Graham Cracker Gingerbread House

Wish I could take credit for all the cuteness you are about to see but my friend Adria from the Crunchy Lion put together this fun activity... for us moms. Yup sometimes mom's want to get in on the crafting fun too and so we did.  We were planning on making real gingerbread houses but the idea of cutting and cooking just seemed like way to much work especially with the little ones running around so we settled on Graham cracker houses.  Isn't it darling?!

We bought a box of graham crackers, some canned frosting, and lots and lots of candy!  We put a Christmas movie on for the kids and got to work.  Candy, crafts, and conversation with good friends.  Doesn't get better than that! 

It was so fun eating the goodies while decorating!  And yes the kiddos would periodically come by our work area and beg for some too.  That would be my daughter asking Adria for more candy.  She knows she has better luck getting it from her HA!

                          

Apparently I am the Graham cracker cutting expert.  I just used a butter knife and gently sawed off the pieces to make the front frame of the house.  The rest of the pieces fit in perfectly once the graham crackers were cut in half.  [It is much better to use the butter knife to cut them in half than to try to break them in half].

With some imagination and a little time the mini house will come together.  Here is Natalie's finished product.  She had a talent for making bows out of the sour string for the wreaths.  I also love her little snowman! 

Here is Adria's finished house.  I love her cookie chimney and the cookie logs on the side of the house.  Very clever! 

And since you already saw the front of my house here is the backside.  All pretty with a nice green Christmas tree.  And if you are wondering what the houses are places on, it is just a styrafoam plate covered in white frosting.  

And here is our little neighborhood!  Funny thing is we all are neighbors.  We had such a blast!  Definitely going to try to plan one more mommy craft day before Christmas.

How to Make Fleece Hat in 10 Minutes

The snowy season has come and I love it!  Snow is so magical, but cold [duh!]  Well, because my little one refuses to wear hats, I just never bought her one in preparation for the winter.  Bad mommy...  We went to play in the snow and she had to wear one of my beanies.  So I ended up making her a basic fleece hat to hold us over until she gets a much nicer one.

It is so easy and takes about ten minutes! I took a long rectangle piece from my fleece stash and measured the width of her head based on my beanie that she wore.  

Then, sew down the sides.  If you don't sew, use fabric glue. 

I made the mistake of doing this step while she was napping so it was a little long.  I ended up taking the seam out and fixing it.  BUT fold over the bottom portion twice and make sure it fits your little one. 

Then sew it down or use liquid stitch.

Cut strips at the top.  I liked thinner strips and ended up making them thinner.  Take a piece thin strip of fleece and tie it on the top really tight.  You can also sew the top portion first and then tie it tight, it's up to you.   Trim the strips if they are too long. 

Fluff it, adjust it, and put it on!  It's a cute temporary hat and will keep her warm for now.  I am for sure considering making one for her favorite doll.

How to Download Fonts and Create Coloring Pages

This tutorial is for those of you who have ever had trouble downloading fonts.  Downloading fonts and creating your own printables and coloring pages is simple enough.  Here is the step by step.

First, find the font you want to download.  This one is called MTF Dear Santa.  Click download and then open the file. 

Then a folder will open.  The biggest mistake is to think you can copy and paste the font from here but you actually need to extract the file first.  Click and extract the file. 

It will open an almost identical folder.  You can tell the difference because the new folder will not say extract files.  The one with the star is the right folder and the old one you will want to close. 

Now open the Font folder from your Control Panel.  Copy and paste the MTF Dear Santa file [with the yellow arrow] onto the Font Folder.  You can see that is says installing MTF Dear Santa.

Now open Word and you can start making your own printables or if you have kiddos your own coloring pages!

I like that you can customize your coloring pages.  This train is one of my favorite ones.  The font is called JI Toy Train.  To get the front and back of the train hold Shift 9 for the front and Shift 0 for the back. 

Paper Rings Advent Calendar

Making this brought be back to my childhood!  I use to make this every year and my impatience to get to the last ring was as bad then as it is now.  Cindy isn't old enough to help with making the rings so this year I made it myself and starting tomorrow we will pull off one ring at a time.

I got this poem from a MOPs meeting I went to last year where they shared different ways to bring Christ back to Christmas.  I love what the rhyme says and want to read it every night.  I want Cindy to grow up knowing that the reason we celebrate Christmas is because Jesus was born to be the savior of the world.  Not the presents or all the other stuff.  

The colors aren't that festive but I  think it turned out okay.  I do love the yarn star though!  Another thing you can do with this simple advent is to write a verse on each ring.  Each ring telling a little more about the story of His birth until you get to the last one.  I plan on doing that with her next year when she understands it more. 

There are so many other Advent ideas out there!   Another one we are going to do this year is the 25 books until Christmas.  I surprisingly have a hefty lot from my teaching days.  Check out Dana's post on this.  She also gives a great list of Christmas books!

I have already started my advent book wishlist for next year.  Hoping to replace some of the okay ones from our collection now.  It is a family tradition of ours [one my hubby and I started our first Christmas married] to read the Nativity story after breakfast before opening gifts.  This is a great way to continue the tradition with Boo Bear.  Each morning we will read one book and on Christmas morning we will read a book telling the story of His birth.  I ordered The Christmas Story for the last book.  I haven't read it yet but it got good reviews.  Will let you know when it comes in!

But I think her favorite Advent will of course be the candy.  Being guaranteed a piece of chocolate everyday is a kids dream come true.   Thanks Titi! 

We are keeping it simple this year.  A book after breakfast, candy after lunch, and taking a ring off before bed.  The countdown starts tomorrow!  Are you planning on doing an advent calendar this year?