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Happy New Year to everyone! What a fun year this last year has been. Thank you for checking in throughout the year to see what we have been up to. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to have a reason to chat more with my sisters, and this blog has been that reason. Yes, we talk everyday anyways, but the blog gave us specific things to gab about! ;)
I have a 3 ring binder that I have labeled my Year In Review, Milestones, and Who Am I Binder. I love this binder. It is a quick way to see what my family has done over the years. I thought it might be something that other people might also want to utilize. I just print these sheets out, punch holes in them, and slip them into my 3 ring binder. I suppose you could just slip the pages into page protectors in a 3 ring binder, as well.
Really for the Year In Review and the Goals it is the same basic template. It is one square for each month. Nothing long will fit in these small boxes. It is just to be summaries.
For the Year In Review I just write in what we did, or any milestones my children achieve, under the correct month. Some ideas would be family trip to California, baby’s first tooth, Riding a bike with no training wheels (which one of my kids just did, thank you to a new bike from Santa!), any parties we attended, etc. I also write in things like started soccer, took art lessons, etc. It is pretty cool to look back and see just what your year included, all in one glance!
I do actually print up 4 Year In Reviews for each year. This is for one for the entire family, and then one for each child. So I write down each child’s milestone on their own Year In Review page for the year. When you go to doctor’s appointments you can also fill in the child’s stats in that month.
For the Goals I write in things I want to try and do during that month with my children. This helps me to focus and prioritize my year. I always plug in family vacations, camping trips, and any themes we are focusing on for the month (service themes as well as character points that we are working on). On the back of this paper I also list goals that are not specific to one month. I have my kids help me with this for many reasons. One reason is that it is a fun thing to do as a family. Another reason is to help my kids feel included. The last reason is so that I can actually see the kinds of things that are important to them. I try really hard to listen to who my kids are and what they really want.
The color page at the top is just a fun one with neat fonts and in color. I prefer that one. The one just above here is just a plain template so that you can customize it to fit your needs, or just if you like a more sleek look.
These next few are just so that you have options of what you would like. You could print out the above and the template below and be ready for pondering these fun things tonight at your New Year’s Eve party! Even if you had not filled the 2009 one in along the way, it is probably still pretty easy to think back and be able to still fill this in. However, once you wait more than about a year, you will forget many neat details.
If you do go back and fill this out for the last year, it would probably be a fun thing to do tonight. I pull out my completed Year In Review and go over it with my kids, on New Year’s Eve. It is fun to think about what a fun, crazy, and busy life we had the last year. While we are at it we also usually go through our other year’s as well. Just because it is fun to reminisce.
This last one is my Who Am I chart. I actually try to fill this out a couple of times a year for each of my children. Some years I have done it around 4 times, other years I just do it once. I try to at least fill this out at New Years, and around their Birthday. It is easy for me to remember to do this during those times! I love looking back and seeing what cute sayings my children were saying, or the other fun details that you forget about!
I hope you all had a fantastic 2009, and I wish you all a very Happy New Year! Yay 2010!!
I'm always thinking about food. Who isn't? You can tell by my extra chins that I like to eat. So on the menu for New Year's is Rice Pudding, Aebleskiver and Hoppin John. Crazy to mix a southern food with two Danish foods, I know. But that is what makes it our tradition. We have been doing this same menu for several years now and it just isn't right without it.
Hoppin John is a traditional southern food that is eaten on New Year’s Day for good luck and a prosperous year. When I eat Hoppin John, I have to eat cornbread. It just isn’t right to eat beans or peas without cornbread, right? My favorite cornbread ever is from the blue Jiffy box. I've tried a hundred different recipes and that is always the favorite! This year I will have to try a gluten free/dairy free recipe. I picked up some Pamela's cornbread that we will try out. I always like to add in some chopped green chilis to the cornbread. It just puts in a little kick.
I use this recipe for the Hoppin John, with a couple exceptions, I hate ham hocks so I use a ham steak. It is much less salty. I also use a few splashes of Poblano Sauce that Katrina turned us onto as well as a small can of diced green chilis. Here is Emeri'ls Hoppin John recipe from the Food Network site:
Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 large ham hock 1 cup onion, chopped 1/2 cup celery, chopped 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped 1 tablespoon chopped garlic 1 pound black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed 1 quart chicken stock Bay leaf 1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves Salt, black pepper, and cayenne 3 tablespoons finely chopped green onion 3 cups steamed white rice
Directions Heat oil in a large soup pot, add the ham hock and sear on all sides for 4 minutes. Add the onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic, cook for 4 minutes. Add the black-eyed peas, stock, bay leaves, thyme, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the peas are creamy and tender, stir occasionally. If the liquid evaporates, add more water or stock. Adjust seasonings, and garnish with green onions. Serve over rice.
(Edited to add: I tried the Pamela's cornbread. I used the sweet cornbread recipe and I subbed 1/3 cup oil for the butter and added some green chilis. Oh my! Move over Jiffy, Pamela has now taken your place. It was nice and crumbly. We broke it up and put it in the bottom of our bowls and spooned over the Hoppin' John. So good.)
~~~ Now let's talk about rice pudding or risengrød . It is a traditional Danish thing. I like to stick to my roots;) I found this recipe while blog hopping last year. And it doesn't require me to stand over my stove stirring for an hour. I like it;)
Recipe for Creamy Oven-Baked Rice Pudding from Today's Parent
⅓ cup rice 3 cups hot milk ¼ cup sugar 2 tablespoons butter ¼ cup raisins 1 teaspoon vanilla ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 250°F. Butter a casserole dish. Stir in rice, hot milk, sugar, and butter. Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 2½ hours, stirring every half-hour. Add raisins in the last half-hour. Remove pudding from oven. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon.
The Danish tradition is to have almond slivers in the pudding and one whole almond. At Christmas time, the person that gets the whole almond gets a candy pig. We won’t add almonds though.
~~ And lastly, we always make Aebleskiver.
The cookbook we use is old. The pages turn right to the recipe. You can tell it is a favorite recipe too, because the page is nicely splattered. Dad has handwritten the conversion to make it a quadruple batch, that is just how we roll! Aebleskiver are round Danish sort of pancakes. You have to have a special pan to make them in.
My parent's pan is very old and well seasoned. Mine is only a few years old and not as seasoned. I'm working on it;) You fry them up and carefully turn them over. I bought some Lingonberry jelly at a specialty store to stuff the aebleskiver with. Elderberry jelly is another good one. But really our favorite is good old grape jelly.
You stuff the inside of the Aebleskiver with jelly, top them with a little handmade powdered sugar (did you know store bought powdered sugar usually has cornstarch in it? I blend up my own from just sugar.) and enjoy!
I am wheat and dairy free (boo) so this year I used Bob’s Red Mill flour mix, and rice milk as well as a different butter in place of regular flour, milk and butter. If you have jelly in them, you really can’t tell the difference. But, I warn you not to eat too many, if you aren’t used to that specific mix because it is made from garbanzo and fava beans…you will know later. We made one batch from the regular recipe, and one batch with my replacements and they both were eaten like wildfires…or something that is eaten quickly…cake…sugar…whatever your poison is.
Do you have any specific New Years Traditions? Do you have any recipes to share?
I just wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. We have had a lot of fun this last year sharing our ideas with you. We were totally surprised to get readers, let alone so many of you! It thrills us to no end to know that what we are sharing is interesting to others. It makes our day to read your sweet comments and helps us know what you like.
I have a pot of potatoes boiling, a pie crust ready to go into the oven, Christmas music playing and two sweet boys needing to show me how they are doing on their video game. My boys are anxiously waiting for the morning when they get to see what Santa brought them. They carefully wrapped their gifts to each other and have yet to spill the beans;) (I am posting this on Christmas Eve) I hope your Christmas is just as lovely!
It has been fun sharing our Heartfelt and Handmade Holidays ideas with you. For kicks and giggles, I thought it would be fun to end this by sharing our wish lists this year.
We took our family Christmas card pictures and sent them off to the printers (Sam's Club baby!). The very next day, my 7 year old finally lost his second top tooth. Yes, the one that has been loose since summer. We had been saying for months that he was sure to loose it in time to say "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." Murphy's Law that he would loose it the day AFTER we took and finalized our pictures.
I have a long wish list on Amazon. Most of the things on my list are baking and cooking books. I have a lot of books on my list that are for Vegan and gluten free since my food allergies are mostly wheat and dairy. The other big collection on my wish list are about raising amazing children. I am always thinking about my parenting issues.
It's a pet...it's a pillow...it's a pillow pet! My kids are crazy over Pillow Pets. They have been asking for them for months now thanks to the commercials;) Legos are always a popular item on their lists. I love that they will spend hours building and creating with them. (And they are Danish!) Nerf guns. Our older sister's boys have every kind of Nerf gun and my boys are really interested in them now. (Thanks Melissa!)
What I am the most excited about is a simple Christmas. The last few years we have scaled back.We pretty much stick to the three gift thing for each of our kids. This year in particular, we really scaled back. I only put up the trees (OK we have two trees up this year), and have a couple of other decorations around the house as well as lights on the house. No trinkets or great table scapes. This is the first year in a long time that I'm not hosting either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Seems strange not to be in charge of one of those celebrations. But it is also nice. I am looking forward to spending the time with my little family of four. I am excited about the time leading up to the new year too. I spend this time planning for the next year!
Anjeanette ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Katrina here:
I have to say that I already got the biggest thing on my list. Last September I took my dog into the vet only to learn she has a serious heart condition. She was literally on her death bed. We have had her for 13 years, almost 14 and I was not ready for her to go. The only thing they could do was put her on heart medications and hope they worked. The outlook was not good and they couldn't even tell me how long she would last. It all depended on how well she responded to the medications. It has been 3 wonderful months with my baby girl. She has responded well and at times has even been able to go out on walks and been a little frisky. All I had wanted back in September was more time with her. What ever I could get. We will have one more Christmas with our girl. I am thankful every day for the gift of time. She has also been spoiled rotten (even more than before) ever since. ;)
I still have other wants on my list like a new cell phone. I would dearly love to get a Mac book pro. Other things I have on my list are things that will encourage me to work out more. We have a Wii and I have been wondering about the "work out" games. The Fit was great for a while but I wouldn't say I was getting a great work out. Oh Yeah....a gift card to a craft store! Nothing like guilt free craft shopping. ;)
As for my family, Legos are on all 3 of my boy's wish list. Even the biggest one , my husband, has pointed out some Lego sets he would like. This year it has been hard to get my boys to tell us what they would like for Christmas. They only had two things on their lists. One wanted the command base from Lego Power Miners and a remote control helicopter. The other wanted the Mine Cart set from Lego Indiana Jones. Though he didn't say it out right, he also would like a remote control helicopter. He wants what his older brother wants. LOL Their answer has never changed. My husband wants a Nerf gun that will shoot a lot of bullets quickly.
Our holiday plans have been altered due to our dog's health. We were suppose to spend two weeks in California. We were going to drive through San Diego and go to Lego Land on the way up to San Jose to spend Christmas with my family. On the way back we were going to stop and go to Sea World or the zoo. This is the first year that we won't be with either family for Christmas. We will be spending it at home and with close friends. Oh and my husband has the next two weeks off with us. YAY! We will have a Staycation! However, you spend your holidays, I hope it is wonderful and full of great memories. I got my miracle and I hope you get yours.
Katrina
***
Rebecca here, adding my list a bit late ;)
I feel like Katrina, that I have already gotten what I wanted. I know that it sounds so corny, but if you knew me and my life you would know how much I mean it. I am just thankful for all the time with my children! I have done whatever I had to to be able to stay home with them and I am thankful for every minute I have achieved this goal! Even having this blog has been a fun gift to myself. Who doesn't need a reason to craft more, or at least find some time!? And even better was the extra time it gave me with my sisters (which includes Katrina, because if you saw our whole family you would know she has been one of us from the beginning!). I also have awesome friends that I have been so fortunate to experience some really spectacular time with. This friend gave myself and my children our Christmas gifts early, and we are enjoying it every night!!
For my children there are, of course, many requests. Legos are a big thing in our home (especially since they are something that I LOVE as well!). As are My Twinn doll accessories (they got the dolls last year for Christmas). Webkinz, Build-A-Bears, and Bobbleheads are a non-stop want in this house. They have quite the collection and play with them together every day! So sweet!
I can't wait to spend the next 2 weeks with my children, while they have a break from school! I guess I could add that to my list of things that I want! I hope that everyone else has a great Holiday and enjoys themselves fully!
Rebecca
~~~~~~~~~~~ The Roots And Wings Co girls are taking a week off from the blog to enjoy our families. We hope you have a lovely Christmas too!
Did you know that some candy companies only put the seasonal packaging on the outer package? Not all candies have seasonal wrappers on the candies themselves.
Last year I found a fantastic find at Target after Christmas. Actually it was so far after Christmas that the candy was something like 75% or 90% off! I bought a whole bunch of Ghirardelli chocolate for very cheap (I want to say it was something like $0.75 per bag). I knew exactly what I was going to do with them. Valentines was right around the corner. I stored the chocolates till I was ready to use them. Then I removed them from their bags. I found some pretty heart fabric in the remnant bin and made little bags to replace the seasonal packages. We are talking good chocolates with fabric bags and handmade heart tags for less than $2 each! Granted you may not find the mega deal I did but you can take advantage of 50% off the day after Christmas. HELLO!
To start I decided to make my bags about the same size as the original bags that the chocolates came in. I added a little extra for the height to account for room to tie on a ribbon. I cut my fabric twice the length that I intended for my finished bag. I then cut the fabric into strips making them wide enough to account for seam allowances.
I did all my sewing assembly line style. Meaning, I started with the top fold over hem and did all of my hems for one side at the same time. When I finished with one side I cut them apart and did the same with the other top edge.
Here you can see that I now have the fabric folded right sides together to sew the first side seam. As soon as I finish with one bag I go right into sewing the next with out cutting the threads. I cut the threads before I go to the next step.
Here you can see all my bags 2/3 done and all still together. This is a very fast way of sewing lots of the same item. These bags were VERY simple to make and didn’t take a lot of time. If you follow the edge of the fabric with your pressure foot you will get a fairly straight line. This is a great kind of project for a first attempt at machine sewing.
Since candy does not go bad very fast (unless you leave it in the sun or something) it is perfectly ok to get Christmas candy for Valentines day gifts. It is not even two months away after all. Here you can see all the pretty Ghirardelli bags all dressed up for Christmas.
Here you can see that the wrappers inside are their normal design. Nobody has to know that they were for Christmas. Shhhh it is our secret..
For Valentines day cards the boys and I used heart templates to cut out lots and lots of hearts. We put all of the smaller hearts through a sicker maker. The boys loved that part. Then we just layered them on. The boys wrote their own messages on the back side of the hearts. They did the same for their classmates, minus the Ghirardelli chocolates. For the classmates we attached airplane kits to each heart.
This is also a great way to get rid of all that pink paper you have in that paper stack you bought. Since you only have boys and don't use pink paper for your scrapbooking. Seriously I have been trying to figure out what to do with this paper for years. It feels good to finally use some of it.
My great friend Pam, of Gingerbread Snowflakes is having a virtual Cookie Exchange all month starting today! This will be my first cookie that I am linking to her party! My Mom and I will be baking some other fun cookies this weekend to add to the party! I hope you will jump over to Gingerbread Snowflakes and join in on the fun! If you are coming from her post, then "Hi, and welcome!" This is actually a post from last year but I loved these cookies so much because of the fun name and great taste. In fact I just made up a double batch yesterday to start off my holiday baking!!
Anjeanette had her annual Cookie Exchange over the weekend. Though, that’s hers to tell and not mine. ;) I can tell you about the cookies I brought. I wanted something new and as soon as I heard the name for these I knew they were the ones. “The Elves’ Snickerdoodles”. So cute, right?
Well, I felt the point of these cookies is to make them colorful…you know, something fun for the Elves! In the picture of my colorful sprinkles notice the red one (on the lower left) is chunkier. I crushed up red hots and added it to the red sugar sprinkles. The red cookies ended up being everyone’s favorites (especially mine…yum-o!). I even used some decorative shaped sprinkles (I have gingerbread, snowflake, and tree shaped sprinkles….I use them as often as I can!).
I’ll give you the recipe at the end of this post. With their name, how pretty they were, and some added bling for the presentation…I did not even care how they tasted.
But Oh My Gosh! They were delicious! I think it’s the lemon zest, sour cream, and red hots that make them fantastic!
The last couple of years my presentation for the cookies has kind of lacked. So, this year I had to make them cuter. I added the holly and mistletoe name tags to the top, some sparkly Christmas ribbon and “boxed” them up in champagne glasses. That way you could see the cookies pretty colors through the whole packaging.
Notice on the bottom of the glasses…I added shrinky dink wine charms that I had already made. Love these.
I found the recipe at the Family Fun website. This is from there:
Being one of Santa's elves requires a lot of qualities we admire: industriousness, cooperation, attention to detail, and perhaps most of all, a sense of humor. Says one elf we spoke to: "We work hard all year long. The hours are long, so morale is important. The baker elves (the ones assigned to kitchen duty) know that one sure way to keep their crew happy throughout the holiday season is by serving plenty of these sparkly sugar-topped Snickerdoodles. The name alone just gives us the giggles."
Ingredients
2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Colored sugar or edible glitter
Instructions
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and butter. Gradually mix in the sugar. Beat in the egg until blended, then the sour cream, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
With a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture half at a time, until evenly mixed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 30 to 60 minutes.
Shortly before baking heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one or two large cookie sheets, or line them with parchment paper. Put the decorative sugar into small bowls.
With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into 1-1/2-inch-thick balls. Roll the balls in the colored sugar and place them on the prepared baking sheets spaced about 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies on the center oven rack for 15 to 18 minutes, until they're a light golden brown. Cool the cookies on the sheet for 2 to 3 minutes. Then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Makes about 24 cookies.
My addition to these would be to double the lemon zest (thank you Mother for the fresh lemons!). Also, add crushed red hots to your red sprinkles. So super Yummy!
If you are anything like me, you don't like having your picture taken when you aren't looking your best. I can't stand pictures in my house when it isn't tidy and forget about pictures of me without my hair fixed (at least). I did this for a few years and noticed that I was missing from the whole time between Thanksgiving until after the New Year! Missing from every picture or video.
One day, I was sitting with my son, going through pictures. He asked me why I wasn't in any of the pictures. Hmmm. Because I didn't think I looked good. In retrospect, I was 30 pounds lighter and had fewer wrinkles. I allowed myself to be removed from those celebrations.
Since then, I have allowed other people to take pictures of me even if I didn't look perfect. I allowed pictures of my arms in tank tops (I know!) and I allowed myself to remain in our memories of the celebrations for years to come.
At some time during this hustle and bustle, please let someone take your picture. Heck, ask someone to take your picture. Take pictures of your kids doing fun things even if your house isn't perfect. Take pictures. Take lots of pictures. Take a video of your family talking about whatever is important to you right now.
This is a great time to set aside time to make sure to get a family picture. This year, we had great intentions to take pictures at a nice park outside. Every time we planned to go, it was raining. So instead, we sat in front of our tree and took a picture. We used a tripod and the self timer button.
Don't let another year go by without capturing you and your family.
Anjeanette
Rebecca here adding to the thought of pictures being important. I think all of us has fallen into the habit of not wanting pictures taken of us, at one time or another. I could not agree more with Anjeanette that this might not be the best way to act.
I found that even after I got over that problem, I still wasn't showing up in pictures. This is because I am the photographer for my little family. I have had one of those same moments with my child. The one where they asked me where I was during all those fun events. My problem was not that I was missing from the pictures because I chose to be. I was just always the photographer. I used to find it uncomfortable to ask someone else to take a picture with me in it. Many times I just did not even think about it. It is so easy to hand your camera off to someone else to take pictures. In this day of digital cameras and cameras that take such beautiful pictures for you, you don't even have to worry about what kind of a photographer the person is. Just have them take a slew of pictures, one is sure to turn out!
I also found that many moments were not being captured that I wanted. Either my batteries died out on me, or my memory card was full! How disappointing. I now have a battery charged up all the time, and clear my memory card every time I use my camera. This way, my camera is always ready to go. There are so many spontaneous moments that are missed because of those things, for me. Many times I had my camera and it was all ready to go, and I failed to take pictures anyways.
I sometimes felt that because no one else was taking pictures, that I couldn't either. Not any more. In fact, at the last Christmas concert for my oldest daughter, my youngest daughter video taped the whole thing. She walked right to the front of the auditorium to get a better shot of her sister. I saw her do it, and I did not stop her. The way the auditorium is set up, she could not be in anyone's way. I am so pleased to have a video where we can actually see which dot is my child! I also walked up to the teacher and asked to take a picture of my daughter with the teacher, even though no other parents were even approaching the teacher to talk, let alone take pictures. I have found people to be quite gracious about this request and have never found it to be a problem. What was I worried about before?
Think about what shots you want taken. Think about what parts of something that you want to be remembered. I can assure you that I want my children to have pictures of me, in all my glory (no shower, no makeup and all) documenting that I was there too. But even more then just holding my place in the moment, it is also an accurate picture for my children of what their Mother really looked like, when they were 5 years old. Years later, they can laugh with their children about my highlighted hair (that is so 2009!), or what other styles that will become so funny to them. One of my favorite pictures of my siblings is of them on a horse. It is not even about the moment of that memory. It is about how 70's that picture was! They were all rocking the brown leather sandals (with socks) and 70's clothes and hair!
Here are a few examples of preserving the "time" as well as the moment!
This is our lovely Mother. Notice the poodle hair-do? (Sorry, Mom, but it is!) Yeah...well, all of us girls were Rocking that hairstyle right then! It is so much fun for me to look back at pictures of my Mom and to see how much she kept up with the times. While I was looking for these pictures I found ones of my Mom in the 70's, totally rocking the Farrah Fawcett-do! Priceless! Other noteables about this picture are that my Mom is making Pizzels. Yes, the same ones that Anjeanette just posted about! How cool is it to not just know you have traditions, but to see them in pictures from way back when! She even still has that same pizzel maker. Cool, hu!?
So sorry to do this to you, girls. However it had to be done. The above picture is another moment where not just the moment, but the "time" was captured. Yes, getting pictures of us making awesome candy cane cookies (see we keep telling you that we have just grown up with crafting, baking, and doing it all together with traditions!) is totally cool. However, having us in our awesome attire is just icing on the cake, don't ya think!? Fluffy bangs, and a tied-at-the waist-hanging-off-the-shoulder shirt could not have told the "time" any better! Love it!
Hope you guys get a kick out of these oldie pictures. I'm not sure my Sisters will love me showing them off! ;) I know they'll get over it, and they just showed my point better then I can just write it.
Katrina Here:
The girls have got this one covered but I thought I would add something. For years every time I took the camera to my son's pre-school to capture and event, either my batteries would die or my card would be full. I fixed that problem by getting a 4 gb memory card and I always carry an extra set of batteries in my purse. I never take them out and have them with me all the time. This way I don't have to try to remember to bring batteries. This year it paid off for another parent. His batteries died just before the Halloween parade for our Kindergarteners. I happily volunteered two of my batteries to him so he could capture his child in action. Just saying it is always the memory card or the batteries that go when you don't have extras on hand. Most of the time I don't need those batteries anymore. LOL They stopped dieing during those kinds of events. Go figure!
Happy Holidays and remember to jump into a picture. I did that with a family vacation picture. I heard my husband getting the boys to pose for the picture so I stopped what I was doing in the cabin (making dinner) and jumped into the picture.
These candy canes are great for everyone’s diet! They are completely guilt free: No Fat, milk, sugar, whey, carbs, calories, gluten, etc! I think these candy canes look great in an empty box of real candy canes! My children and I have had so much fun coming up with different things that candy canes can be made out of!
Pom poms! Awesome. Just string a thin wire through them to be able to bend them to the candy cane shape. I love how fluffy these are. These were using medium size pom poms.
Oh, beads. So quick and easy for the kids. I just had the kids string the beads on to pipe cleaners.
I had to make a beaded one with some of my prettier beads, too!
As always, I had to use Polymer Clay, because I love it so!
Even straight up paper ones are quite fun.
What is easier than twisting 2 pipe cleaners together?
Oh even sparkly ones in this box! Notice the 4th one from the left? Yup, crocheted! Betcha didn’t know I could pull that off. I made it up as I went along. I first just made a chain stitch with red yarn. Then, added the green one, twisting the red chain as I went along. I did have to then thread a pipe cleaner through the center, to make it hold it’s shape.
These are making their way to a special kid on my list who has to go completely without sweets! This way he can still have his own candy canes!
We always hang our candy canes on our Christmas Tree. Whenever people come over, we give them out. I made a few batches of this type of candy canes. Again, we did hand out one set of them, with another getting ready to go as well. We did keep some of them for our tree as well!
I am not showing my whole tree, as it probably looks like most everyone else's who let their kids decorate it! But I do like showing off parts of my tree. My other favorite parts of my tree are my garland, my homemade retro mice ornaments, and I'm dying to make some silhouette ornaments like Anjeanettes. Another favorite tree, however, isn't the kind to put gifts under. It is Anjeanette's Fabric Card Holder Tree, or even her fabric tree advent calendar!
I have been thinking about this one for years. I get lovely Christmas cards every year. I never have a nice way to display them.
Are you familiar with the one seam flying geese technique? I saw it a year or so ago on Quilt in a day and have been thinking about this project ever since. There are so many great tutorials out there about it. The Quilt show has a video that is super easy to understand. You basically start with two squares and a rectangle. The rectangle is folded and sandwiched between the right sides of the squares and you sew a seam down the side.
You open it up and Voila! You have a single seam goose. Ha! I made up some with green and red to be like a Christmas tree.
I did a block with red squares and a narrow brown rectangle and sewed just the side of the square to make the trunk in a similar way to the geese.
Although it isn’t a goose, it is a trunk.
I pulled out some cards and decided how big I wanted my geese and went with that. I made three trees out of them, threw on some polka dot sashing and a binding and called it a day. Really I was a slacker and this took me three days playing with it. I could have finished it in a jiffy if I was serious about it.
Each triangle is a pocket where you can put your cards. I just love it! I always say that, don’t I? I can’t help it, I really do. I am on a huge red and white kick and I just love Michael Miller. I have been keeping this fabric for a long time dreaming up the stuff I wanted to make with it. I think a huge part of a project is the materials you choose. I am slowly learning that if you use inexpensive (cheap) materials to make your projects, they just don’t last. I really want my time spent on each project to be worth my time and money. I am always happy when I choose quality over price when I purchase anything going into my projects. I don’t mean just fabric, but any kind of item I use to make something…I like it to be a good quality item. Just my two cents.
I threw a few cards in it to show you just how cute it is all done up! Did I say I love it yet? I do. It is almost too cute to put cards in it.
I am so excited to finally have a way to show off all the Christmas cards I get. Now I just need to work on taking a family picture and sending my own Christmas cards out. Yikes! If this inspires you to make a single seam flying geese Christmas card holder, please share a picture with us on our flickr group. We have a lot of readers and not a lot of comments. Sometimes I’m not sure if you are reading this because I have a booger hanging out of my nose and you think it is funny to watch, or if you really like what you see. It is nice to know you are getting something useful out of what we are sharing…. Particularly when what we share is as cute as this;)
Oh Anjeanette!!!!!! It turned out great! I LOVE IT! I have been waiting a month to see how this turned out. She taunted me with the fabrics and the design idea about a month ago and I have been dying to see it. Some days I have to wait till she posts to see the final project (because we live 2.5 hours away).
To join in some fun we are linking this to other parties here. and here and here:
It is my turn to make a video on my own. Anjeanette worked like crazy to make the first videos work. You have no idea just how long it takes to make a video. Probably about 50 takes to get it just right (with out tripping over your words or making some sort of strange facial expression you never knew you did). When I suggested we do videos for this, I had no idea that it would be anything other than simple. It is so hard not to look stiff while basically talking to yourself. Forget when somebody else is in the video! The bouts of spontaneous laughter make the process take twice as long. Not to mention laughing at ourselves over the finished videos.
I know that my boys are fairly typical in that other kids their age (5&7) think Christmas is about what they will get FOR Christmas. It is really important to me that they learn that Christmas is more than that, it is about giving and good will and so much more. I want them to grow up to be giving and caring men. I want to teach them that there is more to gifts than the kind you buy from a store. Service gifts are a great way to teach this concept during the Holiday season.
This year they will pick out a toy each for a toy drive. They will take them to their school toy drive so they can feel good about giving. We also plan to do something similar for a food drive. The boys will be the ones to hand over the donation so that it can be something we do as a family and not just something my husband and I do.
Some ideas for Family and Friends: As part of your gift give them a coupon for something like: -An outing for a day at the zoo, a day at the park complete with picnic lunch, going out to lunch, a movie together, ice skating, or a trip to a store to pick something out. Something they would enjoy doing with you. -for baby sitting so parents can go out on a date - for making a meal -teaching a skill (sewing, crochet, knitting, a sport, cooking, building something, making something, music lessons, art lessons) anything that the person would enjoy (give them something they need for the activity with a card stating your intentions. -Instead of just a gift certificate, add in that you will take them to spend it. Perhaps plan on getting a drink (like hot chocolate) or bite to eat while out. -for a day of help doing what ever. (cleaning, fixing something, remodeling something, yard work, painting, etc) - for nieces and nephews and really good friends you can invite them over for a sleep over complete with an activity in mind. Years and years ago when Erika was little we would have her over for the weekend after Thanksgiving. She and I would spend the weekend crafting and making gifts to give to the family. I enjoyed those weekends, I think she did too. -for older nephews consider a day of computer gaming, play a game that can be networked with two computers or on a video console. For more involved adventure games why not plan a game day one day a month till you both get tired of the game or till you complete all the levels. This is especially good for nephews that may not have their father in their lives. On line games are especially good if you don't live near by. Not into video games, why not get together to play a sport together.
The big theme is to not just give them a gift but to give them the gift of your time. So much of the time we have no time to stop and bond with extended family members. We get so caught up in the day to day that we forget that we have an opportunity to help mold other children in our lives. We can be mentors and help give them a more rounded education on what family is really all about. If you give a service gift make sure it is something that you will keep your word on. As soon as possible sit down with the person and mark a date on your calendar. It should be something that you can start or fulfill with in the next month. The only problem with gifts like this is that you can't say you will do it and not schedule a date because it is likely it will never happen. Perhaps you can feel out what the person's schedule is like ahead of time and even choose a date to put on the card/coupon. This is something that can easily be done with kid's gifts because you can ask their parents what a good date will be and get it on the calendar. With adults it is a little harder. If you are offering a day of help, it may be best to give them 3 or 4 dates to choose from that are good for you. If you are making a meal for some one, you should consider making something that can be frozen and baked when they need it or that will reheat well. Meals are great for new parents because often times they are getting use to a new schedule (even if it isn't their first child). A prepared meal can be heaven sent when new parents are just too tired to cook or go out to get something.
For the Community/neighborhood: -Doing little things for neighbors you know are having a hard time. -If you know they are tight on money you could....give them a gift certificate so they can get a few things from Christmas, I gave a gift certificate for a pet store to someone who has lots of animals. -Helping an elderly couple with yard work, putting up Christmas Decorations and such things. -Visiting a nursing home, have the kids read them a Christmas book. -Do little things like take a plastic shopping bag with you when you go for a walk. Pick up trash you see as you walk. -Talk to your neighbors about doing a block party.
No deed is too small. The idea is to think of what you can do to make the season a little brighter for others. It does not have to cost you anything but time and a little tough. Some times all it takes is to slow down half a second and give somebody the right of way on the road. If somebody is lifting something heavy, why not help? The best way to teach our children is by example.
Happy Holidays, Katrina
~~~ Anjeanette jumping in! I LOVE this subject! Seriously, I think it is so important for my boys to learn about service and thinking of others. When my 1st son was born, we started choosing a tag from an Angel Tree, usually at the mall. We look and look for a tag for a child the same age as our sons and pick out things our kids would LOVE to have. We talk about why we are giving a gift to other children. We talk about how fortunate we are to have the things we have, our house, our family etc.
Our siblings this year have decided that the gifts we give to our nieces and nephews are going to be service gifts. Erika gave Rebecca's daughter a coupon for a day of baking together for my niece's birthday. We all thought that was such a great gift that we decided that is what we are going to do this year. The gift of time is a much better gift in my eyes than another toy. Hopefully we will also be building great relationships and memories with our sibling's children.
Another thing we do to help our kids think of others has to do with the red buckets that are everywhere right now. I normally don't carry any money on me. But I try to keep some small bills on me from November through December. My kids get very excited about putting money into those buckets. I give them each a little bit to put in with their own hands. They really think that is neat. It is particularly cute to me because often they have to really reach their little hands to get to the bucket. (We do that other times of the year too. Particularly when it is the Veterans. And when it is a Veteran, I also have taught my kids to say "Thank YOU!" to them.)
And my last service gift is something my Mom did with us when we were small. At church one year, they made some wood mangers. They were about a foot long and pretty good sized. Mom had a stack of hay next to it. When any of us saw another family member doing something nice for another person, we got to put a piece of hay in the manger. The idea was to have the manger full of hay in time for Christmas Day (for the arrival of Jesus of course). This was fun and we all tried to *catch* someone else doing something nice so we could put more straw in the manger. I think it is a great way for small children to think of something outside of them self.
Thanks Katrina for such an idea packed post! I love the topic and got a bunch of good ideas too;)
I would love to know what you do as gifts of service during the holiday season?
First, I just want to keep it real. Sometimes our little blog may make it appear like we have it together differently than we really do. I mean, we aren't Martha Stewart. I was helping with a PTSO lunchoen today and had promised to make pies and these rugelach for the lunchoen. True to form, my 3 year old was sick all week. Last week my 7 year old was sick. Someone in the house has been sick for the last 6 weeks. I'm not kidding. So I had yesterday set aside to bake for the luncheon. I took more breaks than maybe I should have. I had a PTSO meeting I attended yesterday after my son's school got out. I baked through the night until 3 this morning. While I was at it, I figured why not make extra pies for us and a few reserves in the freezer for later. That is what you all do too, right? My day was carefully planned out almost to the minute. It took some creativity to get it all mapped out and lined up. I dropped off my 2nd grader and ran to Rebecca's house. Our sons go to preschool together. My little one has missed two weeks of preschool. today he was going to go back! At Rebeccas house, my son threw up! It was just lovely. Not only did I gross out my sister, my whole day was off. I'm so lucky I have my mom and two other sisters nearby. I was able to drop off the sick one with Erika and took in 3 French Pear Tarts, 2 Caramel Pumpkin pies (both of which looked like poop, but tasted wonderful) and a plate of Rugelach. I stained my one dressy shirt with grease because all my treats are packed with butter. I did save one of each pies for us too. I have to run everything by my taste-tester husband before I serve it up for anyone else. Thanks honey for sacrificing for me;) I missed helping out AT the luncheon and cleaning up. sigh. Just so you know that we have normal lives too.
Now on to my post...
Really I should be singing the praises to Dorie Greenspan. I adore her so. She is a skinny baker and I don’t normally think you should trust a skinny…well anything really;) I mean Mario Batali I trust his recipes because you can tell that man likes to eat what he makes. And who doesn’t love a man with neon crocs? But Dorie Greenspan is skinny and she bakes and she writes recipes in books.
Let me just tell you…trust her recipes. Trust them. They are almost no fail. And they are to die for. I’m not talking about your marshmallow puff, and processed boxed mix treats that every housewife around knows how to bake either. I’m talking about a real baker with real ingredients and real steps and real yummy treats.
I was participating in an online baking group Tuesdays with Dorie for a while. But then I started getting sick from dairy and wheat. Couple that with my son’s EE and there weren’t a whole lot of people I could bake for in my house anymore. Not REAL baking anyway. With the holidays here, I finally have an excuse to bake for real again. I went to my trusty book Baking from my Home to Yours from Dorie. You can check here for the recipe.
Of course I made a few modifications. I chopped up the chocolate and nuts a bit so they were smaller. I also added the currants and orange cranberries to the warming jelly. I wanted to plump them up and soften them a little. I used orange marmalade as the jelly. Oh my! It was wonderful!
Another really good tip is to roll the dough out between waxed paper. Put it back in the fridge to firm up before you do anything else. Then spread your jelly mix, add your nuts and chocolate. Roll them up and sprinkle with some nice chunky sugar like Turbinado sugar. Oh yah! That is what I am talking about!
I grew up with a Christmas tree that had scandinavian decorations on it. Even if this wasn’t my heritage (which it is) I would still love these kinds of decorations because they were a part of my childhood. I remember cute straw ornaments with red accents. Even more than those, I remember garlands made out of Danish flags. They are called Flagranker. Oh, how I love those garlands. The other year Anjeanette and her family visited Solvang in California which is a cute Danish themed town. They bought those awesome Danish flag garlands for each of us! She bought them at Jule Haus. I put them on my Christmas tree and was oh so happy. Such a little thing, but I swear they put such a great smile on my face whenever I see them! Well, the other side of my kids heritage was not seen on the tree. As soon as this was brought to my attention I immediately whipped up a garland made out of Scottish flags. Makes me even happier. I do not know what it is about the Holidays, but it makes me think of my heritage. I love hearing stories of where my family came from (especially because my Dad is such a great story teller!). Having these decorations on my tree is a great conversation starter for my children. They always ask what things are and why we have them. So, it opens up a whole conversation about where all the different people in our family come from. I am so lucky to know of my family’s rich heritage. I love that my parents celebrated Holidays from other countries! It is also one way to prolong the celebrating (which is always a good thing, in my book….I believe you don’t just have a Birth-Day, but instead a Birth-Week….get where I’m going here?)!
Not all flags are as easy as Denmark’s and Scotland’s. However, I think you can still come up with ways to incorporate parts of your heritage into your celebrating or decorating.
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