Make a Homemade Wreath
In years past, we have bought a fresh Christmas wreath for the front door. This year, to try to save money, I attempted a homemade one and am pretty happy with the results. Here’s what I suggest:
1. Find some greenery. We have a juniper tree in our yard that works very well. If you can, go with something that won’t get brown too quickly. Evergreen-type branches work the best. Cut an armful (more if you want a bigger wreath).
2. Cut some rosemary (if you have it) to use as well. This lends a wonderful aroma to your wreath.
3. I used some red berries from a tree down the street (get permission if you are trimming from a neighbor’s yard!).
4. Lay out a sheet (especially if you put the wreath together inside the house).
5. Find some malleable wire. I used beading wire and it worked quite well.
6. Gather one or two pieces of your evergreen, one or two sprigs of rosemary and one sprig of berries. (I only used 4 sprigs of berries total; not every bunch had one.)
7. Bind them together toward the bottom with the wire.
8. Repeat for as many bunches as you need for the size wreath you plan to make. I think I made about 10 bunches.
9. Now lay the bunches out as you want them to look in your wreath.
10. Bind each bunch together by finding a sturdy part of the evergreen and using the wire to fix it to the next bunch.
11. If you can, purchase or make (using a wire coat hanger) a circle to anchor your wreath. I did not do this.
My wreath is fairly sturdy (I used quite a bit of wire), but it would have been much easier to just affix each bunch to a wire wreath instead of to each other.
12. Attach one more loop of wire to use to hang the wreath.
13. Add ribbons or ornaments to make it even more festive.
hints:
-If you have little ones, do this during a sleep time, as your hands will get very sticky and sappy.
-Our front door gets direct sunlight for most of the day. The berries turned brown after about 5 days and now, after about a week, the greenery is beginning to brown. I estimate that it will last about one more week. If you want to spend a little money at the outset, purchase fake berries to use year after year.
Christmas Lights on the Cheap
A nice way to have some family time during the Christmas season is to drive or walk around the neighborhood together to look at Christmas lights. Bundle up and go after 6 p.m. when most folks have come home and turned on their displays. We’ve been going out once or twice a week since Thanksgiving. Every time there are more lights around and we know the best streets to drive down and see the biggest displays. Some cities have ‘Christmas Light Lanes’ where just about every house is lit up. Sometimes these streets have fees or donation requests, so check before you go. This can be a learning opportunity for your toddler as well with On/Off and Colors.
Teaching Kids Charity
With the shopping season upon us, many parents will be dreading their kids demanding everything under the sun. Lifehack has some great tips about teaching your kids charity and tidyness with a pre-holiday cleanup. They can start to understand that giving their unused toys can be a great thing and at the same time, they can clean their room!
Easy Steps to Teach Your Kids About Finances
You may want to wait until they are at least 2 or 3 ;), but teaching your kids financial skills will be one of the most important things you do. Here are 9 easy steps for teaching them about saving and investing.
Holiday Paper Crafts
Handprint crafts are my favorite this season. Here are two that we did that were really successful.
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Handprint Wreath
1. Draw half a wreath on two pieces of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Preferably green. Cut out the halves and staple together to form the whole wreath.
2. Trace your child’s hand onto some green paper. I used several different printed papers from a Christmas Paper Stack along with plain green. Cut out handprints.
3. Let your kids glue or tape (double-stick is the best) the hands to the wreath.
4. Make paper embellishments. Cut a ‘ribbon’ out of red paper. Or glue actual ribbon to the wreath. Cut out ‘berries’ out of red paper.
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Handprint Christmas Tree
1. Cut a tree shape out of heavy card stock. It doesn’t have to be green, as the handprints will cover the card stock.
2. Cut a ‘trunk’ out of brown paper and staple to the bottom of the tree.
3. Trace your child’s hand onto green paper. Like the wreath, you could use plain green or several different shades/prints in green. Cut out handprints.
4. Let your kids glue or tape (again, double-stick) hands to the tree. It looks best if you attach the hands facing down and start at the bottom so they are layered to the top. Of course, I just let The Boy attach his willy-nilly, but it still looks good!
5. Cut out a star or angel and tape to the top of the tree.
6. Add ‘ornaments.’ We used stickers, lots of ‘em!
Be sure you write your child’s name and the date on the back of the crafts. In ten years it might be hard to remember which child/year it is from.
Babies Judging Babies
According to a new study, infants can tell the difference between naughty and nice playmates.
Babies as young as 6 to 10 months old showed crucial social judging skills before they could talk, according to a study by researchers at Yale University’s Infant Cognition Center published in Thursday’s journal Nature.
I’m always surprised that people are surprised at how intelligent humans are at such a early age. Anyone with kids know they can do amazing things within a few months of birth.
Finding Polycarbonate Plastic Free Bottles
Check out Green to Grow a new company that is producing baby bottles that don’t contain polycarbonate plastic which is under fire recently for not being that great for you or your infants.
Sesame Street is Much Tamer These Days
Snuffleupagus was only seen by Big Bird, Cookie Monster smoking a pipe and then eating it! Oh, the humanity of it all. Read about how Sesame Street in it’s orginal form probably would have been adult only television. A funny read!
Reuse Those Old Toys
Wisebread has some tips on reviving those old toys to save some money and get some more life out of your children’s toys. You usually end up with piles of toys with the stuff at the bottom perfectly usable but forgotten under all the new stuff. If you go through all your old toys you can find some of the favorite ones that can last for a few more months!
How to Entertain Your Child for Cheap
No Imapact Man was asked how he entertains his daughter without television and electricity. Well, he rattled off a ton of ideas, most of them easy and free!
Read his entire blog to get some more great ideas about leaving a light footprint on the world.
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