Have a stressfree Christmas by adopting the slow living approach. Melanie Barnes tells us how....
Do you ever wonder what you can do with walnut shells? This article includes a large variety of crafts and activities using shell halves or ground shells that are kid-friendly and fun to try!
Top ten things to do in New York City in December - the perfect time of year to visit.
Only those who have never tried this raise an eyebrow at the idea. Don't hesitate, don't be anxious: this really works. No one who cooks it, cooks it just once: it always earns a place in every repertoire. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Kiffles (kiflis) are traditional Hungarian cream cheese pastry cookies with assorted fruit and nut fillings like apricot, almond, and poppy.
The Christmas holiday is a special, magical time of year. I've searched out some wonderful images that perfectly conjure up that warm, cozy feeling of anticipation and celebration.
Artist: K. Pyle Source: Jeff Kaylin Image Processing by: magscanner
It's time to party! So let's get decorating!
Since God used angels so much in the story of His Son’s birth, the Happy Hubby and I have been talking about them with the Happy Buddy quite a lot. We introduced him to Gabriel, the angel who told Mary she would be Jesus’ mommy. And I told him that there are other angels throughout […]
This Greek pastry is a Christmas tradition in our house. I make Baklava every year and give most of it away. If you have ever wanted to make Baklava here is an easy recipe.
In Pre-Christian Scandinavia, the sun was represented as a solar goddess-Sol or Sunna. She is the sister of the moon and drives the chariot of the sun across the sky every day.
This is definitely what the Masters were hoping for.
Memo to Santa's assistants from Head Elf, Creative Department: It has come to our attention that these elf figurines are a joy to make. All you need are pinecones, pipe cleaners, and other simple supplies (no toy-making expertise necessary).
These Christmas Holiday Minute to Win It Games are guaranteed to be a hit at your holiday party. Be prepared for lots of laughs.
Over the stream and across the field is the world of Brambly Hedge… Are you a Brambly Hedge fan? If so, then you probably know that Autumn 2020 marks 40 years since British author/illus…
2015 Topic 23: Christmas Cards and Gifts Hello everyone, Leandra here for the final topic of the year, but there is no challenge for this as we know you are busy enough, so think of it as eye candy! Our bloggers will still be blogging for the next 2 weeks with lots of homemade Christmas gift and card ideas to help you in the final push towards the big day! I have an amazing Christmas Pinterest page for this topic with lots of ideas, more than we are showing here, so take a look when you find that rare 5 minutes!! Before we start, let's see who won the Topic 22: Masterboards Challenge... Hi, Darcy here. Well you are all masterboard masters! You lot are a whizz with a brayer and created some luscious backgrounds before turning them into mini marvels such as cards and tags. Great to see so many people joining in right before Christmas, we know how busy you all are. The winner of Masterboards is: Jules B. Contact Darcy to claim your prize [email protected] Ok, Leandra back with you to present some fun and hopefully achievable ideas for decorating your home, gift giving and more over the seasonal period. Christmas can be such a stressful time for us all, planning food, people to stay, budgeting, all these pressures can really take the shine off the day if you don't keep it all in balance. I try to focus on enjoying the quality time spent with friends and family, and nothing says that more than a thoughtfully prepared gift. It might be a crafty make, some home cooking, a jar of sweet treats or a wreath for the door. Whenever you create something with your own hands for someone else, they do seem to appreciate the care and effort you have gone to, just for them. In this post you will find many such ideas, and often using supplies you probably have to hand. Candles.... I do love a candle, but the icicle idea is easily done with our frosting glaze, or even metallic or pearl glaze if you want a bit more sparkle - less messy than a load of glitter too! What about adding a paper-cut scene into the mix? Instructions here. Or maybe other glass ideas, these tree decorations are not too much of a challenge, and very pretty Or perhaps trees on top of glass decorations?? I do love a centerpiece, but i struggle with fitting food and centerpieces on the table at the same time, but here is a nice window ledge idea... ...and perhaps this could fit among the food with less of an issue, plus it is see-through, so you can still talk to the person opposite! So lets look at tree decorations, I always aim for a colour scheme and go from there, but it often goes awry or gets sabotaged by aquiring must-have decorations! I'm sure you are all the same, even harder when the kids were young and would bring home all kinds of colourful creations made at school that required pride of place on the tree! Now they are older, it is easier for me to be more restrictive in our colour options, and if you are making your own, even easier to stick to the plan! But how fun are these simple, yet effective critters made from cones, nuts and more! This idea we used as a make and take at Ally Pally, lace was glued onto a wooden heart with matte medium, then we base coated with a white paint, and did a patine with French Roast. of course you can use any colours of paint to suit your theme. And we added a tickle of Treasure Gold! You can buy glass decorations that are designed to be filled. Usually people use glue and glitter, but this version is adorable! Very elegant. Here is another version of a paper decoration, this time on the outside - perhaps you are changing colour scheme and have some naff baubles to paper over in the loft?? Got some spare letters floating about? how about covering them with Christmas Papers?? I cannot leave felt out of this blog post, i think at Christmas, one of the first crafts I ever did was making angels from felt and calico with twiggy legs, very shabby chic even 20 years ago! So here are some cute as a button Robins.... And trees. There are som many ways you can take this....Felt trees type 1, simple triangles with buttons - love the base idea! Trees type 2, the rolled method! Liking the grey a lot! And tree Type 3, this looks like more work, but aren't they lovely! This little angel is adorable too - all from a cork! And these are brilliant twig re-purposing!! Skinny Santas! or Snowmen ... and Christmas Angels too by Mary Jane Chadbourne. I know lots of you enjoyed Mary's tinytopia class this year, so check out her blog and website here for her class schedule. This one too...is she a grumpy angel?? Love the attitude! She cracks me up! So how about some cards? This is a Squiggly Christmas by Emma Godfrey Minimalist JoFY by Joanne Wardle... Eclectica {Lin Brown} stamps made into gorgeous Cards by Wanda... Liz Borer gets colorful with her own Winter stamps... Ellen Vargo makes Xmas trees from her flower petal stamps! See them here. And we all love Anneke's bright and cheery style! with JoFy here... And again with JoFy baubles here... And here are some cards from Jo Firth-Young herself using her newest Christmas stamps... And the cards I made last week from my masterboard video fit this topic perfectly too! Again with Jo's new Christmas stamps... Ok, as ever, I could go on, don't forget to follow my Christmas pinterest board, you will see plenty more examples there! And of course you have 2 weeks of glorious blog posts coming on this topic to enjoy! I'd just like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas! What an unusual year it has been for the world in oh so many different ways, and we sincerely hope that 2016 is prosperous and fruitful for you all! From all of us here at PaperArtsy HQ, we wish you peace, love and happy times over the festive season and beyond. We very much enjoy your compnay through all our social media platforms, share with us your seasonal pictures, we'd love to see how you all celebrate the festive season! Love and goodwill to you all Mark, Leandra, Emma and (big) munchkins xxx
Yule is one of the oldest pagan winter solstice holidays. It has been celebrated for thousands of years by various cultures, with a wide variety of rituals and traditions. This blog post will provide an
Step-by-step method for making Fig, apricot and pistachio Christmas cake yourself.
Five years ago, I started making waldorf-inspired dolls with my company Brambles & Blossoms. I only had 4 little boys at the time and longed to make them soft, cuddly dolls to be their best friends. My very first dolls were ones I made for the first four of my boys, but my fourth son, …
This is a guide to making DIY Swedish advent stars. Learn how to make a fun and festive craft using old books, by following this step-by-step Hometalk tutorial.
This year in review printable is a fun activity to do each year with your kids and see how the answers change as they grow.
Get you ready for the most wonderful time of the year with festive decor ideas.
Hilarious Christmas party game ideas to add some fun and festivity to your holiday bash!
Winter Solstice marks the beginning of winter season and is one of the oldest known winter celebration. It is the longest night and the shortest day of the year. The days have been getting shorter and now we can celebrate the sun as it returns from the period of darkness.
Are you looking for a classic STEM activity for building structures with kids? Try building with gumdrops! Find 6 more STEM activities to try with gumdrops too!
Ah, those classic children's books. You remember. The timeless bedtime stories you loved to hear as you snuggled so tightly in your mom's or dad's arms?
What does this have to do with Seminary, you may be asking. This was an ideal alternative to a class Christmas gift exchange. I did not want to ask anyone to bring a gift as it may have been a hardship for a few of my students and I did not want to single out any one of my 24 students. However....I wanted to have a fun gift-type game. The Candy Ball game fit the bill on so many levels. It was so much fun and very different than a regular gift exchange. I got the idea on Pinterest. There was a photo and no instructions so I had to figure it out on my own. Scroll to the end of the photos for instructions on how to make the ball and play the game. To make the candy ball: I used about 75 pieces/ packages of candy. I used all sizes and types. To start the ball, I used a large jingle bell elf as the center. (It was fun for the kids to hear the jingle inside as they pulled off layer after layer. The closer they got to the center, the louder the bell jingled) I wrapped it in bubble wrap and taped it with packing tape. Then I placed a piece of candy on the ball that was forming and wrapped it up with shrink wrap (the sturdy wrap used for packing and moving) I would not recommend saran wrap as it is not sturdy enough. I continued this process of placing a candy on the wrapped ball until it was a little larger than a basketball. Every few layers, I would use tape to seal up the recently wrapped layer (this made it a little more challenging and I recommend doing this) To Play the game: A player hold the ball and starts removing the layers. The player on their left is rolling 2 dice as fast as possible in an attempt to roll doubles When the player to the left rolls doubles, they pass the pan and dice to their left and the ball is passed to them. They tear as many layers as possible while the player to their left is rolling the dice And so forth. As the layers are removed, the candy starts to come out. Players keep any candy that comes out during their turn. This took us about 20 minutes with 24 students playing. This was fast moving and kept their total attention. Everyone got at least 1 piece of candy. To make this more challenging, have players wear gloves. If you plan on using gloves, you may not want to use as much tape when assembling the ball.
This fudge is virtually foolproof and so creamy you won't believe it. I've searched for years for the richest fudge, and this one does it for me. You can add just about anything you like to customize it.—Barbara Miller, Oakdale, Minnesota
The Charley Horse, Kidney Stone, and Inguinal Hernia can be real problems for the upstart City Carrier Assistant (CCA). Here author Mel Carriere gives unsolicited, low quality medical advice.
During winter we don't have so many outdoor activities because temperatures here are constantly below zero. But luckily there are tons of winter crafts and arts activities to make with kids and have cold winter days amusing. I especially love seasonal Waldorf activities inspired by nature, followed by Waldorf books that are helping us understand
Baby it’s cold outside! Here is a fun little pay it forward idea via “Be The Change You Want To See In The World”. This idea is making scarfs Scarves for random people on the str…
I can't remember a single holiday season without this typical German cookie recipe. My Mom and my mother-in-law bake these cookies. As a child we helped bake them, and the fun part for us kids was always to "style" the cookies. I prefer them with any icing or decoration.
