Stylin' Saturday: A Home Tour

My dear friend Liz has great home decorating style! One of my favorite activities is to sit with Liz on her comfy couch and spend some time browsing through home magazines...it's fun to dream about new projects we could try in our dwellings and chat about things we love! I thought I would take you through a few of my favorite parts of her house to inspire you to get creative in yours:

Beautiful, right???? She is great and has lots more to share about all things home on her own blog....be sure to take some time to check it out!!!

www.tchousetohome.com

A Savior is Born

Well, it is Christmas morning! The day that we honor the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope the day brings you peace and sweet time spent with the people you love most...no matter where you are! Know that you are loved deeply by the heavenly Father of this baby born in a manger. Sent to earth for our rescue and redemption from the sin that holds our hearts captive. He gives us the gift of freedom!

The story of His birth:

....the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her first born, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified! But the angel said to them,"Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:6-14

Stylin' Saturday: Wrap It Up!

I was watching 'The Today Show' last week while getting ready for work, when Matt Lauer informed me of a segment just ahead all about thrifty Christmas ideas.

I put down my hairbrush and turned up the TV....because I like both Christmas and thriftiness! Then my friends at 'The Today Show' shared a delightful and cute gift wrapping idea with me:

Yarn....

A plain white gift box....

The ability to tie knots....

Voilà. I will for sure be using this idea many, many times in my future gift wrapping endeavors. I hope you give it a try too- MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Toddler Tuesday: Is it snowy?

Here's another sign to hang up on the wall:

Made out of scrapbook paper and laminated with contact paper....the kids love to let me know what is happening outside and have a turn to put the little purple dot in the right spot (holds on with sticky backed Velcro)!

You could expand this for kids who are a little older by adding a 'Hot, Warm, or Cold' section in addition to the current precipitation! Or maybe add a paper thermometer with numbers, look up the temperature together and let your kiddo chart the right temp for the day!!

Stylin' Saturday: 5 Things

Some more things that make me smile...

1. Clear Shampoo and Conditioner- Only 5 bucks each at Target and they actually make my hair feel good. I have in past years been a bit of a shampoo snob, settling only for salon products....but after trying a Clear sample I got in the mail, I made the switch. My hair and pocketbook thank me!

2. Pampered Chef Strainer- Way better than a colander, easy to clean and awesome!

3. Bath and Bodyworks 3 Wick Candles- They burn down quite nicely and smell lovely. My favorite 'flavor' is LEAVES!

4. My Ode to the '90's Magnets- who doesn't love both 'Saved by the Bell' and 'NKOTB'. Enough said.

5. Trader Joes Pfeffernusse- a holiday delight. Buy some and eat it.

Toddler Tuesday: Toys, Toys, Toys

I am guessing that if you have kids, you have toys. LOTS of toys. Toys that seem to take over your whole house!

Sometimes, I will walk around my classroom and clean up buckets of toys as I go. By the time I get back around to where I started, that first bucket of toys is dumped all over the floor again. How does this happen? And which of my crafty little toddler friends can I hold responsible for the drive-by bucket dump?

Well no matter who dumped the bucket, all the toddlers in my classroom must be a helper when playtime is done! You may be asking yourself how we get 14 tikes to assist in such a process. Here are a few tips:

*Singing a song "Tommy is a helper, thank you very much...Sally is a helper, thank you very much....Billy is a helper, thank you very much. Our room is getting cleaner!" They all want me to sing their name, but I can't until I see how they helped!! Works like a charm.

*Handing them a toy and telling them where it goes. I find that if I just say "clean up", my toddlers tend to wander around and not know (or know, but act like they don't) what to do. Handing them a specific toy brings a little focus to the table.

*And my favorite of all...labeling toy buckets with a photo of what toy goes in which bucket:

Having a photo label on each bucket helps the toddlers to learn for themselves where the toys go! I can hand a kiddo a toy, and they are able to find the photo that matches....this could be made into a little clean up game of its own!

Take photos of your toys at home and either stick them right on the bucket or on the shelf where you would like the toy to live! Give your little ones some practice in self-regulation when it comes to keeping their play area organized!

Another handy tip in Toyville is to rotate some toys out every few weeks...all you really need are a few large storage totes and a little space in your basement. Having fewer toys out at one time lets your kids see and use what is in front of them without being distracted by too much clutter. Plus, when you rotate other toys in later, they actually get played with. We rotate our toys out every 4 weeks or so, and it makes such a difference in their engagement and interest in free play time!

Stylin' Saturday: A Sweet Treat

In continued celebration of the Christmas season, I thought I would share a simple and quick 'recipe' for one of my favorite holiday snacks. Not sure who I got this from and maybe you already know of them....but i feel like every time I bring them to a gathering someone is always asking, "How did you make these?? They look so fancy!! And they are so delicious....can't stop eating them. Please take them away from me!"

Who am I to deprive you of such a treat?? Not even sure what they are called....ok, enough of the suspense. You will need just 3 ingredients:

Grab a cookie sheet and line it with some parchment paper. Lay out a single layer of pretzels. Unwrap the bag of Rolos and place one on top of each pretzel (and if you need to eat a few Rolos as you work, that would probably be ok):

Preheat your oven:

Pop the cookie sheet of delightfulness into the oven and wait.....

Tick, tick, tick, tick....

Ok....just about 5 minutes will do it! Pull out your cookie sheet and have the pecan halves ready to go in a bowl nearby. I usually take them out of the bag and only choose the nice looking ones...no broken pieces because it doesn't look fancy!

Be careful not to burn your little fingers and press one pecan half into each Rolo:

Let them cool for a bit, then transfer to a plate and stick in the fridge for a quicker cool down. As soon as they harden, you can toss them into an airtight container and store them in the fridge ready for your next soirée...dazzling! And yummy:

Toddler Tuesday: Painting Palooza

When it comes to art activities in our classroom, we try to get a little creative with the tools we use! It's not very fun to just use paintbrushes all the time....we need some pizzazz to keep the interest of our young artists!

One of my favorites we call 'Yarn Painters'. You just need a few supplies to make 'em:

Cut some strands of yarn (you choose the length...not too long) and make a little bundle:

Next, use your scissors to cut a slit in the end of a craft stick (about an inch):

Hold the newly cut stick with your knees so you can wedge your strands of yarn into the slit (and please excuse me for the super torn jeans in the following photo...they are my favorite, I just can't throw them away!!):

Use a strip of duct tape to hold the strands of yarn in place:

And there you go, Yarn Painters! Dip into your favorite paint and go to town:

A few other ideas....paper cup painting:

Qtip painting:

Fork painting:

Stylin' Saturday: O Christmas Tree

Well, it is officially December so let the Christmas cheer begin! Over the Turkey Day weekend, I made the rounds of my favorite boutiques in Duluth and came across a little (and outrageously expensive) paper Christmas tree.

Feeling inspired, I was confident that I could replicate such a tree (maybe even make some improvements) and save a few bucks in the process of my holiday home decorating. I took a photo of part of the tree I saw in the shop:

This photo was the bottom/side of the tree...simple paper cone with bunched up squares of paper stuck to the sides. You know, like the tissue paper projects we used to do in grade school....a small square of tissue wrapped around the eraser end of a pencil and then glued to a piece of paper....voilà!

Supplies needed to be a master tree sculptor: 1 paper mâché cone (in the paper craft section of Joann Fabrics), 6-8 sheets of pretty paper, paper cutter or scissors, hot glue gun, a star!!

First step was to cut up my squares. I made mine 2 inches by 2 inches but you could modify to fit the size cone that you are working with...smaller cone, smaller squares.

Next, I found a pen with a flat bottom to use as my 'paper wrapper' and fired up the hot glue gun. I did 2 rows of the first color to get a solid base:

I then alternated with the other paper pattern 2 rows and back to the first....all the way to the top of the cone.

Before I reached the top, I snipped off the tip of the cone to make a small hole at the top. The star that I found at the craft store just happened to be mounted on a stick and needed a place to live. Adjust accordingly based on the kind of star you want on top of your tree....you may not need to make a hole!

Once I got to the top, I added a little glue to the hole and stuck my 'star on a stick' in place to secure it!

Oooohhh, this little tree is so cute! And it only cost about $5 to make....now that's a Christmas miracle!!