Handmade Christmas Week 6 and Habitat Project

Hey All,

It's been a busy time around here the past week. The Christmas concert and I cried through it. My baby girl is graduating this year and this was our last high school Christmas concert. This is something I'm dreading and I've been emotional this whole school year. I just want to put her back into the 6th grade and do it all over again. Can I do that? Anyway with kid stuff, projects and crafting it hasn't left much time for anything else. Ask hubby and I'm sure if you ask you would hear a complaint or two.

Warning this is going to be a long posting since I haven't had a chance to get on here I'm putting it all into one. Sorry!

Lets get started with a Handmade Christmas over on Proverbs 31 Living. Please go by and look at what she has made because she is a crafty one and has lots of good ideas. And not to mention all those who link up with her I have gotten many great ideas from everyone.


This cute little snowman was sent to me by my sweet sister who knows how much I love the little things. Ya All know this adorable little ornament is going onto my crafting to do list for next year. It's made out of foam sheets, fishing line, ribblon, buttons, and the face was done in markers.


I have to share these of the past with you. I painted this clay pot a few years ago with the snowman at night. I used the rub ons. So easy to do and it's one of my favorite Christmas decorations I've made. The little candle holder with snowmen all around it was made by Colin last year at school. Another treasure to hold onto for years to come.


Colin and I were busy this past week making snowflakes to put into his gift bags for school. The first step was easy enough just gluing. Now the next step was a bit of a challenge to begin with. It called for fake snow but I decided to cut plastic bags instead. Ok, that didn't work out well at all the little pieces kept sticking to the scissors and it was hard to cut. So after about an hour and not having much luck with it I went and got some white paper and started snipping away. At first when we started adding it to the sticks I wasn't sure about it but after they were finished I thought they were rather cute. I found these here on Crafts For All Seasons. The only thing I did different was tied yarn for a hanger. I didn't put the pipecleaner on it because I had ran out and just tied it around the stick. Picture of it finished is further down.


We found these bookmarkers here on Lee Hansen dot com.
and printed them, cut them out, and laminated them. Another little thing to add to his bags he is making for school.


If you want something easy to do these candy canes are just for you. We made these while watching tv. One bag of white pipecleaners and one bag of red pipecleaners. I cut each in half so we ended up with 50 of them. And the best part of all is that for 50 little ornaments they cost $1.50!!!!


Putting everything together for school. In his bags he has a candy cane (to eat), a candy cane ornament, snowflake, bookmarker. The snowflakes wouldn't fit into the present boxes so I just tied those onto the bow.

These two are filled with candy and ready to go.

We made this pencil/marker holder for Dale for Christmas out of popsicle sticks. Good way to recycle those tin cans. Or is it upcycle? Whatever it is we had fun painting the sticks and putting everything together. Another thing made that I already had all the supplies here for.

This cute little tree I found over on Michael's and couldn't wait to make it. We had to make a trip there for the habitat project and they had the Christmas ribbon half off so I picked some up and a cone to get started on it. Of course I didn't take a list of what was needed for it so I forgot about the star on top. Mine is different I didn't use a wooden star I had some white foam stars and painted the centers red and then added white dots. Stuck two stars together and then instead of using a stem to stick it into the tree I just hot glued it on top. I was informed by the Princess that she wants this tree for her room. Yeah Right! It's staying out here. Maybe I'll make her on next year if she's good.

Now onto the stuff I hadn't had time to post about this past week.

The habitat report and poster is done. At first we were going to make the habitat into a shoebox but we were running out of time fast. We missed 4 days from the start when he had to change his animal. But anyway he/we got this finished in the nick of time. Now for an 8 year old to write a report I'm sorry but I can't read my child's writing. I would ask him a question to tell be about and then write down word for word what he said. After that he/we typed it out. He typed/finger pecked so much and then I would type a little bit for him. This is what he did...

Gray Squirrels

By Colin


Squirrels are mammals with teeth that never stop growing. They have to chew on hard stuff to keep their teeth short and sharp. Because of their special front teeth they are rodents. There are about 50 different kinds of squirrels almost everywhere around the world.

The Gray Squirrel’s coat has black hair and white hair and it makes it look gray. It’s white under it and it’s tan on it’s ears and face. And it has white tipped hair around it’s bushy tail. It gets to 18 to 20 inches long. And it weighs about 1 pound. The gray squirrel lives in the eastern of the United States. You can see them in the woods and even the city parks. They like large shade trees that have food and holes for dens.

They like to live in the woods because there are a lot of trees. They have many places to find food and shelter. It’s den is in a hallow part of a tree about 40 feet off the ground. They make nests out of twigs and leaves near their den and these are called dreys. They eat nuts, mushrooms, berries, acorns, seeds, fruit, flowers, corn, and even caterpillars. They will bury nuts in holes around it’s home and put every nut in a separate hole. They bury so many nuts that they never find all of them. The nuts they don’t find grow roots and then grow into trees. They are helping the forest grow.

They have to watch out for animals such as owls, hawks, raccoons, skunks, foxes, wolves, and bobcats. These animals eat squirrels. When they are chased they run fast and find a small place to hide. They know the forest really well and they know where all the hiding places are.

I like watching the squirrels jump and run from tree to tree while chasing each other. They run very fast about 12 miles per hour. I like watching them gather up acorns and run off to hide them. I like living in the woods because I can see gray squirrels all the time. I can see them on the deck or running across the fence or sitting in a tree. I’m glad they are all around us and I’m glad they are here.

He took it in on Tuesday and presented it and made a 100!!!

Our little Princess has been accepted to Charleston Southern. You can see she is thrilled!!! I had to remind her that there are still other colleges we haven't heard from yet. Between you and me those other places are closer to home. Ok, I'm going to start crying again. I tell ya I'm an emotional wreck! And to make it worse is that this year is flying by so fast. A blink of an eye and the first half of the school year is already over with. I know I still have the boys at home but this is my little girl. My baby girl! Ok Ok Ok I've got to move off this or else I will be crying all day.

Tonight I have to finish up one present box that goes to school tomorrow. Nothing like waiting until last minute. And Colin and I have another pencil holder to make this one for Jene`. Then I need to put all my attention on cleaning up this house and getting ready for the big day. I still have some shopping to do yet. YIKES!

It amazes me on how long it takes to do a posting. I mean it's almost 11:00 and this is the only thing I've gotten completely done this morning other than making sure everyone was getting ready and out the door on time. It's time to put it into high gear and get some things done here around the house like vacuum up dog hair. Oh yeah that's thrilling. Or clean the bathroom oh yeah another thrilling thing. Oh well somebody has to do it! While I go and whistle while I work you all have a good day.

Take Care :)