Quick and Cute Christmas Decor to make with kids!

Can you believe I found a moment to make extra decorations with Donna, and then blog about it in the middle of the week before Christmas when I'm supposed to be making handmade gifts? Neither can I. But see, that's the beauty of these little decorations--they are SUPER quick to put together!

I do these every year with our leftover decorations and Donna loves to help. They're perfect for kids and they take only minutes.

You'll need: 

-Some pretty glass jars or vases of various sizes.

-Small evergreen clippings. 

(Different types of greenery is good. We always use the leftover tree and wreath making trimmings.)

-Pine cones of various shapes and sizes.

-Left over ornaments, beads, tinsel, garland, or anything red or gold that is sparkly and pretty.

-Ribbon in different colors.

-At least one cute little kid in the Christmas spirit (note the hat she's been wearing all week ;).

 

Organize the evergreen together with the pine cones, bulbs and beads inside the the jar. Try to arrange so that the prettiest items are on the outside where they can be seen through the glass.

I like to start with some beads and a big pine cone or bulb in the bottom of the jar, and then stuff it full with evergreen before finishing it off with some more beads and small pine cones. 

Check out that smile. I'm telling you, this is fun kid (and big person) Christmas stuff!

Finish off the jars with pretty bows (attached with craft wire) and then place them throughout the house; on end tables, windowsills, in bathrooms, etc. It's a great way to spread a little Christmas all around with their prettiness and wonderful smell!

So proud! And this after helping Momma to make some yummy chocolate doughnuts!!

 

I hope you try making some of these! Let me know if you do--they're so much fun!

Oh, and yes, we got our tree trimmed and our stockings and wreaths hung. The house smells like Christmas cookies, the carols are on replay on every tongue and the workshop and our room have been locked off with secrecy.... Mmm, Christmas! Here are some pictures:

Steven working on a rush dollhouse order in the midst of the decorating!

 

 Aaaaand, here's our pretty tree!

(Any ideas as to what kind of tree it is? We've been trying to figure it out. Michael was looking it up online and when Dad asked him if he knew what kind it was, he said: "Yup. A green kind.")

 Blizzarding out there tonight. Stay warm and merry! 

I'm off to steal a nibble from some fresh baked cookies and then back to my crafting.

What are you doing tonight??

We love our animals--Advent week 3

Hello again faithful Readers!

 I'm sorry for being late on our third Sunday of Advent. It was also Donna's 4th birthday on Sunday, which was very exciting for everybody. We enjoyed having some new friends over, eating good food and showering our spoiled youngest with lots of homemade gifts. We had jello topped with cream cheese and fruit for Donna's birthday 'cake' and lit our 3rd candle while enjoying it...

 

 

"The third Light of Advent, It is the light of beasts:
The Light of faith that we may see In greatest and in least."

(borrowed from the waldorf school)

 

Theresa and SteveyJ whittled this adorable Momma and baby set, sanded and painted them to perfection. Absolutely love them!

 

Celebrating animal life on Donna's birthday seemed like a good fit. I don't know what we'd do if we didn't have animal life surrounding us all the time. A field with horses and cows, a yard with chickens and a walk with a dog trotting along just emanates so much more life!

Yum! look at that smile; yum!

Today, Andrew and I, along with the two youngest for approval and the dog for her emanating life, ;-) spontaneously went out and selectively harvested a lovely Christmas tree.

 

It's not the normal kind of traditional tree, but the change is nice. 

It's big and beautiful and yet undecorated...

 

I spy with my little eye, two little feet just standing by...

Seven days to Christmas.  Eeek! Gotta go sew! ;)

How are your Christmas preparations going?

Celebrating All Kinds of Life!

 

Good Evening Readers!

 Today marks the second week of Advent. We're lighting our candle this evening and celebrating all kinds of life found in plants. As a worker of the soil, I am especially fond of this kind of life. All life is beautiful, amazing and worth celebrating, but I find this type of seed-to-plant life especially fascinating! And with my love of flowers... what can I say except that I'm really fond of and grateful for this life!!  

   

We're taking turns making treats in celebration of so many kinds of life. Today was Lizzy's turn and she made muffins and a muffin cake. Delish! :)

 

To represent plant life, Theresa carved a tiny pine tree and decorated the base with pine cones, dried flowers, acorns, seeds, leaves and all kinds of stuff.

 

Fun to be slowly completing our ring together with last weeks! 

 

"The second Light of Advent It is the Light of plants:
Plants that reach up to the sun And in the breezes dance."

(Borrowed from the waldorf school.)

It's cold and dead outside (no snow yet though!), so it's wonderful to be thinking of plants and being grateful for their life right now. I've been really enjoying my advent; thinking of and celebrating every kind of life. Our Christmas preparations have been a bit slow yet, due to all the business in our shops right now (not complaining--really love it!), but it will slow down closer to Christmas and give us some time to plan our own celebrations. The kids went for a horse back ride today and looked for our tree. :) I had some quiet time to work on my Christmas preparations this afternoon, which I really enjoyed. In the evenings we've been playing music, as well as writing a bit of our own, and lots and lots of board games. Oh the noise! :)

 

Lately, life is slow and peaceful and I feel very much alive!

How are you feeling in your second week of Christmas preparations?

Handmade Christmas 2012

Hello Lovely Readers!

I'm here to share with you some of this year's handmade Christmas endeavors. We needed a new Nativity stable, so Stephen made me a basic barn (which we're also offering for sale).

Basic barn. Basically cute, yeah? :)

I decorated ours with moss, mushrooms pebbles, dried flowers... all kinds of stuff.

I also added one of my knitted nativity sets and a few sheep... maybe a few more characters will join in future years. I hereby deem myself too busy to make any more this year. ;)

 

I also had Steve cut a window in the back of ours (he would do it on yours too, if you asked him! ;) and I painted a piece of plastic to resemble a night sky to glue in it. A flashlight behind it and a few poked holes to resemble stars lights the whole scene up quite nicely!

And then, this beautiful creation is our life/advent/Christmas/whatever-you-wish-to-call-it, ring.

 

Theresa and SteveyJ made this with just natural materials and their hands. It's quite a family treasure! I'll show more pictures as we enter the next weeks, but this week as we light the first candle, we're celebrating all the forms of life found in bacteria:

The first Light of Advent It is the Light of stones:
The Light that shines in seashells In crystals and our bones. 

(I borrowed this from the waldorf school, but it is our representation of the idea.)

 Representing bacterial life, we have a mini mushroom that Stephen turned on the lathe (a mushroom's mycellium mat is bacterial right?) and stones, crystals and a little bone (don't know if you can see it--it's behind the mushroom)

 

So, we're going to light our candle and have some dinner. Maybe some yummy peanut butter/chocolate fudge in honor of the first week of Christmas. I will be back with more pictures as we craft for more of our handmade Christmas decorations and gifts. If you haven't yet found gifts for everyone on your list, please do check out some of the lovely handmade sites I have listed on my sidebar. I know most of these families quite well and endorse them wholeheartedly!  

Support handmade!! :o)

What handmade endeavors are you doing for the holidays? I'd love to hear!

Thanksgiving--Yay! :D

Hey Blog Readers!

 I hope this little note finds you in a house full of delicious smells and the joyful sounds of good company today! :)

Despite my absence here, we're all doing wonderfully. I haven't been finding the time to blog, but thus said, we've been living life slowly and gently and haven't found ourselves overly busy despite the harvest season and upcoming winter. I've been working on writing a new book and it seems to suck up all my writing energy lately. No worries though; I'm sure it's just a passing phase. :)

We're working on preparing a beautiful homegrown feast today. Yesterday was a beautiful day of cleaning, baking and singing from every corner of the house and today, from the sounds and smells, I'd say the joy of the holidays is continuing in the same way. It's amazing, but we didn't have to go to the grocery store for a single item while preparing our menu and feast. Mom and I butchered a few days ago, so our meat is good and tender. Most everything else came  from the garden; the green beans, mashed potatoes, the pumpkin in the pie, even the celery in the stuffing! The whipped cream on the pies, the golden butter on the rolls and the milk in the gravy is curtsy of our wonderful girls and the hardworking boys that milk them.

I spent a good deal of time this week pondering what it is that I'm grateful for this year. Oh, there's the usual stuff, like sheep and flowers, (or perhaps that isn't so usual,) but at any rate, I dug deeply and pondered much and have decided that this year, I am grateful for human emotion. When you think about it, It's really what keeps life interesting; both emotions and striving to express them. It's the color and energy in our lives, and I am just so randomly thankful, this year, that human's have it!

What are you thankful for this year?

Here's some random pictures, in random order, from the last few weeks to visually update you. ;)

 Fall hiking...

 

Goofing off

 

  Donna's growing up fast; already learning her ABC's and how to ride a horse--you know, the fundamentals. ;) Today, she's proudly making the rolls for our thanksgiving feast!

  I love my sheep. Ridiculously so. I recently gave a few of them their fall shearings and I just love cuddling their big, furry, warm bodies during the process of snipping off their coats.

Thanks for visiting! Leave a comment and let me know what you're doing for Thanksgiving! :)

Btw, our little handmade shop's 'black friday-cyber monday' sale consists of a giveaway of one of my natural hand knit Nativity Sets! The giveaway is through facebook (you need a facebook account) and it ends on Nov. 30th Details here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Home-n-Stead/182481835168917

Happy Thanksgiving!