Life is an Adventure - Here's to a Great 2017!

Collage made with FotoJet

FREE Take a Kid Ice Fishing Weekend Coming Up

Mark your calendars!!! You have a bit of notice on this one! January 13-15, 2018 is going to be Take a Kid Ice Fishing Weekend, where any MN resident 16 and older can fish for free (no license required) if they are fishing with someone 15 and under.

If you have been meaning to do some ice fishing, bring a kid with you and teach them a little bit about our MN history of sitting on buckets, freezing, trying to catch a fish through a hole you have drilled in the ice. I am positive they will never forget these memories!

Drawing and Painting a Goldfish

This was a fun project that we did by following a tutorial on Pinterest. As you can see, we all ended up with something a little bit different and my son took the idea and expanded to further to make an Angelfish instead. You can try drawing Goldfish like we did with this tutorial on The Drawbot.

Merry Christmas!

Free clipart image from Clipartix

Easy Holiday-Winter Wreath Made with Dollar Store Items

I picked up this red tinsel wreath (plus the other supplies) at Dollar Tree but I didn't think the wreath itself was big enough, so I also bought this much larger plastic snowflake and then pack of snowflake ornaments to layer them together and create a fun winter wreath. The ribbon was something I had leftover at home. For only $3, I think this turned out really cute and is really lightweight and can hang from a suction cup on my door.

I love to make wreaths, check out my other wreath ideas for various holidays and season and made from different materials:

• 3 DIY Holiday Wreaths for Only $6
• No Cost Winter Wreath Design
• Low Cost Christmas Wreath
• Cinnamon Roll Wreath
• Holiday Hand Print Wreath
• Create Your Own Personalized Wreath
• Creepy Feather and Eye Halloween Wreath
• Halloween Stick Wreath
• Star Paper Plate Wreath
• Rag Wreath

A Package from Santa has Arrived! From the North Pole!

This PackagefromSanta.com package arrived today and my son was really surprised. He noticed right away it was from Santa, but before opening it he did take note that the postage on it said it came from the North Pole. I think that attention to detail really helps seal that this is truly from Santa. Earlier this week, we watched the video message from Santa that included an elf that kept falling asleep. My son made sure to look for that elf's name on the Christmas card from the elves (see above) and found it. That card from the elves also included a snowman ornament.

This is the premium package and they sure cover all the bases with this package. In the top picture you also see a nice "Nice List" certificate that has a sticker seal on it. He wanted to know if this means he is always on the Nice List and I was sure to point out that the certificate only said for the 2017 season. It also included a window cling that he was happy to put up.

Some other fun things in the package included a signed photo of Santa, a picture of baby Rudolph (which is adorable!) and a personalized letter. I was able to read through several letters and pick one to personalize. I picked out one I thought my son would relate to the most and then typed in the things to personalize it.

The inside of the box is a whole scene inside the North Pole residence. I can picture my son using this box with some of his lego guys, otherwise it is just a nice looking decorative box. It would have been nice to see a couple of elf plastic toy figures in there for them to play with in the box.

Also, included is a cute little Rudolph velvet bag that had a REALLY nice jingle bell in it (and a message from Rudolph) which is now hanging on my son's mini Christmas tree. Mrs. Claus sent a Sugar Cookie which actually looks better in person because the camera just don't pick up the fine iridescent sprinkles dusted over it. And to round out the treats for the child is also a candy cane from Santa and some of Santa's Hot Cocoa (a mix to make).

 One last thing in there is some reindeer food that is legit animal feed which my son is thinking of saving some of it to see if he can make the calves at grandpa's farm fly. Can you imagine?!?!?! Flying calves?!??!?! Ha! What an Imagination!

This last picture is of my son watching his video message from Santa that included 2 pictures of him (that I uploaded from different times of the year so he knew Santa was always watching!)

This PackagefromSanta.com package also includes a phone call from Santa, which I have not scheduled yet. I am waiting until a little later. This week has been A LOT of Santa, as Wednesday was St. Nicholas Day and Santa dropped off some treats and a FREE PERSONALIZED NICE LIST GUIDE! Yes, this printable is FREE TO EVERYONE. You even get to upload a picture on to it for the child. So, that is really neat!

Order this holiday must-have for your child at https://www.packagefromsanta.com and save 25% OFF your order when you use FAMP17 at checkout.

Homemade Christmas Gifts for Kids

Just wanted to give my readers some ideas of some homemade Christmas gifts that can be made for kids. I made these pajama pants for my daughter. Pajamas as always a good gift idea for any age, kids and adults. I also made her this Mermaid tail blanket, which she loves. I made it big enough for me to get in to so that it would grow with her and we weren't passing it on as she got taller.

Finally, I made these stuffed Stegosaurus dinosaur toy for both my son and a nephew. My son had helped me pick out fleece one day with the idea I might make him something with it in the future ad the green and black fleece is what he picked out and I thought it looked great for a dinosaur pattern. I drew out my own pattern and created this design.

Batman Cat Stuffie

This Batman Cat Stuffed Animal was a collaboration project between my son and myself. It was a present for one of his good friends that we made a couple years ago already . The stuffie was completely his idea and I took him to JoAnn fabrics to pick out the fabric he wanted and then he drew out the stuffed animals on a big sheet of tissue paper. I cut out the image and used it as my pattern to cut out the fabric pieces and sewed it together. He picked out the buttons and had to do the stuffing. I think it turned out quite cute.

Homemade Holidays

I wanted to share some pictures of some other things that we made this holiday season. In the top picture you can see some hand-painted plaster ornaments that our family made. We like to make new ornaments every year.

Next is some blocks that say Merry Xmas on one side and then on the other side say Happy fall. I had never gotten around to sharing that craft project I will probably share it another time later on.

And there is some glycerin soaps that my daughter made to give as gifts that have different plants and essential oils in them.

 These are a couple of the yummy treats that we made early on. Sugar cookie cutouts and Rolo Bites.

I asked the kids what treats they for sure wanted me to make this year and my daughter said homemade peanut brittle (I had bought some from a store and she said it wasn't as good as mine.) And my son said peanut butter blossoms. The only time I make gingerbread men is the holidays and after my son brought home the book from school ( then looked on our shelves to find our copy of The Gingerbread Girl), I knew I needed to make some.

Winter Fitness: Cross Country Skiing

Ok, so this picture is about a year old and I never got around to sharing it until now. Well, I was ready to share it earlier but who wants to look at pictures of Cross Country Skiing in the summer.

I just want to encourage everyone to think about trying it out. It is a great cardiovascular workout that is low impact on your joints. My daughter was so excited to go with me. I own my own skiis, boots and poles but we do have a place near us that they can be rented. However, I kept my eyes open and found a pair of boots and skiis at a thrift store that ended up costing me half of what a rental price. Score! The poles are a pair of hiking poles we own that have attachments to convert them to use in snow. She has already grown out of them, but my son can still use them and I will keep my eyes open to pick up another set for her so we can go again, but if I don't find any then we will just rent some.