The Great Gift Idea Exchange 1-5

We have so many great gift ideas so we are excited to share them with you. Some gifts would be great for family and others are smaller that would be great for neighbors, teachers, and friends. We decided to share 5 ideas at a time so here is our first five. The others will be posted in days to come.

1. Lantern with Candle- These are a beautiful addition to holiday decor and a scented candle only helps this cause, but we also found when our power went out , this makes a safe and practical source of light. It would also be fun to etch the family initial on the glass First get the stencil made out of vinyl and then follow the directions on the etching cream which can be found at most craft stores. The lanterns are available at IKEA for $6.99.
May your holiday be merry and bright!

2. Windshield Wiper Fluid- If you live in a cold area get the kind that doesn't freeze. Add a cute little tag like. This would also work for some fun hand soap.
Here's washing you a Merry Christmas!

3. Family Fleece Blanket- These are especially fun with the family name embroidered on it.
May you have a warm and wonderful holiday.

4. Wooden Block Photo Puzzle - I think these are so fun. Here are a few different instructions.

HowDoesShe

Not So Idle Hands

5. Your favorite family card or board game.

May you have a FUN and wonderful holiday.

Congratulations to our Winners!!!

Thanks for all your comments and great gift ideas. We almost have them complied and ready to post. Our Great Gift Exchange winners are Kim and Alysha. Kim won the growth chart sticker and Alysha won the apron. Congratulations and thanks again!

Simple Way of Giving Thanks

Make a thankful book.

This would be a great activity for little ones while waiting for the delicious dinner or anytime this next week. All you need is:

Scissors

Old Magazines

Paper

Glue

My 4 year old loves loves to cut, glue, color, and tape so this was to perfect afternoon activity at our house. For others not so good with scissors yet I has a pre-cut pile of pictures from old magazines to choose from. We stapled a few pages together to make a book and they decorated to cover. We then chose all sorts of things that we were grateful for and pasted them on all the pages. It was very simple but very fun.

Here are some other Thanksgiving ideas that we thought would be fun.

Nature Give Thanks Banner

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Oops, How to get stickies off your iron

Ironing Dryer Sheets

I am sure I am not the only one that has made this mistake so I thought I would share. I was working on a project and while using iron-on-interfacing I did not cover it with the paper completely. Needless to say I had a big mess and one sticky iron plate. So what do I do when I have a problem like this, right goggle it. I read that you can purchase and expensive iron plate cleaner or you can just iron dryer sheets.

I put an old towel under the dryer sheet, set the iron on to a pretty hot setting, and started ironing. It did take a a few sheets but it is now as good as new. Quick tip that I am sure I may need again in the future.

The Thankful Tree

We came up with this a few years ago for the Thanksgiving season. We call it the Thankful Tree. I placed a twig from outside (we found a lilac bush to have the best little branches) in a small pot and then filled it with Plaster of Paris. You can find this at any craft store. After this dries place a little bit of moss on top around the twig.

I then cut out some varies colors of small paper leaves , hole punched the top, and threaded a piece to hemp (or string) through.

I then attached this little poem that we had written. You can then write things (or draw pictures) on the leaves and hang them on the tree. This a fun to do throughout the month or on Thanksgiving day. These also make fun little gifts.

I also think that it would be fun doing a similar thing with bigger paper leaves and hang your "Thankful Leaves" on a piece of twine or ribbon. Something like this at Pottery Barn.

Password Keeper

Do you have a hard time remembering passwords and login names for all of the shopping, bills, registrations, emails, etc. I know that this was becoming a problem at our house. We started writing them on a paper by the computer but were running out of room quickly. We found that an address book worked great for this. I found this one at a dollar store. You just jot down your login and password under the alphabetical letter that is applies to. A is for Amazon, B is for Barnes and Noble, C is for Chase and so on. I hope this helps with the missing passwords at your house.

Make a Monster Friend

A little late than never right. Sorry for the gap in posts. We were having a few technical difficulties and we were also busy Halloweening.

My girls have loved these so much that I thought I would post this anyway. I have seen something similar here at Family Fun.

First I had each child choose scraps of fabric they wanted. You will need two body shapes (whatever you would like). It might be fun to have your child draw a shape and use that. I just cut out a shape. Next you will need two legs, two arms, a pocket on the back (optional), and face materials (buttons, ribbon, beads, felt, etc.)

With the legs and arms already stuffed place all of the parts on the inside and sew around the body shape.

Leave a hole to turn it right side out and then stuff the body and sew up the hole. The most fun for my little one was creating it. They loved to design their own monster.

An after thought I had was to cut out a little felt heart and place that inside while stuffing the body (something similar the Build-A-Bear).

***These little monsters became very helpful at our house because they are not afraid of the dark and will help you at night if you get scared.

Love Helps us Grow

I have the opportunity to work with a group of fun little three year-olds. We had a lesson about how our bodies grow and stay healthy through rest, good food, and exercise. As I began, I asked, "What helps us to grow bigger?" One little one raised her little hand and very excitedly answered, "My mommy and daddy love me so much I just keep growing bigger." Many others started to add in also. I smiled to myself because that was a very true answer.
The love from our family does help us to grow.

Outfit Organization

Having several daughters in our family can sometimes mean a little extra stress in the morning when it comes to getting dressed for school. Several years ago I found a tip that help simplify this problem for everyone and it has worked fabulously ever since.

We created 8-10 special hangers for everyone by tying ribbon to the top and we used a different color ribbon for each child. This was especially important for those who share a closet.

When it is time to put laundry away, I help each child pick out enough clothes for the next school week. We match up tops and bottoms into outfits including belts, tights, etc. and hang them on the special hangers. We have fun with fashion design and we choose clothes that will work well for the upcoming weather. Creating 7-10 outfits ensures that they will always have a few to choose from and extras if needed.

Each morning for the next week my kids get to choose whatever they are in the mood to wear from the special hangers. Even better I get more free time in the morning and less discussions about wearing pajamas, tutus or shorts with snow boots to school.

Ghosts and Bats for Breakfast???

Fun Fall Breakfast

Get out all of your favorite cookie cutters (one of our favorite kitchen accessories). Everyone choose their favorite shape. Butter both sides of a slice of bread and cut out your shape from the middle.

Then place your bread on a griddle or frying pan and crack an egg in the middle. Add salt and pepper if desired. Cook until your egg is done. I flip mine and cook on both sides because I like a well done egg.

Enjoy your simple fall breakfast (or lunch or dinner, which we also do a lot around our house.)
We ended up with a ghost, a bat, a foot, and Winnie the Pooh. My little one laughed all morning about eating a foot for breakfast.

Fabric Pumpkins

A while ago I purchased a box of scrap material from a local furniture factory. I am not sure if all factories do this but if there is one in your area you might want to check into it. It was very inexpensive for a very large box. Anyway the fabric has been great for costumes, throw pillows, i spy pillows, and many other projects including these fabric pumpkins from The Idea Room.

I changed the size a little on mine to adjust to the scraps of fabric that I had.
I love these because thay were easy, fast, and friendly for little hands (non-breakable).

Stuffed Cheesy Breadsticks

Stuffed Cheesy Breadsticks

2 1/4 cups warm water
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tb yeast
1 Tb salt
2 Tbs oil
About 6 cups of flour
6-8 String Cheese Sticks
Garlic Butter
400 degrees for about 15 mins
16-18 Breadsticks

I made these with my favorite french bread recipe.

2 1/4 cups warm water
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tb yeast
1 Tb salt
2 Tbs oil
About 6 cups of flour

In mixer or bowl combine warm water and sugar and yeast. After this has softened (a couple of minutes) add oil, salt, and begin adding flour 1 cup at a time. Add until a soft dough if formed. Let this rise for about 10 min and then mix and then let rise again. Repeat this about 3 times.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and divide into 16-18 pieces.

I use string cheese sticks to stuff mine. I split my cheese into three pieces but you could also do two. Flatten out a piece of bread and place cheese on top.

Wrap your bread dough around the cheese. Seal it well or all of your cheese will leak out.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place them on a greased cookie sheet and let rise for about 15 minutes.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Brush with garlic butter while warm.
YUMMY!!