Easter Monday

For at least a dozen and a half years, I've decorated an Egg Tree in our front yard during the Lenten season. I wrote a couple of blog posts about it. You can read a little bit about it here (including some easy how-to instructions). 

When Easter falls midway through the April calendar, like it did this year, I rush to get my plastic eggs up early enough that the tree leaves and blossoms don't arrive simultaneously to my decorating. Because of the Lunar calendar, Easter is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring. The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22nd (plenty of time for decorating and seeing the tree) and the latest possible date is April 25th.

Virginia 2018

Virginia 2019

This year I decided to move our Egg Tree to a new location in our yard, sharing a little Easter cheer from a new vantage point.  

Virginia 2020

By Easter, the dogwood tree is flowering and the eggs are harder to see. 

My goal is to bring a little joy and a reminder to passersby. Every year as I unbox my eggs (and create a few more), the meaning and message are the same. 

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Love Letters

There must be millions of people all over the world 

who never get any love letters... 

I could be their leader.  

~Charlie Brown

Written any love letters lately?  I found these in the $1 bins at Target on Monday.

The package contained eight (approximately) 10 inch by 10 inch Valentines plus 8 heart shaped stickers.

I thought they were sweet and cute, and a really simple, neat idea.  Best of all, these would be so easy to create on your own (using pink construction paper or any number of cute scrapbook papers).


Step 1. Turn the paper over to the white side (or whatever side you want to use to write your note) and write something sweet and maybe even romantic (depending, of course, on exactly how you feel about your Valentine).

I kept mine strictly G-rated.  Later I decided I should have written "You have my heart."

2.  Then, turn your Valentine upside down (this one is minus the message) and fold one side in, like this

3.  Fold the other side in

4.  Fold the bottom (which is actually the top of the heart) up. Now you can see your envelope taking shape.

5.  Fold the top down to create the flap of your envelope and add a cute heart-shaped sticker to complete.

Who wouldn't love this sweet envelope with an even sweeter message inside for Valentine's Day or any day?  

A Candymaker's Witness

Are you familiar with this story?  

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.He began with a stick of pure white hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of God.The candy maker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the Cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.Unfortunately, the candy became known as a candy cane—a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear."I pray that this symbol will again be used to witness to the wonder of Jesus and his great love that came down at Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominate force in the universe today.

I created favors for a ladies' lunch at church today using this sweet story.  I am happy with how they turned out - an inexpensive but important reminder of the Reason for the Season.  

The Christmas Crafts Begin

Long before I was a blogger, I was a blog reader. I love blogs, especially ones with crafts and recipes and all things homemade and holiday.  Consequently, Today's Creative Blog was/is one of my favorites.  I am always looking for ways to freshen up my holiday decor.  Plus, I love inexpensive, easy-to-execute ideas.  Fortunately, Kim at TCB posted an adorable free Christmas printable just a couple of days ago.  


I printed out a copy, cut it to fit a white  8 x 10 frame I already had.  Then I remembered some tiny deer (intended as cupcake toppers!) in a bin of stored holiday items and (with the assistance of a glue gun),  Voila!  

A close-up on my (rein)deer!  

Sitting on my kitchen counter, it brings a smile to my face every time I look at it.  I especially love the  (unexpected) whimsical shade of blue.  Best of all, here's the link to get your own copy. 


Let the crafting commence!   

Thanksgiving Craft

I stumbled upon a great online resource for the holidays, Organized Christmas.  The best part is there are lots of good Thanksgiving (and other holiday ideas) there too.  


Of course, I always love the idea of creating a fun, easy holiday craft.  These Thanksgiving Blessing mix favors fit the bill perfectly.  The good news is there's still plenty of time to purchase and create these before the big Turkey Day.  I bet kids would have fun assembling these too.   


I created mine using the bag toppers  but the gift tags are also adorable.  Here's the recipe (along with my slight modifications):


2 cups Bugles brand corn snacks
2 cups small pretzels (be sure to use the tiny twists)
1 cup candy corn
1 cup dried fruit bits or raisins (I used Sun Maid raisin/cranberry mix)
1 cup peanuts or sunflower seeds (I used roasted/salted almonds instead)
1 cup M&Ms-brand chocolate candy (I searched high and low for a bag of the autumnal colors but was told that after Halloween they disappear from the store shelves.  I settled for a traditional bag and removed the red and blue)
16 Hershey's-brand chocolate kisses


The finished product

A basket of blessings.

Have fun! 

National S'mores Day

Today we celebrate the most famous of finger-licking campfire treats - the s'more.  That's right it's National S'more Day so I thought I'd share one fun idea for the great teachers in your life (just in time for back to school).  Here's a shout out to domesticatedlady for this fun printable.  Visit her site for this and other great creative ideas.   


In May, I created these end-of-school year favors for the teachers at my son's school, so I can personally attest to their adorableness.  (I used the extra large campfire marshmallows for an added measure of fun).  Trust me when I say they were a hit.  

Celebrating LEGO

Fifty three years ago today, in 1958, the LEGO company patented the design of its LEGO bricks, which is still compatible with bricks produced today. 

The Danish word LEGO roughly translates to “play well.”  I love that. 
 
LEGO has provided countless hours of quiet, really enjoyable entertainment for our son (and millions of others) over the years.  

We have shelves of LEGO creations at our house - some explicitly following the directions, but most improvised.  They are held in high regard and represent hours and hours of thought and creativity and "engineering."

An "attack boat"

This is a cute storage container for Lego bricks.  "Attack tank" in the foreground.

An "attack bomber."  Notice a theme here? 

This past Christmas my son got this really cool White House model, from the new architectural series.  It took 2+ hours to create.    

If you Google LEGO and birthday you will see countless ideas for parties, cakes, etc. from fans the world over and the inspiration LEGO has given to children to become  engineers, architects, builders, designers etc. of the future.  

When I was a in second grade, my class memorized a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Despite my poor memory, I am able to recall good portions of it today. And, though Stevenson wrote Block City in 1913, well before the plastic injection mould was utilized by Ole Kirk Christiansen to create the first LEGO,  it seems too perfect not to quote today.

What are you able to build with your blocks?
Castles and palaces, temples and docks. [and attack vehicles?]
Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,
But I can be happy and building at home.

 

Creating Christmas Treasures

During my post-Christmas shopping adventure, I stumbled upon these adorable plaster Gingerbread House crafts.  Since they were 50% off, I purchased one for a reasonable $4.99 (okay, my daughter says not reasonable, but, yes not $10, which I never would have paid). 

For the record, the store also sold miniature plaster Nativities and, despite my affinity for those, I resisted. 

I am thinking this might be a good way to fill a few hours (the kids' hours, not mine) in the more than week until they return to school. 

It came with six little pot paints but paint pens might be easier to work with. 

If you have younger children, you could have your children paint one (or one of the Nativities -- I know, I'm shameless) and give it as a gift next year to grandparent(s),  a teacher (with every child in the class painting a portion), or anyone else else who adores your kid.

It's certain to be a treasure.

Christmas Crackers

Crackers, sometimes called Christmas Poppers, are fun table decorations for the holiday season.  I’ve found them to be a hit with old and young.  A quick internet search tells me they originated in the United Kingdom many years ago.

My hastily made cracker, and why I generally buy mine

The nice thing is, you can create your own homemade version using paper towel or toilet paper rolls, gift wrap  and ribbon.  My grandmother’s women’s circle at church  created hundreds, perhaps thousands, of these over the years  to send to disadvantaged children. 

Creating Christmas crackers might  be a nice way to occupy older, crafty children in the long days after school is dismissed but before Christmas.

The good news is that if you’re not the crafty type or don’t have the time, nowadays you can purchase crackers almost anywhere.  I saw a package at CVS just last week.   You can even use a non-cracker for the same purpose.  This year, I bought these little treat boxes:

Okay, not really a cracker/popper but cute, right?


Last year, I used these. 

This one is also an ornament!

 Which opens, like this:

You can be really creative with the contents of your crackers.  I include slips of paper with a bit of Christmas trivia (which we all share aloud), but you can include a joke or Bible verse and don’t forget the holiday trinkets or toys, stickers and candy.  Exploring the contents inside is most of the fun.

Christmas Crafty

When I decided to start writing this blog . . . eons, okay 3 days go, I didn't envision it being a Christmas blog -- after all, who'd read that when July gets here?  But because the next 18 days will travel by in lighting speed, I thought perhaps I'd include a fun, easy, cheap, quick and cute (if I do say so myself) Christmas craft that I recently stumbled upon.

I love crafts and craft stores but the truth is I'm only so-so at it.  When my genie with the magic 3 wish lantern appears, I'm definitely wishing for craft skills like these http://www.bakerella.com/category/pops-bites/cake-pops/.  Until then, when I find something that I can do with relative competence,  I latch on and don't let go. In fact, I'll probably be creating these same candy bar snowmen for my fellow nursing home residents 40 years from now!  Anyway,  this year I produced 16 of these Snowman Candy Bar party favors for my son's class Christmas Party.

The directions are easy (I know I already said that, but they really are).  I used standard size Hershey chocolate bars and wrapped them in white copy paper (I used 24# paper because it's heavier and seemed to look better).  I used a black ink pad and my pinky (sorry, Martha) to create "charcoal" eyes and mouths.  Now I'm thinking an eraser tip would have worked better and looked more uniform.  I haphazardly cut "carrot" noses from orange construction paper - no two noses are exactly alike anyway, right?  Glued those on.  Then I used 1/8" red satin ribbon for the scarf -- yarn would have been cute here too, but I didn't have any.  Anyway, I think they turned out swell.  You should give it a try.