kellicrowe

Making Christmas Dough Ornaments

Growing up, we always made an ornament on Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving, I announced, "I'm bringing crafty back."

(My ability to deftly combine humor and culture mostly goes unappreciated but yet I persevere.)

We used Family Fun's dough recipe (here).  I did add more water than it calls for.  I kept adding water until the dough could become a ball.

(Aside: I used Family Fun Magazines and Martha Stewart Kids Magazines to plan out a huge portion of our home school Kindergarten year.  We had a letter of the week and made lots of crafts related to that letter.  Both magazines have such great web sites now.  I reference them often.)

 Max's snowman after baking.  

We put a hole through the top of most ornaments before baking them.  However...it seemed wrong to put a hole right between Frosty's eyes.  He will have a scarf (felt) tied around his neck with a hook attached to the back of the scarf.

 

Because nothing says Christmas like an angry robot face, David made us one of those.

 

And with all these paint options....

 

I still somehow selected a much orangie shade than I had planned.  

My ornament family looks like it went to an ornament spray on tan place.

 

Alex's Christmas tree and "Mommy" ornament:)

Extra presents for Alex.  

Kidding.  But here at the home office, we appreciate that sort of craftiness. 

We used a tooth pick to make the holes.  Some of those holes closed up a little bit during baking.  I used a thin wire and wire ornament hangers to reopen the holes and hang them on the tree.

Are you making any Christmas Crafts?

 
 
 
 

 

Winner of the Journal Your Christmas class spot:

The Christmas / Holiday traditions have been so super to read!

The random number generator selected:

I love putting up the Christmas tree with my family. We are going to put this year's tree up tonight, and my kids (ages 6,8&10) are so excited. We always do it together and take a photo in front of it after it is all decorated.

Posted by: Julia M. in MI | December 01, 2009 at 12:49 PM

Just send an e-mail to me at walkingonsunshine73@yahoo.com and I will get you connected to Shimelle today!  Please put BLOG in the subject line.  

Shimelle is not just a wonderful teacher - but someone I have truly enjoyed getting to know this past year.  Thanks Shimelle for letting me do this give away!

Scrapbook class give away: Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas

Want to win a free spot in Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class?

Here is a little blurb from Shimelle's blog:

Every year, Journal your Christmas includes daily prompts from the 1st of December to the 6th of January, the twelfth day of Christmas. The 37 illustrated PDF files are delivered straight to your inbox so you can read them over your first cup of coffee and mull over each topic for a full day. There’s also an archive of the class materials online in case you can’t get to your email or in case something dreadful happens to your computer. And like every year, you can go it alone or be as social as you like, with a private discussion forum where you’ll find other Christmas journallers who will cheer you on and share your excitement, but if you prefer to stick to the prompts only, that’s completely fine too. And like every year, if you’re participated once, you can join us every Christmas for as long as you like at no extra cost.

In addition to ideas for writing topics and styles and notes on photos not to miss, the 37 prompts include more than 300 scrapbook pages to inspire your crafting creativity.

Of course, every Christmas needs a little something new, so this year’s additions include:
…a guide to preparing your album this month so you can scrap through the busy schedule of December
…a printable Christmas planner to help keep things from getting crazy in the countdown to the big day
…new printable accents for paper scrappers
…a digital kit absolutely crammed full of papers, templates, overlays, lettering and embellishments designed just for the class
…a bonus workbook on getting the best photographs possible this Christmas, with advice and examples from dozens of professional photographers.
so there is plenty to keep things exciting whether this is your first Christmas journal or your fifth.

Like all online scrapbooking classes at shimelle.com, Journal your Christmas includes 
…permanent access to all class materials
…private forum for discussion and sharing your work 
…prompts delivered straight to your inbox
…ongoing membership — pay just once and participate as many years as you would like at no additional cost.

Except for it is free for 1 person

who posts in the comment section.

Just tell me your favorite Christmas / Holiday tradition growing up / now.

I'll post the winner on Wednesday morning!

 

I'm a trip

I tripped on the stairs 2 weeks ago and hurt my ankle.

I re-injured it late last night when I tripped over my 

lap

top

cord.

Laptop is busted.

bus

ted.

I have ice on my swollen ankle.

JD was so sweet about it

Assuring me we can still get things off the hard drive, etc.

He left me his laptop to use today....crazy man.

(I have had the kind of laptop that does not did not have the clever magnetic power cord.  Mine plugs in. Or it used to.  I now see the brilliance of the update.)

If anyone needs me

I'll be sitting.

Not because I can't walk  on my ankle.

But because I apparently just can't walk without tripping.

Joseph, of course

Me - That is cute Max!  Who is it?

Max - It is Joseph.  Of course.

Me - Right.  The coat of many colors.  I got it.

Why he got up and needed to make a mini Joseph before breakfast, never came out.  

 

Me- Hey David, look at the butternut squash!

David - That is pretty cool, Mom!

Why I felt the need to carve a face in the butternut squash I was cutting up for dinner never came out.

(I thought the pepper corn eyes were what really gave it the personality.)

 

Me - David...what is this?

David - I don't like the peelings on green apples.

Me - Oh.  Ick.  Throw that stuff away.

We did, however find out what these little husks were.   

"Handy-downs"

Max- I have on my handy-down sweater.

Me - Handy-down?

Max - You know...handy-down.   One of those things Alex outgrows and you put into a container until I grow into to it.  Handy - down.   

Me - Right.  Handy down.  I think some people call it a hand-me-down.

Max - Why would you call it that?

An Assembly Such As This: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan - Delightful!

This is actually a review of Pamela Aidan's Trilogy: 

An Assembly Such as This (on sale at Amazon for $4.63 right now!)

Duty and Desire

These Three Remain

These are all part of the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series.  This is my second favorite retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  My first favorite retelling is Mr. Darcy's Diary  (my review of it is here) which feels like getting to see the original work through an additional camera in each scene.  This series is like watching the deleted scenes of the original.  Most of what happens in these three books takes place when Darcy and Elizabeth are apart.  

Summary from the back of the book: "Setting the story vividly against the colorful historical and political background of the Regency, Aidan writes in a style comfortably at home with Austen but with a wit and humor very much her own. [book 2] When Darcy pays a visit to an old classmate in Oxford in an attempt to shake Elizabeth from his mind, he is set upon by husband hunting society ladies and ne'er-do-well friends from his university days, all with designs on him - some for good and some for ill. He and his sartorial genius of a valet, Fletcher, must match wits with them all..." 

Language: B+

Characterization: A+

Plot: A

Revisit vs. Rehash: A+

Hooked: A+

Nit Picky Things: A+

Wonderful Moments: A

Originality: A+

The moment I was hooked: A+

Language: Nicely written and I didn't need a dictionary.  

B+

Characterization: The characterization is wonderful.  The addition of several characters such as Fletcher the valet, Lord Brougham the chum from school and Mrs. Ansley as Georgiana's chaperon seem to fit in perfectly with the characters I had come know from the original.  Georgiana and Bingly have a more symbiotic relationship in these books with Darcy.  

The second book introduces a lot of new characters at once.  Both times I have read this series I have considered writing them down to keep them all straight.  I never did and regretted it later.  But maybe you can hold more in your brain than I can.  If you can, you really don't need to tell me.  Just know that before I had Max, I could remember stuff.  At least I think I could...

The character of Darcy is so wonderfully guarded and calculated and yet unhinged all at the same time. He is humbled at times without being humiliated.  I am always disappointed when an author tries to manipulate Darcy into a big mushy Hallmark card blurb who has an all out personality change vs. the aloof gentleman who grows to become the kind of man Elizabeth Bennet can love.  Aidan defiantly does the latter of the two.  And she gives Darcy plenty of reasons for his haughtiness.  

(Aside: When Colin Firth was playing Mark Darcy in Bridget Jone's Diary the director kept telling him to play the roll "more haughty!" When he asked about why, she said something to the effect of, "women love it."  I am mildly offended and yet totally see the director's point.  There is something lost that is very appealing if Darcy's aloofness disappears.  And if you are totally confused - Bridget Jones is an updated and looooose version of P&P.  Firth was cast as Mark Darcy because of his role as Fitzwilliam Darcy in the 1995 BBC/A&E mini series version of Pride and Prejudice.  What?  I watch the director's cut of movies on the DVD's.  THIS is the stuff readily available in my brain.  Not my kids' birthdays.)

A+

Plot: This book compared to the original Pride and Prejudice is like watching a swimming race.  One person is swimming freestyle and one person is swimming butterfly.  Their destination is the same...but the process of getting there sure looks different.  This trilogy has just enough of the basic story of Elizabeth and Darcy to make the plot feel comfortable.  And you know how it will end.  But the getting there is very different in book 2.  Book 2 would be almost unbelievable on its own. (As would The Empire Strikes Back or Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for perspective's sake).

At the end of each book: there are some discussion points, ideas to enhance a book club experience and a Q&A with Pamela Aidan.  There were a few moments in book 2 where I thought certain plot choices were weird.  However, each time I read the Q&A at the end of the book, I totally appreciated what Aidan was doing.  She really thought out her plot and characters well.  

A

Rehash or Revisit: No rehashing.  Brilliant.  

A+

Nit Picky Things: None that stand out.  That is pretty good because loads of stuff bug me.

A+

Wonderful Little Moments: I really enjoyed the letters back and forth between Darcy and Georgiana (especially when they were lightly poking fun at Caroline Bingly).  The not so subtle reference to a book about a widow and her 3 daughters and their Sensibilities.  And Darcy holding on to those threads. You'll have to read the book to know what that is about, but really, it is lovely.  Romantic without being sticky sweet.

A

Originality: I have read several re-tellings and quite a few follow ups to Pride and Prejudice (about 10 versions) and this series has some political and historical references that I have never read in any other novel.  Whether they were accurate or not, I care little about, because I enjoyed them a great deal.

A+  

The moment I was hooked: The first page.  Aiden starts the action as Darcy descends from the carriage at the Assembly in Meryton.  I liked that she started with action verses explanation.

A+

If this were a movie, I think it would be rated PG13 due to some mystical stuff in book 2.

I really really enjoyed these books.  Totally in my top 3 Pride and Prejudice spin offs.  Mr. Darcy's Diary, Mr. Darcy Takes and Wife and this series.    

I am sending my copies to my friend Stacey Kingman.  I am super excited to see what she thinks of them. She is the one who recommended Mr. Darcy's Diary to me. 

If you have read these books - I'd love to hear what you thought of them in the comments!

Using A Christmas Carol in Homeschool

We are super excited to go and see A Christmas Carol in 3-D next week.

(If you haven't seen Up or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in this new 3-D...let me just say, it is amazing!)

I've been thinking of ways to incorporate the movie into our lessons without killing all the fun of going to the movie for the kiddos.

Here is what we are doing:

1. I am reading the original story to them.  (I always assumed I had read it before....but apparently not).

2. The kids are reading an abridged version.

3. They are making a chart comparing the different versions of the story: the book, the abridged children's version, the special they saw on tv last year (we call it the Jon Luc Picard version...but really the one where Patrick Stewart plays Scrooge), and the new movie.  This chat will serve as the pre-writing exercise for writing a compare/contrast paper.  (David will write a page, Alex will write a paragraph and Max will write a few lines...each to their abilities.)

4. I will have them draw pictures and write about how they would have presented each ghost if they were writing the story.  

5. We will read about Charles Dickens himself - most likely just on line.  

6. We will talk about what life was like during that time period.

7. We are going to play a few games (like those usually featured in the movies..."Tight as a drum..or you uncle Scrooge's purse."

8. They will pick their favorite scene to make a diorama out of.

9. We are working on public speaking a little bit - so I will probably have them present their project as one of the characters.

10. We will put up our Dickens Christmas Village I have been slowly collecting for the past 17 years.  The kids get into this process so much more than I ever would have thought.  They are often the ones to point out Scrooge's house shouldn't be so close to everyone else's, etc.

Every one of these things will be met with mild groans by my kids...except for going to see the movie. They never want to actually do any work.  But their complaints are mild.  I am just going into this knowing I will probably have the most fun.  And that is totally ok with me:)

Feel free to load me up with any additional great ideas.

Oh Christmas Tree

Random musings on our Christmas Tree

1. Nov. 1 at our house = the tree goes up.  

2. It really doesn't make me less thankful at Thanksgiving to have a tree up.  In fact, my thankfulness abilities have never been impeded by any sort of foliage...real or otherwise.  

3. We put up the tree so early because I just love everything about the Christmas Holidays.  I love wrapping gifts, I enjoy decorating, I like visiting people and entertaining and making deformed gingerbread houses that mysteriously fall apart during the night.....all of it.  I like it all so much so that I don't want any of those fun things to stress me out.  I don't want to get stressed out over wrapping gifts.  So I spread it all out.  Putting up the tree is first.  

4. If someone sees my tree up, they immediately (unless they know me know me) think they need to tell me all the reasons their tree isn't up yet. Not that I am so into myself that I don't care...but I really don't think about when other people put up their trees.  I know I have a slight nut case thing about me.  I know it isn't really normal to do 42.5% of the things I do.  

5. When people complain about the trees being put up in stores before Halloween...it makes me smile on the inside.  I then get to tell them it used to be my JOB to go to K-marts, Targets and Wal-marts in the Hinesville, Savannah and Richmond Hill, GA areas to set up displays for companies.   I really enjoyed it. It didn't exactly use that Furman English BA or the teaching certification at the time...but I could fluff and set a pretty tree really fast.  Not to mention, I knew where every bathroom was at any of those stores.  

6. It took a lot of wearing John David down over the years to get him excited about the tree going up this early.  He brought it up and checked all the lights for me last night - no complaints:)  

7. We all love the smell of a real tree...but due to the variety of allergies at our house, our tree is artificial...and pre-lit.  (And does not require most of my knowledge gained from the extensive tree putting together experience I have.  But there it sits, in my brain.  Taking up space.  I think this is why I can not remember stuff now.  No new space.  Just stuff like the tree information and the Canterbury Tales prologue taking up space.)

8. We have a separate, smaller science fiction tree for all our Star Wars and Star Trek ornaments.  (My Mom always bought me a Hallmark ornament each year...usually an angel...and then gave them all to me when I got married for my own tree.  I started buying Hallmark ornaments for the boys...and after a while, we had a lot of ornaments of the science fiction variety.  Now we have a smaller tree for those and cool colored lights.  See what I did?  I just made have a secondary science fiction tree seem like a sweet family tradition off shoot vs. a crazy idea.

9. By getting the tree and all the other "stuffs" of Christmas spread out and done early, it really lets me spend lots of time with the kids about things of actual importance like Christ's birth and God's grace.  I am looking forward to making nativity sets with them from doe this year and having them organize a mini play about Jesus' birth.  

10.  We didn't have a tree the year we moved to Roswell, Ga because we moved on the week of Christmas.  My mom showed up with a small tree because, "You only get so many Christmas mornings with the kids at home and they really need a tree."  That thought really stayed with me.  And the little crooked tree:)

11.  I could type more...but today's to-do thing it to get the ornaments down!

icky pumpkin

I always say. "You can never decorate for Christmas too early."

However....there is such a thing as carving your pumpkin too early.

Alex was a little bummed out to see his jack o' lantern when we got back from our trip.

(Photo credit to our neighbor Susan.  Everyone needs a neighbor who will pick up packages from your doorstep when you are gone.  Or take photos of your be-moldened pumpkins and then e-mail it to you at the beach:)