Milk and Cookies

My Favorite Geography Resource and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:29:00 +0000

WonderMaps...Pick Your Features! Print Your Maps!

What is WonderMaps? It’s a customizable collection of over 350 different maps. With nearly endless possibilities, WonderMaps makes it easy to regularly integrate map study into a variety of lessons and make the most of every learning opportunity.

Yes, over 350 different maps! World maps, United States maps, Biblical maps, historical era maps, thematic maps. I am a "map girl" so this curriculum has been a dream come true. I seriously used to spend hours searching for particular maps to use in our homeschool and even when I found a decent one, I still felt it was incomplete and felt the urge to add labels or routes to it. I love Bright Ideas Press and in the interest of disclosure, although I am close buddies with their founder, Maggie, I am absolutely not telling you to go buy this product because of her. Go buy it because it is a unique, one-of-a-kind, amazing product and it has saved ME tons of time and research. I know you'll love it.

The program also includes a teacher’s guide, containing:

Loving Geography mp3
Packing a Punch with Timelines & Maps mp3
50 Bright Ideas for Using Outline Maps
The 5 Themes of Geography
How to Make a Salt-Dough Map
16 Easy Mapping Projects
and more

For $49.95 you get the software (immediately downloadable or on CD), the teacher's guide (which includes tons of helpful goodies) and dozens of extra hours added back into your life. Seriously. It is unbelievable how much time WonderMaps has saved me.

Let me show you what you can do with the software. Let's say you are studying the Civil War and you want a map of all the major battlefields. Choose this map from the menu. It includes a list of the battlefields (the white box) and the locations are numbered on the map.

Now if you want to quiz your kids on the names of all the battlefields, you can deselect "Numbers" in the menu and the map becomes a matching game.

If you really want to make it hard on the kids or if you are sure they do not even need the list of battlefield names as a reference, you can also deselect "Battlesite List" and viola the white box disappears.

Now say you are studying the Great Lakes region of the U.S. Select this map to learn the names of the lakes and the surrounding states.

Deselect "Terrain Text" and it removes the names of the lakes.

If you want to quiz your kids on states and capitals (like we are doing now for Classical Conversations Memory Masters) and want to remove all the names of the capital cities, simply deselect "Capital Names."

AND you can print all these maps, all 350 of them, in color or black and white! Pretty awesome huh!

Announcing Marsha's Baby Shower Winners!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:13:00 +0000

How many Cheerios?
answer: 244
Winner: Kd Blackburn (she guessed 252)
2nd Place Winner: Mandy DeCola (she guessed 234)

How Well Do you know Marsha?
What has Marsha been craving while pregnant?
**Spicy foods
Ice cream
Bacon
Pickles

Where was Marsha born?
Texas
Mars
**Jeonju, South Korea
Ohio

What does Marsha call her sisters?
**Coco, Lele and Bobo
Oogy, Loogy, and Boogy
Salt, Pepper, and Sugar
Hokie, Pokie and OkeeDokie

What is Marsha afraid of?
Spiders
Sloths
**Clowns
Fish

What part of the delivery scares David?
Marsha's crazy temper
**Blood
Needles
Cutting the cord

Winner: Susan Dusseault (all 5 were right)
2nd Place Winner: Julie Park (4 were right)

ABC's of Baby
Winner: Mesha Betancourt

Baby Song Titles
Winner: Dawn Samuels

Guess the Baby
Winner: Angela DeRossett (9 were right)
2nd Place Winner: Megan Hixson-Reed (7 were right)
2nd Place Winner: Lainie Magsarili (7 were right)

Guess the Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:12:00 +0000

...

...

To enter your guesses for this game...visit this form. You could win a package of beauty care products from Mac Cosmetics worth $100!

You're Invited to a Cyber Baby Shower!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:53:00 +0000

My beloved friend Marsha Drews is expecting a little boy on February 22nd and we are throwing a cyber party to welcome Ian Kenneth into the Drews family.

There will be GAMES, PRIZES and lots of GIGGLES! Invite everyone you know! Even if you don't currently know Marsha, I know you'll fall in love with her once you get to know this super sweet and silly mom...and we know everyone loves babies - so please join in the fun on January 9th.

Marsha and her family are currently living on the island of Guam. Shipping to Guam is the same as shipping within the states, however it does take a bit longer for packages to arrive. Please email me at amy@milkandcookiesblog.com for Marsha's address if you have a gift to send her.

My co-host for the party is the lovely Darcy. Games and giveaways will be open all day to give everyone a chance to participate and Marsha will be available off and on all day to check in to answer questions and get to know everyone. Be sure to visit the Facebook party page and sign up to received a reminder and updates.

Want a sneak peek at just some of the goodies you can win...

Five attendees will win a package of beauty care products from Mac Cosmetics worth $100!
One winner will receive a jar of TARTE D'AMANDE Soufflé Riche Pour Le Corps: ALMOND PIE Rich Soufflé Lotion for the Body
One winner will receive a $30 gift card to Chocolate.com
One winner will receive a one-month advertising spot on the celebrated blog Life With My Three Boybarians.
One winner will receive a personalized blog button created by the brilliant designer behind Graphically Designing.
One winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to spend at Studio JRU, the home of the most beautiful handmade original faith-inspired art.

The Elf "Elfed" Himself and More

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:20:00 +0000

The elf decided it would be fun to create videos on our family on Elf Yourself.

The elf decided it would also be fun to create a little door for himself identical to our front door.

He and his clone stayed up all night pigging out on every food imaginable.

I guess the next night he didn't want to share the cake and ice cream.

Elf on the Shelf

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:05:00 +0000

Giving the nutcracker a haircut

Uh oh! Caught him trying to figure out my Amazon password on the Kindle Fire...ugh, who knows what he would have bought!

Having a major sugar craving?

Cutting up the pineapple, helping us prepare for our morning juice.

Having a race to the finish line, riding dinosaurs. I wonder who won?

The elf and his clone got a bunch of food out of the pantry and made a huge tower

Playing Angry Birds on the Kindle

Dancing with Belle from Beauty and the Beast, my favorite Disney movie

Elf on the Shelf - more ideas!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:43:00 +0000

I think the elf overheard my husband talking about how he and his sister used to slide down the stairs in a box when they were kids.

A toy battle with marshmallows as snowball weapons.

The elf's team consisted of such characters as Jabba the Hut, Large Lego Man, Bumblebee, a blue yoshi, Yoda, a stormtrooper, and Michelangelo.

The elf decided to invent a cloning machine...

Pushing the button...good thing he only pushed it once...

TADA!! Two elves. Uh oh!!

He had to rescue a friend who got trapped on the ceiling fan. The hero elf was going to cut him free.

Looking for goodies in an empty stocking

Taking a ride on Santa's back

He trapped himself in the popcorn container and made a mess along the way!

Playing Mario Cart with his Mario world friends

The note reads: I brought these neat cups and straws back from the North Pole. I thought you would really like them because they are your favorite color. Maybe we can all drink chocolate milk from them later!

Exclusive Freebie Just for you

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:00:00 +0000

For two days only (November 29-30) I have a very special freebie to share with you! To celebrate their Cyber Monday and Stocking Up Your Shelves Sale, my friends at CurrClick are providing my readers with a special freebie.

I choose this particular freebie in honor of my sister-in-law, Kimberly, who lives in Chicago with her husband. My family and I took a trip to visit her last year and were amazed at all the thrill of the big city! There is so much to do there and this guide will help you along your trip, even if the trip is imaginary!

Planet Explorers Chicago

Explore the planet with this Chicago guidebook written just for kids. This 60 page ebook includes everything tweens need to know about Chicago and nearby attractions, including the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Art Institute, Lincoln Park Zoo, the Field Museum, and Six Flags Great America. Don't miss the awesome Chicago trivia and active hyperlinks throughout--Planet Explorers guidebooks turn the whole world into a fun learning experience for kids. For example, did you know that the Merch Mart is SO BIG that it has its own zip code? It's true! Did you hear that Chicago dyes its river green each year for Saint Patrick's Day?

Notable public art, famous Chicagoans, buildings, parks and stadiums are also covered in this kid-friendly guidebook. From fun facts to history, from attraction highlights to pictures, maps, and quizzes, Planet Explorers guidebooks have it all.

Christmas Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:49:00 +0000

My lovely and sweet friend Kim Kautzer, founder of WriteShop wrote a brilliantly fun creative writing activity called StoryBuilders Christmas.

I have 5 copies to give away and all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. Please make sure that you either leave your email address, or link your email address to your profile. My friend Darcy wrote this wonderfully helpful post with instructions on how to add your email address to your Google/Blogger profile to ensure that you can be contacted.

This is an ebook so you'll receive it the day after the drawing, right in your inbox. The giveaway will be open until Friday 12/2 at 10:00pm EST.

Elfcapades with the Elf with the Very Long Name

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 01:52:00 +0000

William Alfred Edison Rollo Theodore von Bonaparte, the Conqueror, has certainly been busy...

Of course! "The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear!" (from the movie Elf). Don't you love the sign he made for the refrigerator.

I think he was having a hard time choosing a game

Aww, poor little elf caught a cold and had to stay snuggled up all night. He even took his own temperature.

He must have heard something outside and then got stuck in the blinds.

Here is a shot from the front yard

Riding the robo-dog. Yeee Haw!!

We think he was playing with Star Trek ornaments on the tree and got tangled up in the lights. Yes, we do have our tree up already. So?

Worshiping baby Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Floating Books

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:47:00 +0000

I love the look of these "floating" shelves and they were super easy to hang. You just need some of those metal L-brackets and some screws (and wall anchors if there are no studs in your wall.) It literally took my husband less than 5 minutes to hang these.

Since I am eternally forbidden from touching the drill :) (last time I tried to hang something, I tore up the wall) my only job was placing the books on the shelves.

These have become so handy as we are using them to store the current week's school books. Don't you love the magical look of these shelves?

WriteShop Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:31:00 +0000

My lovely and sweet friend Kim Kautzer, founder of WriteShop gave me TEN copies of StoryBuilders Christmas to give away during my 10 Days series last week.

However, I was only able to choose 5 winners, because I could only locate 5 email addresses. My friend Darcy wrote this wonderfully helpful post with instructions on how to add your email address to your Google/Blogger profile to ensure that you can be contacted.

I'll give the other 5 away next week, so check back! In the meantime, here are the 5 winners:

2. Shannon
5. Rebecca
12. kbalman
14. Marsha
15. Shanna

Inside My Head

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:51:00 +0000

Inside My Head: an activity for kids

That is my son's head, full of all the wonderful things he thinks of on a daily basis...Legos, robots, soup, chess, cookies, slime...

This was relatively easy to do, all that is needed is:

a piece of white paper
a piece of colored paper for the background
magazines or catalogs
a marker
a wall

I didn't even bother trying to set up the perfect lighting environment to make a silhouette, we just walked around the house, turning on lights, until we found a wall with a shadow on it. He sat down (because boys are way too fidgety and you should have seen the shape of his head after I traced it will he was standing!) and I taped a white piece of paper over the shadow that naturally appeared. When I was all done tracing, he was shocked at the size of his head. I told him that, truly, his head is not that large...it only looks that way because even sitting down, he wouldn't sit totally still. Then I reminded him that this way he'd have more space to fill in!

He went through some magazines and catalogs, cutting out interesting things that appealed to him. Then we glued them all on! My favorite piece of his "brain" is the word JOY at the bottom. This is such a great activity for getting to know your kids a little better.

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 10

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:18:00 +0000

Welcome to day 10 of my series, 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter!

Christmas at Bedtime

We have been doing this Christmas tradition since our son was 3 years old and it has become so special. Even at the age of nine, he still looks forward to the delight of opening up a beloved Christmas classic.

Several of these books we own, but the rest are reserved through the library. You'll need lots of wrapping paper to wrap up each book, but you can save a bundle by either shopping at a dollar store or by stocking up on paper after Christmas. Simply wrap each book up individually and store in a basket. Each night during the month of December, my son unwraps one book to read for a bedtime story. Below are some book suggestions.

Day 1 - Countdown Blocks
Day 2 - Candy Bar Countdown
Day 3 - Punchable Countdown
Day 4 - Clipboard Countdown
Day 5 - Jesse Tree Magnets
Day 6 - Characteristics of Jesus: Advent Countdown
Day 7 - Nativity Story Countdown
Day 8 - Puzzle Activity Countdown
Day 9 - Activity Lists from Around the Web

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 9

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:27:00 +0000

Welcome to day 9 of my series, 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter!

Activity Lists From Around The Web Yesterday I shared my own list of holiday activities to use in a Christmas Countdown. Today I would like to share some brilliant and thoughtful lists from around the web...

From Dandee Designs

From Workman Family

From One She, Two She

From Christmas Your Way

What are you favorite activities to do around the holiday?

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 8

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:38:00 +0000

Welcome to day 8 of my series, 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter! I simply cannot believe we are on day 8 already!

Puzzle Activity Countdown
Of all the countdowns I have shared so far, this one took the longest to make, but I truly loved the end result and I think my son will be most excited about this one. (It is actually the only one he doesn't know about!)

What you need:

A thick wood puzzle (the one I used is about 6" x 9" and had a dinosaur on it. If you like the image on your puzzle, it will make this project go faster. However I didn't like the dinosaur scene so I found a cute picture of a Lego Christmas tree to place over the dinosaur image.)
A glue stick
Scissors
Exacto knife and cutting board
A list of family activities (the activities I used are listed below)
Envelopes

What I did:

I scanned the puzzle and opened the image in Photoshop. I created text boxes to fit perfectly over each piece. Once I was all done adding the activities, I removed the background (the dinosaur image) so I just had the perfectly placed text. You can see images below of before and after the background was removed.

That was the easy part!

....

Next step is adding the outline of each puzzle piece, making sure that the text you created indeed fits on the real puzzle. Everything fit nicely, so I was excited.

This was also easy, but if you are thinking, "ugh, I don't want to bother with Photoshop and all that jazz," you can always hand write your activities onto the back of the puzzle piece.

Next was cutting out the puzzle shapes from the paper. In order to save time, I glued the text sheet and the Lego Christmas tree photo back to back so I could cut them out at the same time and the pages wouldn't slide.

That was the hard part. Below is the front and back after I finished cutting out one row of pieces.

....

Last step is to glue the paper onto the appropriate puzzle piece. I glued as I cut, just to make sure I didn't mix anything up. The cutting and gluing is what made this take a long time. However it was very worth it in the end. The exacto knife comes in handy to cut little bits of paper away.

I placed each piece into its own numbered envelope and put them into a basket.

Our Activities

Bake cookies
Choose a movie for family movie night
Do a random act of kindness
Family game night
Find new Christmas music
Go see Christmas lights
Have hot chocolate
Make a blessing poster
Make a Christmas cookie tree
Make a Christmas craft
Make a pinecone bird feeder
Make birthday cake for Jesus
Make Christmas ornaments
Make Christmas pancakes
Make Christmas pizza
Make Christmas pretzels
Make paper snowflakes
Make popcorn garlands for the birds
Make reindeer treat pops
Open an early gift
Watch A Charlie Brown Christmas
Watch A Christmas Story
Watch Elf
Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Watch The Polar Express

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 7

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Welcome to day 7 of my series, 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter!

Nativity Story Countdown
I love love love this countdown idea and there are so many ways you can incorporate it into your family. Basically you just need a nativity set, wrapping paper, and some form of printable (see below.) You can find nativity scenes on sale this time of year, and craft stores like Hobby Lobby and Michael's often provide "40% off one item" coupons in their ads or on their websites. I was able to purchase this 10-figure nativity set for only $5 at Hobby Lobby!

What you will do is wrap each figure individually and place a number on it. The numbers correspond with the nativity story in the Bible and should be opened in order. For example, your angel (Gabriel) should be #1 as he delivered the good news to Mary about her conception of Jesus. Mary is 2nd in the story so you place a #2 on her. And so on.

As your child opens each figure, place it on display. If you have a stable, that would be wonderful! You can choose to read the story of Jesus' birth bit by bit each day or use a idea like the one shared by Tip Junkie. She has a printable of poems to correspond with each character.

The cutest (and most thoughtful) idea I've read about so far is here at SugarDoodle. The author chooses a different neighbor each year and leaves one wrapped nativity figure on their doorstep each night for 12 nights in a row. Here are the adorable printables that she leaves with the figure. What a unique way to share Christ with others during the holiday season!! If you are a working mom or dad, you can do this by leaving one on a co-worker's desk each day, or mail them all at once to a far-away loved one with strict instructions to only open one per day.

Day 1 - Countdown Blocks
Day 2 - Candy Bar Countdown
Day 3 - Punchable Countdown
Day 4 - Clipboard Countdown
Day 5 - Jesse Tree Magnets
Day 6 - Characteristics of Jesus: Advent Countdown

Elf on the Shelf - More Elf-capades

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Mr. von Bonaparte, the Conqueror decided it would be funny to make my son look like an elf. He colored on the Classical Conversations class picture!! (The elf used blue, mommy used Photoshop on everyone's faces.)

Then he thought it would be funny to T.P. my son's bedroom doorway. He sat outside the door with empty toilet paper roll and tape in hand. Busted!

What a mess he made...he located the 1001 Cookie Recipes and decided to start making cookies. I think he gave up after making snow angels in the flour. He probably couldn't decide on which cookie to make. Be sure to check out all our Elf-capades.

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 6

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:41:00 +0000

Winners have been chosen, this giveaway is over...

Welcome to day 6 of my series, 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter!

Before I share my activity of the day...I have a GIVEAWAY! My lovely and sweet friend Kim Kautzer, founder of WriteShop is giving me TEN copies of StoryBuilders Christmas to give away. You'll fall in love with this creative writing method! This is an ebook so you'll receive it the day after the drawing, right in your inbox. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post and I'll choose winners on Friday at 10:00pm EST. Be sure to subscribe to my feed so you can keep up with the rest of the week's posts.

Characteristics of Jesus: Advent Countdown
While not exactly a "countdown to Christmas" or an "advent calendar", I really really love the meaning behind this activity. Christmas IS Christ and what better way to spend December than learning about the characteristics of Jesus, our Savoir.

I am also not too thrilled with the way the wreath part of this looks, I wanted to cover it with something but my son said he likes the way it looks...it reminds him of something from Super Mario...so I left it alone.

Each stick as the day of the month on one side and a verse and characteristic on the other side. Each day you will read the verse from the Bible and discuss the characteristic mentioned and why it makes Jesus who He is. After you are done, you can flip the stick so that the verse is showing. This will let you know which days you have covered.

What you need:

25 popsicle sticks
Printable numbers and verses
Glue stick
Scissors or a 1.5" punch
Styrofoam wreath

Print out the circles and cut them out by hand or with a punch.
With a glue stick, attach all the numbers to the end of a wooden popsicle stick.
On the other side of the stick, line up a verse circle with a matching color. Be sure to save the gold circle labeled "Savior" for December 25th.
Several of my circles ended up a bit off after gluing, so I simply trimmed them up with scissors.
You'll end up with a pile of 25 wooden sticks.

You can either be meticulous and measure your wreath and divide the circumference by 25 to figure out how far apart to space the sticks, or you can lay them out on a table and eyeball the spacing as you go.I guess this depends on whether you are right brained or left brained :)

Day 1 - Countdown Blocks
Day 2 - Candy Bar Countdown
Day 3 - Punchable Countdown
Day 4 - Clipboard Countdown
Day 5 - Jesse Tree Magnets

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 5

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Welcome to day 5 of my series, 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter!

Jesse Tree Magnets

A "Jesse Tree" is an artistic depiction of the ancestry of Jesus. The tree (whether it be a cut-out, a real Christmas tree, or simply some branches placed in a bucket) is decorated each day with ornaments that represent Old Testament events from Creation to the Birth of Jesus. The tree gets its name from Isaiah 11:1 "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots."

If you do a Google search for Jesse Tree symbols, you'll find many different examples that you can use for free, however this set is by far my favorite.You can download the images in both 3.5" and 7.5" sets, but I wanted to use them to create glass magnets, so I shrunk them down to 1" to fit the standard glass rocks you can find in any craft store.

Only a few supplies are needed:

28 glass rocks
Mod Podge and small brush
printed small Jesse Tree images
adhesive magnets
Christmas tree image

Simple cut out the Jesse Tree images either by hand or with a one-inch punch.
Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the back of a glass rock.
Center the cut out image onto the Mod Podge and smooth out.
After the Mod Podge dries, cut the adhesive magnets to fit onto the back of the rock and attach.
Hang on your refrigerator for the family to complete as you read the scriptures provided here.

FYI: The Jesse Tree for 2011 should begin on Sunday, November 27th and end on Christmas Day.

Day 1 - Countdown Blocks
Day 2 - Candy Bar Countdown
Day 3 - Punchable Countdown
Day 4 - Clipboard Countdown

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 4

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Welcome to day 4 of my series, 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter!

Clipboard Countdown

This type of countdown to Christmas day is super easy to make! All you need is a clipboard (I used a small 8" x 6" clipboard), some scrapbook paper, ribbon, a glue stick and a paper trimmer or scissors.

1. Glue the background paper to your clipboard and then trim around the edges.

2. Feel free to use my number cards or make your own using Photoshop, stickers, or scrapbook letters. I created my own letters using Photoshop, a large font, and a free Christmas background to fill in the letters.

3. Cut out the cards, glue a "Days until Christmas" title at the bottom, and tie on a cute piece of ribbon. Easy peasy!

Day 1 - Countdown Blocks
Day 2 - Candy Bar Countdown
Day 3 - Punchable Countdown

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:43:00 +0000

Welcome to 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter!

Punchable Countdown

I simply LOVE this homemade Advent calendar! You can fill the cups with a list of Advent items (see below) or chocolate or other trinkets. Each day your little one can punch through the cup to reveal what is waiting inside. I have yet to find a more perfect Advent calendar for my little boy...full of ninja moves, sweets, and Jesus...what more could you ask for?

Materials needed:

~ 25 eight-ounce styrofoam cups
~ an assortment of candy or other goodies
~ a sheet of poster board
~ a glue stick
~ a hot glue gun
~ templates (click to download)

Instructions:
1. Print and cut out the circles and header from the template (click to download).

2. Section off twenty-five 4" x 4" squares on your poster board. Five across and five down. Leave a 3" section at the top to paste your header.

3. Fill each of the 25 cups with Advent items, chocolate, candy, or other trinkets.

4. Using a regular glue stick, attach the paper circles to the cup openings.

5. Using the hot glue gun, attach the bottom of the cups to the posterboard, using the 4" x 4" squares as a guide. Make sure you attach the cup to the posterboard immediately...hot glue dries very quickly.

Advent Items:

Quarter
Grape candy
Smiley sticker
Toy fish
Birthday candle
Bell
Fish crackers
Cotton ball
Piece of a map
Soap
Heart sticker
Cross
Packet of salt
Sand
Flower
Raisins
Seeds
Christmas carol
Rock
Crumpled foil
Mustard seed
Dove (toy or photo)
Small scrap of woolly material
Blue marble
Picture of a baby

Download scripture to go along with the items above.

Day 1 - Countdown Blocks
Day 2 - Candy Bar Countdown

Elf on the Shelf - week 1

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:01:00 +0000

A couple of days ago I introduced you all to William Alfred Edison Rollo Theodore von Bonaparte, the Conqueror...our elf. This is one crazy elf, people. (I know some of you are thinking I am the crazy one for starting the elf thing almost 2 months before Christmas.)

Day 2 - he bushed his teeth with a Q-tip and made a mess all over his face.

Day 3 - he got into the bag of mini candy bars and, again, made a mess all over his face. He even had a little cup of milk and please note the number of wrappers and the fact that he is holding his tummy.

Day 4 - the elf brought me and my son new pairs of fuzzy socks. He pointed out in his letter that he would have brought daddy a pair, but he knew daddy wouldn't wear them.

Day 5 - he stayed up late playing Connect Four with Mario. Little elf had to climb up using the holes every time it was his turn.

Day 6 - Jammin' on the mp3 player and keyboard.

Day 7 - He was doing a pirate-themed crossword puzzle and managed to make himself an eye-patch.

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Welcome to 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter!

Candy Bar Countdown

1. Buy any bag of mini Hershey assorted candy bars. You'll need 25 candy bars for each child.

2. The labels you will need to create are 3" in height by 1.38" in width.
Here is a link to mine if you would like to use them. The background is simply scrapbook paper that I scanned in. then I used Photoshop to add the dates on top of the background.

3. Wrap each candy bar with a label and secure the back with a piece of tape. Be sure to space out the different flavors of candy bar so your poor child doesn't end up with Mr. Goodbar for 6 days in a row :)

4. Make sure you don't eat too many when you are completing this project...hands off those 25!

5. Secure the wrapped candy bars to a piece of cardstock. They stay up perfectly well using a piece of rolled tape, or you could use glue dots. You can then hang your candy bar countdown anywhere in the house.

Day 1 - Countdown Blocks

Christmas Countdown Ideas: Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:40:00 +0000

Welcome to my series 10 Days of Christmas Countdown Ideas, part of a community blog hop hosted by Heart of the Matter. I hope you'll enjoy being on this journey with us and that you find some crafts and activities to use in your own home this holiday season.

Countdown Blocks

This first project is something that may require a handy husband with a saw. I tried my best to find already cut wooden blocks but my local Michael's and Hobby Lobby were sold out! If you are able to find some, you'll be able to skip the part that involves batting your beautiful eyes at your husband.

1. Buy precut wooden blocks or a long piece of wood at Lowe's or Home Depot. My wood was 1.5" so my husband cut two 1.5" x 1.5" blocks and one 1.5" x 4" block for the base.

2. Paint your wooden blocks the color of your choice, or you can leave the wood natural and glue squares of scrapbook paper on them to add color.

3. Create a cute title for your base, using your computer, stickers or stencils. Here is what I created using Photoshop.

4. Attach numbers to your blocks. My numbers are foam scrapbook stickers, but you can use anything you would like - die cuts, fonts printed onto your scrapbook squares, or even handpaint your numbers. Be sure to use Mod Podge or something similar to coat your blocks. Block #1 needs to have numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Block #2 needs to have numbers 0, 1, 2, 6 (this will also be the 9), 7, 8.

Voila!

Thank you for visiting!!