Magnet Painting at Let’s Explore {every single post on this blog is fun and creative!}

Lord Have Mercy from the Other Mama {the funniest craft gone wrong story ever!}

Somebody Wants What You Have by Amy at The Finer Things {beautiful and hard-hitting!}

How to Homeschool with a Baby or a Toddler (and Enjoy It!) at Simple Homeschool {useful for any of us with little ones}

Homeschool Calendar and Morning Board with Homeschool Creations {you can adapt this to teach anything you want!  I love the Bible verse section!}

Please go read about Kristen’s life changing journey to Kenya with Compassion International, and then see how you can change a life, too.

Sponsored Child Lapbook by 1+1+1=1 {after reading all the Kenya trip reports from the Compassion bloggers, I am SO doing this for our kids!}

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And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the winner of the Alphabet Crafts ebook is…{drumroll please}

JOLLY JOEY!

If you are not Jolly Joey, head over to No Time For Flash Cards‘ and download your own ebook. It’s only $8 and full of fun stuff for your kids!

Let’s join in the DIFO Project #3 World’s Largest NERF Party! {I’m going to look for some more age-appropriate Nerf Toys that my boys can use to join in the fun!}

Valentine’s Day is for the Birds at Today’s Housewife {really late for Valentine’s Day – but you could use any shape for these fun bird seed biscuits!}

Rag Bracelet…all grown up! from It’s a HodgePodge Life {something fun for us moms!}

Creamy Tomato Soup with Asiago Croutons from A Virtuous Woman {I just had to share this – yum!}

At the Heart of Homeschooling from Simple Homeschool {a wonderful, centering post for those who homeschool/are thinking about it}

Easy Recipes for Natural Homemade Cleaners from Simple Organics

Our Imperishable Wreath by Tsh at (In)Courage {Tsh was also inspired by the Olympics this week!}

Have you found Positive Parenting 365 yet? {I went back and read all the posts I missed from the beginning of the year – fabulous!}

Photo from We Are THAT Family

Sewing and Embroidery For Kids With Dollar Store Shelf Liner from Filth Wizards {how easy, frugal AND super cute!}

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cupcake Party Train at Coco Cake {makes me want to have a book party!}

Flat Emelie and Matt by Moda Bakeshop {oh. my. cuteness.}

Making Shirts {more} Girly by Casa Camancho {what a great idea for all those too big t-shirts we have!

Pancake Recipes: Carrot Cake Pancakes and Whole Wheat Blueberry {pancakes are the new breakfast of choice around  here! i bake a double batch and freeze them for the rest of the week!}

Adventures In Odyssey {listen online for free!}

{this is for all of you that just realized Valentine’s Day is tomorrow…uhm, like me.}

Lots of Valentine Crafts and Treats at the Crafty Crow

Cool Finds: Simple Valentine Crafts at Mom Spark

Valentine’s Day Free Printables at Living Locurto

Five Recycled Valentine’s Day Crafts from Crafting a Green World

Valentine’s Day Crafts & Activities at No Time For Flash Cards

Valentines for Preschoolers at Silly Eagle Books

Valentine’s Day Crafts from Make and Takes

photo by vintagehalloweencollector

Printable Paper Dolls from How About Orange {pictured above}

Weekend Make and Takes: Valentines from Make and Takes {shees, I haven’t even done ONE Valentine’s Day thing yet!}

Made by You at Skip to My Lou {a fun Valentine’’s Day Link Up!}

Feed Me Books Friday at The Adventure of Motherhood {a fun kids’ book link up!}

Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple {yet another fun link up–this one’s about anything cool you’ve made!}

My friend Christine from Dates to Diapers is challenging herself to make a craft every day this week with her kids. (And this is quite a feat considering she has six kids and she homeschools and runs a hugely popular blog!) To help her out, I’m guest posting about a fun winter craft Lydia and I did this week. Your kids will love it. We have the dyed fingers to prove it!

Check it out and if you don’t already read Chrsitine’s blog make sure you click and get to know her. She’s fantastic!

Lydia’s 4th birthday was last week. My husband took most of the day off so we celebrated by goign to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. (If you live in Atlanta, you must be a fan of theirs on facebook. They run deals every once in awhile–so for Lydia’s birthday we got in for $5 instead of $16!!)

We wanted to take her to the Center for Puppetry Arts because I had already planned that her birthday party with friends and family would be a Puppet Party! (<—click there to read all about it on my personal blog!) It was so amazingly fun. One of the biggest parts of the party was the puppet craft–we made a Rod & Stick puppet. And I stole…I mean was inspired by the Center for Puppetry Art’s Make-a-Puppet Workshop!

The puppets turned out so cute, I thought I’d do a more detailed description here! These would be perfect for any occasion–you can decorate them to look like anything or anyone! Plus your kids will play with this puppet forever!

I cut the body out of posterboard. This is much better than construction paper because it’s more sturdy.

Then two arms: one solid and one in two sections. The sectioned arms should have holes punched in each end. Then once you attach them to the puppet’s shoulder with brads, you’ll have a moving arm!

We cut out the head and hands from brown paper but any material would do. I think adding the brown face and hands makes it more fun to decorate—and adds some contrast to the body.

We used all kinds of things to decorate the puppet—craft foam, pom-poms, buttons and wiggly eyes.

But the best part was the hair. I cut out pigtails for mine from construction paper. Then, once my artistic brother got to the party, he cut out little “wigs” for all the puppets. He just folded the paper in half and cut out a nice braid shape. Unfold and voila–instant puppet hair!

Grab a paint stick for the back (glue and tape works best) and then attach another stick to the moving hand. I used a skewer with a piece of making tape on top to protect the kids from the point.

Lydia has been playing with her puppet all week–with or without a puppet stage!

I’ve got the Christmas decorations packed, the New Year’s resolutions whispering in my ear and lots of fun New Year’s party ideas filed away. But before we get too far away can I share one more Christmas-y Winter-y type activity with you?

This year, I wanted to do homemade gifts for all Lydia’s friends. Well, that never materialized and instead I decided to do a Christmas playdate. I had been given a big box of magical toys and games from the Mickey Moms Club to do a big Disney World in home celebration but decided to add a little Christmas to the mix!

So, we had a Very Merry Gingerbread Mickey Mouse Christmas Party! Sounds fun, right? It was! And best of all, it didn’t break the bank, trash my house or stress me out! It was the fun of a birthday party with the feel of a playdate.

There were crafts…

I bought a cute gingerbread ornament craft from Oriental Trading Company. I set them all out before the kids arrived on our table…oh, wait. We don’t have a table, or any furniture in our big living room. So, I taped brown paper to the floor.

Disney had also given me some pre-printed Cootie Catchers. The kids were a little young to fold it by themselves, but after a little help, they loved them!

We had snacks…

With a gingerbread party, the snacks are pretty easy: GINGERBREAD. I bough a big bucket of gingerbread dough and let the kids cut out gingerbread boys and girls. Surprisingly they were not that into this. I think the spotlight was held by the Gingerbread house!

We even had lunch!

I made cheese sandwiches (no mayo) and cut them out to look like a gingerbread man. I coupled that with apple slices and Christmas shaped Goldfish snacks. We watched an old Mickey Mouse Christmas cartoon while the kids ate.

And of course, there were games!

We played Disney World BINGO. Each kid had to sit with their mom and use M&Ms as the markers for their card. My friend Becky and her daughter won an awesome photo album*! I would have never thought to play a mom-kid game at a playdate but it was so fun! I will definitely use this idea again. I wish I had a picture of the game.It was so cute with everyone playing a game as a family.

In the end, the kids played in the playroom (yes, all 11 of them, including 2 15-month olds) while the moms sat downstairs (listening in on the monitor) eating fondue.

And there were even goody bags…

Each kid left with a big bag of Disney toys and Gingerbread prizes picked out by Lydia herself (well, with a little help from me and Oriental Trading!)

A fun time was had by all! Including Asa, who had his first taste of 15 candy corn and 20 m&m’s stuffed into his mouth at once.

{{PS: Speaking of Disney, please come visit me at DisneyWorldMoms.com as the new 2010 Disney World Moms Panel launches TODAY! If you click “Meet the Moms” you should find my bio video! EEK!}}

*This post is NOT sponsored by Disney. I was given a box of  games and prizes from Mickey Moms Club to do a Disney World party in my home. The extra fun was provided by me and my friends. I am not a Disney employee. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent Disney’s positions or opinions.

Felt Christmas Trees from Happy Together {gorgeous and whimsical and easy!}

Bella Dia’s Advent Book & Activity {super cute crafts and fun books for every day of the month!}

Toilet Paper Tube Advent Calendar from maya*made {why didn’t I think of that?!}

Glittering Holiday House In a Jar from Red Heads Craft More Fun {this one looks hard but I think it could be adapted for a kid to make!}

Holiday Gift Ideas for Teachers from Musings of a Housewife {great ideas!}

photo from happy together

I have been so loving Leigh’s advent ornaments and activities!What a great idea to focus on God’s attribues and qualities during this holiday season!

This year Lydia and I are making ornaments that showcase a different part of the Christmas story. I put a picture, sticker or object in our big advent calendar that corresponds to the Christmas story. She tries to guess what that sticker or picture has to do with the Christmas story. Then we read the section of scripture while she listens for that sticker. Finally, we make an ornament to go with it. We are supposed to be hanging these ornaments on a garland above the fireplace but we can’t get the garland to stay!

I posted days 1, 2 and 3 before I left for Disney World (see my blog for more details!) So, let’s do a little catch up on what we’ve done since then…

DAY 4: ZECHARIAH: LUKE 1:5-25

I know, this one is a little frightening. And the picture quality is grainy. That’s because my husband sent it to me via a text message. I set up three crafts for them to do while I was gone. This is the first one: Zechariah. His mouth is made from bubble wrap which Lydia popped to represent his non-talking status after his encounter with Gabriel!

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DAY 5: GABRIEL: LUKE 1:26-38

This is another one my husband and Lydia did. I gave them a few white and glittery pieces of crafty-type items and they came up with a very adorable angel if I do say so myself.

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DAY 6 & 7: MARY: LUKE 1:26-38

I wanted to do two crafts for Mary. One showcasing her obedience and the other her bravery. Instead, with my absence (and lack of pulling together another craft), my husband and Lydia made this very colorful Mary!

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DAY 8: MARY & ELIZABETH: LUKE 1:39-45

I know, they look like little pregnant Shrek dolls. We made little paper-doll cutouts, glued dresses and pregnant bellies (with scrapbooking pop-dot underneath) for the two women who believed God and received miracle babies!

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DAY 9: MARY’S SONG: LUKE 1:46-56

The CD is to remind us of Mary’s song. And on the bottom (yes, where you can’t see, because I didn’t take a picture of it) is a word Mary uses several times in her song: MIGHTY! There are so many great ideas online to make fun crafts with old CDs. We did puffy glitter paint because I don’t think you can get any more fun than that!

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I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed these ornaments are not the most beautiful things in the world. They aren’t going to grace our Christmas trees for years to come. They probably aren’t even worthy of your emulation. But what I want you to see as I post these everyday is that we are just unpacking the Bible story and highlighting special people, objects and events to help Lydia understand the story more. Reading these stories and making these ornaments is the highlight of her day!

You don’t have to do this every day. You could just sit down and make one or two of these crafts (or a better one if you have it!) to remind you and your children of the greatest story of all—the Christmas story!

So, what are you doing to celebrate advent?