Are you in the holiday spirit yet? We had a great time decorating the tree over the weekend. Everyone is old enough now that they can help hang the ornaments. It’s a special and magical year for us and I love that all of my kids are so into the Christmas spirit. This week I helped my 4 year old make his handmade gift. He stamped these spice bags to give as gifts to his brother and sisters. This is really easy to do, but will keep a 4 year old busy for a chunk of time.

My son was so excited to finish stamping the bags and then fill them with CANDY! I bought some Brach’s classic candy mix, somehow it just tastes like Christmas and Grandma’s house!

Supplies:

• Spice Bags
• Stamping Ink Pads
• Stamps
• Candy

How To:

1. Lay bag flat.
2. Choose stamp and ink it up.
3. Stamp onto bag. Continue to add stamps to build a cute scene!
4. Fill with candy or treats.

The post Handmade Holidays | Stamped Spice Bags with Candy appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

My 7 year old son made these drinking glasses to give as gifts to his siblings for Christmas. This is a really great kid craft! This year we are working on a new tradition. I am helping each child make a handmade gift for everyone in our family. Making special gifts makes my kids feel so excited and proud and since he loves to draw this was a natural fit. So you’ve seen what he made, don’t spill the beans to the rest of the family! Want to help your child make glasses like these? Read on to find out how simple they were to make!

I wanted to tell you a little more about my son’s choices of drawings. He drew a bunny for his older sister who loves bunnies, ninja’s for his brother, a crown for his little sister, a deer for Dad and an Astronaut for himself. There was one more glass for me, but he wrapped it so I couldn’t see it! I am so excited for him to give these to everyone! Plus now we will know whose cup is whose and I won’t have to keep washing them because we don’t know who drank out of what cup!

Supplies:

• Glass Markers – found at Michaels or Jo-Anns
• Glasses
• Drawings of what you want to draw
• Tape

How To:

1. Wash and dry glass.

2. 

   Measure your glass and cut a piece of paper so it will fit inside your glass. Use that paper to draw your picture on. Slide paper with picture into glass and use a piece of tape to secure picture temporarily to glass.

3. 

   The easiest way we found to draw on the glass is to lay it on a paper towel in your lap. Once glass is lying flat, draw your picture by following the lines of your paper sketch you see through the glass.

4. Let dry according to marker instructions. Hand wash.

The post Handmade Holidays | Painted Drinking Glasses appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

This is a quick craft you can do with your kids during the holidays. This festive wreath is perfect to wear on a coat or backpack to show some holiday cheer!

Supplies:

• 9 x 12 Stiff Felt Sheet (found by regular felt)
• 3/4″ Green Pom-Pom Balls
• Mini Pom-Pom Balls in Assorted Colors
• Red Ribbon
• Coil-less pin (found in jewelry section, also used to make friendship pins!)
• Scissors
• Glue

How To:

1. Draw a circle on the back side of the felt. Cut out circle with scissors, I used scalloped fabric scissors.
2. Glue 6 or more pom-pom balls onto right side of felt circle. Let dry.
3. Glue assorted mini pom-pom balls onto green pom-pom balls. Let dry.
4. Make small bow from red ribbon and glue to wreath. Let dry.
5. Add coil-less pin to back of felt.
6. Pin to coat, backpack or shirt and spread some holiday cheer!

The post Advent Activity | Pom-Pom Ball Wreath Pin appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

It is super cold here today, just like winter actually. The weather is giving me a little push to get the holiday plans laid out for my blog. So, I wanted to let all of you know that I have a lot of exciting things planned for my blog for this upcoming holiday season! A giveaway! Yes you heard correct, a giveaway for a lovely item handmade by me. I will also be continuing my Handmade Holiday series this year and it will feature a couple different sewing patterns that will be available for purchase and one or two free pattern ideas. I will also have some free printable downloads available as Christmas gets closer.

If you are a follower of my blog you may have seen my Advent Activities lists. To check out my previous year’s list of activities you can click these links:

• Advent Activities for 2010 list
• Advent Activities for 2011 list

I would also love it if you would follow me on Facebook, just click the “Like” button over there in the sidebar! There are lots of fun things coming up this November and December and you won’t want to miss any of them.

Also, I will be starting a new sponsor/advertising program for my sidebar area. If you have an interest in advertising on my site just shoot me an email! I would love to have you!

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I know a porcupine really has nothing to do with Christmas, but my boys love to make things out of pine cones, so this is perfect. They had so much fun creating these little critters to hang on the Christmas tree. (Yes, the little one has a tiny pebble glued on its head…) We are still laughing at them!

How To | Porcupine Pine Cone Ornament

Supplies:

• Pine Cone
• Googly Eyes
• Black Pom-pom ball
• Small Piece of Brown or Black Felt
• Embroidery Floss or Ribbon
• Craft Glue
• Scissors

How To:

1. Cut a 6 inch or so piece of ribbon or floss. This will be use to create the ornament hanger. Tie it up around the pine cone and then tie it in an open loop so it can hang from a tree branch.
2. If your pine cone has a stem on one end carefully break it off. This side will be the face.
3. Cut out a face size circle from the felt. Glue on googly eyes and a pom-pom ball nose.
4. Glue entire face to the end of the pine cone.
5. Cut out 4 small feet from felt. Glue those in the appropriate spot to make feet.
6. Hang on your tree and laugh at your funny new friend and ornament!

The post Advent Activity | Porcupine Pinecone Ornament appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

My daughter always wants to make presents for everyone come holiday time. She came up with this Felt Heart Ornament project all on her own. I think she did an excellent job. I’m still waiting to receive mine! She gave everyone else their ornament yesterday. She had tucked them in their stockings for St. Nicholas day, so sweet that she is always thinking about others.

Handmade Holidays | How To | Felt Heart Ornament

Supplies:

• Pink Craft Felt
• Embroidery Floss
• Needle
• Scissors
• Poly-fil Stuffing
• Black Stamping Ink (We used Staz-on)
• Letter Stamps
• Assorted Picture Stamps
• Ribbon or Beads

How To:

1. Cut two identical heart shapes from felt.
2. Use your stamps and ink to personalize each side of the heart with an image.
3. Sew your hearts together using a needle and embroidery floss.
4. Add any embellishments such as beads and ribbon as you sew.
5. Before sewing the entire heart closed add some stuffing, then finish sewing the heart closed.
6. Use the embroidery floss to sew a loop at the top of the heart so it can hang.
7. Tuck in a stocking for a Christmas morning surprise!

The post Handmade Holidays | Felt Heart Ornaments appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Are you getting ready for the countdown to Christmas? I am getting everything prepared here. My kids look forward to the Advent crafts and activities we do every year while we count down the days of December!

If you visited here last year you have probably seen my Jesse Tree for Kids Ornament Tutorial. We are looking forward to reading our Jesse Tree book again this year and hanging up our ornaments. It was so fun to pull each one out day by day as we made our way to Christmas. (Hopefully this year will be a little less crazy than last year, we had a brand new baby in the house!) If you would like more information about the Jesse Tree Tutorial please click here.

I am also introducing a new book this year, The Advent Storybook – 24 Stories to Share Before Christmas by Antonie Schneider. If you have small children they will enjoy following little bear and his long journey to Bethlehem. I really can’t say enough about how perfect this book is for small, pre-schoolish age kids. (See the link at the bottom of this post.)

You can download a supply list of the craft supplies you will need if you follow along with our Advent Activities.

Click Here to Download: Advent Countdown 2011 Master Supply List

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ADVENT COUNTDOWN CALENDAR

Nov. 27th

• Light Advent Candle and Recite Advent Prayer
• You can craft your own Advent wreath with your kids – visit this post

Thurs. Dec. 1st – Calista’s First Birthday

• Set up Fisher Price Nativity Set
• Color Your Own Nativity Sticker Scene from Oriental Trading Co.
• Create Cards with Colored Stickers to Send to Soldiers
• SEND CARDS TO: postmarked by December 9th, more info at American Red Cross
  Holiday Mail For Heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456
• Read The Nativity Pop-up Book by Francesca Crespi
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Sun and the Moon (Creation)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Fri. Dec. 2nd – Visit Santa at the Mall (My daughter has school off this day!)

• Hang Stockings and Decorate Mantel
• Read The True Story of Santa Claus by Paul Prokop
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Apple w/ Snake (Adam and Eve)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed
• Watch Christmas Movie and Have Popcorn and Hot Chocolate

Sat. Dec. 3rd –

• Decorate Our Christmas Tree
• Trim-A-Tree Activity – find download in my SHOP
• Read The Tale of Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Noah’s Ark w/ Rainbow (Noah)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Sun. Dec. 4th –

• Make Christmas Cookies with Family
• Light Advent Candle and Recite Prayer
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Camel (Abraham and Sarah)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Mon. Dec. 5th –

• Make Beaded Nativity Story Charm Bracelet from Oriental Trading Co.
• Read The True Story of Santa Claus by Paul Prokop
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Sheep (Isaac)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Tues. Dec. 6th –

• Open Stocking Gifts from St. Nick (German Tradition)
• Everyone Choose a Toy to Donate
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Ladder (Jacob)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Wed. Dec. 7th –

• Make Mitten Snowman Frame – everyone decorate their own snowman. I was inspired by this blog.
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Coat of Many Colors (Jacob)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Thurs. Dec. 8th –

• Make Bird Seed Pine Cones (My kids love to do this every year!)
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Silver Chalice (Joseph)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Fri. Dec. 9th –

• Make Toilet Paper Tube Reindeer – Free Download (Toilet Paper Tube Reindeer Template)
• Watch Rudolph Movie and have Popcorn and Hot Chocolate
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Whip (Moses)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Sat. Dec. 10th –

• Cut and Color 3-Dimensional Christmas Houses – Free Download by Rebecca Bischoff (Cut and Color 3D Christmas House)
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Sheaf of Corn/Wheat (Ruth)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Sun. Dec. 11th –

• Light Advent Candle and Recite Prayer
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Jar of Oil (Samuel)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Mon. Dec. 12th –

• Decorate Nativity Sticker Scene from Oriental Trading Co.
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Slingshot (David)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Tues. Dec. 13th –

• Make Porcupine Pine Cone Ornament – how to will be posted on blog
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Crown (David the King)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Wed. Dec. 14th –

• Make Snowman Sock Ornament – how to will be posted on blog
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Temple/Pillars (Solomon)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Thurs. Dec. 15th –

• Make Magic Reindeer Food – find download in my SHOP
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Raven (Elijah)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Fri. Dec. 16th –

• Watch Christmas Movie and have Popcorn and Hot Chocolate
• Make Truffles to Give to Friends and Family

Recipe from Kraft Family Magazine
Ingredients:
- 2.5 pkg. (20 squares) Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
- 1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
- Multi-colored sprinkle or nuts to decorate tops or Powdered Sugar or Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Directions:
• Melt 8 chocolate squares. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy; stir in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm.
• Shape into 36 balls. Place on wax paper-covered tray.
• Melt remaining chocolate. Use fork to dip truffles; return to tray. Decorate (see below), then refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Decorate the tops with finely chopped nuts or sprinkles. Or, coat truffles with powdered sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder instead of dipping in chocolate.

• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Bear (Elisha)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

 Sat. Dec. 17th –

• Make Pretzel Hugs

Recipe from Becky Higgins as seen in CK Magazine

Directions:
Put a layer of square pretzels on a cookie sheet and place an unwrapped Hershey’s Hug (or substitute a Rolo) over each pretzel. Bake at 200 degrees for eight minutes. Remove them from the oven and place a red or green milk chocolate M&M in the center. Let the cookies cool.

• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Candle (Zachariah)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Sun. Dec. 18th –

• Make Hand Print Snowman Ornaments – following directions on this blog.
• Light Advent Candle and Recite Prayer
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Olive Branch (Mary)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Mon. Dec. 19th –

• Make Snowman Poop – find download in my SHOP
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Tablet w/ Stylus (John the Baptist)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Tues. Dec. 20th –

• Write and Mail Letter to Santa – Fill-in the Blank Santa Letter Free Download (Letter To Santa)
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Baby in Manger
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Wed. Dec. 21st –

• Paper Maché Christmas Bulb Using Child’s Artwork – how to will be posted to blog
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Shepard
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Thurs. Dec. 22nd –

• Wrap Up Handmade Ornaments for Friends and Family from Kids
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Fri. Dec. 23rd –

• Watch Christmas Movie and have Popcorn and Hot Chocolate
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol Angels (Herod)
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Sat. Dec. 24th –

• Put out Magic Reindeer Food – find download in my SHOP
• Read The Jesse Tree book – Jesse Tree Symbol The Brightest Star
• Read The Advent Storybook before bed

Sun. Dec. 25th – Christmas – CELEBRATE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!

The post Advent Activities | Countdown for 2011 appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Each year, for the past 3 years,  I have tried to do 24 days of activities with my kids to celebrate the Christmas and Advent season. This year we will be focusing on the Jesse Tree. I would love for all of you to follow along with us and enjoy the spirit of the holiday by teaching your children about the Jesse Tree.

We will be reading from a book each day of December to learn the history and stories of the Jesse Tree and then then we will add a symbolic handmade ornament to our own Jesse Tree. The book I will be using is called The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean and can be ordered from Amazon by clicking on the link below. The book is appropriate for ages Pre-K and up. The stories are adapted from the Old Testament and they read like a bedtime storybook.

I have a Jesse Tree Ornament Tutorial available for download in my Store. Please consider purchasing the tutorial if you want to make your own ornaments with your children. (You can read more info. about tutorial at bottom of this post.)

The tree we will be hanging our handmade ornaments from (shown above) can also be found at Illuminated Ink.

I look forward to reading and enjoying this book and our handmade ornaments for many Advent seasons. My kids are already excited because they have seen me creating the ornaments for my tutorial and they are looking forward to reading the stories from the book and hanging the ornaments on our special tree each day in December.

Jesse Tree Ornament Tutorial Information:

The tutorial comes as a downloadable .pdf file. It includes a detailed photos and instructions for each handmade ornament symbol that corresponds to the book The Jesse Tree. The tutorial also includes a master list of supplies and ornament templates for your use. Most of the ornaments can be made by children ages 5 and up. A few of the ornaments require more precise cutting, younger children may need some help.

Please consider supporting me and my blog by purchasing the downloadable tutorial. – Thanks

TO PURCHASE TUTORIAL CLICK HERE or visit the STORE: Jesse Tree Ornament Tutorial

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The post Advent Activity | The Jesse Tree for Kids appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

I admit I bought into the Zhu Zhu Pet craze. The Saturday before Thanksgiving I was at Toys R' Us at 6 am waiting in line to be one of the first 50 people so I could get a pet. The joke was on me, Jackson must not be all that hyped up about the pets because only about 6 people showed up. The nice part was they were running a good sale and the store was empty, so I got a lot of toy shopping done!

Their present on Monday was a Hamster City, complete with one pet apiece. They LOVE their pets, but the city got divided later in the day because they didn't want to share. Lorelei named her pet Daisy because of the flower on her back. Allan named his pet Mouse-Mouse because it is a mouse of sorts. They are the funniest toy, they run all over and if they bump in to something they back themselves up. I would recommend the pets, but you really don't need the accessories (they are over-priced anyway).

The present a day idea worked beautifully that day as well. They were happy and played with their new toy and really enjoyed it. It made our day as parents WAY easier too!

That night we attempted to make a Gingerbread Barn from a kit I had bought at Tractor Supply. I should have known not to buy a craft/cooking type of project at a tractor store. Lorelei and Allan sat patiently as I frosted and tried to attach the sides and roof together. The one other time I bought a kit, the walls had prongs that stuck out and went into slots in the sides. This kit had none of that and the gingerbread pieces had rounded corners and weren't completely flat. So I tried to frost the heck out of the edges and stick the 4 pieces together to form the walls. Then I had to add 4 separate pieces to make the roof, in the end the whole thing collapsed on itself while I was trying to frost the outside. I laughed, but Lorelei was less than amused. I still let them decorate it in it's collapsed state. It was funny, really…

The post Advent Activities: Gingerbread House or Not appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Steve is off from work until Tues. the 29th. The kids kept asking when Christmas was, so Steve and I started a new family tradition this year. We decided to let them open a present a day until Christmas. So on Saturday they exchanged presents from each other. They were so excited to be able to open a present. Allan could hardly wait and ripped the paper off as fast as he could go. Lorelei had picked out a cowboy hat and some small dinosaurs for him. He was in love with them both. In the past they have played cowboy and he was hat-less. Problem solved.

Lorelei had a pretty good idea about what Allan had picked out for her. A couple weeks ago I took Allan shopping with me so he could choose a present for her. On the way home we talked about how it was a secret and we couldn't tell Lorelei. As soon as he walked in the door he said, "Lorelei I got you some fairies." I tried to play it off as the word "berries". I told her he was teasing her and saying berries. Lorelei likes to trick people and tell them they are getting a turkey for a present, so I thought maybe she would fall for it. For the most part she tried to play along as if she didn't know. So when she opened her gift she knew it was fairies, but she was surprised to see the ones she got. We found Terrence and Vidia for her. She hugged Allan at least 10 times that day and told him thank you.

For the rest of the day both were content and then they took long naps. That was a relief for Steve and I because we were able to get some wrapping done.

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