Dress up closet

One of the gifts my kids got this Christmas was a dress up closet.

My parents had an old (old, old) dresser that they stripped the paint off of and sanded down. I picked up new white paint for the outside and red for inside. They added gold trim, gold knobs in the one remaining drawer and 4 small gold hooks inside. 

They did all the work! My mom also helped me find cheap costumes after Haloween and we added a few Melissa and Doug costumes as well as a few other random things. My mom had a coworker make the vinyl lettering too.

I hope the kids love pretending to be superheroes, doctors, firefighters and pirates. 

Tea party

Lucian found the elf right away this morning. He was having a a tea party with Dora's Abuela.

Santa

Today we made Santa faces with paper plates and cotton balls.

They were easy enough to do, but Sutton wasn't interested until I told her she could FaceTime her grandma after she was done and show it to her. It also helped when I said she could use a shiny bead for a nose instead of a Pom-Pom.

We colored the middle of the plates with apricot colored crayons, stapled on the hats (this particular red paper tends to bleed through when wet so I was trying to minimize the glue on it), then glued on the cotton balls and created eyes and a nose. 

Elf milk

The kids each found the elf this morning when they woke up and grabbed their morning cups of milk.

He was hanging out in the fridge drinking a glass of green elf milk. Later in the morning Sutton asked to try the milk, but Lucian didn't. He was afraid Sutton would turn green! 

Holiday baking

Friday through Sunday my mom and I baked a variety of cookies. Most were family favorites, but we like to try a few new ones every year.

The red and green swirl cookie in the center is a new one. It's a "Whoville Cookie" that I found on Pinterest.

At the top are our annual spritz tree cookies. We use the recipe that came with my moms (very old) cookie press. 

Next to that is the Chex Reindeer Food. I made a huge batch of this because my husband devours it. 

Next is walnut fudge (we just use the recipe on the marshmallow fluff and then add walnuts). 

The chocolate circle is a new one. It's a York Peppermint Chip cookie. I'll post the recipe soon. 

Next to that is a Peanut Butter Blossom. We make these every year. I'm sure there are a million versions of this recipe floating around.

We also always make that chocolate covered circle. These are peanut butter between Ritz crackers, dipped in chocolate. I prefer to keep mine in the freezer, and eat them frozen. Yum!

We made a crazy amount of Traditional Betty Crocker sugar cookies. The kids helped briefly with these and helped put the sprinkles on most of them. These are my least favorite to make (because they take the most time?), but they are by far everyone's favorite. This recipe is one we've used since I was a child and it comes from the old Betty Crocker cookbooks with the orange cover. I will type up the recipe if anyone is interested, but I couldn't find the same recipe on their website.

Lastly, we tried this new Coconut Butterscotch Fudge Cookies. I absolutely loved these! They were easy to make and taste amazing. 

What are your traditional Christmas cookies and treats?

Hiding candy canes

Our elf was found riding a reindeer this morning.

His note said he had hidden 6 candy canes. 

Even though the kids don't eat them they had a lot of fun finding them. 

Movie night

Our elf was found in the living room tonight after a night of snacking and watching movies.

Santa and his sleigh

The kids were so excited when they saw the elf this morning.

He was under the tree in a sleigh with 8 "reindeer." The first two were new cars with the kids names by them. These new cars helped keep the kids busy for a while while my mom and I started baking Christmas cookies. 

Bath time

Christopher Pop-In-Kins was hiding a little too well this morning. He was in the master bathroom taking a bath. 

Not-Gingerbread Houses

Since its gingerbread week I thought about making gingerbread houses. However, I knew that was too much work  with everything else going on and I haven't been feeling well, so we went with Rice Krispie houses instead.

I also used Betty Crocker frosting to further speed things up. The kids, especially Sutton, enjoyed decorating their houses.

I added extra Rice Krispies when I made them so it would be more dense and less sticky in order to cut out a house shape. 

Poor Man's Toffee

It's time to start making Christmas cookies and treats! I try to spread it out over a few days since my mom and I make so many things.

I'm sure you've seen this recipe (or a version of it) floating around Pinterest. I'm not sure where I first found the recipe a few years ago, but I've been making it for several years now. The recipe even made it to our family's cookbook my brother had printed.

Poor Man's Toffee
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup, packed brown sugar
2 bags (of 11 ounces) chocolate chips
Saltine crackers (1 to 2 sleeves)
1 cup of chopped pecans (or any nut would work)

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Line jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray.
Lay a flat layer of Saltine's in the jelly roll pan. I usually end up breaking some crackers in half to fill in any gaps.

In a saucepan, melt the sugar and butter until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes or until mixture is thickened and sugar is completely dissolved. Pour this mixture over the crackers and spread to coat evenly.

Bake for 5-6 minutes, or until the toffee becomes bubbly. Turn off oven, then take out of the oven and let it sit for a couple of minutes. If any crackers moved when you took it out of the oven, push them back into place with a fork.

Then, sprinkle on the chocolate chips. Put the pan back in the turned off oven for 2-3 minutes to help the chips melt a bit. Remove from oven, then spread the chocolate to cover all the crackers. Last, sprinkle the chopped nuts over the top and gently push down any large pieces.

Let cool until hardened. Once cooled then break into pieces. These can be stored in the refrigerator for weeks.

Who wants coffee?

Christopher Pop-In-Kins is making coffee this morning. I actually had to point him out, no one could find him. 

Gingerbread pattern worksheet

I was busy this morning finishing up various Christmas related projects so I went with a quick gingerbread pattern worksheet this morning.

These worksheets where the kids paste the correct square/shape in each spot is their favorite so they were happy to do it. 

Barbie car

Once again Sutton was the one who found the elf this morning and she wasn't too happy about what she saw. 

She was not happy that Barbie was snuggled so closely to the elf, because she wanted to play with it and we couldn't safely remove the Barbie without touching the elf. He should know better than to play with her toys!

Toilet paper tube trees

This project was actually months in the making. I got the idea after seeing it on Pinterest.

When I saw it, we started saving toilet paper rolls. Then, I decided we (I) should spray paint the tree part and it took a few days to find the green paint. Finally,  it took two days to locate the glue gun and glue. 

Once I actually began it took a while to staple everything together. I wonder if hot-gluing would have been an easy option. Then I spray-painted the tree and the kids painted the trunk.

I decided to place the trunk this way instead of up and down because it was just easier to attach. 

I have some issues with my right hand, so the idea of punching holes in each tube for the ornaments was not appealing.  I decided to try hot-glue instead. The first few ornaments took forever to stay in place, but once I figured out how to get them to stay hanging, the rest didn't take as long. 

I think it turned out cute, but it was more work than I anticipated it being. I did not decorate both sides, because I knew where I was placing it, no one would see the back. 

Gingerbread Men

Today's project was gingerbread men made from paper plates. The kids used so much paint though, that this project took all morning to dry so we could complete it.

We used small paper plates and the kids painted them brown. While they were drying I cut out the limbs and heads, and the kids helped glue everything on. 

Once the plates were dry we were finally able to assemble them. 

Flying elf

Sutton quickly spotted our elf this morning.

He was tied on to the ceiling fan, so he could fly through the air. I don't think either kid was overly impressed with him today. 

Gingerbread Man shape sheet

My kids love these kind of worksheets. They don't have the scissor skills to cut out the shapes, but they love gluing them. This week is gingerbread week, so we did these adorable gingerbread man worksheets.

They still don't want to color them in, but I think we could do sheets like this daily and they would still enjoy them. It's great practice for recognizing their shapes. I forgot to give Lucian one of his pieces and he said "My crescent is missing!"

Pajama Elves

Sutton found our elf hanging from her vanity mirror this morning.

He brought with him the book Pajama Elves.  This Christmas story talks about how elves sneak in and measure children so that they can sew magical pajamas that help children sleep soundly on Christmas Eve. The pajamas are somehow magically delivered on December 24th. It's a very cute story that I've been wanting to share with them as soon as they were old enough. 

Traveling elf

Christopher Pop-In-Kins created a road through our living room last night and was having fun driving a bus around.

Lucian thought it was "so cool" and funny. He was playing with the cars that didn't half the elf in them. 

Fishing

Apparently our elf likes to fish. With a little help, Sutton found our elf in the bathtub this morning.

His note asked "Do you like to fish?" And then Lucian spotted this game.

Unfortunately, the game didn't work very well. At first it just stopped a lot and then it stopped working completely.  My husband will try exchanging it tomorrow (it was a Black Friday special for $4.88). 

Cone trees

We did a quick ice cream cone tree today.

I frosted the cones with green frosting and gave each kid a plate with candies to decorate with. They enjoyed this short activity.

Underwear instead of stockings?

Christopher Pop-In-Kins swapped out the kids stockings last night. Then he hid in mine.

He did leave a sheet of stickers in the kids underwear. 

Christmas Tree Footprints

Star.Today we made cute little hand and footprint Christmas trees.

First I did their footprints and added the stump and star. 

When it was dry the kids used their fingers to create the lights all over the tree. 

I did them on 8x10 canvases so I could have them to hang in future years. I got a bundle of cheap canvases at Michael's on Black Friday so we could do projects like this. 

Snowball fight

The kids had a hard time finding our elf this morning even though they walked right past him several times.

Christopher and Peppa Pig's family had taken over our shoe rack and we're having a marshmallow snowball fight. Lucian thought it was pretty funny. 

Christmas tree worksheets

We did two Christmas tree sheets this morning. First we did a do-a-dot Christmas tree, followed by a shape placing Christmas tree.

I couldn't convince either child to color their shape tree or fill in the do-a-dot trees, but this still kept them busy for about twenty minutes.

Candyland Elf

Our elf's magic has been restored and he is no longer sick!

The kids did really well through Lucian's GI appt and their dentist appts so Christopher brought them a surprise  - Walkie-talkies. Lucian has an oral aversion so the dentist is torture for him. We have done so much prep and this is the first time he willingly allowed his front teeth dry brushed and let the dentist count his teeth. We wanted to reward him do that in 6 months he may feel confident enough to allow them to actually brush his teeth or to use a mirror to look around better. Sutton's first try went well too.

Christmas tree ornaments

We are doing Christmas tree projects this week. My kids are so excited for Christmas!

We made a cute little Christmas tree ornament this morning. First, we painted the craft sticks and then let them dry while we played.

Then they glued on LOTS of little Pom-pins and I tied a pipe cleaner around each one so they could hang them on the tree. We also glue little tree stumps from construction paper on them. Each kid made one, and then my kids made an extra for their Grandma.

Sick elf

Yesterday, after we got back from the kids' first ever trip to Chuck E Cheese, Lucian touched our elf. He cried, knowing he had broken the rules. This morning he found out the elf was sick as a result.

The note explains he is sick because he was touched and didn't have enough magic for his nightly return to the North Pole. If the kids can be extra good today he will have enough magic to return tonight and get well. 

Funny Christopher

The kids were amused when they found Christopher had put train tracks under the tree while they were sleeping. 

He wasn't hidden hard at all, but they thought it was funny he was playing trains.

Busy day

We've been busy today! After much searching the kids found Christopher Pop-In-Kins asleep in our daycare friends pack-n-play. 

Then, we headed out to Home Depot's monthly kids workshop. The first Saturday of the month they host a free workshop where kids get to build a little kit. This month is a holiday themed block tower. The blocks can rotate to 3 different characters and the fourth side is blank for kids to draw their own.

Then we headed to our local library. There were Christmas events happening in town all day, so we went to storytime and got to decorate a cookie after (the highlight of the kids' day). 

We also went to a small craft show and went on a long tractor ride. The kids saw Santa after the tractor ride, but both got scared and his. So they saw him, but never got close. We still have an evening parade and fireworks we may attend. Mommy will sure sleep well tonight!