Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Thank You All Around!



It is so much easier to work on these before Christmas! My girls are happy to make them and even happy to address the envelopes --which we do as the gifts arrive. After the gifts are opened and the excitement dies down, all we have to do is write the thank you note and it is ready to go.

And, I prepared all of the materials, but my children put most of it together.
Instructions:







Thursday, December 16, 2010
It’s My Fave!

The pattern came from a magazine and I knew I wanted it the instant I saw it. I wasn’t brave enough to try it on my own so I convinced a friend--who could stand in for Martha Stewart--to do it instead. She taught it for a Super Saturday craft day at church and it was the only craft I did. Unfortunately, it took forever! We ended up meeting at her house to finish these and I still didn’t even finish then. Lucky for me, she feels crazy when projects aren’t finished and she finished mine up for me. Since I don’t have her mad painting talents, I was thrilled!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Too Much Help!
Ever tried to do some Christmas baking with a little TOO much help? Me, too! Here’s a simple solution for children who can still be distracted. Put your little helper to work making these pretend play gingerbread cookies!







Monday, December 13, 2010
(Super Mom) Gingerbread Houses
Today, we had a rare chance to slow down because we had to--thanks to a snow day. With my older girls home from school, I took the opportunity to make gingerbread houses with them. It has been a few years since we did this and I can’t say I was looking forward to it. We usually make the graham cracker kind and you know how crazy that can be.
But this time was different! While my girls were all outside playing in the snow, I got to work putting the houses together. I couldn’t find my recipe for Royal Icing, so I googled it and found THIS recipe. Oh my—it is perfect! This recipe worked so much better than the one I have been using for years and years. It was so easy to stick these houses together--with no milk cartons in the middle, mind you.




Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Featured Guest: A Vintage Mom
I’ve been sick for several weeks and just can’t seem to rid myself of these germs. Today, I woke up feeling good again and I was especially glad because I had some plans! My husband, my daughter and I spent the entire day (well, until school was out for the older ones!) running around getting the last minute gifts or pieces and parts for gifts. Whew! It was lots of fun, but I am done with the running around.
Hi! My name is Prudence and I sew Lollibags. (I sound like I'm speaking at a sewing addiction meeting). My oldest daughter, Lauren, made the very first Lollibag, so I named them after her. Her nickname is Lolli.
I decided to start making them too, a couple years ago, and they have grown into a little business for me. I also make a mini version of Lollibags for little girls, called Lil Lolli's. I began by making Lollibags out of vintage fabrics..... I LOVE vintage. But lately I have been using new fabric too.
I started my blog A Vintage Mom as a way to promote my Lollibags, but it has become so much more. I had no idea the blog world was so BIG..... And I have met the most wonderful friends through blogging! I somehow stumbled across Tammy's blog and I love seeing her creations too! Actually I started following She Wears Flowers because of the cute baby picture she had as her header, a while back, just a fun tidbit for ya!
Thanks for having me Tammy!
Prudence sells her Lollibags HERE and you really need to stop by to see what she has! I fell in love with this one instantly:

Monday, December 6, 2010
A Little Holiday Educating (and fun!)
Here’s one of my favorite ways to buy a little time:

As a graphing activity, it is obviously a little bit educational, but you don’t have to make a big deal about that part unless you want to. It can also be adapted lots of ways so feel free to change it and make it work for you.

As the holiday cards arrive, have your little ones check the cards out thoroughly and then show them how to color, make an X or use stickers or treats--marshmallows, raisins, mandm’s-- to fill out this simple graph.


You could also do a graph about the card/letter itself with simple statements (using pictures) similar to this: (Graph answers using the same color as the envelope.)
For older children, you can make a continuous graph that they just add on to each day (Print the graphs, cut them up and tape strips together as needed.) as they check out the new cards. And, don’t forget to give them more symbols to look for, too! Even though it looks like work, my girls fall for it every time!
- It’s a card.
- It’s a letter.
- It’s a card with a letter.
- It has a photograph with it.
- The card is a photograph.
- There are boys in the photo.
- There are girls in the photo.

You can do this as a one-time activity by distributing a few cards to each of your children and having each child graph what the cards hold and then comparing the results with each other.
The last thing you need is excited children with sugar overload, right?
(Stick with the zero calorie, no sugar crayon!)

Friday, December 3, 2010
I’m A Guest!

