Holiday Crafts

Father’s Day for Grandpas

Dear Sis,

We’re a bit late making our father’s day gifts this year because I was lacking inspiration… until I found boxes of cookie mix in the discount bin. “A chip off the old block,” popped into my head:)

Make Your Own Card

  • Cut a piece of card stock 10.25 x 7 inches
  • Score to create a fold line
  • Print chip off the old block card printable and cut along outer dashed lines to separate two panels.
  • Adhere the chip off the old block panel to front of card.
  • Adhere a standard sized photo inside the inner set of dashed lines.
  • Adhere happy father’s day panel inside card.
  • Add an additional inner photo and sign and decorate as desired.

Happy Belated Father’s Day!

Love,

b

Purim Baskets

Dear Sis,

I woke up to these sweet faces:

Today we took some time to prepare for Purim. We assembled our purim baskets to share with three Jewish friends/families and our pantry donation box for the poor.

We made Better than Boxed Brownies last night, repackaged some dry apricots, and whipped up a batch of Spiced Nuts, just in time to drop off them off at the post office before closing. 

Spiced Nuts
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Ingredients
  1. 1 egg white + 1 t cold water, beaten
  2. 1 1/3 c whole almonds
  3. 1 1/3 c pecan halves
  4. 1 1/3 c whole walnuts
  5. 1/2 c sugar
  6. 1 t pumpkin pie spice
  7. 1/4 t salt
Instructions
  1. Grease a jellyroll pan. Preheat oven to 250.
  2. Coat nuts in beaten egg mixture. In another dish, combine sugar, spice, and salt. Pour over nuts and toss until evenly coated. Pour into prepared pan.
  3. Bake 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.
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Love,

b

Father’s Day Gift

Dear Sis,

At the grocery store today William pointed out the fruit-by-the-foot. I asked if he wanted to get some for Daddy for Father’s Day. He thought that was good. When I asked how many, he gave the answer he always gives… five:) 

After dinner, we made a card to go with our silly gift. I chose the sentiment, but William chose the font and colors of each line.

To my surprise, William pick brown card stock. I expected him to grab a super bright color:) We cut and pasted our sentiment inside the card. Then, I asked how he wanted to decorate his card. His response? Sprinkles!

I wrote with the glue. He sprinkled… and ate… sprinkles! 

Love,

b

Father’s Day Project

Dear Sis,

Today we made some sentimental work gloves for all the grandpas as a father’s day gift.

We bought a three pack of leather work gloves at Menards for $4.99. We pulled out some blue, green, and black paint respectively. We put the paint on a paper plate and painted William’s hand with a sponge brush and then used it like a stamp on the palm of each glove. We only smudged one, which was amazing considering my stamp was attached to a wiggly 2.5 year old:)

We had a soapy water pail and a drying rag at the ready to clean our hands between stampings. 

The idea and poem were found here.

Here is an editable printable, so our readers can put in their Father/Grandfather’s Name and the Name of their tiny gift giver.

Father’s Day Glove Poem

Love,

B

DIY Passover Doll

Dear Sis,

This is the final DIY for my Passover Lesson Plan. It is a doll to help little people learn about plague six… boils. Little kids love bandages, so I thought it would be a great activity to give William a box of bandages to stick all over the doll to cover the boils. It’s a bit unconventional I guess, but I don’t see a reason to shelter my kids from the more gruesome bits of religious history. The human experience isn’t always pretty, he might as well start learning that now.

To begin, you will need an 18″ cloth doll and some chunky black yarn.

Hair is the first chunk of the project. I cut 18 inch lengths of yarn for the length of the hair, and 8 inch lengths for the bangs. I started around my visualized center part and stitched the yarn in place with needle and thread. The yarn is black, consequently the photos aren’t as clear as I would prefer.

There are four single pieces of yarn folded in half on the right side. Only two are stitch on the left, as pictured.

For the back, I started with double strands on the outer most bits, then did a set of triple strands, and one set of quadruple strands in the very center back. The multiple strands fill in the roundedness of the back of the head nicely. 

I stitched the bangs on in single and double strands depending on the amount of coverage needed in that area. The final step was a hair cut. I did a boy’s bob, for a girl make it longer.

The next part of the project is the tunic. It can be completely sewn by hand, but I used a machine on the inner seams to save time. First is some simple pattern making. 

The body of the tunic is an 8×7 inch rectangle as pictured, but I modified it in the cutting step to 10×7 inches because I decided it was too short. The sleeves are 3×3 inch squares that line up with the top of the body rectangle. I used a lid to help shape the neckline, but the dimensions in the next picture will help you create the curve without a lid:)

The neckline is centered. It is 3 3/4 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches deep. Cut 2 from desired fabric. I used some broadcloth remnant. 

I cut a 2 inch slit in the center front to create a gusset in the front opening to ease the garment over the head.

The seams are stitched with 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I pressed 1/2 inch rolled hem into the bottom of the tunic on the bottom of each sleeve opening. I pressed the neckline under a 1/4 inch.

I secured all the pressed edges by hand using the running stitch. I also made a belt with some ribbon to complete the outfit.

Before dressing the doll, I used fabric paint to create the boils.

Happy Passover!

Love,

b

 

 

 

 

 

Ten Commandment Paper Tablets

Dear Sis,

Today I found the time to make paper tablets with The Ten Commandments for the final day of my Passover Lesson Plan.

Begin by scoring an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of card stock in the center to create two sides.

Trace a round object to create a rounded top on each tablet.

Cut rounded top on each tablet and Ten Commandment Tablet Craft Printable.

Adhere commandments to card stock.

The other side doesn’t have to have anything, but this is what I did to it. In hindsight, it would have looked better to center the title instead of couture it. Oh well:) There is always next time.

Happy Passover!

Love,

b