Gingerbread Activities: Playdough

Hi Friends! Long time, no blogging.  But we have had so much fun with our gingerbread playdough that I wanted to pop in and say hi and share this fun {little project} with you.  

These photos were actually taken last year, not long after baby M was born.  He's one now!  It's been a big year for us with a lot of change and a cross country move too!
We had so much fun with our Gingerbread playdough last year, that I made it again this year.  It's a hit again, of course!
Here's the recipe for this yummy smelling playdough:  (but don't eat it-it doesn't taste good!)

Gingerbread Playdough

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp orange extract {optional}

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan whisk together dry ingredients. Next mix in the water, oil, and orange extract and stir until a thick batter is formed. Cook the mixture over low/medium heat until a thick dough forms. Turn out onto parchment paper and knead until smooth. Makes about 2 cups of dough.

I love having a dollar store cookie sheet (or two!) on hand.  They are the perfect size for little ones and they loved putting their gingerbread "cookies" out on them.

My kids even started a "bakery" to sell their "cookies" and we had all kinds of math fun figuring out what the cost and what the change should be.  Playing is a great way to learn :)

Enjoy!

P.S. If you want the secret to EASY gingerbread houses, click here!

O Come Let Us Adore Him!

This year is our first year with the {Little} People Christmas Nativity Playset and our {little} ones (especially Ellie) have really enjoyed it.  
I have to admit that the best part for me has been watching them interact with it.

The other day I came in to find this scene:

 

It looks like the wise men took a couple of cars today, instead of camels to see the Christ child.

It made me think.  How do we come to Him?  And how can we see Him more in the everyday?

I'm sitting here holding my brand new baby boy and thinking and pondering on so many blessings.  It's a special blessing to have a brand new baby boy at this time of year.

There's a very real chance to think about another baby boy born in a manger so long ago and yet so real now.  And that baby being born means everything to you because He made it possible for you to hold your baby boy forever.  That miracle is so precious to me.

And I've been witnessing my children adore Him as they talk about Christmas and what it really means.

  

This month we are learning about Sacrifice: the giving up of something important to you for something even better.  
Our {little} ones earn plastic coins for doing their responsibilities each week and usually these coins can be traded for things in our "treasure box" at the end of the week (more about that {little project} later.)  

But in December we decided to use them to "buy" toys for kids who don't have them.

It's been a challenge for the kids to buy things out of the box for someone else when it is a toy they would like to have themselves.  At first they didn't want to spend any coins.  Then Jay saw Kay start to spend her coins to buy the toys until hers were all gone.  Her generosity inspired him.  He started giving up his coins to get toys for other kids too.  Until his coins were all gone.  Then he said to me, "Mom, I sacrificed all that I had!"

O come let us adore Him! 

A little boy and little girl who understand what a sacrifice is and that it feels good to do something for someone else.  It has made this year a different kind of Merry Christmas.  A Christmas that is more real.

And all the while, I've been watching them adore our {little} baby M.

Jay asked me if he could play the violin for him.   And I watched, knowing that He is looking on, pleased.

And my boy who is in love with every creature that He made brought a butterfly to baby M so he could hold the {little} treasure too.

 

This {little} butterfly is a winter miracle.  

Jay brought some caterpillars inside this fall and two escaped their container and made their chrysalis inside our house without us knowing.  We discovered two butterflies flying around the kitchen in the middle of the winter!  

A butterfly miracle.  In our own home.

A perfect reminder of the change that His life makes possible for us 

as we learn to be like Him.

 

It doesn't matter "how" we come to him--whether it's on a camelor walking with sheep,
or in a car,

or with new wings,
or with some plastic coins and toys that are for someone else.

It only matters that we find Him.
Everyday.  In the everyday.

My {little} ones are finding Him.  And showing me.

Having a newborn at Christmastime has meant slowing down.  
The kind of slowing down that leaves time to think about Him while I take care of my own baby boy.

 And a {little} child shall lead them.... O come let us adore Him!

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.  ~Matthew 19:14


 

Enjoy these wonderful Bible videos.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas!!

Play Doctor Kit for Kids {Handmade Holidays}

 
This doll has an owie--with a doll-sized bandaid on it.  

I can't wait to watch Jay, Kay and Ellie with these {little} bandaids and the rest of the play Doctor kit that I've been working on for Christmas.

I made people sized and doll/stuffed animal-sized bandages.  Everyone has the chance to be healed.

To make {this little project}
I used a white cotton/lycra fabric so there is plenty of stretch in the bandaids. 
 It makes them more of a one size fits all.

I sewed velcro to the ends and used a brown fabric marker for the middle.  I started with red velcro but it looked too much like an owie and I switched to white.

Really, these aren't anything special and I wondered if the kids would even know what they were.  But somehow Ellie got a peek when I was making them and asked if they were bandaids.  
So I guess they look close enough, lol.

I think I might make some colored ones too--you know, like the princess and ballerina and star wars ones we have up in the closet!

The rolled bandages are from the bottom of a white T-shirt.  I just cut off about 3 inches from the bottom of the shirt, chopped it into a couple of strips, and sewed some velcro to the ends.  The kids will come up with a fun way to use them, I'm sure.

Playing doctor will be so much more fun!

And the bonus is the chance we will have to talk about the Great Healer that we celebrate at this special time of year.  

 

 click here for more handmade gift ideas!

DIY Nativity Costumes: DONKEY and CAMEL

I have been working on Nativity Costumes for our family over the past three years.  Each year we have one or two more "official costumes" instead of just whatever we can find to make it work. 

The Nativity is what Christmas is all about for our family.  Each year we read the story as a family and act it out with the kids at least once.   It's a Christmas Eve tradition.

 

 All of the costumes are a EASY to make but I find that I don't have time to make them all during such a busy time of year.  So I am pacing myself and in another year or so we'll have a nice set ;)

  And since this is what Christmas is about for us, it's worth it to me to make the effort to make the costumes for us to use each year.  

Plus, the kids LOVE IT!

This past year I added a donkey costume and a camel costume.  

I try to make the costumes work for a variety of sizes.  Our little ones will grow up :)  

Plus, sometimes we switch up parts and Mom and Dad wear it instead of the kids.

Here is the Donkey Costume:

 

I made it in the same way that I made the sheep costumes the year before

 (like a hooded bath towel).

There is very little sewing to these costumes, so a beginner can easily make them.  I like using fleece so I don't have to hem anything.  The body of the donkey is one big rectangle piece.  The head is a rectangle of fleece sewn to the middle of the body.  I sewed some ears on each side and a mane and tail to the middle of the "back" of the donkey.  

Then I just used some black felt for feet, eyes, and a nose.  

I was actually just using scraps from another {little project} for the donkey, which is why it's not straight across the bottom ;)

 

Kay when she was 4 years old.

For the camel I used the same idea, just different colored fleece.  You can stuff something inside the back for the hump(s).  

I love how versatile this pattern is.  Not to mention how cute everyone looks in them!  

Well be able to use them for years to come :)

For sheep, see this link

For the Angel, look here:

  

And for Wisemen go here

  Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!

click here fore more handmade fun!

 

DIY Nativity Costume: Angel (and swaddling clothes)

Some of the best projects for me are the ones I can get done in a snap.  This Nativity Angel costume is that kind of {little project}.

I made our Angel Nativity Costume from a white sheet.  You can use an old one you have on hand.  I've also come across lots of sheets at the thrift store that are fun to cut up.  With the leftover sheet I cut strips for "swaddling clothes" to use with a baby doll.

To make 

{This Little Project} 

I just:

1- Laid a white sheet on the floor, 

2- Doubled it over (so there would be a font and a back)

3- Had my son lay down on top of the sheet.

4- Cut the white sheet around him with scissors (plus extra so there is growing room too).

5- Pinned the edges.

6- Sewed around all the edges except the neck and the bottom.

7- Turned it inside out so the seam is inside now.

8- Tried it on.

9- Added a gold belt to give it some shape.

Done!

How to Make Doll Diapers: Upcycling {Handmade Holidays}

  With baby M arriving any day I've tried to be ahead on Christmas presents this year.  Handmade gifts are still some of my favorites.  This year I made Ellie and Kay a batch of diapers for their dolls.  This is a gift they will get before Christmas though because Ellie will be all over our {little} newborn otherwise!   Here are a few of the doll diapers: I love how they turned out and had a lot of fun choosing the colors out.    I used these instructions to make them.  Only I didn't use felt.     Felt + velcro is NOT a great combination.  Your velcro will stick to every part of a felt diaper.  BUT, felt has 2 great qualities: it's inexpensive and you don't need to deal with the edges fraying.
I didn't want to use felt so I found  something with those same 2 great qualities:   old T-shirts! That's right: they don't cost anything and T-shirt material doesn't fray! Yay for upcycling!
Another bonus: fun patterns on the diapers :)
I also altered the pattern by cutting 1/2 inch off of each of these 4 sides.  The diapers were just a little too big for our dolls.    Here's how they turned out:  This one is cut from my old polar fleece shirt.

  One other alteration I made: COLORED velcro! When I went to buy some velcro I found all of these colored choices in the "value buy" bins at Joanne's.  It was less than $1 for 2 feet of each color. I love the pink, red, blue, and white--it gives them some added flare :)  

Other than putting the velcro on, I didn't do any sewing for {this little project}.  

  I also cut some {little} wipes out from an old white t-shirt to go with the diapers. 

    It almost makes changing a diaper look fun, huh?       

 

 

DIY Reusable Gift Wrap {Happy Earth Day!}

When you think back, do you ever just laugh at how some of your traditions got started?

It seems like some of our favorites traditions happened totally unexpectedly.
Our reusable gift wrap is a {little project} I started 2 years ago and it has turned into one of our FAVORITE TRADITIONS.

Go figure.

With Earth Day coming up this week, it's a perfect {little project} to try out.

 

Our reusable gift wrap is one of husband's favorite {little} things at Christmastime.  Since we still have {little} people at our house we don't wrap anything until Christmas Eve.  

(No matter what gift wrap we use it gets opened early, otherwise!)

And, since wrapping gifts isn't his favorite thing to do, he really loves these {little} bags that he just has to stuff and tie it closed!  Reusable gift wrap is super quick too!

Speaking of tying them closed, I love how {this little project} looks with tulle as the tie.  I'm a big fan of tulle.  It's cute, gives it a special look, and is so inexpensive.  You can use it again and again too.

The reason my kids love our reusable gift wrap is that they have their own special birthday bags.
Each birthday they choose the theme they want for their party and we pick out a special fabric that matches the theme to make a special bag with.

Here is Kay's choice from her "ballet birthday" this year.  It's fun to use the birthday bags from past years too and relive memories of previous events too.



We love that this reusable gift wrap lasts from year to year and we aren't throwing tons of waste away anymore.

And one of the best things about this reusable gift wrap is that it's a cinch to make!

Here's a burlap one I did (it's inside out in the photo)

 
I just used a serger across the top and then folded it and half and went down the 2 sides.
You don't have to use a serger, but burlap frays otherwise. I use the same steps with the other bags.  And of course, you can make them any size.

Sometimes I hem the top instead.  If I'm not being lazy :)

This really is a {little} project.  

It takes 5 minutes or less!



But you get to enjoy it for a long time. 
And the Earth will thank you for it!

Happy Birthday...or...Earth Day!

Repurposed Christmas Stockings

What do you get with a red sweater, a grey wool sweater, and a men's shirt?

Stockings!!

I found this marvelous grey wool sweater at a thrift store and thought that it would make some snuggly-looking stockings.  


I haven't done handmade stockings before, but {this little project} was a lot easier than I thought!

 

There was enough of the grey sweater for the fronts so I used a red sweater for the backs.  

I had enough to work with by using the front, back and each sleeve of each of the sweaters.  

I ended up with enough to sew 5 stockings by being super careful when cutting them out.
  Four stockings would have been even easier.

And the men's shirt?  

It became the lining!  

One thing I love about repurposing is trying to use each part of the original.
  
The buttons on the front of the men's shirt made the charming hanging loops--perfect!

And there you go, earth day meets Christmas!