Christmas Part Two

She absolutely LOVES this dog.
I think she thinks it's real, she was giving out treats to Jet and brought one over
to this guy and put it in his mouth. Seriously, too stickin' adorable!

Pine Cone Elf

 

I was so excited when I came across these sweet little pine cone elves from this shop.
The seller sells them in sets of three, but  is unfortunately (for us)
on vacation from her shop at the moment.

While I absolutely support buying from crafters and their shops, and encourage you
to do the same... They look simple enough to make yourself (since she is away), and could
be a fantastic follow up (or alternative) to the elf craft in this post from the other day.

Kiddos will have so much fun gathering all the pine cones!!

Which is ALWAYS a fun outdoor activity!

Oh my gosh, how many different ways could we use these little guys??
Ornaments (which is how she suggests)
Attach to gifts as fun little adornments
Wine glass identifiers
In a Christmas village as an alternative to traditional snowmen
Presents for children's friends, or teacher
Attach to a Christmas card as a thoughtful personal touch
Place markers at the Christmas dinner table
Kids can attach them to string, and have a pine cone elf marionette show

I could go on all day!


All the images in this post are from the original shop.

The Red Nosed Reindeer

For most Rudolph has been a part of Christmas forever,
but he is a relatively new addition to Christmas tradition. His character and story
were created in 1939 by a copy writer (Robert L. May) for Montgomery Ward department store as a promotional gimmick in the form of a coloring book.

The song came later, in 1949 May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks (a song writer) adapted the original story into the popular "Roudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" recorded by Gene Autry.


Below are a variety of projects in a wide range of difficulty dedicated
to honoring the antlered marketing marvel and his eight buddies.

Find the template and instructions for this 3-D ornament here.

Jeff and I made this Roudolph for Lola's room, using this template.
This is not our picture, it is from the origional post... Lola is sleeping in her room at the moment, when she wakes up I will update this picture to ours. 
It was a lot of fun and quite easy, we highly recommend trying this one.

Find the tutorial and template for this pop up card here.

See the video tutorial for origami reindeer here.

 

Thumbprint reindeer are perfect for toddlers and babies.

Could these peanuts be cuter?

 

Get excited for Santa at breakfast time with Rudolph pancakes.

 

These reindeer cookies are so sweet...YUMM!

It Must Be Santa

 

Lola's visit to Santa went great! 

We went right when the mall opened to lessen any chance of Lola being completely over it before she even got up to see Santa. Unfortunately, walking right into the mall and up to Santa didn't give her much of a chance to get used to the idea of him before she sat on his lap. All in all, it was a great experience for all of us with no tears...although I think that Jeff was a little misty for a second.

For older kiddos, below are some pretty amazing Santa activities.

Seeing is believing! Upload a photo of your living room here.

Then chose the Santa that best works in your room,

and print your picture for kiddos to find in the morning.

Three photos are $9.95, but well worth the memories, especially if your little one doubting!

Email Santa and get a response here.

Or you could always have a friend or neighbor whose handwriting wouln't be recognizable

write a handwritten letter to your little one, and stamp it with this North Pole post mark.

Or if you REALLY want to blow their little minds...

Visit Santa at North Pole Resorts in Upstate New York for and entire weekend.

How amazing would that be for little kids...? 

or for the moms and dads who get to take them there?

I can't stop smiling at even the thought of how happy kiddos must be when they are there! 

A life long family memory for certain!

Sweater Pants

 

 

This past weekend Lola and I went to visit Damaris, as always it was an absolutely fun time and was productive and creative to boot! We made Lola these pants from and old sweater that Damaris had set aside to send to the thrift store. 

I had forgotten my camera, so we were unable to do a step-by-step to show you how to make them, this time. But, as I was telling my friend Erin about them we decided that her little boy Ian, who is due in January must have a pair as well! So, I will document the "how to" then!

 The sweater we chose for Lola's pants was incredibly soft and had an interesting snap detail on the sleeves that we used on the back of the pant legs! They were so easy to make, and I love them so much that Lola may be spending her entire winter in warm fuzzy sweater pants!

Front

Back

Back

Lola is so cuddly in these pants, and they are so comfy for her that she is able to play, stretch, and climb in them with no problem. Truth, I wish I had some sweater pants for myself!

 

I can't wait to get started on Ian's!!! 

My goal is to have the "how to" posted next week.

Wildly Stylie

These kids coats are UH-mazing! Just the sort of thing that would spark hours

of imaginative play outdoors, and just the sort of thing that I would love for Lola to have when she is older! They are a tad spendy, because they are made to order, but maybe when Lola is big enough we will be in a place where we can splurge on such a fantastic treat! Oh, and mommas, if you are secretly jealous, or the type of mom that is cool enough to pull this off, she has the fox coat in ladies sizes too.  Check out Little Goodall's Shop here.

 

Josh Finkle

 These gorgeous handcrafted wooden toys designed by Josh Finkle are extinct
animals that he says are "meant to incite wonder and interest in creatures that existed
only a short while ago." I think that these figures are brilliant, artfully crafted, and exactly
the sort of toy that I want Lola to have when she is growing up.

 

Left to Right: Steller's Sea Cow, Tasmanian Tiger, Quagga, Pig Footed Bandicoot,

 Steller's Sea Cow: Extinct 1768

Tasmanian Tiger: Extinct 1936

Quagga: Extinct 1878

Pig Footed Bandicoot: Extinct 2007

Packaging unfolds to explain extinction of animal.

 All photos are from jfinkle.com

Merry Goes Round

Our newest favorite kids CD.
Below are two more samples from this album.

Sammy the Spider


And the Green Grass Grows All Around


I'd be lying if I told you that Jeff and I haven't caught each other singing
Sammy the Spider when Lola wasn't even around...it's pretty catchy, and she LOVES it.

Trick or Treat

We bought Lola's duck costume, it came with the striped tights, but did not have
any feet. So, I made her some. It was super easy, and would work for just about any
costume with only a few tweaks needed for customization.

 I traced about an inch and a half around the outside of the shoes Lola
was going to wear, adding duck toes at the front, and cut out the two pieces.

Then I folded the foot pieces in half and made cuts in a star-burst pattern
for Lola's foot to fit through.

Next, I had Lola slip her foot through the star-burst cuts and then I put her shoe on to
make sure that the duck foot would fit perfectly. I folded the back of the felt foot over so that the edge of the foot would be parallel with the bottom of her shoe.

I made a small dot so that I would know where to tack down the felt.

I also made one on the inside so that I could easily and quickly match the dots,
and know that my folds were in the right place.

I sewed a few small stitches where the dots met, and at the corner where the
material folded over on the inside of the foot. I also tacked down the top of the fold. 

You can see the stitches in the photo above. 

This is what the finished foot will look like.

The feet took about 20 minutes to make (including the time that it took
me to figure out how i was going to do it) and totally completed the costume. 

If you have an older kid who would be running to doors to trick-or-treat you could always attach a small piece of elastic to each side of the duck foot near the front, so that it would
go under the shoe, and keep the foot from flapping up.