I stumbled across the most clever idea for making paper candy canes. I knew immediately that I had to share it here with you.  (Disclaimer:  the picture to the left does is NOT what the paper candy canes will look like . . .)

Skip to My Lou has great pictures and directions explaining how to make these paper candy canes.  Go there and check it out.  She also has a great idea for making a snowflake using plastic berry baskets.  (I wish I had known this idea back in the summer so I could save some of those baskets.  Oh well.  Maybe next summer.  If I remember about this idea when it’s sweltering hot . . .)

She also has a pattern for making a diaper for baby dolls.  If you’ve got any granddaughters with dolls, this would be a fun thing to make and give as a Christmas present.

And then on her site, she has directions to make adorable totes.  These, too, would be fun to make for grandchildren.  And, not too hard.  There’s a tutorial for a cute, cute tote made out dish towels.  There are directions for making a tote out of a tank top and a tote from a pillowcase. There are ten different styles in all.  It makes me want to sit down at my sewing machine and sew, sew, sew.

Don’t forget to post a comment on my giveaway of the Nikon camera! Hurry now and make a comment. The giveaway ends at midnight tonight!

I know that many of you creative, energetic, cool grandmothers make gingerbread houses with your grandchildren.  Some are simple houses out of graham crackers and others are mansions from homemade gingerbread.  I’m sure that this activity with grandchildren creates many fond memories.

Yesterday, one of the ladies at work brought in a gingerbread house that she had made.  She had done some innovative things that I hadn’t seen before.  Granted, I have been out of the loop of making gingerbread houses once I became an empty-nester.  Now that my grandchildren are getting old enough to participate in the making of one, I’m starting to pay attention once again.

I snapped pictures of the house so that you could see what my co-worker has done.  Here are a few things that were new to me:

• Tootsie rolls, pretzels and gumdrops for a fence
• frosted Shredded Wheat Bites for shingles on the roof
• Hershey Kisses as bells on the candy canes on the house corners
• a Hershey Kiss and a square piece of gingerbread to make the snowman’s hat
• licorice sticks to line the eaves of the roof
• the straight part of a candy cane and a gumdrop as a lamp post
• the curved parts of candy canes to line the path
• sticks of gum for shutters on the window
• multi-colored Mike and Ike candy for a cobblestone path
• coconut scattered around to make the ‘snow’ seem fluffier

Be sure to click on the picture to see a larger size so that you can see the details better.

What are some fun things that you have done when you make a gingerbread house?

Be sure to leave a comment on my Scholastic book giveaway. It ends at midnight on December 3. Click here to go to that post.

(NOTE: This is a guest post by Julee Russo.  A big thanks goes out to her! I’ve never thought about having a costume party at Christmas . . .)

Cherished Memories: They Grow up Too Fast

by Julee Russo

Tell me this is not ADORABLE! I dare you!

One of the most important things to remember when you have grandchildren is to cherish every moment — and to make an extra effort to insure many opportunities for creating long-lasting memories for them in the future. So you know what that means, Pictures, Pictures, Pictures! One of the ways to make wonderful memories that they look back on once they are older, is to make sure they have beautiful and creative kids costumes for birthday parties, school holiday parties and public holidays. Let’s take 4 holidays as examples: All-Saints Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

All Saints Day
Whether you celebrate Halloween or choose to celebrate All Saints day, these two holidays have one thing in common; costumes are involved. If you’re going to a church party for Halloween, dressing your child as an angel is always popular. Some churches have parties that ask attendees to dress as one of God’s creations, which includes animals and other fun things like flowers or butterflies. There’s also the option to dress in clergy clothing from different time periods as well such as dressing as a friar or even a monk.

Halloween
At non-religious Halloween and school parties children typically wear costumes based on popular TV and cartoon shows that the child may like. There are always a certain number of the evergreen costume ideas such as witches, devils, angels, Princesses and Princes. A child can also dress up in a costume that reflects what they want to be when they grow up, whether it be a doctor, lawyer or firefighter. Halloween is all about a day of fantasy.

Thanksgiving
This holiday is about having a great meal and giving thanks for the great year that you’ve had. Is your grandchild going to be a Native American or a Pilgrim? There are also Pilgrim and Colonial Era costumes that let you dress to fit the same time period as when the first Thanksgiving took place. Another idea is to dress them like a turkey or food that is served during the traditional Thanksgiving feast.

Christmas
Lastly, it’s great to have a costume party for Christmas. Although, children will probably focus more on the gifts under the tree rather than Christmas dinner. Your child may also want to play a role in a presentation at Church or even at school that will require a costume. Some roles that children often play are angels, a Sheppard boy and one of the three wise men. If it’s a school holiday party, think about dressing your child as a baby Santa, a cuddly reindeer, a snow flake, an elf or a ginger bread man — or even a candy cane or sugar plum fairy.

ALWAYS focus on getting great photographs. Create these unique memories before they grow up, youth is fleeting and it is up to us, as their grandparent, to make sure they have great pictures to look back at when they are older (not to mention we will be sharing them with everyone we know!). Whether you’re celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas, each of these holidays provide great opportunities to create memorable events that you and your grandchild will treasure for the rest of your lives.

Tomorrow starts the first giveaway so make sure you come back then!

(Note: My husband and I will be in Denmark until Sept. 18th.  I’ve asked a couple of other spectacular grandmas to write a guest post for me.  They graciously accepted! To which I say, thank you, thank you, thank you!)

Family Traditions Rich in Holiday Cheer

by Shelly of Grandma’s Little Pearls

It is that time of year again. Time for me at least, to start thinking about the holidays. The family traditions that we have as a family are looked forward to by all four generations of us. While we have many different traditions throughout the year it is our winter holiday traditions that tend to be the most precious to our family.

Halloween is celebrated with a big block party on the dark rural road that my daughters and I share. Thanksgiving is a huge feast that we all work together to prepare. It has become a tradition that we all linger together playing games and visiting until we are all ready to feast again before we all head home.

It is the day after Thanksgiving that kicks off our families Ho…Ho…Holidays. It is a schedule of our family Christmas traditions. The planning begins now to choose the what’s, where’s, and when’s so that everyone’s calendars can save the dates that are important to our family unit.

It is also very helpful to make food and activity assignments ahead of time so that creative thoughts and resources can begin to be gathered.

The very first tradition on our schedule is generally the Grandkids’ Christmas Day Camp that my husband and I host for our ten grandchildren. The camp is twelve hours long and it is for all ages so that the parents can have a full kid free day to start their Christmas shopping. It is a day filled with Christmas crafts, games, snacks, activities, cooking, music, the true meaning of Christmas, and more for the children.

Other traditions include an adults night out, a progressive dinner so that we can be sure to see one another’s homes decorated for the holidays, an evening spent with great grandma and grandpa, Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and a few more.

Creating and keeping traditions alive in a family requires some effort and planning. In my experience any effort put forth is magnified by at least a hundred fold in blessing a family unit with strong family bonds, family unity, love, precious memories, and a real sense of belonging.

I always love hearing of the family traditions of others so please share. If you are interested in more of my ideas for holiday crafts, games, activities, and outings please visit my blog and click on the side links titled Christmas traditions, Christmas day camp, or Creating memories.