Christmas Crafts

We like to make a few gifts ourselves each Christmas. Pinterest is a great resource! All these ideas were found there.

These oversized Christmas cards were a fun way to re-use the lids to wipe containers. I printed out the templates on card stock. Hayden and Wesley colored them.

The hardest part was taking the picture for inside the door. First I was too far away, then I was too close. I finally got it right. I think they turned out really cute!

I helped Annabeth make a candle for each Grandma. She colored with marker on tissue paper. It went surprisingly well. I thought the tissue paper would tear, but it didn't. Then I took her artwork and used a hair dryer to melt it into the candle. It worked great! Once they were cool you couldn't even tell there was tissue paper there, it just looked like regular wax.

I helped the boys make a little treat for their neighborhood friends. We bought some Christmas baggies at the dollar store and filled them with Whoppers. Then we printed out this funny little saying to staple on the bags:

You've been naughty

so here's the scoop,

all you're getting 

is reindeer poop!

The boys thought it was pretty funny! Once they were done we loaded in the car to go deliver them. It was a bust, no one was home. We did get them handed out eventually. Hopefully their friends thought they were as funny as the boys did. If not, then at least they got a bag of candy.

Fun Dollars have become a new tradition. I found the fun dollar template online a couple years ago and have been using it ever since. The boys got coupons for:

1. One night to stay up late

2. One day skip chores

3. One day skip math

4. Candy bar or beverage of their choice

5. One extra computer turn

6. One bubble bath

This year I even made up a few for Roz! I thought the most creative one was we will pay her electric bill one month this year.

I like to make a gift for the kids each year. I saw these little shelves on Pinterest (of course) and thought they would be a fun way to keep some items handy near each child's bed. I bought the wood crates and letter tiles at JoAnn's and spent several evenings painting them out in the guest house.

I didn't think the kids would understand what they were when they opened them so I made up these little labels to attach before wrapping. 

The kids liked them more than I thought they would. Wesley has been asking me every day to get them hung up but I haven't made the trip to Home Depot to the supplies yet.

I didn't take a picture, but I had enough letter tiles left to make Roz a bonus ornament spelling out her full name and one for a friend too!