Author |
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:01 pm
Julie, do this one!!! http://www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas/crafts/friendly-sock-snowmen/. we did it one year in dd's class and it was such a great idea that she ended up making them for grandparents/aunts ect.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:03 pm
wait...i didn't read those directions... actually the directions are more like these http://www.theteacherscorner.net/seasonal/christmas/snowmen.htm
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:06 pm
YES YES YES Annie, that is perfect!!! A little more labor intensive than I wanted, but looks like exactly the kind of ornaments I am looking for!! Cute, but sturdy. No construction paper type stuff and preferably nothing breakable.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:09 pm
it was really fun. i think we used beans instead of rice, but like i said they turned out so darling that dd made them as gifts for her family. i would suggest getting big tubs and working inside those. you can hold the sock inside the tub and the kids can pour the rice into it. i would use pipe cleaners or rubber bands to separate the sections. the top of the sock can just be turned over for the hat so all you are doing after you fill the sock is glueing on the face, buttons and scarf
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:11 pm
i just asked dd and she said she was in 3rd grade.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:13 pm
Spool dolls.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:14 pm
http://www.wwvisions.com/newsletter/sept99/cvnspool.gif
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Racinrach
Member
11-16-2006
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:34 pm
Costacat : thanks I really look forward to buliding it each year and making it different each time.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:37 pm
I really like it Racinrach...it's cool!
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Racinrach
Member
11-16-2006
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 2:37 pm
Julieboo: here is a good site depending on kids ages it gives you lots of different ideas. http://www.amazingmoms.com/ *sidenote* Marysafan is LHAO right now because I posted that site!
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Watching2
Member
07-07-2001
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 4:49 pm
I've also used the twist ties they come with all kinds of plastic bags - garbage, food storage, etc., and have looped them through the backs to make a hanger for home-made Christmas crafts. A lot of them come in green so you don't even have to worry about the color. One year I used all these little wicker baskets we had around here and put stuff in from the craft store to make them Christmasy and gave them as gifts. The one bummer was my DS's teacher didn't realize I had made it and thought it was store bought. I was so proud of making things myself. Anyway, the twist ties were really good for being able to push them through the little openings in the wicker.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Wednesday, December 03, 2008 - 11:50 pm
I still have a garland my 5-yr old niece made for me. 30 years ago and the colors have held believe it or not, dyed by food coloring. String macaroni on red & green yarn, she used about 1-inch long macaroni that the ends were pointed as they were chopped off, like / or \ Beforehand Sis put the macaroni into plastic bags, poured in food coloring and kept mushing around until all was colored. After drying my niece strung them with a plastic needle, fun project for her. But easier for younger kids vs. trying to string popcorn or cranberries with a sharp needle. Each year I wrapped it around cardboard & packed in its own little box, after Christmas, so the macaroni has lasted.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 12:22 am
That's so cool that you've kept it and used it all these years, Bisc! Julie, one year we made snowmen out of soda cans. Painted them white, hot glued scraps of fabric as clothes and scarves, and if I remember right, maybe a small styrofoam ball as the head? Both of my kids did apple wreaths in school. Teachers sliced the apples, sprinkled with cinnamon and baked them, then the kids strung the dried apple slices on pipe cleaner, seperated by larger beads. You could also pick up some of the wooden picture frames at Michael's or Walmart (about a buck a piece) and let the kids paint and decorate for Christmas. Put in a pic of them in the snow or in front of the tree or whatever and it's a nice gift for them to give to relatives. Oh, also at Michaels, the packs of foam cut out shapes. They have kits to make Santa's or reindeers, also packs of door hangers in the shapes of trees and the decorations for them. Those are fairly cheap, fun, pretty easy for littler kids, and can keep them busy without much supervision while you do something else. Hehe, I have several bags of the things cuz they're great for the kids to do and like I said, I can put them to work and go get busy with something else without worrying about them. Another simpler craft, again will require a trip to the store though, is to get the clear glass ball ornaments and some glass paint. We did those last year and the younger kids (younger nieces were 3 and 4) were able to do them though that does require supervision cuz it's easy to make a mess with. Just take the top off the ornament, squirt in some glass paint, and swirl it around, then turn the ornament upside down to drain out some of the excess (lol, I can hear more crafty people screaming about my method!) You could also use liquid lead to draw a design on the outside of the ornament and then paint it, but that is a bit hard for the little ones. Do you have any plastic beads? Red and white ones, along with a piece of wire can be used to make candy canes. I'll keep an eye out at some of my favorite craft sites for projects you might be able to use. There's usally a lot of stuff this time of year but not all of it good for younger kids.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 12:29 am
Thanks for all these great ideas!!! I like the paint inside the clear globe idea. Still loving the sock snowman!! Also like the spools. Thanks also for all the links!!!
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 1:33 am
Julie, we did those glass ornaments for my aunt. And also our uncle (actually bil's uncle, but he's everyones uncle, lol) who'd just moved into a new house he'd built. He was so excited to be hosting the family get together and getting a big tree to decorate and I thought it'd be fun for the kids to make him something to decorate with. Both of them loved them because the kids had done the ornaments especially for them. I've been trying to come up with some kind of ornament gift for them this year from the kids and I'm thinking some kind of picture frame. Have you done a handprint wreath? Trace the kids hands, cut them out and glue them together to form the wreath. Takes quite a few handprints, but they're cute (Caleb did one in kindergarten that we still hang up each year, much to his horror, lol.)
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 6:58 am
when i was given my mom's ornaments after she died, she still had the ornament i have made out of a toilet paper roll and yarn when i was 5!!! LOL i put it on the tree this year and dd said 'what the heck is that??'
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 7:09 am
Handprint wreath is a cute idea. Maybe I'll do one with both set of handprints! When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address: A Recovering American Soldier c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center 6900 Georgia Avenue,NW Washington,D.C. 20307-5001
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Dfennessey
Member
07-25-2004
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 7:49 am
Great idea Julieboo I am going to send a card to that address
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 9:11 am
Julie, I saw this last night. It's a slide show of Christmas Ornaments. Didn't look through all of them, but some looked cute.
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Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 1:56 pm
What do you all put in your kids' Christmas stockings? It gets harder for me every year. LOL I usually put in the standards: orange, various chocolate santas, a candy cane and then a comic book or colouring book and a DVD or perhaps a small toy (like the 20 questions gadget, that type of thing). It gets harder every year to have the stocking not break the bank, and with the girls getting older, colouring books and comics have been outgrown. Looking for inspiration. LOL
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Dfennessey
Member
07-25-2004
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 2:00 pm
If your girls are into nail polish or makeup or things like that
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 2:02 pm
Oh I love the idea of "pretties" in stockings. My girls are into that stuff, now I know what to put in theirs. Thanks Costume jewelry hair scrunchies barettes hair brush nail polishes lip smacker
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Dfennessey
Member
07-25-2004
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 2:05 pm
I remember when I was younger my mother put that kind of stuff in my stocking and I thought it was the greatest things in the world
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 2:13 pm
Lip gloss or chap stick, there's lots of little containers with several tubes out now cuz of Christmas. I got Dakota one of different flavored chap sticks (think 12 tubes?) for like $3 at Walmart. Silly little toys (silly putty, those mixed up puzzles that you move the pieces around, cheap shootie toyss.) Santa's giving Caleb a roll of quarters...he likes to buy gatorade at school when he runs track and I'm tired of him using the money on his lunch account, lol. Funky sunglasses. Bath soaps/gels/lotions/body glitter/body sprays. Deoderant if they're old enough. Also nail polish and hair things (scrunchies, barretts, etc.) Teeny, tiny stationary, lol. I usually see little notepads/pens/pencils around this time of year too. Jewelry (doesn't have to be expensive, maybe those little plastic bracelets, like the breast cancer awareness ones.) Santa brought Kota a charm bracelet one year for Christmas and since then he's given her one new charm in her stocking. I also do movie bucks and a gift card for a fast food restaurant. It's really a present but fits so well in the stocking, lol. Kids and Darren all have time off at Christmas and with the movie bucks and gift cards, we then have something to do one of the days everyones home. If you still need more inspiration, go to the 99 cent store and wander around. I say go and wander because they've always got nifty, silly little things and there's no telling what you might find there. I've always loved stocking stuffers, usually more fun looking through them than opening presents and I love to shop for them. So far this year, I've gotten Kota sunglasses, a necklace, and a watch (all three High School Musical stuff off the clearance rack at Walmart,) chap stick and lotion. Have those silly little wiggle worms and mini slinkys for both kidlets, a set of cards for each, oh and post it notes for Kota cuz she loves them. I always have an easier time with her than with Caleb.
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Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 2:28 pm
I love that phrase: 'the pretties" LOLOL Great idea and Wargod... I didn't even think about the dollar store. Where we used to live had one very dingy, little corner store... gave me asthma issues just walking in the door. Out here we have a brand new massive one but I keep forgetting that it's an option. Wish I would have remembered last night, spend $10 on three birthday cards! Thanks guys, consider me inspired. LOL
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