Jack says Goodbye

As the story goes on Christmas Eve Santa picks up all the elf on a shelf elves on his way back to the North Pole. I had been so proud of Maddie for not touching Jack this year because apparently our neighbors have an elf that you can touch once he has been found and she really wanted to play with Jack too. So thanks to pinterest I saw a note for the kids for the last day(Christmas Eve morning). I modified it for us and to allow her to play with him and sat him on the entry way tree (where sadly he has been a couple times before) and she awoke to quickly read the note and then take him off the tree and hug him...I actually let her play with him for about an hour before I made her put him back on the tree.

When her brother arrived home from out hunting that morning she was so excited to show him the note and tell him about the hug! And thankfully being the big brother he is...he quickly grabbed up Jack and gave him a big hug!!

Here is a close up of the note in case you would like to use it next year! Of course this could have been on nice christmas paper and such- but you know when you think of things just minutes before your child wakes up you do what you can to pull it off!!

Parker, Jack & Madison Christmas Eve 2011!!

P.S. I know it's after Christmas, sorry..I promise I only have a couple of Christmas related posts this week then it's back to recipes and DIY projects!!

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Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas~ hope this morning you found everything you asked for under your tree!

Our church sent home with all the kids some cake mix and icing to make Jesus a Happy Birthday cake! Here is the one my daughter made before she covered it in sprinkles!!

Next week we start decorating my daughter's room so be on the lookout for lots of home projects before and afters plus the big reveal!! Hope it all turns out like it is in my head!

Elizabeth

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Jack the Elf Part 2

Jack our elf sure has been up to lots of fun this month...

I haven't had a chance to catch a photograph of all that Jack our elf has been up to but I did capture a photo of him and Barbie out on a date! Notice how he can not take his eyes off her!! And from the looks of her hair it sure looks like they had a wild night!!

And the next morning we woke up to find Jack hanging out in the Barbie mansion with Barbie and a friend...sure sounds like Jack is one lucky elf!!Here is Jack relaxing in a snowball bath after a couple wild nights of partying with Barbie and her friends!!

There is only a few more nights until Jack heads back with Santa...wonder if he will keep up all his fun or get tired and just hang out in the tree!!

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Reindeer Cookies

There are tons of reindeer cookie ideas floating around the web and pinterest. Some use peanut butter cookies, some with nutter butter cookies, some using m&m's or chocolate covered pretzels. But I needed something I could take to my daughter's class party and we have a peanut allergy in her class so I knew that I was going to have to modify these so all could enjoy.

My daughter did not want to use m&m's and so we looked at what we had in the pantry and came up with mini chocolate chips and red icing for the nose. These were very easy to make and she enjoyed helping! Have you started to notice a theme for most of my recipes...simple ingredients and easy to make with children!

What you need;
1 package of rolled sugar cookie dough (or peanut butter cookie dough)
mini pretzels
chocolate chips or m&m's for the eyes
red icing, red hots, or red m&m's for the nose

Preheat oven based on cookie dough directions
Cut rolled dough into slices- mold on pan into an oval or diamond shape
Place mini pretzels into each corner at top
Place chocolate chips/m&m's in dough for eyes & nose (if using)

Cook per directions, let cool completely then add red icing for the nose!!

Enjoy!
~Elizabeth

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Gingerbread Houses

My daughter loves to decorate Gingerbread Houses- she usually starts asking about the time Thanksgiving rolls around when they will get the chance to decorate their gingerbread house. Which means this momma snaps up 2 prebuilt houses as soon as Target puts them on sale in early November!! Because you never know when that perfect afternoon will come when everyone is bored...
This year my kids had their own designs in mind and so I did not get to help too much- might have to pick myself up one next year! Maddie wanted her roof iced just like the designs because she was going to put a colored "light" in each one! With red & white lights on the roof top!

Parker was very focused on his and while both kids had similar ideas they both completed them in different ways..which is always interesting to me!
Oh and I guess here is where I should put the photo of the finished houses except my kids never finished theirs!! So we have 2 almost done houses on our kitchen table...oh well that's the way things turn out sometimes..but the smell of gingerbread still fills my kitchen & hearth room...yummy...

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Mini Sausage Wreath

My son's church small group had their Christmas Party at our house this past weekend and I made this mini sausage wreath for them! It was a huge hit and so easy to make. However because at the last minute I decided to make the wreath even bigger to feed more I did not have a platter big enough to hold it, so the pan would have to do(once it cooled down of course)!! LOL
What you need:
package of mini sausage
1-2 cans of crescent rolls
butter

To make:
Preheat oven according to crescent roll directions
Roll out the crescent roll and split into 4 squares - pinch the perforated triangles together to form the 4 squares.
Cut lengthwise 6-8 strips of dough using a pizza cutter
Wrap dough around mini sausage and place in circular pattern on ungreased cookie sheet.
Form dough bow using left over strips- I just placed 2 fatter pieces of dough together then pinched middle to make it smaller- then placed 2 smaller strips underneath for the ribbon.
Cook according to the crescent directions
About 2 minutes before completed take out and rub butter on top of wreath- then finish cooking.

Enjoy
~Elizabeth

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Jack has arrived!!

Jack has arrived! Our elf on a shelf made his first appearance last year and almost got lost finding our new house (meaning he got lost in the move) but was found just in time to arrive the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We had all watched the new Elf on a Shelf cartoon that weekend starring Chippy so Madison was pretty excited about when her elf would show up! Luckily he did not keep her waiting long! She woke up the following morning to Jack waiting for her on the countertop! He even brought his book along so we could all read it again so we remember the rules- no touching him or he will lose his magic.

It's amazing how protective the kids get over their elf- Maddie had a friend over and she wanted to see the elf- Maddie kept telling her that she couldn't touch him!! At this point Jack was hanging out in one of our stockings and I have to admit I was a bit nervous because this friend was really pushing the limit on how close she could get- I was sure Jack would fall out of the stocking- luckily he just tilted a bit and was later able to restraighten himself! Ha!

He even got up early one morning and made us special North Pole donuts!! Unfortunately he found out that morning that no one but me likes powdered sugar donuts- oh well live and learn Jack!!
Don't you just love his little bakers hat!! He decided to jump in the mixing bowl after a long night of baking!!

He has lots of new places to hide in our new house- here he jumped into our wreath hanging in the game room so he could watch the kids play ping pong!! Hope you have a great Christmas season!
~Elizabeth

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Shutterfly Online Photo Storage & Gifts

Are you looking for some photo ideas for the holidays? Have you made a decision that in 2012 you are going to organize your photos and store them offsite in case of an emergency??

Oh how I love Shutterfly- If you are looking for a trusted place to store your photos online and order photo gifts I highly recommend you check them out: Shutterfly They opened in 1999 and I have personally stored my photos with them since 2005. They have unlimited storage and they do not delete your photos.

I have created numerous photo gifts over the years from calendars, journals, photo books, photo cards, ornaments, and DVD slideshows (back before there was home software to do that!) I have never been disappointed in their quality and their customer service is awesome. Plus they always have sale going on!

Does your child play sports or is involved in a group that you take photos in- Shutterfly has share sites that are wonderful. Parents can upload their photos into their group's share site and other parents can download and print the photos from there! I have several of these share sites for my son's activities and my personal family site.

Shutterfly has no idea I posted about this- I just love their products and wanted to share it with you all.

~Elizabeth

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12 Days of Christmas Teacher Gifts

Well it's December 1st and that means there are only 12 school days left until Christmas break! So it's time to start the 12 days of Christmas teacher gift. Yep you guessed it another Pinterest inspired idea..I tell you I absolutely love that place! You can find ideas for everything you can imagine on there- want to check out my boards here is a link to my page: Pinterest

Our 12 days of christmas items were mostly teacher supplies & a few snacks- next year I will be sure to hit up the sales after school starts to get the supplies on clearance!

We purchased some cute christmas scrapbook paper and attached the sayings to them with ribbon. Then each morning she picks out that day's treat and heads to school. It helps her countdown the days until school is out too and keeps her motivated to go each day!!
A few of the supplies included a clipboard, red sharpies, dry erase markers, pencils, binder clips, paper clips, magnets, snacks, gum, and file folders! Here is the rhyme- thanks to HowDoesShe for the original idea.

For the 1st day Christmas,
something for you to use,
I’m giving you this clipboard,
so your papers you won’t lose!

For the 2nd day of Christmas,
Your students are busy, little bees…
You can correct their papers
with these 2 red sharpies!

For the 3rd day of Christmas,
I give 3 binder clips,
I’m sure it could be tempting
to use them on our lips!

For the 4th day of Christmas
Dry-eraser markers come in four…
As my kindergarten teacher,
You really help me soar!

For the 5th day of Christmas,
Some popcorn for a snack,
Sorry, that‘s all the food
I could fit in my backpack!

For the 6th day of Christmas,
cold hands, face, and toes,
Warm up with these 6 packs
of cocoa with marshmallows.

For the 7th day of Christmas,
I’ve brought you chewing gum,
It feels like Christmas break
is never going to come!

For the 8th day of Christmas,
here are 8 paperclips multiplied by 10,
Hope you’re enjoying this
’cause tomorrow I’ll do it again!

For the 9th day of Christmas,
9 canes of red and white…
Guess who my favorite teacher is…
if you guessed YOU, you’re right!

For the 10th day of Christmas,
10 magnets I bring to you,
You surprise me every day
with all the fun stuff we do!

For the 11th day of Christmas,
Some pencils I hope you’ll need,
DC is so lucky to have you, indeed!

For the 12th day of Christmas,
12 file folders you’ll find in here,
I wish you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!!

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Winter/Holiday Centerpiece

I know this it's not even Thanksgiving yet but I wanted to share with you the Winter Wonderland centerpiece I made for my Shutterfly Scrapbook party I shared with you yesterday.

This would make for a perfect transition centerpiece after the holidays for winter and was super easy to create- however I would suggest buying the products for it now as I am not sure how easy they will be to find on clearance after the holidays. I bought everything this year so I will share with you at the end where I found them! Can you guess what the hardest thing was to find?

Not the christmas tree candles- but the plain white candles!! I thought this was going to be so easy to find. But I wanted good ol' fashioned wick candles and apparently the trend now is the flameless candles or ones that were scented. Since I plan to use these candles for many different centerpieces I wanted them to be unscented and white!

Here is my entry way table decorated for my winter wonderland party. I have been wanting some of those glass vases for a while now but Michael's never had them on sale- lucky me in my search for white candles I ended up at GardenRidge and they had these awesome vases in all kinds of sizes for $3-$8 which was way less then M's was charging even at half price! The white candles are sitting in kosher salt - something I already had on hand in my pantry!

Now where to find everything:
Christmas Tree tea light holder: Michael's $15 reg price
White Candles: Garden Ridge (set of 3 $8-10)
Candle Trees: Garden Ridge $8 each
Snow: Michael's @ $4
Glass vases: GardenRidge price varies on size & shape
Blue Ornaments: I had these left over from last year. I used both mini and full size ones.
Kosher Salt for bottom of vases: grocery store

Next week I will show you how I turned my entry way table back into a fall display by using popcorn kernals!

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