Christmas Decorating 2019

It feels like we enough time for a 50-yard dash between Thanksgiving and the beginning of Christmas prep. Having Thanksgiving 3 days before the beginning of Advent is anything but leisurely!!!

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we hauled out the Christmas decor and got to work un-Thanksgiving-ing the house and Christmas-ing the house. We decked the halls, trimmed the tree, and hung the stockings with care. We also decided to try a new approach to shuffling around our furniture in the living room so we can accommodate the Christmas tree. It took a few attempts, but I think we got a good flow for the room. (It also re-ignited my desire for getting some new furniture, but unless Santa can fit some on his sleigh, that will have to wait awhile.)

Before calling in the whole crew, I assembled the tree (thanks, again, to the Frisch side of the family for the hand-me-down tree!) and to the lights plugged in. Huck quickly decided that having a tree in the living room was just about the coolest thing ever and under the tree was the perfect napping place!

A few years ago, we started using Starbucks coffee cups as our tree topper. After hauling out all of the ornament boxes and getting ready to start the decorating process, Eric and I realized (with great panic) that we didn't have a cup for this year yet. ACK! I quickly put in a mobile order for two coffees and two hot cocoas for all of us to enjoy as we decorated for Christmas. We hit the pause button on our decorating efforts so I could make an emergency Starbucks run and pick up a cup for our tree's top. Whew! With beverages in hand and cup for the tree, the holiday season could proceed!

While I was on the Starbucks run, the kids took to assembling the creche and deciding where each of the characters should be placed. And, in the true spirit of Christmas, it almost turned into World War III. Yup - 'tis the season! Fortunately, Eric was there to referee and remind the kids that compromise is the key to success.

Peach on Earth, good will to all ... unless they want to put a wise man where
you don't want the wise man, then all bets are off and it's every many for himself

I think one of our favorite parts of the Christmas decorating process is going down memory lane as we pull out the various tree ornaments. Each ornament has a story and it's fun to reminisce as we hang them on the branches. The kids, especially, love to hear the stories associated with their earlier years and how some of the ornaments are connected with family vacations.

Conor placing the cup on top of the tree

Santa's little helper

Making the tree festive

Before we knew it, the tree was decorated, the stockings were hung, and the nativity was moved to a higher location (aka out of Huck's reach!). The kids have spent time snuggled up on the couches thumbing through the Christmas books we took out of storage and have enjoyed quiet moments enjoying the lights on the tree. Next stop: Christmas baking!! 

Fa la la la la la la la la! 

Making Dough Ornaments

I have something startling to announce... I like doing crafts. I know, SHOCKER! ;)

This time of year is especially wonderful for crafters because there is an insane amount of crafts to be done... decorating and baking galore. This weekend, I decided the kids and I should make dough ornaments. They dove into the project with verve and had a wonderful time making their creations. We now have more ornaments than we'll ever know what to do with, but that's a good problem to have.

It wound up being a two-day project because of the baking/cooling factor, but the kids didn't seem to mind. They loved rolling out their dough (note to self, the kids could use some kid-size rolling pins) and choosing the cookie cutter shapes.... not to mention, making finger dents in their dough!

On day two, the kids got to paint their ornaments and had way too much fun doing it. Each got a paper plate of (washable) poster paints and went to town on their ornaments. Annika tended to keep her paint colors separate, while Conor decided mixing them all together was much more desirable.

All in all, they did a great job and now have their very own ornaments to hang on the tree (once I spray them with a clear coat, that is).

Annika cutting out her ornaments

Conor using an off-set spatula to leverage his dough.
I'm pretty sure the tongue thing is genetic... I do it, too!

Day 2: Painting!

Conor started out with a variety of colors, but wound up adopting a gray color  palette

Conor painting his ornament

Annika's beautiful ornaments

Conor's masterpieces

Concentration

Paint, paint, paint

Why stop at the ornaments when you can paint your face, too?

Conor see, Conor do!
He can't let Sister have all of the fun, now can he?

Dough Ornament Recipe

Mix 4 c flour, 1 c salt, 1 1/2 c water and combine until it forms a dough. Cut out ornaments and bake on a cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Christmas Tree Dough Ornaments

No - there hasn't been a time warp (how many of you are now doing ... or at least singing... the Time Warp from Rocky Horror?? Be honest!) and we're back in the holidays. I just never got around to posting this topic and I wanted to share some more holiday pictures of the kids. (What? Me sharing pictures of our kids? SHOCKING!)

One of the holiday activities that we took on before Christmas 2011 was making dough ornaments for our tree. The dough couldn't have been easier to make (recipe will follow) and the kids had a fantastic time making them! We used my mini Christmas cookie cutters and one of my snowflake cookie cutters. While Annika and I headed up the "cutting out" portion of the project, Conor whacked at his ball of dough with a small rolling pin and occasionally snacked on the incredibly salty dough... decided he didn't like it while making a really funny screwed up face, spat it out, whacked the dough, and then tried another bite. (The boy doesn't learn!)

One of the best parts of this project was decorating the ornaments. The kids had a blast painting their ornaments and taking charge of how their ornaments looked. Colors were delicately applied by Annika; she was precise in her color placements and techniques. Conor smashed his colors into the ornaments with flair and passion.

The final phase of the project was hanging our dried ornaments on the tree. Again, the kids dove in head first and loved seeing their creations on the tree. (Buca liked the ones that fell off and asked us for more snacks like them... but maybe with a little less salt!)

Annika believes that one must be dressed to the 9s while doing art projects

Conor creating a color mixture for his ornaments

Annika's Ornaments

Conor's Ornaments

Dough Ornament Recipe:
1. Mix 1/2 c salt, 1/2 c water, and 1 c flour until forms a ball.
2. Knead briefly on lightly floured surface or in the bowl. (Note: I wore food handler gloves to keep my hands from getting dried out by the dough's salt.)
3. Roll out to 1/4  inch (plus or minus)  thick.
4. Cut with cookie cutters.
5. Use a toothpick or small straw to make a hole in each ornament for a hook or thread for hanging.
6. Place ornaments on a cookie sheet.
(Hint: I use parchment paper to keep the ornaments from sticking to the pan) at 250 degrees for 2 hours.
7. Cool completely.
8. Paint with poster paints, puffy paint, and/or glitter glue.
9. String thread or place hook through hole.
10. If desired, spray with a sealer in a well-ventilated area or outside.


..

Painting Christmas Tree Ornaments

A few weeks ago, I saw a catalog that advertised glass tree ornaments and glass paints; it took me all of about 2 seconds to decide that would be a fun project for our little crew. Yesterday seemed like the perfect day to embark on our art project, so I covered the kitchen table with newspaper and we got right to work.

The kids had a BLAST painting their ornaments. I figured they'd do one ornament each.... nope! Each wanted to do as many as possible, which wound up being 3 each because we got a package of 6 ornaments.  They learned how to mix paint colors and employ a variety of techniques as they painted their masterpieces.

Conor exploring his medium

Eric and Annika working on her ornament

Eric teaching Annika how to spin the ornament to make lines of paint

Conor

Conor decided to make himself a piece of living art

"Yoot Mama!"

Silly!

One of Conor's ornaments

One of Annika's ornaments