Simply Christmas

I think that my favorite part of Christmas time is helping the kids figure out what gift to make for each other. I usually help them come up with the ideas and I get to work with them to gather the material and then put it all together but most of the actual work is done by them. That is why I have to give them a little help in the idea department--helping them come up with something that is easy enough for them to make as well as something that the other person will hopefully love. I love watching them spend real TIME figuring out how to put something together and when I watch them open up the gifts from their siblings and see them smile and laugh and give great big hugs---my joy is full. (corny as that sounds) The only thing better is finding a gift that you KNOW someone will TOTALLY LOVE--and being able to surprise them with it.
Bear made this memory game for Bone and I personally think that it turned out adorably cute. She cut out cardboard cards from cereal boxes and then covered them with scrapbook paper. Then she decorated them with either stickers or her own artwork or pictures of our family. She also threw in a few pictures of some superheros because she knew that Bone would love it. She just made sure to make each pair of cards exactly the same. I think their are 42 cards in all. We played it today and it worked great-aside from the "it's-not-fair-that-she-has-more-matches-than-me" arguments.

Belle made this Cute pillowcase for Bear. She decorated it all freehand and I think it is going to be so cute for both her and her sister to look back and see her very own artwork. The only thing better would have been for her to make the pillowcase because then I would have felt like I was actually teaching her some real skills but...alas, I ran out of time and we'll have to save that for some other rainy day.

Belle decided to make Bone some Puzzles. She made a total of 5 different ones. Of course she had to include Spiderman. She picked out the pictures herself and we printed them onto some glossy photo paper. Then she sprayed adhesive onto several layers of cardstock. (a medium size cardboard would be better but we were all out and I had to make do with what I had.) She attached the picture to the cardboard and then I penciled on puzzle lines on the back of the picture. She was able to cut them out. We put each puzzle into a cute little homemade box and there you have it. The little boxes are so cute and easy--I'll have to do a quick little tutorial someday soon.

Last year Belle made Bear and Bone some cute little pillows so this year Bear decided that it was Belle's turn. She picked out the fabric and decided that a flower was the shape she wanted to try for. For anyone that knows Belle they would know that the fabric is just about perfect for her little personality and I think for the most part it turned out so cute. Bear used pot lids as her template for cutting out the fabric. I think Belle will love this little pillow for a good many years.

Drew-bones contribution came in the form of little piggy banks made out of spice containers. We originally got the idea from here. I, of course, helped Bone with the cutting of the lids but he did all of the picking of colors and cutting and taping. He was so cute--he knew exactly which colors Belle would want and which ones Bear would want. The girls loved them. They have already added their stash of money to them. I can't wait to use them to help teach the kids more about monetary responsibility.

We really had a nice Christmas. There seemed to be more of a feeling of gratitude this year. I hope that to some extent that is at least in part due to the giving of some gifts made by hand. My plan is to start earlier next year---of course that is the plan every year so I do wonder if it will happen or be just a happy dream. Oh well, I happen to like good dreams.