Christmas Around the World: India

This is probably my worst costume to date. I posted the picture on instagram and one of my friends commented: "Master Splinter?!" Touche. I will give myself credit that after spending a summer in Nepal I know the proper way of putting on a sari. I have no defense as to why I put it on a (male) stuffed mouse.

Christmas Around the World: Norway

Norway (and Sweden) is home to Monty's favorite Christmas cookie - pepperkaker! The girls start asking around Halloween when we'll be making Pepperkaker.

Christmas Around the World: Netherlands

St. Nicholas Day is December 6th. In the Netherlands, they celebrate by putting out wooden shoes with a gift for Sinterklaas and a carrot from his horse.

Christmas Around the World: Australia

Merry Christmas from the land down under, where Christmas falls in the middle of summer holidays. The girls found Monty soaking up some rays. 

Christmas Around the World: Ghana

Did you know the official language of Ghana is English? So, Merry Christmas! Today the kiddos learned that Ghana is a grower of cocoa. 

Christmas Around the World: Germany!

Frohe Weihnachten! Our first stop around the world was Germany! My grandfather's side of the family was German, so many of the German traditions just feel "right" to me. Here is what Monty had to tell the girls about Christmas in Germany...

Christmas Around the World with our Christmas Mouse!

It's December 1st which means our beloved Christmas Mouse has returned! (For those of you unfamiliar with the Christmas Mouse - an elf on the shelf alternative - you can view my original post here.)

Montgomery, our mouse, travels throughout the year and send the girls pictures, pins, and information about the places he visits. This last year he toured Europe.

The Christmas Mouse: An Elf on the Shelf Alternative

 

We don't "do" Santa at our house. (Jen Hatmaker sums up how I feel about Santa, probably better than I could.) So when the Elf on the Shelf became popular, I ignored it as an option for our family. What I wasn't expecting was that every one of my daughter's friends would have a family elf, and that those elves' antics were the daily talk on the playground. And I'll admit it, I was also getting a little jealous of what fun those families were having. Thus the Christmas Mouse was born!

Polar Express Party

Grab some friends or extended family and throw a last minute Polar Express Party! First gather the kiddos together and read the Chris Van Allsburg classic. Then tell them to run and put some jammies on... they're going to get a ride on the minivan express!

Hop over to Confessions of a Homeschooler and print off her adorable minivan express tickets. I wrapped a bandana around my neck and punched holes into each child's ticket, giving them a train whistle to take along.

Then pile into those minivans, turn up the Christmas music, and go see some lights!

When you get back, stir up some hot chocolate and do a simple activity like decorating Christmas cookies. (Just pick up some refrigerated dough and canned icing.)

Then settle everyone on the couch for a viewing of Robert Zemeckis' version of The Polar Express (Netflix has it on streaming). What better way to enjoy a chilly December evening then with friends, cookies, and one of the best-loved Christmas stories?

An update on Montgomery, our Christmas Mouse

If you remember, we currently have a little mouse living with us for the Christmas season. Each morning the girls run to see what Montgomery has been up to, and to receive their daily assignment from him. I thought you might like to see what sorts of things Monty has been up to...

One morning it appeared as if he spent the night teaching the princesses all about mice. He told my girls to do something nice for someone that day.

Meet Montgomery! (Our Elf Alternative)

Meet our adorable Christmas Mouse, Montgomery! This handsome little guy showed up at our house this morning, accompanied by this letter:

Merry Christmas!

Marshmallow Cereal Wreaths

These were a staple of my childhood Christmases! This year I wanted to share the sticky, gooey joy with my girls, so we made up a small batch of Marshmallow Cornflake Wreaths after school.

Ingredients:
- 6 cups cornflakes
- 1 bag marshmallows
- 1/3 c butter
- green food coloring
- vanilla (optional)
- M&Ms

These are made just like rice crispy treats. Start by melting your butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the food coloring. Now add your cornflakes and gently stir to coat.

Place mixture by 1/4 cupfuls onto wax paper. Form into wreaths with buttered hands and add M&Ms for decorations. Yields around 18 wreaths.

I think they made the perfect finishing touch to our cookie tins! These are going out to the neighbors this afternoon.

We also included spritz cookies, orange spritz cookies, chocolate crinkles, and toffee bark.

Of course, we saved a few for ourselves...

Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal 


I love Amy Krouse Rosenthal and her cookie series are absolutely darling. The cookie books don't tell a story, rather they use cookies as a way to define certain concepts, in this case, Christmas-y concepts like anticipation, charitable, and moderation.  The illustrations are just as sweet as the cookies they depict!

String & Glue Angel

I found the inspiration for this angel on Family Fun. I'll admit, I was pretty skeptical on the ability of school glue to hold together a bunch of string, but it looked too fun not to try.

What you'll need:
- string
- white school glue
- water
- styrofoam or wooden ball
- gold wire/string
- paint
- scrapbook paper

1. Mix the glue and a little bit of water in a cup. It should look more like cream than milk.

2. Make a cone out of paper and size to fit your wooden ball. I found a template here. Place on top of a water bottle for easier handling.

3. Immerse the string in the cup of glue and wrap carefully around the cone. We ended up using multiple pieces of string. Set out to dry overnight.

4. On a piece of wax paper, arrange glue-strings into a wing shape. 

 5. Curl and layer smaller cuts of string to fill in the wings.

6. Paint the angel's head as desired.

7. When the wings and body are dry, peel carefully from the wax paper and cone.

8. Hot glue everything together, adding the halo and pillow fluff hair if desired.

Now we have the perfect little topper for our playroom tree!

Some tips: I tried both watered down school glue and mod podge. As you can see the mod podge (right wing) left a lot more glue between the strings. Stick with the school glue for the wings, but if you want to brush your finished body with mod podge, it might help hold the body together better. I also ran some lines of hot glue on the inside of the body to add stability.

My two favorite "angel" books:

Great Joy
by Kate DiCamillo
Read my review.

 

The Littlest Angel
by Charles Tazewell
Read my review.

 

Easy "Clay" Ornaments

When I saw this "homemade clay" recipe from Busy Bee Kids Crafts, I knew I needed to try it. Our salt dough ornaments from several years ago were looking a little worse for wear, and I figured A deserved the whole cookie-cutter ornament experience.

The clay was simple enough to make: 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 1/2 cups water. Just mix in a pot over heat until it forms the right consistency. Then cool enough to touch and knead, just like you would when making playdough. The clay begins to dry immediately, so you need to work fast. Roll out the dough on wax or parchment paper and cut out the ornaments with cookie cutters. Use a toothpick to create holes for hangers. Leave out for one to two days to dry.

I found the thinner and smaller the ornament, the better it dried. Our larger, thicker ornaments cracked horribly, some into pieces. If you want larger ornaments, stick with salt dough. The clay  did paint beautifully, though, using acrylic paints. We tied ours onto the girls little playroom tree using yarn, and I think the final effect turned out charming.

A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates

I've got this one on hold at the library and I can't wait to get it. Because nothing says Christmas like pirates, right?

(If you're in the mood for more traditional Christmas books, click the label "Christmas" under the title of this post to get a full list of all my past Christmas posts and book reviews.)

Simple Child-made Christmas Story Book

Last year I ran across Musings of Me who posted an adorable 8-page Christmas storybook she made with her toddler son. I remember thinking, "I need to do that next year!" Thankfully someone pinned one of the pages, and I found out Michelle was now selling the instructions for the book as a downloadable pdf.

So now A and I have a project to work on together between now and Christmas. I'm taking my own creative liberties with the instructions, using the craft materials we have on hand and giving the project our own unique style. When we're done, we'll have a handmade keepsake book, telling A the Christmas story through her own artwork!

Oh Christmas Tree! Trimmed Trunk Plaque

Here's an easy craft you can do with paper scraps and the trimmed trunk of your Christmas tree.

This weekend we took our annual pilgrimage into the country to cut down our own Christmas tree. White pine don't grow well here, so we're left trying to find the perfect cypress or spruce. Some were too big...

Others too small...

But we eventually found one that was "just right." (Actually it's still about a foot shorter than I would have preferred but after two farms and an hour of driving, we decided it was "good enough".)

When we got the tree home, my husband trimmed off the bottom of the trunk to make a more even platform. I saw the wood coin lying in the yard and snatched it up for this simple craft.

To make your own, you'll need five strips of colored or scrapbook paper, one star cut-out, mod podge, and of course the trimmings from a tree trunk. Most nurseries will trim any pre-cut Christmas tree you buy, so be sure to snag that extra piece of wood.

To begin, let your child spread mod podge over the surface of the plaque. While it's still wet, they can arrange the paper strips onto the plaque. Paint mod podge over the strips and allow to dry.

Ta-da! A cute little Christmas plaque ready to add a little cheer to a bookshelf, mantle, or (if you add a hook) the wall.


A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

This charming Christmas tales features gentle rhymes, simply lovely illustrations, and a sweet message of friendship and kindness. 

Every year, one lonely tree watches all the other trees on the farm get chosen to become someone's Christmas tree. He's been overlooked too many times and is now too large to be taken home. His forest animal friends see his grief and take it upon themselves to decorate him for Christmas, letting him know he is truly loved and appreciated all year round.

Christmas Eve Traditions

The other day in the car I overheard my five year old explaining to the two year old what she can expect for Christmas Eve at my mother's house. 

"All our cousins will be there..."

"And Grammy will make us a special dinner."

"Then we'll read the Christmas story and sing songs and we get to do our play!"

"And then we'll open up the presents!"

I had to smile that my daughter knows so well those Christmas Eve traditions that help define us as a family. And while our favorite person won't be with us this year...

I am so blessed to be surrounded by so much love!

May you find love, joy, and peace this Christmas!