Gift Giving (never too early to start planning)

As many of you already know we are trying to move towards a simpler more natural lifestyle (Okay I am and everyone else is along for the ride).  That being said our gift giving and wish lists are changing too... a little.

Mini stockings for our advent calendar

I do hope this post doesn't offend or bother anyone (I hate conflict), I am not trying to push our wish list on family members (although Christmas is coming!!), but  wanted to share some fun ideas with everyone.

To start with, I want to recommend Wishlist.com.  It has been a great way to keep track of items we want throughout the year.  There is also a little app button you can put on your internet bar so when you see something you like from any page you can ad it to your wish list.  I currently have three lists

My boys http://www.wishlist.com/1124087/timothyandmatthew/

Homeschool/Daycare  http://www.wishlist.com/1124087/schoolanddaycare/ 

Me http://www.wishlist.com/1124087/meaghanjackson/

Used craft time to make a Father's Day Gift

I know there are so many blogs, lists and Pintrest ideas out there.   Below is a list of inexpensive homemade ideas for kids. Some have links.  You don't need to be super crafty, a simple glue-gun could do most of these.  Also check out the crafts, activities and project on my side bar for more.

Play dough kit - homemade play dough and some accessorize
Fort kit - bed sheet, ropes, big laundry clips
Baskets of natural items - rocks, pinecones, sticks, shells
Dress-up clothes - no need for a full costume just some accessories or head band with ears will work
Play silks- you can go fancy or just put a hem on flowy pieces of material
Nature bag - a simple draw string bag is perfect to collect nature items with
Puppets - again you can buy some or make simple sock puppets (fun to make with the kids), you could give a child a kit of supplies to make their own.
Tree blocks - get a thick branch and cut into various lengths.  Most of ours are about 1-2 inches tall
Wooden blocks - we took the end pieces from our last reno and cut into different lengths, they have been outside all summer and fall.
Felt board - simply cover a piece of cardboard in felt, then cut your own fun shapes out.  We printed a paper doll set and cut it out of felt for dress up, you could also make different face parts...
Mail - unfold a paper envelope and trace onto felt, cut it out and glue up the sides.  We used cut up old cards and some stiff felt to make the mail inside.  You can glue on velcro dots and make different names and stamps too.
Roads - simply cut lengths of denim from old jeans.  You can sew up the sides or just leave them.  I painted a line down the middle and made a parking lot piece.
Bean Bags - think simple like an old pair of socks stuffed with an elastic on the end, or make a rectangle from material and glue up the sides. I made a set out of an old winder coat, you could knit some nice ones too.
Sensory Bins - how about a shallow box with bean, pasta, rice, accessories for a gift.  Water beads are also popular this year. You could even make up themed ones to swap with friends.
Re-gift - each year my boys pass a long a few books to their cousin as their gift to her.  We choose ones in good condition.  You could also pass along other toys to a friend, relative or donate them too.
Thrift Store - kids don't notice if a toy is new or not.  Last year we bought several different used sets of tracks and put them together in a fabric bag.  We also got a really nice metal digger for the sand box in good condition.  Besides then you don't have to spend all morning trying to get the toys out of the boxes.  Be creative with how you present them.

Sock monsters (MeAgainCreations still has a few left)

This year we will most likely be giving homemade gifts too. Here are some ideas for adults. 
  

Notecards - This one is also for adults!!! Use blank note cards or card stock and decorate.  Simple stamps an some trim are very effective.  I used old holiday cards too.  Last year I made a large set for different family member including different holidays and occasions.

Baking - need I say more?!

Frozen dinners - double what ever you are making and save some as a gift.

Time - I can tell you how much I'd love time to go out or have some time.  Consider babysitting even just once for someone.

Kids crafts - if you are at home crafting with your kids, use it as a time to make gifts for others, there are plenty of cute ideas out there.

Wrapping paper - use your children's artwork as wrapping paper! I also made a set of reusable gift bags to cut back on paper waste.

I'll try to update this with more ideas as we go along.  Please do share your ideas in the comment box.

Our New Stocking Tradtition

This year while organizing our Christmas advent calendar, I started looking at many different traditions.  There are so many interesting ideas on the internet that it is hard to decide what would be most meaningful for our family.

One new tradition that I thought up has to do with our stockings.  Each year we unpack them with all the other decorations and they sit around until we use them for Christmas day and then they are packed away again new the end of the year.

I thought it would be a neat idea to make the stockings like a mini time capsule.  Each year at the end of the year I'll take a picture of the boys with their stocking.  They also made a picture for themselves and we wrote a letter about the year for each stocking.  Next year when we unpack the decorations we can take a look back at how things have changed. I hope to start a little photo album or scrapbook to save our stocking capsules over the years.

Some ideas for the stockings would be:
Photos
Picture drawn by children
Letter written by children
Letter you write to the kids
Predictions or hopes for the new year

Happy Birthday to Me and my cousin Alexandra today!

Many blessings to you all for the new year.

Chocolaty Treats

This past week the boys and I made some delicious chocolaty treats as gifts.  First we made some tree bark and then we made some chocolate covered pretzels.  While the end result is a surprise for the recipients I can say that it was a lot of fun to make.  Links to the original recipes are below.

TJ loved to hammer the candy canes

MJ's job was to eat!

TJ enjoying some of his hard work

MJ trying to help unwrap the candy canes

MJ got at the pretzels.  Don't worry I threw those ones out!

MJ has a go at hammering

TJ working on the candy canes

 My job was to melt the chocolate while also unwrapping candy canes and keeping MJ from making a mess!  I think next time I'll use some peppermint candies instead of mini candy canes, or I'll do some better prep work.

I got my inspiration and recipes for the tree bark from  Chocolate Muffin Tree and Soule Mama
We also made some Christmas Crunch from Made

What types of goodies are you working on?

Christmas Lights

I am behind on updating you all on our advent activities.  I've also been bad at taking pictures.  Our camera battery only lasts for a few shots so I've been using my Blackberry.  Unfortunately I am lazy and haven't downloaded the photos yet.  Last weekend we went to visit reindeer at the local garden centre. We made some Christmas cards and had lots of fun making chocolate Christmas gifts from the boys.  We have done a lot of baking too.  There are a lot of December Birthdays in the family so Happy Birthday cousin Elodie and Aunty Bonnie.

We discovered this morning that someone broke the display on the camera and it is now busted.  Still takes some pictures so we are letting the boys have it.  My wonderful husband gave me my Christmas present early so we wouldn't miss out on any upcomming events.  I got a new camera!!!!!

The boys at the garden centre

THis week TJ was complaining about severe joint pain and when we took him to the doctor we found out he had strep throat.  So he has not been himself this week. It really hurts him to move around, unless he is distracted or has had some pain relievers.

Daddy is the best distraction.  As soon as I mentioned helping Daddy hang the lights TJ perked right up and was right out there untangling the lights and changing bulbs.  MJ dropped a few outdoor bulbs down the chipmunk hold in the front yard. And both boys loved climbing the ladders. After dinner we went out to look at the lights downtown at the harbour.

Our House lights

Lights down town Burlington

One of the Nativity Wise men didn't light up.

Merry Christmas!

Advent activities: Easy ornaments

This week our advent activities included:
Game night - in which we played with trucks instead
Wise men story and craft -  the boys leapt around while I read and rushed through decorating a star
Movie - we were out last night so we watching one during lunch today
Christmas ornaments - that is for after nap today

Supplies:
styrofoam balls
sequins
sewing pins
ribbon

Directions:
Use the pins to hold sequins onto the ball. Cut a length of ribbon and hold in place with a pin or glue.
You can cover the whole ball with sequins or even wrap ribbon around the ball too.

I am loving all the home-made decorations we have this year. What have you been making?

Advent activities days 3 to 5

We had a very nice weekend.

On Saturday we went to Main Street Christmas at a local church.

This is TJ dancing to the God Rocks concert.  He preferred the volume in the hall.  It worked for me because MJ kept running up on stage.

waiting for the wagon ride

inflatable slide

inflatable toddler area

The boys made crafts, cookies, played games and watched a concert.  There were more things to do, but keeping up with MJ was very exhausting.

On Sunday the boys were with my parents so they didn't open their stocking.  The plan was to donate.  We have a bag of things that the boys helped me to collect from around the house.  We'll drop that off soon.

Sunday night TJ and I had a sleep over.  He had been asking for a while and since we weren't busy  I agreed.  He sure does talk a lot and he needs a lot of "friends" in bed.  But we had a good night and a great sleep in (thanks MJ!!!)

Today we were going to make treats, but we'd done enough of that on the weekend.  So we made a garland made from old christmas cards instead.

To make the garland.  Just cut circles from old greeting cards and attach them to some thread using a sticker!