dressed in her rainboots, raincoat, lightning bolt earrings, and umbrella. I also put her hair in pigtails, parting it in a zig zag pattern to look like a lightning bolt. I wore my “Storm Chaser” tee shirt from her birthday party.
