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.