Winter Fun (Inside)

The weather outside has been chilly and though I wouldn't hesitate to take Big Brother out there Little Brother just can't keep warm like the rest of us movers and shakers so we have been inside a lot more than I would like to admit this winter.  Here are a couple pics of some indoor activities that me and the Little Guys have been doing.  There is also an awesome blog/facebook page with a few other SAHMs and their awesome activities/ideas to keep those little ones engaged and creating, Play At Home Mom!  Check them out.  And now check out what we've been up to:

 Materials: zip lock baggies, paint, painters tape.  A fun squishy bag.  I had all the materials on hand = FREE

 Materials: Paper and Do-Dots (or Bingo Dotters)  Do-Dots are only $1/each at Dollar Tree!  They were a stocking stuffer for Big Brother this Christmas.  It is probably one of the things that he plays with the most, go figure!

Homemade Light Table: clear tub, rope lights/Christmas lights.  We put a tub of water beads on top of the light table.  Again, I had all the materials on hand = FREE FUN

Big Brother made a mask and all on his own I had left my paper bag on the table and he got our his art box and started creating, it is so awesome to see the process and what he came up with.  = FREE FUN

Christmas Gifts

I was unable to post this gift because I didn't want it to be spoiled but here is a homemade gift that we gave to Grandma's and Grandpa's:  Michel's had a sale of 40% off the clear glass ball ornaments that you can put items in so I picked up a set of 4 and then Noah and I went through the sticker isle and our stickers at home.  Levi and Noah both had two ornaments (two sets of grandparents).  We picked out stickers that related to events in the last year. 

Noah had:  preschool sticker, spiderman (costume for Halloween), dinosaur (we went see dinosaurs at The Field Museum in Chicago with one set of Grandparents),  a Zoo sticker for the other Grandparents, Lego block because he had a Lego themed birthday, etc.  You get the idea.

Levi had:  'It's a Boy' stickers, toy stickers, some stars, etc. 
I attached a green ribbon for the stop and strung a paper tag with '2011' and a printed wallet size pics of both of them, glued the pictures back to back and strung them on the ribbon as well.  I should mention that if I couldn't get the sticky off the back of the sticker I just covered it with colorful cardstock.  I added 'snow' confetti to the ornaments as well so everything wouldn't just sit at the bottom.  I also realize that I don't have a pic of the finish project, oh well at least I got them done.  And I really liked the way they turned out.

Advent Calendar

Last year I saw this post for an advent calendar and I have slowly been working on one of our own since then, yes one whole year!!  But moving on.  This whole project cost me a whole $2 and some odd cents because I had everything else.

Materials:

25 small match boxes (purchased at Dollar Store two packages $1/package)

scrapbook paper

number stickers

tags

I used brads but aren't required

tape/adhesive

address labels

Of course you need to empty out all the little boxes and wrap each box with a strip of scrapbook paper.  The strips I cut were 4 inches long by 2 inches wide.  I made star tags with my cricket but a punch would work or nothing at all.  I attached the tags with mini brads, a few of the boxes have a little ribbon wrapped around them just for a little something extra.

In each box the hubby and I sat down and came up with 25 family oriented activities.  Activities that encourage time spent together and giving to others.  Here is what we came up with (I am lacking a couple so if you have suggestions please comment).

• Decorate Christmas Tree
• Make A Homemade Ornament
• Shop For Non Perishable Foods To Donate To The Local Food Bank (our church collects these)
• Host A Holiday Playdate
• Make Cookies
• Deliver Hot Chocolate and Cookies To College Class (my husband is a professor)
• Watch A Christmas Movie
• Shop For Angel Tree Gifts (our church collects these as well and we try and find kiddos the same age as our kiddos)
• Write Letters To Great Grandparents
• Invite Friends To Share Dinner
• Make Cookies And Deliver To The Fire Department
• Build Lego Nativity (my boys *husband* are really into Legos)
• Shovel Neighbors Sidewalks
• Decorate Gingerbread Houses
• Take A Drive And Look At Lights
• Redeem Cans/Bottles And Donate Money To Salvation Army Kettles/Ringers
• Build Snowman/Go Sledding
• Sleep In The Living Room With The Christmas Lights On
• Record A Holiday Greeting For Aunts and Uncle (all of our siblings live a pretty good distance)
• Read The Christmas Story/Make Hot Chocolate

Flubber

Don't you just love Pinterest!?!?  But I get a little addicted to 'pinning' things and ideas that I don't ever get around to the making and doing part!  ;-)  Well I am happy to say that this is my second 'making/doing' after 'pinning' the idea on Pinterest.  Noah and I made FLUBBER!!  It has offered us hours of entertainment and has lasted well over a couple of weeks (I wasn't sure if it would dry up or what).  Here is where I 'pinned' it/got the recipe: FLUBBER RECIPE

Here is our HOURS of entertainment!  Levi (6 months) even got to squish it.  Remember ALWAYS SUPERVISE little ones, Levi wanted to put it in his mouth of course but I just guided his hand away.

Apple Galette

Now I am not really positive what a Galette is but I made it and it was yummy!  This is the recipe I used, click here.  And this is how it turned out for us.  I was a great recipe to do with kiddos.  Noah helped with:

rolling out the dough

 shaking up the sugar, cinnamon and apples in a sealed bowl

arranging the apples onto the crust

folding the crust up and sprinkling with sugar

This turned out delicious, hope you enjoy!

Purse Organization

Thanks to Pinterest I have finally found a solution for all my wonderful purses!  Here is the before pic: (please ignore the mess of shoes, if you know my house you will agree that it has lots of storage but unfortunately it is NOT in the bedrooms)

 I had some metal shower curtain rings so this little organization task took very little time and didn't cost me a thing.  Here is the after.

Something I will tweak a little bit and spend a couple of $'s will be to purchase an extension rod and try to hang them on it instead of the same rod that our clothes hang on...causing a little bit of cramping of our clothes.  So the extension rod will go between the front and back of the closet and hang under the clothes that is the idea....but for now I am happy and so are my shoes for the extra room!

Originally posted here.

Pumpkins and Painters Tape

I am not ready to give Noah a knife for carving his own pumpkin so we used painters tape and I cut out some shapes, he arranged them and after he was done painting and it had dried we pulled off the paint.

I made one too!