December 10, 2007
Doing a Little Decorating
Doing a Little Decorating
Our hostess took the kids out yesterday and got a tree. They are thrilled and I admit that even I feel a little more Christmas cheer with lights shining. The kids are especially pleased, because the people we are staying with use colored lights (a thing previously unheard of on our tree).
When I went up to the attic to dig out the lights I also looked through the ornaments and it didn't take me long to decide that we would not be using their ornaments. All their ornaments are beautiful and glass (such is the life of the childless). I should note that the people we are staying with are going out of town for Christmas, so they don't really care how we decorate the tree and I am sure they will appreciate our not breaking all their ornaments.
Our collection of less fragile, wooden and metal ornaments are not reachable at present, so I told the kids they could make ornaments this year. They are quite pleased and crafting away, drawing trees, snowmen and the like to their hearts' delight.
To add some interest to the flat paper things they are coming up with, I think we'll be using some of the projects from some great websites out there.
Canon Papercraft has just about every kind of paper craft you can think of. They have things designed to be ornaments, but I think my kids would also enjoy adding toys and animals.
Another favorite website is The Toymaker. She has great toys for all year round and special sections for all sorts of holidays.
I don't know whether they'll want any fish ornaments, but I think they'll have fun making some fish and pretending to catch them.
Finally, leave it to Martha to have some interesting craft projects. We might try paper poinsettias or some fancy stars.
That should keep us busy for a while, huh?
I was wondering when you were going to put 'em to work. Their membership in the Bloggers' Children's Art Sweatshop was about to lapse.
Posted by: Janis Gore at December 10, 2007 03:02 PMFun solution to your Christmas doldrums! Popcorn or cranberry garland would also occupy an exceptional amount of time, look pretty, and you get to eat the leftovers (of the popcorn, at least). Don't know how it would work with a dog in the house, though.
My Mom celebrates Christmas and a few years ago the kids made 90% of the ornaments. My Mom just isn't up to hauling the boxes and boxes up and down the stairs anymore and she decided this was the way to go. The tree looked great and the kids had so much fun. Rebecca just today told me that she wants to make more decorations for Nana's tree.
Posted by: Sarah G. at December 10, 2007 10:45 PMWe've always gone for the sturdier ornaments and I would think that kid-made would be just beautiful :)
Posted by: Patricia at December 11, 2007 10:35 AMEasier to string than popcorn are mini-marshmallows. They look good with cranberries.
Have fun crafting!
Posted by: Beth at December 11, 2007 10:57 AMI let the boys have colored lights this year. My white lights, which I spent all of $2 on some years ago, were definitely past their prime. They also broke many of my gold glass balls and iridescent glass stars, but we bought some red balls (Jay picked 'em out) and some glass-looking plastic gold and silver stars along with some pretty plastic garland (looks like glass and crystal if you don't look directly at it ;) ) at Dollar General. All in all, the tree doesn't look too bad!
Posted by: Lenise at December 13, 2007 02:23 PM
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