The Spirit of the Season

If you have little ones like I do, one of the fun things about the season is helping them discover the Spirit of the Christmas Season. That is also the subject over at the Talk to me Tuesday for Tip Junkie: How do you keep Christ in Christmas with so many "wish lists" floating around.

As a child I remember our house being filled with nativity sets from all over the world. My Mom collected them and displayed them so that no matter where you looked there was a reminder of what Christmas was really about. I am still building my collection. I thought this little cut and color nativity was just the perfect little craft for kids. It is a simple reminder about the greatest gift and the reason for the Spirit of the Season. It is a free one to print from Scrapbook Scrapbook.

If you have any ideas to add, head on over to Tip Junkie to contribute :)
Enjoy!

Christmas Around the World

In college used to dance in a production called "Christmas Around the World." This year I get to teach some international dances at our church's Christmas party and I am so excited. I love this video that reminds us that we are all connected. And that Christmas is about Joy to the World because of our Savior.

Enjoy this musical project from joytoeveryone.com that reminds us what Christmas is really about.

I hope all of your holiday little projects are going well and are helping you to build a Merry Christmas!

Project: Booking a Tradition

I have been thinking a lot about Christmas traditions this year. I think some traditions just happen, or develop over time. But I think that putting some thought into what we want to happen means it is more likely to happen. I started a notebook and started writing down my ideas and goals for the holiday (once I got going I started a section in my notebook for each holiday). One of my goals is to have memorable family time. Regardless of your religion, this can be a fun tradition.

When I got out all of our Christmas decorations I realized just how many Christmas books we had. So I put them in this nifty treasure box (from the Dollar Tree) and now we have a fun family activity taking turns choosing out a book and reading it each night.

We don't have enough for all 25 days, but I am sure our collection will grow over the years. In the meantime we can look for new favorites at our library. And right now we have a lot of board books in the collection. But as our kids grow those will probably be changed out too.

So far we have had a GREAT time together. Which is one of our goals, and the kids look forward to it each night. I've seen others who wrap up each book and put a number on it to match the day of advent. I didn't want to take the time this year and the box has worked great. Maybe when the kids are older we will wrap them to increase the mystery and fun.

Have a great time with your traditional little projects, and feel free to share some of your own ideas.
LINK for some Christ-centered ideas (and they are linked to this blog :) I especially love the link they have to THIS Christmas game. We just taught our son how to play "go fish" so I think we will be making This Little Project :)

Charitable idea here- LINK-I especially like the video on the right.

Mint-Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies

I was introduced to these cookies by my friend Julie. They are oh so yummy so I had to share them! This time of the year is so tasty. Your neighbors will love these! Best of all, they are so EASY and FAST!!!

The recipe is one she found on the Food Network website and modified a little bit. It is like a mix of cheese cake and cookies.

Here is the new and improved recipe {variations I have tried are also listed below. The cookies pictured are a variation.}

Mint-Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies:

Note: this recipe needs to chill for 2 hours (or overnight) so prepare ahead of time ;)
1 (8 ounce) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix (the flavor you choose determines the kind of cookie-see suggestions below.)
Andes Chocolate mints chopped up (or any kind of chocolate chip) I used about 8 oz. but you probably can't have too much chocolate!
Crushed Candy Canes
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:
In a large bowl with an electic mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Add the vanilla extract. Then, add the cake mix. Finally, stir in chocolate chips and cover and regrigerate for 2 hours to firm up.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in crushed candy canes. Place on an ungreased cokie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Let cool before transferring to cooling rack. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired.
That's it! What a YUMMY Little Project!

When I am in a hurry I don't roll them up into balls. They don't come out perfectly circular, but they still taste good!

Here are some Tasty variations (these don't use candy canes).
*Lemon Cake Mix+White Chocolate Chips
*Berry Cake+Raspberry/Chocolate Chips-this is the one that is pictured
*If you don't have Andes mints on hand try adding a little peppermint extract and using regular chocolate chips.

This is reminding me that I have a really great recipe book project to share. Watch for a great way to organize your favorite recipes-coming soon!
Enjoy your Little Project!

Cupcake Christmas

There is one thing that I have an unexplainable fancy for: cupcakes!  I LOVE to make these fun little treats. I have a cupboard full of sprinkles and sparkles for them. These Christmas cupcakes were just too fun to pass up sharing them!  Many of these are simply photos from creative people on flickr.  There is also this LINK to all things cupcakes.  

If you build it...he will come!! he he :)

Are you feeling inspired to have some Christmas cupcake fun too?

Go on, have a little fun with your Christmas cupcake :)

Is it possible to have something so adorably yummy? I am going to the kitchen....This Little Project looks yum!

Advent Adventures

OK, so I have something to admit: I don't have a single advent calendar. Why? How did this happen? Good question. But this year it is going to happen. Now, I know that today is December 1st, the day that you start USING your advent calendar. But I have just decided to make one. I am thinking that I will make a new piece of it each day and will have a complete advent calendar by the 25th!

Now, only to decide WHICH one to make...this has been more difficult than I thought. Treats, or not? To put something up, or take something down? Sacred or secular? Cutesy or not?  And for now...I'm not telling!!!

The end of my Advent Adventure is going to be a surprise. Yup. Pure Suspense for the next 24.5 days!

In the meantime, if you are trying to decide which ones to make, I'll share a few that I have come across. Can you have too many of these fun little calendars? Even if you already one, you will probably want to make another one after you see how awesome some of these are!

The tutorial to make this one is from The Purl Bee.

This gum one is just sooo cute and minty too! The tutorial is courtesy of my little mochi. She is so creative!


These are SUPER Kid-Friendly Christmas Advents.

I am thinking about putting magnets on the backs of this one and putting it in the bag for the kids to do at church. LINK

My son LOVES puzzles. This one could act as a puzzle or advent. We may use it for both. I cut the pieces out and put them in a page protector with the back sheet to keep everything together. LINK

These made me LAUGH-who thinks of using toilet paper rolls for advents?! But I have started to save my toilet paper rolls since the kids would love it... :) There are two! LINK and LINK

This one looks pretty easy to make. LINK

I think this is one I am going to have to try out too:

There are family photos on the back of each one. My friend Tanya made this-she's so talented!. She said she used:
a 16X20 frame (everything is attached to the cardboard that came in the frame)
Seasonal Scrapbook paper
Brads
Eyelets
family photos
photo corners (so you can change out the photos if you want to)
sounds like a FUN Little Project :)


Here are a couple of Origami advents LINK


And just in case that didn't give you enough ideas, whipup has a great big list with more ideas you can check out, and there are a bunch of cute ones HERE on Flickr too. I hope you feel inspired to have fun with your Little Project!