Christmas Crafts

This cold weather is ruining my holiday plans. I was hoping to get to the Holidazzle parade this past weekend, but there was no way I was going to sit outside after dark in below zero temps. Hopefully, we'll still get to squeeze the parade in this season since it's supposed to be the last year it's running. Riley really loved it last year so we're quite bummed that something she actually likes will be ending.

Even though it was too cold to go to the parade we still tried to work in some holiday fun - mostly in the way of crafts. To start with we made one of those ornaments that you bake. Won't be doing that again - those suckers stink. I ended up getting a headache so we decided to leave the house and go to the gym. Note to self: never, EVER, go to the gym during the cold season at 10 am on a Saturday. Crazy town in there. It was like Lord of the Flies when it came to finding an open locker. I almost gave up. But I didn't and was able to work out (even if I could still smell burning plastic for some reason). Thankfully, by the time we got home the smell was gone.

I realize this is the backside, but hey - the front pretty much looks the same. 

We had already put up our countdown to Christmas chain. I actually saved most of the links from the previous year so this was rather easy to put back together. It doesn't look as pristine as last year, but at least I didn't have to cut out new chain links. Whatever I can do to make my life easier.

Sunday morning we decided to make Santa's. I found a site that had templates which made this an easier task, and frankly, made Santa look much more pulled together than if I free handed this. This was a fun task for Riley - plus I could use some of those cotton balls that I've had for years. I must have used them a lot in the past to provoke me to get such a large bag. Who knew that one day I would have a kid that could totally use these in craft projects.

After Santa was completed we found some leftover snowman parts from a project we did last year. I bought a kit that had a bunch of foam snowmen and snowmen parts that you stuck to the body. It only cost about 5 bucks and provided entertainment for two holiday seasons so that was a total win, even if we were short an arm. At least we had an extra scarf.

Riley really wanted to make a sad snowman. Girl was just keeping it real -snowmen can't always be happy.

Next up was making some hearty food. Ok, this isn't a Christmas craft, but noteworthy all the same. Earlier, I went to the store and bought a bunch of stuff to make chili and to make pulled beef sandwiches. The sandwiches are on hold since I picked up clam chowder instead of beef broth. Guess I need to look at the can instead of just grabbing from the broth area. So I made the chili first. I've been on the lookout for a good chili recipe. The last one I made was a little too sweet for my taste so I didn't want to try that one again and Jesse has been requesting a low meat, high bean one. I found one that I think he'll like, but I didn't find it until after I got back from the store. Maybe next time. 

At any rate, I found a recipe that I thought sounded kind of weird, but I got it from a site that has not let me down with recipes yet so I went for it. Jesse was a little weirded out when I told him it had V8 juice in it, but after eating a bowl he has declared it one of the best chili's he's eaten so maybe I'll be making this one again. To compliment the chili I made some cheddar cornbread as well.

Riley wouldn't touch the chili, but chowed down on the cornbread... and yes, we wore our jammies for much of the day.

And to wrap up the post, I might as well put up a picture of the kid in front of the tree...

And I have to give a call out to the cat, Lucy, for tolerating us. This cat sure can be a pain with wanting to eat food ALL THE TIME, but is also great in so many ways. I'd like to say it was the kid who put all the cars on her, but it was me (and there were actually more).

Riley took all the cars off of Lucy because she said she didn't want to make the cat upset. Well, aren't you just a nice kid looking out for the feelings of others... I wonder who you got that from? Surely, not from me.

Canning Jar Snow Globes

My dad has been in a huge purging mode and gave me over 100 canning jars to keep and/or sell. I haven't gotten around to selling them yet, but they are all cleaned and organized. Some I've decided to keep, but I really need to start posting these for sale. In the meantime, it seems that re-purposing them is a better use of my time.

I've already set a bunch up with markers, pencils, scissors, etc for our craft area, I plan to make some into hanging lights (no idea where I will hang them) and I just ordered pumps to make a few into soap dispensers, but this past weekend I decided to make some into snow globes.

Making snow globes is relatively easy and there are a lot of sites with instructions, but I did find that there was some trial and error with the process. If I make these again I feel like it will go even smoother.

To start with I selected four jars that didn't have a lot of decoration on them. I wanted something where I could see my creation clearly. I cleaned the jars and lids, and then sanded the lids down a little to help with paint adhesion.

In the future, I will likely use spray paint and/or wait until the snow globes are together before painting them. They got a bit nicked up during the process - mostly you can't see this since it's on the bottom, but I still like to know that it looks good.

I put a couple coats of acrylic paint on the lids and once dry started gluing objects to the lids. One site suggested using styrofoam or molding clay with canning jars to get them higher than the lip of the jar, but this probably isn't necessary if you use something like a sauce jar or baby food jar where the lip is smaller. I had styrofoam on hand so I used that, but I'd be interested in trying the clay next time.

All sites talked about gluing the items, but only one site I read mentioned what kind of glue they used and it was Elmer's. I didn't trust this would last so I used a hot glue gun and Gorilla glue. Turns out I needed them both as the Gorilla glue didn't work very well when it came to securing the styrofoam to the lid fast. The hot gun glue worked fast, but melted the styrofoam a little bit.

I eventually got all the items I wanted secured to the lid and once dry I was able to start the next step of putting water and 'snow' in the jar. I picked up a number of 'snow' items: a couple versions of glitter and fake snow. One site used grated PVC so that might be an options if you have some sitting around. I also added glycerin as it was supposed to help the snow from falling too fast. I found that two capfuls was about right for the smaller jars and 3 capfuls for the larger jars. Baby oil or corn syrup can be used for this as well. I found the glycerin in the baking isle at Michael's. I also found that the fake snow did not work well and just floated to the top. Glitter for the win! I used two different kinds as seen below and used about a teaspoon of each glitter per jar.

Now it was time for them to come together. I lowered each lid into the water and secured it with the screw top part of the lid.. and then tested it. This is where a lot of trial and error came in. This is where I discovered that the fake snow just floated to the top and that the glitter worked best. Also? The tree that I really wanted to use turned the water blue after just a few minutes. I decided to remove it since I figured it would only get worse.

I tested each jar to see if I could get away without gluing them, but they each leaked a little. I tried the glue gun here, but it didn't work so it was Gorilla glue to the rescue. BUT, I used too much and it oozed out the sides. I kept cleaning it off, but wasn't able to get it all and now I have dried glue bubbles around the edges. I think I might pick up some ribbon and wrap it around this area and call it a day.

Here the glue is curing - you can see it oozing out of the lids.

Overall this was a fun project and even though I did most of the work, my almost 4 year old was able to help a little bit. Now, to actually put some canning jars on Craigslist to sell. That, or I need to perfect my snow globes by making 97 more of them.

Uh, yeah this chart thingy

I don't know what to call this chart I made... the' date, weather and season chart' seems a little wordy. I'm sure there's a better name for it, but you can just look at  the pictures to know what I'm talking about. I'd seen a number of bloggers either purchase these or make them recently... and because I am too cheap to buy one and because my 'craft' room is finally complete I decided to make my own. It took me awhile to get around to making one since I had a lot on my plate recently, but things eased up a bit. A tiny, itty, little bit. And it turns out that I find measuring and cutting, and sticker sticking, and marker writing especially relaxing.

I definitely got the overall idea to make this chart from other bloggers and from searching the web, but as far as the design that was pretty much my own (although I am sure there is someone else who has done this as well... and better). It started with knowing that I had some foam board. Unfortunately, the white one I had was severely water damaged and the black ones had bits torn off. While I was at Target without my husband (this is important to note since he keeps us on track to follow the shopping list) I wandered around and decided to buy a new white foam board and some stickers.

I had seen some boards that utilized dry erase markers, but I wanted something that Riley could really grab on to and be active in the changing of the chart daily. I decided that I would cut out individual pieces for each word and date and attach Velcro to the back. So I counted out all the words and numbers I would need and measured out sections on the white foam board. I sliced up the board with an art knife (is that what you call it?), but you could use a utility knife as well. Just make sure it is sharp.

I decided to use a combo of stickers and markers, partly due to cost and space issues (boy does this post make me sound cheap). I also didn't want to buy another white foam board and didn't like the look of the beat up black one as the background so I used some white contact paper I had laying (or lying - I never know) around and (mostly) covered the black foam board up.

As you can see I am such a geek that I figured out all the letters and numbers I would need on that big piece of cardboard just in case there was a chance I could use stickers for the entire board. I really knew the answer before going through that whole process, but again... I found this weirdly relaxing to do. If only someone could pay me to do this crap.

We had some leftover Velcro, but not enough so I made a quick stop at Home Depot on the way home from the gym this morning so I could complete this project. Riley helped me with the finishing touches even if she doesn't really get this yet, but that's the whole point - it's a way to teach her. Once completed, Riley helped me put the correct information on it for today and placed it upstairs so she can see it early in the morning. I think I might post a print out next to it so she can see what day/month/season follows the next with the hope that she can check it and think "oh, Monday comes after Sunday". She seemed to get that we only change the chart once a day... at least for now, and appeared genuinely excited about it. 

Right now I think Riley is more excited about the letters and numbers on this chart, but I look forward to the first time she is able to tell me what day or season it is. It's so cool to see a little one's brain 'get' something new and to know that you helped them in some way to understand. For me, these accomplishments are way more rewarding that anything I could do at my paid job.