I realize this is not for everyone out there. But maybe I have some readers who would like it!
Amazon MP3 downloads store currently has an entire VeggieTales Christmas album to download for FREE. Yep, FREE.
The album is "The Incredible Singing Christmas Tree." There are 16 tracks on the album, and there is a story that goes along through the album with the songs. It is kind of fun! Probably especially if you like VeggieTales...
Showing posts with label christmas countdown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas countdown. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Cookies, Cookies, Cookies
Every year my sisters and I get together to bake about a bazillion kinds of cookies in one day. Really it is only seven kinds, but some of them are so putzy that it feels like more. My kids have grown to love this day, and Kiddo listed it among the traditions he did not want to miss when I asked him what things we had to do this December. The picture is of how he thought it would be best to cut out sugar cookies--one of every cutter. We spent basically the whole day baking cookies. We arrived later than I might have liked, about 11 am. My sisters had already mixed up the chocolate crinkles and the sugar cookies because they have to chill. We proceeded to mix up and bake peanut blossoms, almond bark cookies, almond butter cookies (which are pressed with a spritz press), krumkake (Norwegian cookies shaped like scrolls, baked two at a time on a special iron), and chocolate turtles (baked 4 at a time on a waffle iron). The kids helped with the almond bark cookies, the almond butter cookies, and the sugar cookies. They took some major breaks to play, go outside, and play some more. We got snow earlier in the week, but by the weekend it had warmed up, so in addition to making cookies, Kiddo and Kutey got some time outside with Auntie J in the snow. Another absolute favorite activity. They may have watched a movie in there, too, I can't really remember! I was busy. Seven kinds of cookies in one day is a lot. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of each kind, but, well, I just didn't. Maybe next year!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sandpaper Gingerbread people
I love crafts that use somewhat unexpected materials. Sandpaper provides a great texture experience for the kids as well as a unique look to the finished project.
I used the template provided here for the larger ones. Kiddo wanted me to do my own, too, but I didn't want to use another sheet of sandpaper, so I freehanded the smaller one. I think it turned out fairly well!
Once we had the gingerbread people cut out, we got out the Scribbles 3D paints and started drawing the details in. Kiddo wanted to know what gingerbread people looked like, so I went and found the book Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.
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It is a cute story, and new for the kids this season. I picked it up at H*lf-Price Books sometime this summer. SO once Kiddo had used it for the pictures, I read them the story. We followed it up by eating some gingerbread cookies!
I used the template provided here for the larger ones. Kiddo wanted me to do my own, too, but I didn't want to use another sheet of sandpaper, so I freehanded the smaller one. I think it turned out fairly well!
Once we had the gingerbread people cut out, we got out the Scribbles 3D paints and started drawing the details in. Kiddo wanted to know what gingerbread people looked like, so I went and found the book Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.
. It is a cute story, and new for the kids this season. I picked it up at H*lf-Price Books sometime this summer. SO once Kiddo had used it for the pictures, I read them the story. We followed it up by eating some gingerbread cookies!
Paper Strip Trees
I have seen this activity a couple of places, and it seemed so easy yet festive and fun!
The materials were so simple! Paper and glue. We added stickers, but you certainly could do it without the stickers. I bought a book of 8 x 8 Christmas themed scrapbook paper for something like $5. It was on sale, and we have plenty of paper left after this activity to either do other crafts or actually use for scrapbooking (if I ever find time to do such things!)
I took out one sheet of each pattern, cut 2 half-inch strips off of each, then cut them in varying lengths--some 1 inch, some 2 inch, some 3 inch, some 4 inch, and some 5 inch. I put each group into one of our recycled applesauce cups. I also cut light weight cardstock so that I had pieces that were 6 X 8 1/2.
The kids took one strip of each size paper, smeared glue on the back with a glue stick (I used school glue and a paint brush because all but 2 of our glue sticks are worthless) and placed them in order from longest at the bottom to shortest at the top.
Then we realized we had floating trees. So I cut some sort of goldish cardstock from the same paper book into 1 inch squares and we glued those on as trunks. We used stickers for the stars on top. I thought they were lovely just the way they were, but Kiddo and Kutey wanted to decorate the trees. Hmmm, well, OK. I dug out some stickers and let them pick out what they wanted. I won't say they were the most Christmasy stickers but the kids enjoyed them and that is what matters!
Mine are the undecorated two on the left. Kiddos are the two on top, and Kutey's are below his. As you can see, Kiddo went with all one color paper, which means two things: I had to cut more paper halfway through, and there is a bunch of other colors left in strips. There was going to be some left over anyway, so it isn't huge, but I need to find a craft that would use it up now. Any ideas are welcome!
The materials were so simple! Paper and glue. We added stickers, but you certainly could do it without the stickers. I bought a book of 8 x 8 Christmas themed scrapbook paper for something like $5. It was on sale, and we have plenty of paper left after this activity to either do other crafts or actually use for scrapbooking (if I ever find time to do such things!)
I took out one sheet of each pattern, cut 2 half-inch strips off of each, then cut them in varying lengths--some 1 inch, some 2 inch, some 3 inch, some 4 inch, and some 5 inch. I put each group into one of our recycled applesauce cups. I also cut light weight cardstock so that I had pieces that were 6 X 8 1/2.
The kids took one strip of each size paper, smeared glue on the back with a glue stick (I used school glue and a paint brush because all but 2 of our glue sticks are worthless) and placed them in order from longest at the bottom to shortest at the top.
Then we realized we had floating trees. So I cut some sort of goldish cardstock from the same paper book into 1 inch squares and we glued those on as trunks. We used stickers for the stars on top. I thought they were lovely just the way they were, but Kiddo and Kutey wanted to decorate the trees. Hmmm, well, OK. I dug out some stickers and let them pick out what they wanted. I won't say they were the most Christmasy stickers but the kids enjoyed them and that is what matters!
Mine are the undecorated two on the left. Kiddos are the two on top, and Kutey's are below his. As you can see, Kiddo went with all one color paper, which means two things: I had to cut more paper halfway through, and there is a bunch of other colors left in strips. There was going to be some left over anyway, so it isn't huge, but I need to find a craft that would use it up now. Any ideas are welcome!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Our Classroom Today--December 8
One of the benefits to living in a metropolitan area is the vast array of opportunities available. Today our Tuesday group spent the afternoon at the American Swedish Institute. I love the Swedish Institute. I have only been there at Christmas time, when they have the whole house decorated for the season. It is beautiful. And educational. They do a "Nordic Christmas," which means you get to learn about Christmas traditions in not only Sweden, but also Norway, Finland, and Denmark.
The history is right up Kiddo's alley, too. In fact, when we left, he said he wanted to go back sometime because we didn't get to read everything and explore everything.
The mansion that houses the Swedish Institute was built in the early part of the 20th century by Swan Turnblad. He published the Swedish language newspaper Svenska Amerikanska Posten. He moved into the house in 1908 with his wife and theri only child, a daughter. They lived in the house until his wife passed away in 1929, when they moved across the street and created the American Swedish Institute, giving house to the organization. I am always taken aback that this house was built for three people to live in. Their daughter was already in her 20's when they moved in, so they knew they would not be having more children. And then to live there for 20 years, and be the only family to ever live in the house. It just amazes me.
We didn't do a guided tour this time--our experience last time was a bit less than expected, so we opted to go on our own--but we did buy the Tomte Tour book for $2. It was worth two dollars, though I am glad it didn't cost more. They also had a sheet of 100 things to try to find in various parts of the house. With a group of 8 kids ranging in age from not quite a year to 6 1/2, we didn't try to find all 100. I am impressed we got as many as we did!
When we had exhausted the children's attention span, we headed to the basement of the institute where they have a small (very small) cafe. We snacked on flat bread and cheese, fruit soup, and cookies. I love fruit soup, but don't get it very often. This was delicious. Kiddo and Kutey sampled it, too, and enjoyed it. I think I will find a recipe to try...in January or February.
The kids also enjoyed riding on the hand crafted Dala horse, playing in a great little Swedish kitchen complete with pretend lussekatt and pepparkakor, and hunting for all 11 of the kakelugnar. We only found 10, which just means we'll be looking again next time!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Christmas Tree
Every year we head out to the tree farm to cut our own Christmas tree. And it seems that every year the weekend we select is the absolute coldest weekend possible. This year was no different. Still, the kids look forward to it, it is a family tradition (I am big on those, and I recognize the importance of them to children), so we went.
I love evergreens. Maybe it is because I live in an area with short summers. The deep green of the spruce and fir and pine trees is beautiful against the snow here. Even before the snow comes, the green provides some contrast in the otherwise brown landscape. The snow isn't deep this year, which is good. We went to a different farm than in years past because our past farm no longer had any fir trees. I like fir trees. I don't like spruce trees. I break out if I touch a spruce tree. That makes decorating a bit tricky. It is interesting to go to different farms and see the difference in their trees. The previous farm made their trees look quite cone-shaped in their trimming. Unnaturally so. They also seem to color at least some of their trees--to make them more green (aren't evergreens green in the first place?) This year's farm trimmed their trees some, but they looked much more natural. And none of them seemed an unnatural green.
We walked out in the freezing cold. We searched through all the trees. Kiddo kept finding a new one that was the right one. One of the pleasures of cutting your own tree is that you get to see what it looks like before it was all squashed on a truck. I grew up with an artificial tree. Hubby grew up with real, but not cut your own. We finally settled on one that I deemed "good enough!" That is usually what happens. I get so cold I'll say yes to any tree! The kids love to watch Daddy cut it down, and then we dragged it back to the stand and the car. Another Christmas tree down.
I love evergreens. Maybe it is because I live in an area with short summers. The deep green of the spruce and fir and pine trees is beautiful against the snow here. Even before the snow comes, the green provides some contrast in the otherwise brown landscape. The snow isn't deep this year, which is good. We went to a different farm than in years past because our past farm no longer had any fir trees. I like fir trees. I don't like spruce trees. I break out if I touch a spruce tree. That makes decorating a bit tricky. It is interesting to go to different farms and see the difference in their trees. The previous farm made their trees look quite cone-shaped in their trimming. Unnaturally so. They also seem to color at least some of their trees--to make them more green (aren't evergreens green in the first place?) This year's farm trimmed their trees some, but they looked much more natural. And none of them seemed an unnatural green.
We walked out in the freezing cold. We searched through all the trees. Kiddo kept finding a new one that was the right one. One of the pleasures of cutting your own tree is that you get to see what it looks like before it was all squashed on a truck. I grew up with an artificial tree. Hubby grew up with real, but not cut your own. We finally settled on one that I deemed "good enough!" That is usually what happens. I get so cold I'll say yes to any tree! The kids love to watch Daddy cut it down, and then we dragged it back to the stand and the car. Another Christmas tree down.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Peppermint Glitter Playdough
I love homemade playdough. It is so much more malleable than the store bought stuff, it lasts for what seems like forever in the refrigerator, and you can make whatever color you want. So when I read this, I knew it would be one of the things I made for our December activity countdown.
I used this recipe, which is basically the same as the recipe the originally poster links to here. I like her list of ideas, however, so I am linking hers, too! I added about a teaspoon of peppermint to this batch. I actually like the peppermint addition! I do not mix my food coloring in until the end, however. That allows me to make more than one color out of a recipe. One recipe made enough for 3 colors, and enough for Kiddo and Kutey to each have a ball of each color.
I let Kiddo and Kutey pick the colors--red, green and white. Then we picked glitter. Oh, the fun. Adding glitter was new to all of us. They chose to have the glitter match the color of the dough--green dough/green glitter, red dough/red glitter, white dough/white glitter. They had a blast!
I added 5 cookie cutters I got for a couple of bucks at Targ*t. So simple, so fun. I am glad I made this early in the month--I can see it being played with a ton!
I used this recipe, which is basically the same as the recipe the originally poster links to here. I like her list of ideas, however, so I am linking hers, too! I added about a teaspoon of peppermint to this batch. I actually like the peppermint addition! I do not mix my food coloring in until the end, however. That allows me to make more than one color out of a recipe. One recipe made enough for 3 colors, and enough for Kiddo and Kutey to each have a ball of each color.
I let Kiddo and Kutey pick the colors--red, green and white. Then we picked glitter. Oh, the fun. Adding glitter was new to all of us. They chose to have the glitter match the color of the dough--green dough/green glitter, red dough/red glitter, white dough/white glitter. They had a blast!
I added 5 cookie cutters I got for a couple of bucks at Targ*t. So simple, so fun. I am glad I made this early in the month--I can see it being played with a ton!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Mint meltaway cookies
Today the kids and I made Mint Meltaway cookies for my MOMS Club's cookie exchange tomorrow. Well, actually, the batch we made will be consumed by us. The batch I made by myself after a trip to the grocery store will be for the exchange. Something went wrong with the first batch, though I can't figure out what.
These cookies are quite simple to make, and the recipe makes a manageable number of cookies. The ingredients are quite simple. You add a little green food coloring, though, and the mint extract, and they become very festive. I also like to add some red and green sprinkles to the powdered sugar you roll them in at the end. It makes them a bit more festive.
Here is the recipe, in case you'd like to try them yourself.
Mint Meltaway Cookies
1 cup of butter or margarine (I use butter)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix butter, powdered sugar, and mint thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix salt and flour together. Mix into butter mixture. Mix in a few drops of green food coloring. Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet (I use a small cookie scoop). Cookies do not spread, so they can be placed fairly close together. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 8 minutes (I think mine are usually a little less), until cookies are set but not brown. While warm, dip in powdered sugar and red and green sprinkles.
Enjoy!
Modified from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book.
These cookies are quite simple to make, and the recipe makes a manageable number of cookies. The ingredients are quite simple. You add a little green food coloring, though, and the mint extract, and they become very festive. I also like to add some red and green sprinkles to the powdered sugar you roll them in at the end. It makes them a bit more festive.
Here is the recipe, in case you'd like to try them yourself.
Mint Meltaway Cookies
1 cup of butter or margarine (I use butter)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix butter, powdered sugar, and mint thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix salt and flour together. Mix into butter mixture. Mix in a few drops of green food coloring. Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet (I use a small cookie scoop). Cookies do not spread, so they can be placed fairly close together. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 8 minutes (I think mine are usually a little less), until cookies are set but not brown. While warm, dip in powdered sugar and red and green sprinkles.
Enjoy!
Modified from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book.
December Christmas Countdown
I love the Christmas Season. But I don't love feeling harried and rushed. Sometimes I feel like I miss things. So this year I am trying something new. I put everything on my goo*le calendar (I LOVE my goo*le calendar--but that is a whole other post) and I simply go there to make sure I am not missing anything. I filled it with activities, crafts, decorating, and baking, just to name a few. I also added all the holiday TV specials to the calendar, because it always seems that we miss them!
One of the great things about setting it up as a goo*le calendar is that I can easily change things up if I have to. When Kiddo received an invitation to a birthday party, I was able to move the activities I had planned for that day (like cutting our Christmas tree) to another day easily. It is an extraordinary visual reminder of what I hoped to accomplish today. It also makes it easy to keep the kids doing things all month. I hope to post most of what we do all month, but I may have to do them in clusters!
What are you doing for the month of December? Do you have an organized way to keep track of your activities? Do you use one of those beautiful advent calendars? I love this one, but, well, it was a bit more than I could do this year! Maybe I'll make it in January, so I have it ready for next year!
One of the great things about setting it up as a goo*le calendar is that I can easily change things up if I have to. When Kiddo received an invitation to a birthday party, I was able to move the activities I had planned for that day (like cutting our Christmas tree) to another day easily. It is an extraordinary visual reminder of what I hoped to accomplish today. It also makes it easy to keep the kids doing things all month. I hope to post most of what we do all month, but I may have to do them in clusters!
What are you doing for the month of December? Do you have an organized way to keep track of your activities? Do you use one of those beautiful advent calendars? I love this one, but, well, it was a bit more than I could do this year! Maybe I'll make it in January, so I have it ready for next year!
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