Gingerbread Party Supply List

I decided to go ahead and write up my shopping list for the Gingerbread House Party to share.  That way I can be ready for next year, and if anybody wants to have a last minute party this year, maybe it will help!

Here's a link to the party details here.

Shopping list for a Gingerbread House Party:

Michael’s:
Cardboard cake rectangles, cut to 7X10

Edible markers

Cellophane and curly ribbon to wrap the finished product

Grocery Store
4 boxes of Graham Crackers (I used three boxes to make 10 houses)

1 box of sugar cones for trees

1 bag marshmallows for snowmen

Toothpicks

Icing ingredients (I made three batches for this party, and we used up most of that.)

2 heaping cups powdered sugar

4 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp milk

Candies
mini m&ms

Skittles

Mini fruit slices or gumdrops

mini candy canes

Christmassy cereal like Christmas Crunch

Gingerbread Cookie People. Oooh,

(other possibilities include lifesavers, kisses, ribbon candy, mints, Starburst, animal crackers)

Supplies at home:

Glue gun and glue sticks

Serrated knife for cutting crackers

Wet wipes for cleanup

Gallon Ziploc bags for piping

Gingerbread House Party

December is crazy, I'm so sorry for not posting for a week!  But I have a great one for today, we had a great Gingerbread House Party!  Here are the details!

I invited Serenity's class over to decorate gingerbread houses.  I realized as I was making the bases that I’d never decorated a gingerbread house before!  And just like my mother, the very first time I made ten of them.  Yay for mass production!  Here’s how I set it up:

I built the bases for the gingerbread houses by cheating, as my friend Andrew would say.  Hooray for hot glue!  I figure no one really wants to eat graham crackers that sit out for days anyway =)  I bought cardboard cake rectangles and cut them in half to make 7 by 10 inch boards.  Then I hot glued graham crackers to make the base.  I read a tip from here at One Charming Party about microwaving the graham cracker wrapped in a wet paper towel for 15 seconds, and it definitely made it easier to cut it without breaking the cracker.  I got too lazy for it after a while, so it can be done both ways.  I cut the pattern for my roofline on a piece of cardstock so that I got the angles the same on the front and back.  I cut about a fifth of the graham cracker off the side pieces so that the roof had a nice overhang. 

The special details that everyone loved included getting sugar cones and green icing for Christmas trees.  Serenity especially loved this and covered her tree with mini M&M and Skittles ornaments.  And she used mini gummy fruit slices for presents under the tree.  Next, I got supplies to make snowmen out of marshmallows.  Big marshmallows, toothpicks, and edible markers.  Finally, I found little gingerbread cookie people!  Pepperidge farm makes a set of these, and the kids loved adding them to their little houses. 

In addition to all that, I bought a ton of candy!  I think next year I’ll buy different candy knowing what I know now.  With the graham crackers especially, the houses are pretty small.  So the big gumdrop bells, Butterfinger bells, ribbon candy, nougats, and even the hershey’s kisses were a bit too big.  We used a couple maybe each, but they weren’t the most fun.

The best candies were the mini M&Ms, and someone brought little tiny candy balls in all different colors.  They looked just like lights!  Next year I’ll totally buy the M&Ms not in a Christmas mix, they’re cuter with more colors.  The mini fruit slices were awesome, and tiny gumdrops.  The mini candy canes were cool too, but since they came in a box of 60 I imagine I’ll still have some for next year.  Oh, and I nearly forgot the Christmas Crunch.  The cereal made cute decorations, and was lightweight and just the right size =)  I also got Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which I forgot to use but I still think would be cute.

I had the icing ready in Ziploc baggies for piping, and that worked great just like at our Cookie Party.  And green icing in a bowl with popsicle sticks to spread it. 

And that was it! I had some cardboard boxes for people to take home their creations.  Next year I might buy cellophane so they can wrap it and tie it closed with curly ribbon.  I could only make so many trips to Target for things I’d forgotten this year =)  Next year I’ll have a list to work from! 

Stocking Stuffer: Peg Doll (Dora's Explorer Girls)

Stocking Stuffer Idea: Peg Dolls!

I’m so happy, I finally finished a handmade Christmas present for Serenity!  I kept procrastinating, but have finally switched into “get it done” mode.  So here they are, my peg dolls!

Serenity randomly found on nickjr.com Dora’s Explorer Girls.  Apparently, Dora grows up, moves to the big city, and totally forgets about Boots the monkey.  Very sad.  I will try to forgive her for selling out.  Anyway, she has a great group of girl friends, and Serenity loves them!  There doesn’t seem to be much out there for this show yet, maybe it’s new?  All we’ve seen is the game and the introduction to the girls. I actually like that more, because it means Serenity is making up all the adventures herself!  She tells us which explorer girl we are, and she is usually Naiya.  Then we explore, which ends up being follow the leader as she takes us wherever she can imagine! 

I printed some little pictures of the girls, and Serenity played with these for hours.  So I decided to paint these peg dolls for her.  I did six, for Dora, Naiya, Emma, Kate, Alana, and Serenity the Explorer Girl.  I painted Serenity’s yellow hair, blue eyes, and my favorite purple dress.  I loved Lier’s idea of painting peg dolls to commemorate favorite outfits.  I don’t know that I’ll make as many as she did, but we’ll see.  If Serenity loves them Christmas morning, maybe I’ll be inspired! 

Kate

Naiya's ponytail

Naiya

Serenity in her Purple Girl dress

Alana... technically half these girls are wearing pants... I could try to add a line with a sharpie but I'm thinking it might look weird because of the doll shape...

Dora

Emma

(Process-wise, this is very easy to do.  You just paint it in stages, doing faces, main clothes colors, hair, and then details, waiting for it to dry in between.  It dries super fast though, so I got this all done in one particularly fine afternoon nap.  And I painted over the top with clear modge podge to seal it.  I used a chopstick and a cake tester for the really fine details, the brushes I had weren’t good enough for such small detail. 

Oh, and here's a pic of what the explorer girls should look like =)

Source: google.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

More inspirations:  Filth Wizardry's super cool Star Wars peg dolls

Making an easy card in Photoshop Elements

If you’re on my Christmas card list and want to be surprised, don’t read this today! =)  The cards just got mailed today thanks to my Advent Calendar. =)  Today’s December Daily is all about making my Christmas card, and getting my three year old daughter to help me mail them! She loved putting on the labels, stamping, and hopping out to the mailbox!  She was a Mail Frog.  No, I don’t know why =) 

I love Photoshop Elements!  It’s really easy to use and you can make fancy cards and layouts.  Here’s how I made ours this year.

Open a new project in the dimensions you want to print.  I print 4X6 photos because then my cards are just 20 cents or so each. 

I took a picture of my kids on the couch.  Then I used the healing brush to kind of spread the couch blue color to the top where you could see my wall.  Just Alt click to select the blue part of the couch and you can smudge the picture until it looks all blue in the background. 

I also adjusted the levels slightly.  In the bottom right task bar you can add a levels layer, and I just adjusted it slightly to brighten it.  Take the far right slider and move it down a bit, take the middle greys one and move it a bit to the left, and the far left one (the darks) and move it to the right a bit.  Just play till you like what you see! 

Then I started adding layers and using a photoshop brush to add the snowflakes.  I added it in several different layers so if I didn’t like one it was easy to delete it.  The brush I used is called Snowtime_by_Crazy_Alice.  I faded some by moving down the opacity. 

The text I used is called Girls are Weird, and it’s available free from dafont.com.  

Then I dropped a ribbon from a Shabby Princess Season Sampler Free Kit and called it good!

Here’s the original picture:

 Here it is after I edited the picture to get rid of the distracting background:

And here’s the completed card:

If you need more help on where to find the tools I mentioned in Photoshop, leave a comment!  I’ll add screenshots, but now I hear the baby waking up and I’ve gotta run!

December Day Four: Cookie Fest!

Cookie Party!  I just love our annual cookie party.  It’s great to get together with our friends from college and their adorable children, and I get to play!  Try new recipes, crafts, and games.  This year I set up a cookie decorating station for the kids and an apple cider bar.

Here’s the apple cider bar!  I went all out and actually purchased silver polish for the fancy tray my Mama gave me.  Then I went nuts in the grocery store!  Here’s what we had to choose from:

Torani Syrups in Almond, Pumpkin Pie, and Irish Cream flavors.

Butterscotch and Caramel sundae toppings

Maple Syrup

Apple Slices

Butter Pecan and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Cinnamon Whipped Cream

I think my favorite was almond syrup, cinnamon whipped cream, and apple slices.  I also loved butter pecan ice cream with caramel sauce!  Yum!  I found a tip online to keep the cider warm in the crock pot, and it worked perfectly. 

The cookie station was a blast!  Serenity and I had made the cut out cookies the day before (Cinnamon shortbread, mmmm) I put icing into Ziploc baggies and cut the tips off when the kids were ready to design with them.  Even the two year olds could easily squeeze the icing out!  Granted it usually ended up in a big puddle on the cookie, but hey, still delicious. I had a bunch of candies to decorate, but I think the mini M&Ms and the mini chewy fruit slices worked the best.  Oh, and sprinkles of course. 

I made each of the kids a little chef’s hat using this extremely simple pattern.  I just happen to have a bunch of muslin on hand, which I’d purchased to make curtains for Serenity’s room.  Actually this is the second time I’ve bought muslin for that project and used it for something else, I should just keep a bolt of the stuff on hand! =)  

The table for people to put the cookies they brought on.  I put out the veggie tray to balance the sugar a little. =)  Next year maybe I'll think signage earlier, but today I put out green tags for people to write the cookie variety on. 

Saw this in my family fun magazine this month, had to make it cause my husband loves parsley =)

December Day Two =) Reindeer Food and Pink Decorations!

I probably won't post all my Daily December entries here, but today's projects were so much fun I wanted to share! 

Today’s activity was to decorate Serenity’s room!  I bought a pink tree for her last year, and this year picked up a pink tree skirt and some white and purple felt ornaments to add to her purple snowflakes.  She was so thrilled!  She looked up at me and said, “I’m a big fan of ornaments!” 

She might be out-crafting me!  She asked all day to do ornaments, so I pulled out a craft kit that I’d bought for later in the month.  Then she wanted more!  We read a bunch of library books that I’d requested, and one of them was The Wild Reindeer by Jan Brett.  So we decided to make some reindeer food.  It’s very easy and fun, you just take regular oatmeal and stir in some glitter to make magic oats for the reindeer.  Sprinkle on the lawn Christmas Eve.  We put the finished baggie into the pocket for December 24^th so we remember to do it.  She was very serious, choosing just the right color glitter (pink iridescent) and measuring the oats into the bowl and stirring it together.  Such fun! 

A Stocking for Donovan

A Stocking for Donovan          

Well, I’ve had this on my to-do list since before he was born… and I managed to get it done the day before I put up my Christmas Decorations.  Ahh, deadlines.  I work so well with them. =)  I made three patchwork stockings five years ago.  I made three, partially because I already was wishing we had a baby, and partly because I had purchased a set of stocking holders from Pottery Barn that spell out JOY.  (Or YOJ when my husband has his way and mixes up the letters.)  I saved scraps from that sewing frenzy so that I could make more stockings as our family gets bigger that matched the originals.  So here’s how I did it!

I bought a little new fabric for the lining.  I managed the front and back with scraps.  I chose one of my favorite quilt square patterns, pinwheels in this case.  I used pinwheels on his baby quilt and made real pinwheels for his mobile, so now they just make me think Donovan. =)  So I made a pinwheel about 8 inches square, and then just added strips where I needed it to be bigger.  With the originals, I made patchworky blocks about 12 inches by about 18 inches, but this way there was less waste, and it still looks nice and patchy to match the originals. 

So after sewing  a top that was big enough to match my stockings, I cut out a backing, and then two more pieces to be a lining.  Sew the fronts together, leaving the top open.  Sew the linings together, leaving the top open and a hole on one side to turn the finished stocking.  Then you put the two pieces together, sew around the top, and then turn through the hole you left in the lining.  I never sewed this shut, although you certainly could, especially if you put lots of little things in the stocking.  I’ve never lost anything though.  =) 

The original three are pretty too, but I think Donovan’s is my favorite =)  Serenity’s stocking is a log cabin pattern, which was my original favorite.  I’d always wanted to do a log cabin =)  Eric’s is just lots of triangle blocks and nine patches.  Mine is a pretty pointy star.  I wished I’d added some of the ivory to it to make it pop more. 

I just love sampler-type quilting.  I’ll have to share my tree skirt soon =)   

Advent Calendar Planning

I can’t believe I’m already lining out the Advent Calendar list!  I’m highly motivated for two reasons… first, I’ve been thinking about blogging it, and second, since Serenity is three now she will totally notice if I try and sneak it in after the day has begun.  Also, things just take more planning with two, kwim?

The advent calendar is a new challenge this year, since I want Donovan to get to participate too!  Having things lined up for a three year old and six month old will be a challenge.  I think he’ll love the music and books, and we can certainly involve him in making ornaments for the tree.  He’ll have to wait a year for candy though =) 

Here's Serenity with our Advent Calendar last year.. I splurged on the one from PBK

Advent Calendar 2011

1.) Sing. I will try to make a fun mix cd to listen to in the car on the way to school, or we will just sing if my cd player is still broken.  Serenity loves Jingle Bells, so when she gets home I think we’ll try to play it on the piano or with her handbells this year!  Donovan will get a kick out of ringing bells too I think.

2.) Decorate Serenity’s Room for Christmas.  I bought a PINK Christmas tree last year for her room, so we’ll light this up and maybe add some new decorations this year, plus I saw an adorable Christmas tree craft on Pinterest I may try with her… I promise to share!

3.) Read.  I bought Ten on the Sled and Gingerbread Girl goes Animal Crackers from the book fair already!  And this will set us up well since our cookie party is the next day, we can make some cookies after reading about the Gingerbread Girl!

4.) Cookie Exchange Party. This is an annual event for us.  Our friends and their kids come over and we each bake different kinds of cookies and trade.  Yummy and fun!  We try to do games and crafts too.  Now I just need to search for some fun and fancy cookie recipes =)  

5.) Make Presents: I bought Crayola Model Magic and found this great activity. Serenity can use cookie cutters to make ornaments to send to grandparents, and we can make footprints or handprints with Donovan.  Perfect!

6.) Make Digi Christmas Cards and Mail them.  Serenity loves the mailbox so this year she can be in charge of stuffing, stamping and mailing the cards.  Now I’ve got to get busy and take some pictures for it!

One version of our card from last year.  Yay Photoshop.  What's YOJ, you ask?

7.) See Santa.  Maybe she will care about this enough to stand in line this year… she did love the Easter bunny. =)  I will not make Donovan do it, although to this point he doesn’t mind going to see strangers. 

8.) Movie Night: We try and watch a great Christmas movie together… any recommendations for a three year old?  She doesn’t seem to care about anything not animated, I look forward to when we can do the Miracle on 34^th Street.  Last year we did the animated Frosty one… which was not as good as I remembered from childhood.  We did love Curious George’s Christmas though.  

9.) Craft: I have a few kits already from Target that look like a lot of fun!

10.) Candy Cane Hunt:  This was a huge hit last year.  We’ll have to check the weather to see if it should be indoors or outdoors, but you do it just like an egg hunt.  I’ve already got the Canes and everything!

11.) Backyard Game, like croquet or cornhole toss, or bocce. 

12.) Daddy’s Birthday… and Christmas Lights… we may be brave and go to Rhema this year.  We’ll see how excited Serenity gets at seeing lights from the car, we may just find a nice neighborhood to drive through. 

13.) Last day of school… Add a photo ornament to the tree.  Keep it simple on school days =)

14.) Angel Tree/Samaritan’s Purse.  I want to either take her shopping and explain the Angel tree to her, or use the Samaritan’s purse catalogue to explain giving to others with her. 

15.) Read: I got a new Boynton book, Bob the Reindeer.  Should be a hit with both kids! =) 

16.) Decorate a Gingerbread house

17.) Game Night: New board game, possibly the Penguin one I saw.  We are board game nuts so a new one is always welcome =)

18.) Special Breakfast, maybe Monkey bread?

19.) Neighborhood Walk to see Stars and Lights

20.) Puzzle: Haven’t found a good holiday one yet, but probably I will find an irresistible one before Christmas =)

21.) Carriage Ride at Winterfest?

22.) Read Nativity Story, put up Nativity…if we have one.

23.) Bake more cookies as the others will be gone, including Sand Tarts for family.

24.) Watch Home Movies:  I always make a greatest hits dvd of my favorite movies from the last year, and we watch it with popcorn. 

25.) Again, ideally we’d put Baby Jesus in the nativity… but we don’t have a nativity yet!  Maybe I’ll borrow Mom’s Little People one this year, or cave and buy my own. 

I’m doing pretty well!  I need to find a puzzle, a new board game, some individually wrapped candies to add in some days, and gingerbread house supplies.  And I need to make the home movie dvd and the Christmas card. Make sure I have all the slips that go in the Advent Calendar written. Not too bad. 

This isn’t set in stone obviously, as I haven’t even finished looking for special events around town that we might enjoy, and Eric might want to switch things up so we do his favorite things on days he has off.  But I have a workable list, and I know what I need to buy!  Thanks blog readers, for motivating me to do this before December for a change =) 

Christmas Shopping!

Christmas Shopping! 

I am just about done Christmas shopping… but don’t be mad.  That just means I can get started on my Christmas crafting!! =)  Serenity is just three, and Donovan is five months, so they don’t need tons of toys really.  They get so many hand me downs and grandparent gifts I feel like they are pretty content. =)  But I like to get them something from us, so we usually do a book and a toy or game, plus a few stocking stuffers.  I thought I’d share what I found because I’m especially excited! 

Source: pintsizeproductions.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

Sandra Boynton now does a personalized book!!!!!  It is so cool.  All of Serenity’s favorite books her first year were Boynton books.  They are adorably illustrated, so cute and funny enough that I never minded reading them a hundred times each.  So when I saw this I knew Donovan had to have it =)  Serenity would probably love it too, as she has really started loving her own personalized books lately.  We received a few as gifts for her first birthday, but the stories were a little long,  so we only read them a few times.  Well, around her third birthday, she started begging me to read these books to her nightly!  We have one that is Justice League, and one that is a Fairy Tale book that spells her name.  I think my Mom got that one for her at Pottery Barn a couple of years ago.  Anyway, I wanted to get her another book with her name in it, and found this:

Source: littlewondercompany.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

You get to customize the main character!!! So not only does the book have her name in it, the little girl looks like her!  Little Girl Wonder!  I can’t wait to see her face when she opens it! 

On to the toys I have so far.  For Donovan I got the Fisher Price A-Z learning zoo.  I nearly got it for Serenity last year, but it’s a Fisher Price exclusive so you have to order it from them… and pay shipping!  I am an amazon prime member and have an instinctive aversion to paying for shipping.  And I worried she’d outgrow it too soon.  But after thinking about it all year, I decided Donovan would grow into it and I should just give in and get it.  I’ll have to review it after Christmas!

Source: fisher-price.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

Then for Serenity, I got a play-doh ice cream set.  Legos and Play-doh are the two toys that Serenity plays with absolutely every week, and since I got her a couple of awesome lego duplo toys (the tube set and supermarket set) I decided to get her a new play-doh thing.  I may keep my eyes open for another board game, like Inchimals, but probably this will just about do it. 

So now to the drawing board to see what gift I will make them!  I’m thinking quiet book for Donovan… we’ll see!

Our Advent Calendar

I have this great advent calendar I got from Pottery Barn Kids as my Christmas decor splurge last year. (I try and add one fun thing each year =)  We had a blast with it last year, and so far this year is just as much fun!  Even more so because Serenity actually asks to check her advent calendar each day =)  But instead of being all organized, I'm having to scramble every day to fill the thing =)  So in case there are any more of you out there looking for ideas, here's the list I finally assembled for the calendar, plus the activities we've already done! 

Advent Calendar List
1. Sing.  Serenity's favorite Christmas carol is Jingle Bells, so we sang that right away, plus I made a new mix cd of Christmas music for the car.  Although my cd player malfunctioned so we ended up singing Christmas carols all over town, which was a blast!
 2. Puzzle.  I got a new holiday puzzle from the dollar section of Target, my home away from home.
3. Read.  We read a brand new Christmas book, Llama Llama Holiday Drama.  Have since read it about fifty times so I declare it a hit!
4. Cookie Exchange Party.  This is an annual event for us.  Our friends and their kids come over and we each bake different kinds of cookies and trade.  Yummy and fun!  We try to do games and crafts too. 
5. Make Presents.  I got some green foam Christmas trees that we decorated with foam stickers for all the grandparents.  So far they are a hit!
6. Read.  I found the Grinch Who Stole Christmas at Kohl's.  The proceeds are donated so I always love getting those books and the toys that go with them.  This book was a little long for my two year old, but she loved the part where the Whos all sing, and sang La la la la  along with them =)
7. Decorate.  My tree is already up but we went to Grandma's house and helped her decorate her outdoor tree!  Serenity loves moving ornaments around, and ooohs and ahhhs over Christmas lights and ornaments.
8. Candy Cane Hunt.  I hid candy canes in the yard.  Such fun!  This was a new idea for us and I will definitely be repeating it.
9. Christmas in the Park (a local event with Christmas decorations and booths.)
10. Bake a Pretzel or Cannelle bouleh
11. Christmas Presents and Pancakes
12. Neighborhood Walk to see Stars and Lights, or Happy Hollow Zoo??
13. Backyard Game (Croquet?)
14. Decorate Serenity’s Room for Christmas (Posterboard Tree? Lights?)
15. See Santa
16. Watch Home Movies (I make a greatest hits dvd once a year for us to watch)
17. Make Digital Christmas Cards and Mail Them (stickers for Serenity, add stamps to envelope?)
18. Play Board Game (Hippo?  Or Tangrams?)
19. Craft (fingerprint snowmen)
20. Christmas Movie with Popcorn
21. Drive to see Lights
22. Add a Photo Ornament to tree
23. Bake and Decorate Cookies (and Sand Tarts)
24. Read Nativity Story
25. Still not sure about this, in an ideal world I'd have a nativity set she could play with and put baby Jesus in today, but we'll see!

I also have a ton of craft ideas filling up my google reader that I want to do!  This week is crazy but next week I hope to start posting our versions of those great ideas! 

hot chocolate
breakfast for dinner
see horses
make candy/cookies