We have been busy elves. Finally, this year I decided to provide Supergirl with gift projects that she could actually make almost by herself. As opposed to years past, wherein she lost interest after decorating just two cookies, or was asked to come and stir this in, and then I would end up doing every remaining step of her project idea.
Ha. Not this time. I was one step ahead of her this year. I thought ahead early enough to order cute little jars. I bought graham crackers and candy canes. I researched royal icing success and failure stories.
Above is a picture of her gifts to her friends: Homemade bath paints, an inexpensive holiday towel, and a rubber ducky, all tossed into a bath bucket from the dollar store.
The paint is very easy to make:
Home Made Bath Finger Paints
for each 1/2 cup of MILD LIQUID BABY SOAP,
add: 1 tsp cornstarch, and as much Biocolor as you would like.
Mix well, pour into plastic jars with airtight lids.
for each 1/2 cup of MILD LIQUID BABY SOAP,
add: 1 tsp cornstarch, and as much Biocolor as you would like.
Mix well, pour into plastic jars with airtight lids.
And we made these cute little sleighs for all of her teachers:
I did not invent the idea - we got it here.
And then we made an extremely simple peppermint bark (I melted semisweet chips, she spread it out on parchment and sprinkled with a small amount of Andes holiday peppermint bits and some crushed candy canes, then we cooled and broke it) to fill the sleighs (with a foil Santa to drive):
I love staying home for the holidays! Instead of packing and swearing, I get to make crafts and bake! And we haven't even started the cookies! The cookie baking begins tomorrow!
15 comments:
those are all AWESOME. i love it all. and i want to come and bake cookies. but i'll be in berkeley all day tomorrow. boo hiss. i feel like i absolutely MUST come see you soon. i'm leaving wednesday. like in a few days. gah.
i can't leave without some quality gwendomama time. i just can not! simply will not. no.no.no.
ah yes, royal icing success and failure: i know thee well.
you are completely awesome with your craftiness. i will become a baking fiend this weekend. i swore off shopping for extended family and plan to contribute to their obesity instead. hooray for yumminess!
Yummie Yummie! You two are just having soooo much fun! I'll miss you terribly but soooo glad you are making memories!!! Love you!!!!
Aww That is great!! Can I come over? I think I will bake with the kids this weekend too. It will be a first for me, I know I suck!
Consumerism and plastic shit from China. Why don't you teach her how to hand-craft something?? A paper snow flake, maybe?
wow, anonymous super cool person, you are so awesome that you taught your kids how to make paper snowflakes. if you have kids. hehe. or paper.
you fucking caught me. i bought the festive towels from the k of mart and plastic DOLLAR STORE BUCKETS to put her homemade gifts into. even though the plastic jars were made in the USofA, wow.
we suck so much i don't know how i can sleep at night.
i hadn't thought about that until now. or the fact that my daughter has been making and giving paper snowflakes **the trees cried out in anguish** since she was three. she was ready to move on. with or without the approval of anon.
Dear Dodo -- or maybe I should call you Castro as you now filtering your mail -- taking away the *anonymous*option -- ewww, ouch!
Sustainable economical development blames our current global warming crisis partly on consumerism. (a huge part, in fact). My statement about "buying" rather than "making" without wearing down our resources is an opinion. If you are going to blog and give folks the option to comment, you need to put up with other people's comments and not become defensive about it.
So ok, you made the snow flakes already when your kids were very young and you're now ready to move on to something more fancy. Fine. But you don't need to start "buying". Especially stuff from China! Did you ever see a Scandinavian snowflake? Do you know how complex it is to make? And the cost? paper + ribbon + maybe a staple. The cost to our dear Earth?? What are you teaching your children? Christmas = Malls
What was your hand towel sprayed with before making the journey across the Pacific? Did you run a swab test on the rubber ducky? If you're going to complain about toys with lead, you gotta walk your talk. If being a parent is a "on-going" project, than you gotta be more clever. Teach them that giving doensn't mean buying.
I'll save my comment for the trans-fatty-graham-crackers-tobaggans another day and what all that rotten sugar is doing to your kid's teeth. geeze... :)
dear loretta, i think you need to get a life.
since you are obviously so disturbed by this, let me correct your inaccuracies.
MiDel graham crackers. (healthfood store)
tooth brush - maybe you have heard of this invention?
YES! i certainly DID do swab tests on the duckies and the towels! i DO walk my walk! (did you buy your swab tests like i asked you to?)
what made you so bitter? did your mum give you an oily peanut butter and wheat germ filled orange skin for Xmas? so now you must spread your contagious joy.
i am feeling it.
and by the way, this year, let's put the X back in Xmas.
love and joy!!
And you seemed a bit indignant that I took away my anon comment factor.
Why? I see it didn't stop you from sharing the vitriol and guess what else?
my fucking blog. i get to be in charge of the buttons!!!
does that make you angry?
Dear Do:
Oh, okay, so you invented swab tests?!
You get so carried away. All I'm saying is please make things rather than purchase them. Teach your children that not everything needs to be bought. Outsourcing everything to China is going to kill us - literally.
Two more things:
Yes, it most certainly is your blog. And yes, I think I am wasting much too much time with this, but aren't you doing the same? I see you...pacing your kitchen floor, cursing me: "how dare they accuse me, moi, Gwendodo who knows sooo much about art, parenting, and how to take the sus out of Jesus.
Two: taking away the anonymous button was childish. You can dish it out but you can't take it. Right?
Merry Christmas do, oh gosh I mean Happy Holidays. :)
You know what is childish? Those who attack those who provide contact information, and the attacker is hiding behind their anonymous login.
That is childish.
SHOW yourself, Loretta. Give us a way to reach you and your holy opinions, and I'll turn anon back on. When is any Anonymous commentor anything but a coward?
she's been trolling over at my place, too. there HAS to be something better to do...
she's been trolling over at my place, too. there HAS to be something better to do...
First, I am insanely jealous that you get to stay home for Christmas and do arts and crafts. Can't wait to try the bath paints recipe and to see what you bake. Pictures and recipes, please!
Second, Anonymous and Loretta: FUCK YOU. Leave this beautiful and real site and take your negative, self-righteous shit somewhere else--like maybe your own blog.
G.: If you want to not post this, that's fine. Just know I'm in your corner. Wishing you and your family peace, love, and all that good stuff for the holiday.
Love,
C.
I googled to see if I could find a homemade bath finger paint recipe that didn't call for glycerine and etc. I found this recipe here and I thank you so very much for making your blog public so that people like me can find help like this.
I didn't know that crafting with your kids was such a hotly debated topic. Personally I'm on your side Gwen. Buying a few small items does not seem like such a sin to me. Though that is just my opinion. Thanks again.
L
Post a Comment