Here With Us - Joy Williams

Selah - Light of the Stable

This is Christmas - Kutless

The Wedding Tower. Dress and Tux Toppers.

So how did it all come together??

See HERE :)

Have a Merry Christmas!

A Wedding is Coming! A Wedding is Coming!

Toppers!

I made these out of clay instead of fondant so they could keep them. 

Top tier of cupcake stand where the giant cupcake will sit!

The bride put this together because we had to rig the cupcake stand so it would work.  LOVE this.

And lots of flowers!

The wedding is on Friday.

I'll share the finished product then :)

Christmas Projects

I didn't do any Christmas baking this year for our family as I had a few orders for goodies from friends.  For teacher gifts we put together hot chocolate buffet boxes with hot cocoa,  chocolate covered mint spoons, candy cane stir sticks, marshmallows, and flavored creamers.  These turned out so cute.  I can't wait to have a hot cocoa bar set out on Christmas morning as well.  Never thought of that before but saw it on Pintrest which got my idea rolling.  Below are the individual hot cocoa jars we gave to specials teachers and support staff.  They came together quickly.

 

Emma's class is having a multicultural holiday party today and they were encouraged to bring in something from their background.  Mark's dad is Peruvian so we did a search and found that Alfajores de Dulce de Leche (Caramel Sandwich Cookies) were the most popular Peruvian cookie.  The recipe I used called for lots of rum and I obviously left that out.  This is the most corn starch I have ever used in one recipe and the cookies came out really flaky.  Nice. 

Hope Was Born This Night

My favorite Christmas song right now. 
My heart BURSTING with JOY every time I hear it. 
What are your favorites?

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What I've Been Up To; Preschool Edition

 Loved this Christmas light idea I saw on Pintrest.  The kids enjoyed finding their names.  I laminated the paper, then cut the bulbs and used a dry erase marker to write their names so I can use them again next year. 

This little tree is in my dramatic play area.  The kids and decorate it over and over again.  There are even little tiny strings of lights.  We may make ornaments for it.

I recycled my tree from my fall bulletin board for this winter idea.  I'm not 100% sold on it.  I'll have to come up with something else next year.  You can't really see them but I made cardinals and blue jays.  They are a hit with the kids.

You have heard about using your Christmas cards for puzzles but I went a step further.  There are 10 puzzles, one for each student.  Each piece had a number on it.  The students get a number and each piece I draw from the pile they have to tell me who's puzzle it belongs to.  When everyone has all four puzzles pieces, they turn them over and do the puzzle.  We assign different numbers and do it over again.

Number sets Christmas trees.  The students have to hand that number of lights on the tree.

What I've Been Up To

Paperback Book Christmas Trees

 

I made pumpkins out of paperback books, so why not Christmas Trees??  Same principle.  Cut half of a tree shape all the way through the book.  Glue covers together.  This time I splurged for spray paint, with the pumpkins I painted on acrylic paint and it worked well.  I used glue, white embossing powder, and glitter for the snow.  The star toppers were in the miniatures section at Michael's.  I wrapped wire around their bottoms and stuck the wire down the hole in the middle of the tree.  The tall one in the back I glued a round chop stick in the middle when I glued the covers together.  I need to find a cute little jar, fill it with Epsom salt for the snowy look,  paint the chop stick dark brown and stick the tree in.

Corn Maze

We went to a corn maze and had a blast!  Little did we know it was a whole lot more than just a corn maze.

 

Upon entering you could either go through, around, or over the "mountain". 

They all chose the over the mountain slide. 

Wind Tunnel

 

The maze was pretty big and even though it was kind of busy, you didn't run into a whole lot of people. 

 

I think we were in it a little under an hour. 

 

There were check points you came across that had little activities.  We didn't even run into half of them.

The girls loved the teeter totter, as you just don't see them much anymore.  These were the old fashioned, no safety spring, fly off the seat if the other person hopped off kind of teeter totter.  Old School.

Zip line.

I'd bet everyone will want to go back next year :)

A Solution to Threading Yarn With Little Hands

For all threading projects I have always used tape on the end of the yarn to make it easier for little hands to sew, lace or thread beads.  It is one of those things that was an OK solution but an aggravating one at that.  A little piece of pipe cleaner changed all that and I am VERY happy with the results.  The needle stays on, the yarn does not fray, and it's much easier for the little hands to work. 

All I did was wrap the yarn around the bottom of the pipe cleaner, fold it over, and twist a little. 

Works wonders and it's reusable!

The piece of tape at the other end of the yarn is also strategically placed so the yard doesn't pull through (or the beads don't fall off) AND is a great place for their name.  Sometimes I tape it to the table so it's not tempting to swing it around. 

I've used it with threading pasta for a necklace and it works well in that project as well.

Works for ME!!  Go to We are THAT Family for more Works for Me Wednesday ideas!

Funky Christmas Door Hanging Instead of a Traditional Wreath

Started with a picture frame from Salvation Army, took out glass and backing, and spray painted it white.

Hung funky colored ornaments (found at Michael's) with wire at different lengths.

Attached a few glittery floral sprays with wire to figure out placement but will go back with hot glue once I've got it where I like it.

 

Added a bow and called it a day.  I'll get a better picture of it once it is hung AFTER Thanksgiving.  Doesn't all this Christmas decore BEFORE Thanksgiving drive you a little crazy??  :)

Kids in the Kitchen Loaded Pretzels

No shots of the kids actually IN the kitchen but I promise they did most of the work :) 

We made the flavor combos up as we went with our stocked pantry (aka my baking supply addiction)!

These are Chocolate Peanut Crunch. 

Melted chocolate covered in chopped peanuts and chopped peanut butter chips.

Classic M&M.  Melted chocolate covered in mini M&Ms.

The individual shots of the last ones all looked pretty funny.

Melted caramel, covered in chocolate drizzle and fall colored sprinkles.  These are awesome.  The salty pretzels combined with the sweet caramel is perfect.

Here they are all wrapped up.  They look so neat and tidy.  We made bundles of three, tied them with curly ribbon and a Happy Thanksgiving tag.  Easy (except the clean up, I'll find those sprinkles for days)!

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The Turkey is a Big Hit!

I made a paper bag turkey for the dramatic play area of my classroom and it's been a big hit!  They have been basting, cutting, and serving it all day.  The tutorial can be found over at One Charming Party.  I stuffed mine with newspaper instead of popcorn to give it a little longevity.  It seriously took less than 5 minutes to make.  Got a paper bag and a glue gun?  Go make it!  Your kids will love it!

LOVE This Turkey Project

Our Mission:  Disguise Tom Turkey so he won't be eaten for Thanksgiving!

I LOVE family homework projects and we had so much fun with this one.  Lexi wants to be an actress so we decided to dress up our turkey (now a girl) very "Hollywood".  Do you think she will be discovered or will she blend right in with the A-list crowd? 
I wanted to share the letter home in case you want to use it in your classroom...

Dear Parents,

It’s time to have fun creating a very unusual bird.  As a family, disguise Tom Turkey so that he won’t be eaten for Thanksgiving!  You may choose to dress your turkey as a dentist, an astronaut, a farmer, a cheerleader, a ballerina, a clown, etc…be creative and use any materials you have at home.  Everyone gets to help. 

Cut out the turkey below and mount him on cardboard or heavy paper.  Make it very original and have fun!

Please help us save these turkeys!  The turkey homework is due November 11, but you may send it in earlier.  When your Tom Turkey is incognito, he can hide-out in our classroom!

Happy Turkey Dressing!

Guess My Latest Cake

Is this one too easy?  HERE is the completed cake.

Heaven is for Real for Kids - Review

Heaven is for Real for Kids - A little boy’s astounding story of his trip to heaven and back

"During an emergency operation at three years old, Colton Burpo had an experience that few people have in this life; he was able to see Jesus and visit heaven.  Colton now shares his experience with children so they, too, can have comfort, joy, and wonder of knowing that heaven is indeed for real and that Jesus really, really loves them!" 

Heaven is for Real for Kids is a beautifully illustrated book told by Colton Burpo to his parents, Todd and Sonja Burpo.  The story is simply Colton's recollection of heaven.  He is carried to heaven by an angel, meets Jesus, and sees the beauty only heaven could hold.  He describes the people, the angels, the animals, and the throne.  On each page there is a bible verse that corresponds to the story. 
There is an introductory letter to parents for teaching their children about heaven,a question and answer page, and a prayer you can pray with your child about what you just read.  The book is for ages 4-8.

I read the book both to my own kids and my preschool class.  My students had many questions about the pictures and what was going on in them.  They were very interested in the angels, as we are memorizing an angel finger play for the Christmas program coming up. 

Scarlett, my three year old, liked the pictures of the animals the best.  When asked what she was most excited about in heaven, she said she was excited to just go to heaven with God.  Lexi, my 6 year old said, "I would get to see all my cousins and grandmas and grandpas that had died."  Emma, age 8, said, "To be with God and my family members I have never met before."  I had Lexi draw a picture of what she thought heaven would look like.  Scarlett did one of the coloring pages that is linked below.

 

You can see a few pages on the Flipbook HERE.
Download Coloring Sheets HERE.
Watch the book trailer HERE.

I received a complimentary hardback copy of this book from the publisher through Tommy Nelson Mommy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.