NOEL Decorative Sign

This was something I was inspired to make from a Pottery Barn catalog years ago. It was stuck in my head until I finally found the perfect wooden letters to make it and made it.

I just spray painted the letters with red paint and when they were dried I used hot glue to secure them together in this configuration. You could put a picture hanger on the back to hang it up or you can so what I did and just rest it against the wall on top of the mantle.

Try It Tuesday: A Ninja Rudolph Puppet

My kids each make each other at least one homemade present for each other. This year they each made two. This Ninja Rudolph Puppet is one that my daughter made for my son. My daughter really wanted to make him a reindeer puppet but my son saw this Ninja puppet and asked if one of us would make him that. My daughter decided to compromise and make a Ninja Rudolph Puppet.

The downloadable pattern can be found HERE. You can also see hand puppets that I made of an angel, kitty cat, snow man, and gingerbread man. I also made a Clifford the Big Red Dog Puppet,  and a 5 Monster Glove Puppet.

Some paper puppets I have made include a Alligator Puppet out of recycled materials and a Paper Bag Shark Puppet.

Or maybe you want to make a Doorway Puppet Theater to showcase all your new creations.

Try It Tuesday: Pink "Sister" Peg Doll Fairy

This is one of the gifts that my son made for his sister for Christmas. He wanted to make sister in to a fairy doll, and he certainly captured it with the choices of fabric we made.

I bought pegs that were already painted and had him draw on a face with permanent marker. We did use a hot glue gun, but I operated that while he cut all the materials according to my directions and he carefully put them on the hot glue. He knew to be careful! :)

This is a perfect addition to her collection of other homemade peg fairy dolls that include:

• Rainbow Fairies (collection of 7 of them)
• Ballerina Fairy
• Needle Felted Fairies (obviously made of wool, not pegs, but about the same size)
• Or See all of our Fairy Crafts, Projects, and Fun

Make It Monday: Gingerbread Pudding Muffins

Even though I used gingerbread pudding in this recipe to make them Christmas muffins, you could try other puddings for other occasions. I am kind of wondering if these would be good with cheesecake pudding or pistachio pudding. Let me know if you try them with a different variety.

Gingerbread Pudding Muffins
2 C flour

1 T baking powder
1 3.4 oz package of Jell-O Gingerbread Pudding
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 C milk
1/2 C oil
cinnamon sugar (optional)

Directions: 

• Preheat oven tp 400 degree
• Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine egg, milk and oil.
• Add egg mixture to dry mixture all once and stir until mixed.
• Spoon batter in to prepare muffin tins and fill each 2/3-3/4 full
• Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until brown.
• Makes 12-15 muffins.
• Enjoy!

Santa Wine Bottle

Another fun project using my Clover Wonder Knitter! Well, I just made the scarf with the pink attachment for it and stitched it to my desired length. The Santa hat I used the larger end of the spool loom and stitched on about 10 rows. I made the small pom poms by wrapping the yarn around two fingers. This was a pretty quick project that I thought made a cute little accessory on a gift of wine for a friend.

Cute Reindeer Crafts using Wonka Gobstopper Candy Canes

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Today we received these 2 Nestle products in the mail to review in time to put in your holiday stocking, make some last minute crafts with or give as a gift. The two products we were sent (pictured below) are WONKA Gobstopper Candy Canes (SRP $2.49) and WONKA SweeTARTS Merry Mix Theater Box (SRP $.99), but they do have a whole line of other products including holiday gummies, giant canes, fun books, powder filled candy canes, tube filled with mini candy canes, assorted miniatures, and 1 pound candy bars.

We got right to work on making the above reindeer crafts using the WONKA Gobstopper Candy Canes. Just a little hot glue, some googly eyes and pom poms and we have the start for both crafts. We also used brown card stock and a marker on one of them and gold pipe cleaners on the other.

For more information about Nestle Seasonal Confections holiday offerings and recipes, please visit Nestle Simple Celebrate. At the time of this post, there is also 6 different coupons you can print off, ranging in value from $.50 to $2.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Try It Tuesday: Sequins and Lace Cowl

Another loom knit gift. I used the yellow knifty knitter loom to make this and the yarn is Patons Sequins Lace Yarn, which is a weight of 2 and has the sequins already. By using this thin yarn, it gives it a lace look and the stitches look different with more emphasis put on the spaces and how the yarn is knit together.

I used a basic e-wrap stitch  to construct this cowl. You can read the linked post and see the video tutorial if you need more explanation on how to do that.

To cast off and finish the piece, I did a simple chain by picking up a loop and then a second and pulling the second loop through the first loop so that I was left with only the second loop on the crochet hook, and then pick up another loop and continue doing this until you have taken all the loops off the loom. Tie in your end.

This will create a tighter circle on one end and I think it looks good to put the cowl on with the tighter end first so that the end that is more loose drapes over the top.

You will want to keep creating rows until you have your desired length. I made mine about 16-17" long.

If you are looking for another idea to use this yarn with, I also made a headband with it using straw weaving, if you haven't tried that, it is pretty fun.

Green Bay Packers Loom Knit Hat

My son was willing to pose for this picture (below) for just a second because this isn't his hat. It's for a Packer fan in Wisconsin (remember, we live in Minnesota!) Since I grew up in WI and have lots of family still living there, the kids will say that the Packers are our 2nd team, the obvious first team is the Vikings.

Anyways, it is a standard loom knit hat (on the green loom) and is 9" the bottom of the brim to the last row I cast on before casting off.  I used Red Heart Super Saver green yarn (yup, still using up a skein, same skein as the Snake Scarf, but this hat finished it up!) and Loops and Thread Charisma yarn in Marigold.

I used a large Clover pom pom maker to make this pom pom on top. I doubled up the green yarn on the brim and when I got to the body of the hat I used one strand of green and one strand of the marigold.

Christmas in a Rusty Sleigh

Rusty Sleigh
1 oz. Amaretto
1 oz Cream de Cacao
1 oz Egg Nog

Mix together and serve over ice. Sip and Enjoy!

Santa's Helper Hot Cocoa

Santa's Helper Hot Cocoa
1 package hot cocoa, made as directed on package
1 oz. Merry's White Chocolate Liquer
1 tsp. Torani Peppermint Syrup
Whip Cream
Sprinkles

Directions:
Make hot cocoa as directed on the package, leaving room to add other ingredients. Stir in liquer and syrup. Top with whip cream and sprinkles. Enjoy! Or leave out for Santa!

Christmas Popcorn Recipe and a GIVEAWAY!!!

Christmas Popcorn Recipe

1 bag of JOLLY TIME Pop Corn Smart Balance Light Microwave Popcorn
1/2 C white chocolate chips
sprinkles

Directions: 

• Pop popcorn as directed on the package
• Melt chocolate chips in the microwave for 45-60 seconds, stopping to stir every 15 seconds
• Pour popcorn in a large bowl
• Pour melted chocolate on top of popcorn and stir
• Sprinkle sprinkles on top and stir
• Allow to cool on waxed paper
• Enjoy!

About JOLLY TIME Popcorn
JOLLY TIME Pop Corn is a whole grain, gluten free snack made with non-GMO popcorn. Full of antioxidants and dietary fiber, popcorn is a great go-to appetizer between meals. JOLLY TIME Pop Corn provides the perfect healthy snack with its new Butter and Butter Light Microwave Pop Corn made with the Smart Balance unique blend of oils, with zero grams of trans fat naturally and absolutely no hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

Check out more Holiday Popcorn Recipes from JOLLY TIME Pop Corn.

And for a savory treat to enjoy in moderation, pop up some magic this holiday season and try this family-fun holiday recipe: Sweet Heat Spiced Corn Crispettes.

For more recipes and inspiration, check out JOLLY TIME Pop Corn on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/jollytimepops/christmas-popcorn/.

We made our Christmas popcorn and left out a bag of it for St. Nick, who comes tonight for those that celebrate this tradition. He will be bringing them the movie The Snowman and The Snowdog for them to share with us and watch as a family and enjoy more JOLLY TIME Pop Corn while we enjoy this family holiday movie.

ONE LUCKY READER WILL WIN 2 COUPONS FOR FREE JOLLY TIME POP CORN!!!

ENTER RAFFLECOPTER FORM BELOW

I was given Jolly Time Pop Corn for the purpose of reviewing and sharing a holiday recipe on this blog. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post. All thoughts, opinions, and photographs are my own. I was sent 2 coupons to giveaway to a lucky reader. These coupons expire at the end of the year on 12/31/13. So, please only enter the giveaway if you can redeem these coupons in time. The winner will have 24 hours to reply back to me with full name and address and I will be mailing out the coupons so that you hopefully have 1-2 weeks in which to use them. I am not responsible for USPS mail delivery times or complications.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thrifty Thursday - Re-purposing Trash in to Gift Wrapping

Save a few items from the trash or recycling by turning them in to holiday gift wrapping! To make the above package I used a Pringles container and a metal juice lid. And both of them are made in a way that they can be re-used over and over. I am so pleased with these projects.

 I do have to admit that I don't normally buy Pringles that often, but the kids and my husband love them and I was happy to buy them this snack knowing I was going to re-use the container.

I used my rotary cutter, a self-healing mat, adhesive roller, and wrapping paper (in a print that would work for a variety of occasions. I used the rotary cutter and mat because I wanted to make sure I didn't have any jagged edges you might get from using scissors. The adhesive roller made it so the paper would lie flat and not have any tape bumps.

Believe it or not, you need to cut a square ( 9.5" x 9.5") to cover this cylinder container. Then just apply adhesive to one edge and press in to place. Wrap around wrapping paper and apply adhesive to the other side and press in to place.  Then fill with trinkets or holiday cookies, cover with the kid and gift! No need to unwrap, just pop off the lid to get the present.

The chalkboard juice lid gift tags were pretty simple to make. first used a punch to create a hole to run my ribbon through. If you don't have a punch you could use a hammer and a nail to punch a hole.I then applied 2 coats of Valspar chalkboard paint to the lids and let it dry in between coats (it does dry pretty quickly). Then you just need to write on it with chalk. You can easily wipe off the chalk and re-use this gift tag over and over. If you want some more ideas on re-using juice lids, check out my post Creative Ways to Reuse Juice Lids.

Here you can see the present with a couple more ideas that I will be sharing on Northern Cheapskate in my post Seven Creative Homemade Gift Tag Ideas. Or read my post on How to Make Cinnamon Ornament Gift Tags for another idea and check back here other times this month because I have more ideas for creative gift wrapping (yes, using some more trash & recyclables) to share with you.)

Wordless Wednesday: Santa and Reindeer

Santa and two reindeer were at the Medford Outlet Center this past Thanksgiving Weekend. 

Don't worry, you can still see Santa and his reindeer on some other dates there:

 Dec 8, Dec 15, & Dec 22

Make It Monday: Snickerdoodle Muffins

Looking for something special to serve on Christmas morning but don't have time to be sweating over making cinnamon rolls, then these Snickerdoodle Muffins are going to be perfect!

Snickerdoodle Muffins
1/2 C butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 C greek yogurt
1/2 C milk
2 eggs
2 C white whole wheat flour
1/3 C brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Cream together butter, sugars and extracts
• Blend in salt, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and nutmeg
• In a separate bowl, mix together yogurt, milk and eggs
• Add half of yogurt mixture to sugar mixture and alternate with the flour.
• Fill 12-15 muffin cups
• Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over batter
• Bake for about 20 minutes
• Enjoy!

Two Printable Letters to Santa

I made up these letters for my kids to write their letters to Santa (St. Nick). They have different needs in terms to their writing abilities. My son just turned four and is in the beginning stages of writing and so I made up the top letter for him to fill in with just a few words. My daughter is 7 1/2 years old and very good at writing and so she is able to write complete sentences. I have a feeling she will use the sentences in her brother's letter as guidance to what she will write, but it is open for her to write whatever she wants.

My children will write their letters to Santa (or St. Nick) and leave them for him to pick up on the eve of St. Nick's Day. If you read the link about St. Nick's Day you will have some clue of my state or origination. :) How people celebrate St. Nick's Day can vary, but what we do is that the kids leave their Santa letter and he comes to get them from our house on the eve of St. Nick's Day (Santa is Saint Nicholas's nickname) and he leaves the kids a few tokens to help get them in mood for the Christmas holiday (so they get Christmas-y items). One of those items they get is a new ornament for their own mini Christmas trees they each have outside their bedroom. My kids will have quite a Christmas ornament collection by the time they grow up and leave our home. They get excited to see what ornament he brings them each year. Also they usually get a piece of Christmas candy and a book with a Christmas story and an inexpensive Christmas craft kit from the dollar store.

Advent Tree of Activities

You could simply make this Advent Tree as a countdown to Christmas Day, but why not include activities. On each ring, I have written an activity we will do that day. All of my activities, I have shared on my 25 Days of Christmas Check List.

I chose to make this project on my own because I wanted to surprise my kids with the activities on each slip as the look at them daily (starting from the bottom.) But you could do this with a child.

All you need to make this project is 4 pieces of construction paper (2 green, 1 red, 1 yellow) and either tape, glue or staples (I used staples) to close each ring. Cut the strips the short way on the construction paper (you can get 10 strips per full sheet of construction paper) and assemble in the pattern as you see above. You will need to cut out 19 GREEN, 5 RED, and  1 YELLOW.

Try It Tuesday: 25 Days of Christmas Check List

As an alternative to the Advent Calendar where the kids gets candy or small trinkets, I would like to offer up experiences to enjoy the holiday season together. Some of the items on this list will work for everyone, and some you may need to change. I typed these out in order we will do them because I will be putting them on our Advent Tree, and so I looked at our calendar to see what events I had planned for us so that I would have them matched up with the appropriate day. Some of these events might not be options for you. I also added Do 5 Flips with mom because my kids like to do flips off me and I don't always offer it up much, so it would be fun for them to have me offering it to them.

I hope this list gives you some ideas on how you can create special experiences with your children this holiday season.

25 Days of Christmas with 52 Ideas!!!

Wondering what you missed this year for my 25 Days of Christmas? Well, here is a Re-Cap. This would be the perfect thing to PIN now (Follow me on Pinterest too!)  and do next year. I am giving you 52 CHRISTMAS IDEAS!!!!

5 Days of Christmas Trees

1. Felt and Button Christmas Tree Ornament
2. Felt Advent Christmas Tree Activity
3. Pipecleaner and Bead Christmas Tree
4. Decorated Sugar Cone Christmas Trees
5. Measurement and Counting Tree Activity

5 Days of Gingerbread

1. Gingerbread Latte Recipe
2. Gingerbread House
3. Gingerbread Boy and Girl Craft Kit
4. Gingerbread Game on Starfall.com
5. Gingerbread Reindeer Cookies
6. BONUS!!! Gingerbutton Cookies

12 Gifts of Christmas

1. Washcloth Travel Pouch
2. Fingerprint Ornament
3. Reinbeer
4. Tutu Dress
5. Caramel Corn
6. Homemade Sugar Scrub
7. Instant Hot Cocoa
8. Knitted Scarf (Loom Knitting)
9. Super Hero Cape
10. Super Hero Mask
11. Melted Flower Headband
12. Jewelry (made by myself and my daughter) 

3 Christmas Drink Ideas

1. Gingerbread Martini
2. Mulled Wine
3. Rum Butter Cider

5 Ideas for Inexpensive Gifts for Teachers and Coaches

1. Cleverly Decorated Sprite and Popcorn
2. Glitter Candle
3. DIY Stone Trivet
4. Stamped Stationary
5. Rosemary Salt

BONUS IDEAS!!!!!

1. Candy Cane Play Dough
2. Visit Santa and Reindeer
3. Popsicle Stick Ornament
4. Gifts in a Jar - Curly Soup
5. Homemade Hand Puppets
6. Christmas Lego Sculptures
7. Felted Soap
8. Felted Fairy Dolls
9. Felt Headband Crowns
10. Gingerbread Boy Dice Game
11. Hand and Foot Print Reindeer
12. Rudolph Noses Christmas Candy
13. Peanut Butter Balls
14. Bacon and Chocolate Sugar Cookies
15. Melted Snowman Cookies
16. Make a Decorated Plate for Serving/Giving
17. Chocolate Sprinkled Pretzel Rods
18. Magic Reindeer Food
19. 4 Handprint Crafts
20. Preschool Baby Jesus Craft
21. Christmas Pancakes