Christmas crafting

Thanks to mind-numbing boredom, the kids and I became serious crafters last month. Here's how we spent December knocking off other peoples' ideas. 

We followed this tutorial and took clear, plastic ornaments, poured craft paint in them and rolled it around until it covered the inside surface of them. We used paint we already had, though I think I would have gone with a different color scheme if they were all for my tree. I thought they were pretty cute plain, but since we were giving them away individually, I decided to add gold dots for a little more interest. To do this, I placed little scrapbooking glue dots on the outside surface of the ornaments then passed them to Ethan, who poured micro-glitter all over them.

I think they turned out pretty great. And, thanks to my 4-year-old, the carpet in my basement was sparkly for days.

We acquired quite the collection of pine cones, acorns and other tree nuts on our walks throughout the Fall and we didn't want to just throw them away. So we found these awesome skiers on Pinterest and tried to make them ourselves. Kind of cute/tacky, huh?

Our biggest fail of the month was the popcorn garland. The garland got about 13 popped kernels; my kids' stomachs got the rest of the batch.

We made a "Fort Kit" for our Israelsen cousins across the country. Sadly, they didn't get it until after Christmas. USPS Fail.

The kids loved the upside-down ice cream cone Christmas tree decorating, but I think making the Gingerbread house (and stealing its delicious decor) was their favorite activity. My neighbor brought over a kit that she bought from the store, complete with pre-made gingerbread. Sadly, I didn't get a photo.

Finally

Ethan has talked about making a snowman ever since the leaves started falling off the trees in October. The snow fell today and it was very wet and perfectly packable- ideal for making snowmen

 When only an inch falls, you end up with a very dirty snowman. But we will take a dirty snowman over no snowman.

 Ethan was very proud of the body of the snowman, which he rolled around until it was so heavy it wouldn't budge.

He may not be the most handsome snowman, but he made a couple of kids very happy today!

Christmas

Our Elf on the Shelf: Bootchie

Like almost everyone else on this planet, an elf from the North Pole visited our house last month. Ethan named the poor guy Bootchie. Each night in December, Bootchie would go back to talk to Santa and then make the long trip back to our house. Upon arrival, he would get into mischief around our home. The kids caught him more than once in precarious situations; one morning he was holding on for dear life after a tight-roping fall; another time they found him riding on the back of Toothless, our toy dragon. He did all the token elf things like make snow angels in the flour, eat food from the cupboards and play board games with the other toys. 

Some days the kids found him in the same position as he was the day before. The kids were confused but we think he was just too tired that night to get to the North Pole and back so he just stayed. Or I blamed his apparent laziness on the fact that one of the kids touched him (a big no-no) the day before. It definitely had nothing to do with mom being a space case and forgetting about him.

 Of course, the kids most enjoyed finding their noses painted neon pink on Christmas Eve morning thanks to our resident elf. Well, he is no longer a resident. He's back to the North Pole. We hope he comes back next year!