Oh Little Town of Bethlehem {Craft}

Wishing you, all my lovely readers, a truly blessed Christmas time. 

Yes, I do realize that it's a few days past, but it is the Christmas season...and it's not quite over yet :).

We had a very special Christmas, celebrating with our family on Christmas eve and day. I must admit though, that my favourite part of this special season is the leading up to and the anticipation of the big day. Big One was so sad on Christmas night and kept on saying "it's almost over". I truly had empathy...I felt the same way.

If you have been following me this past month, you will know that I was very excited to share the e-book Truth in the Tinsel with my children. Amanda (the author) really inspired me to think about Biblical Christmas crafts, rather than just Santas and Snowmen (although these are fun too!). So with that in mind, I created this little Bethlehem, from toilet rolls. It took me less than 15 minutes to make and I love the simplicity of it. Perhaps you can pin it for next year :). I think my children definitely felt the change in focus...I certainly did. 

I'll only be chatting to you all again in the New Year, so whatever your plans, may it be wonderful. See you in 2012!

Build a {Bottle Top} Snowman

There's no snow here at the tip of Africa come Christmas time, but that doesn't stop us from building snowmen (and snowladies).

Top tip :  Don't worry about glue. Just lay out the supplies and let the children build and re-build. 

Hope you are having a happy Christmas week, wherever you may be. 

PS. Remember these? - sock snowmen from last year :).

Christmas Memory Match {from simple as that}

Remember a few posts ago, I wrote about some great Christmas links, including a memory match game from simple as that , that you can download for FREEE. Well I did, and I created this version using bottle tops (of course!).

I quickly realize that I'm not a pro-crafter when I tackle projects like this and make such silly mistakes. Like printing the pictures on a basic inkjet printer and them painting modge podge over it. It (obviously) caused the ink to smudge and the paper to bubble. I almost thought I would have to throw it all away and start again, but somehow I managed to remove the paper from the bottle tops and re-apply. I decided to live with the bit of smudging - it's not too noticeable.

Just a tip - I would not have tackled this project without my circle punch. I like my circles to be perfect :).

Big One and I have played a few times already (when Little One is occupied). I will be packing this up with the Christmas goodies to be enjoyed in years to come. Thanks Rebecca for sharing such super stuff :).

PS. Need a punch? Locally, PNA stores have a great variety. Otherwise, there's always Amazon.

Till next time. 

Mom's Big Book of Things to Make

Author and creator, Melanie Bosman, kindly sent me a copy of her book Mom's Big Book of Things to Make to check out. I'm such a fan of books like these...books with art and crafts that inspire you to get creative with your kiddo's. The book offers over fifty fairly easy projects with clear photographs and good instructions.

I decided to try the coffee filter project with the children and both enjoyed the process of colouring the filters (with cokies) and then spraying them with water. The effects achieved were very pretty  and in the spirit of Christmas I decided to cut them out and make some trees.

To order a copy of the book or to see other titles, you can visit the website here.

Thank you again Melanie!

PS. Sharing at 
Show and Tell @ ABC and 123

Milk Bottle Santa

This is a craft from 2010 that I never posted - A milk bottle Santa. He's very easy to make - we used paper, googly eyes, batting for the beard, pom pom for the nose and cotton wool for the hat.

Can you imagine a whole line-up of these Santas, perhaps leading up the path way? Simply fill with sand before you start dressing him, so that he doesn't fall over too easily.

Happy Christmas crafting!

Linking this to:
For the Kids Friday @ Sun Scholars
Kids Get Crafty @ Red Ted Art's Blog 

Christmas Shoot

I always try to do a Christmassy shoot of sorts with my boys and my goal this year was to take some happy, peaceful Christmas pics of them both.

Would you ever guess that behind the scenes there was some throwing up and a little bit of blood? Seriously.

Little One managed to gag on a piece of fluff from the Santa hat pom pom - the throwing up part. And, Big one scratched open an old sore (after being pushed off the bed by his little brother!) - the bloody part.

aah yes...the joys of photographing two energetic boys on a bed...with white linen!

Nevertheless...I got these :).

Do you take some special Christmassy photos? Do share. 

Till next time.

Christmas Tree Biscuits

A few weeks back Little One brought home a Christmas Tree biscuit from school, similar to this one. I knew we had to try these at home too.

I used a very sharp knife to cut the biscuits (store bought Tennis Biscuits), but they broke very easily. I tell you this, because little people can find this upsetting. A small tip, when they do break, tell your little one that it's a puzzle and you will fix it (or they can) on the plate. Once the icing is poured over, the biscuit is far stronger. My little guy's teacher mentioned that they also spoke about division, halving, triangles and squares...so a nice little maths lesson can be had too :).

Once you have laid out your tree on a plate, the decorating starts...the best part. Oops, I forgot, the eating is the best part :). I'm not a Tennis Biscuit fan, but I even polished off a few of these. Yummy!

Thank you Tracey for the inspiration!

Sharing this at:

Teacher Gift {Little Yellow Bus}

School's Out! 

We have six wonderful weeks of Summer holidays ahead of us!

The rest of this month's posts are sure to be dedicated to Christmas, so I thought I must slip this one in quickly, before it's forgotten.

Little One started play school in July this year and he has been blessed with two amazing teachers. For end of year gifts, I bought some big Cadbury slabs and wrapped and decorated them to create these American style yellow school buses. Cute hey?

 

Inspiration from here (Katherine Marie).

Christmas Crafts coming up...stay posted :). 

PS. Shared at:
For the Kids Friday @ Sun Scholars
Show and Tell @ ABC and 123 

Christmas {Bits and Bobs}

   

Oh dear me, it's the seventh and this is my first post of the month. The computer has been calling and if I could, I would create and write and share everyday. I absolutely love this (unpaid) job. But, I don't know what it's like where you are in the world, but over here it's not only the festive season...it's also the end of our school year. It's a busy busy time. I have lots to share though, so I'll get cracking!

First up, if you haven't yet visited the Portable North Pole and organized a personal message from Santa to your little ones, do hurry. You will not be disappointed, I promise. You have to share some details, like your child's name and age and answer some questions to make the video message more personal, but it's really worth it. This particular Santa is the best I've seen and his voice is wonderful! I would love to meet him :).

Since we are on the Santa subject - Do you believe in Santa?  Amanda over at NotJustCute shares a lovely post about her view and how she will share Santa's generous spirit with her boys. A nice read - do pop over.

Another nice find are these printable Christmas jokes over at Nurturestore. Big One loves telling jokes, so I printed these out and put them on the fridge. These would also be fun to add to homemade crackers, an advent calender or simply to be told at the Christmas table.

One of my favourite blogs, simple as that, shares a wonderful post of Christmas inspiration, including a Holiday photo checklist (great idea), free Christmas tags and word art (just beautiful), and a printable Christmas memory match game (mmm, I have some ideas for this one).

For lots more Christmas inspiration, pop on over to my Christmas Fun page on Pinterest. I have pinned lots of fantastic ideas...so many I want to do...how many days till Christmas?

And last, but not least, the top image is of a much-loved Santa book for little ones. Santa's Suit is all about Santa who decides that his red suit is, well, unsuitable. But after trying out many different colours, Mrs Santa suggests that his red suit is the most suitable. I'm really not surprised that it was Mrs. Santa's suggestion ;). This rhyming book has the most delightful illustrations, teaches colours and has touch-and-feel elements on every page. I can recommend it!

Have you found any amazing Christmassy articles, ideas or freebies? I'd love to know. 

Till next time...