Launi

December 1, 2009October 30, 2022

Christmas Dolls

Did you have a favorite Christmas doll when you were young? Do you still remember when you first saw it under the Christmas tree?

Some of the memories of Christmas morning are so vivid to me that I swear I can still smell that new plastic whenever I see the pictures.

Oh, I remember the tinsel sparkling in the darkness as we tiptoed into the front room–long before we were suppose to. There seemed to be a tangible feeling of fresh magic just moments after Santa had left, enough magic in fact to make two covert children feel positively sick and shaky with excitement.

Then, finally, finally–when we were officially allowed to get up and the lights were turned on—oh…it took our breath away. Complete enchantment!

And even though I am many decades away from those days–I still have many Christmas morning reminders around me.

For years I kept some of my favorite dolls–from ancient days–in boxes in the basement or garage, never quite willing to give them away or give them up.

So a couple of years ago, I thought about those dolls and how rotten it must be for them to be stuffed away in those boxes. Don’t get me started on whether or not toys are alive–I’ll take you down.

ANYWAY–I took the dolls out, cleaned them up and now they decorate my room. When I wake up each day it’s like I’m reliving 15 Christmas mornings all scooped up into one.

After all these years, I’ve come to the realization that growing up is highly overrated…and in my case–

entirely unnecessary.

November 30, 2009November 9, 2022

Family Advent Calendar

Oh, I couldn’t help myself–I had to show you this cute little thing.

Twenty-four origami envelopes–each with a different family friendly activity to do sometime during the day before bedtime. You’ll want to start out by making a list of things you and the kids would love to do as a family–then pick your favorite 24.

Next, write one activity on a sheet of origami paper–or Christmas scrapbook paper then, fold each paper into a cute little envelope. I’ve included an Origami Envelope Tutorial in the post below–if you want to use the one that we did.

Each envelope is either numbered or dated–that gives Mom the ability to plan the slightly longer activities on the weekend–and to put the simpler ones on the days when you might have a bit more going on. You might want to plan something really special for Christmas Eve.

Let your kids take turns reading the envelopes each morning. You’ll be surprised at how much fun they’ll have all day long as they look forward to drinking hot chocolate by the Christmas tree, or painting each others toenails.

After all…

so much of Christmas is about anticipation–isn’t it?

Activity Ideas

Read a favorite Christmas picture book—if you love books like us, this one could work for 20 of the activities!

Paint everyone’s toenails–even dad.

Sing “Silent Night” around the Christmas tree.

Take a Christmas treat to the neighbors.

Make hot chocolate with real chocolate bars and whip cream.

Read the Nativity story by candlelight

Bundle up–go outside and find the Big Dipper.

Write letters to Santa

Act out the Nativity story

Write service swap love notes to each other

Have breakfast for dinner

Make gingerbread men

String popcorn and cranberries

Make a Christmas paper chain

Choose and wrap toys for charity

Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn

Go out for milkshakes

Drive around to look at the Christmas lights

Write “what I love about you” notes to each other

Hand make Christmas tags

Make Peppermint Bark

Most of all—just enjoy being together!

November 30, 2009November 2, 2020

Easy Origami Envelope

If you’d like to make these cute little “Flap Lock” Origami Envelopes–all you’ll need is a piece of square paper…any size. I used Christmas scrapbook paper.

1. Fold the paper in half to form a triangle.

Make sure your edges are even.

2. Take the top corner of the first layer and fold it down to the bottom edge.

3. fold the right corner about 1/3 of the way to the left.

4. Take the left corner and fold it to the other end. Your envelope should be rather square shaped now.

5. Fold the point of the flap over the other flap back to the left edge of the model.

6. Fold the point of the flap up to the top corner of the flap.

6. Make a squash fold on this flap.

7. Make sure you flatten it well, as this will help secure the envelope closed.

8. Fold the very top point down to the bottom edge. Or, the bottom edge of the square you formed by “squashing.”

9. Put the top flap (the portion you just folded down) into the “pocket” that was formed by the squash fold.

And there you have it!

Now scurry off and make a million of these–or at least 24 if you’re using them for the Family Advent Countdown Calendar.

November 29, 2009November 10, 2022

Gratitude

“Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character.

We like to be around those who are grateful.

They tend to brighten all around them.

They make others feel better about themselves.

They just tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable….

~Joseph B. Wirthlin

November 28, 2009October 16, 2022

Matchbox Advent Calendar

This has to be the cutest little advent calendar that ever walked the earth!

ahhhh….ok, so…you know what I mean.

Teeny, tiny drawers filled with teeny, tiny prizes. Absolutely adorable and better still–it cost well under $5 to make. You could actually make one of these for each of your children and spend less than you would buying them a Happy Meal. And this was just soooo fun.

The main purchase is the little match boxes. I found them at the grocery store and get this–packs of ten were 93 cents! You’ll need 3- 10 packs.

Empty the matches into a large Ziplock bag and put them in your storage.

Be on the lookout for tiny prizes…

You’ll be surprised at what you’ll find once you start looking.

Tape the boxes together in groups that will be stacked up in columns of 8 boxes.

I did a 3 stack and a 5 stack. Then I did the rest in groups of 4.

Now group them together and make sure they are all level with each other.

First I taped two columns together and then all three. Don’t worry about how ugly the tape is–it’s not going to show.

Find some skinny, Christmasy ribbon and cut into 24 pieces about 3 inches long.

I used wide packaging tape to stick them in loops to the bottom of each box. It’s more sticky and sturdy–and we want the pull loops to stay put. I experimented with big loops and shorter loops–the shorter ones worked much better.