Christmas

The ol' food in a jar gift...Such an ordinary present to give yet when you're home with 3 highly excited kids (2 of your own plus an extra one sleeping over) 4 days before Christmas they have to be the best homemade gifts in the world!

I just so happen to have a cupcake-obsessed niece whom I believe loves cupcake inspired things probably more than actual cupcakes themselves. And believe you me, any morsel of cupcake paraphernalia she spots you can guarantee will be hanging on her wall or sitting on her shelf faster than a person with a serious sweet tooth can devour a Sprinkles cupcake.

Craft genius Maya of Maya*Made has proven yet again she is queen of inventive containers with her tutorial for
upcycling milk cartons into cookie house packages. An easy craft to do with the kids proving to them with a bit of ingenuity many things we think of as trash can be recycled into new functional items. Maya even explains how to wrap up goodies prior to being placed in the sweet little carton homes.

We seem to be giving a nice amount of books as holiday gifts this year. And although a book is a treasure in itself I thought it would be kinda fun to tuck a little extra something in between the pages of the books. That's when I came across this photo bookmark tutorial from Craft contributor Christine Koh.

While the goodie bag is the highlight of any school holiday party they are a pain for any parent to put together.
Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane so eloquently articulates the feelings most of us parents share towards them stating " am in charge of the goodie bags for my 6 year old’s holiday party. I was racking my brain for filler because I didn’t want to just buy some junky little toys that would probably never be played with (those tiny pinball things, plastic tops that do not spin."

I think this Instructable for making a custom clock with photo hands from member edmonds librarian has got to be the best idea ever for getting kids interested in telling time. What kid wouldn't crack up watching themselves circle the face of a clock? Heck, I crack up every time I see this Instructable. And judging from what motivates my own kids to learn new skills, if your laughing and having fun while learning something tricky you're going to really learn it and learn it fast.

Too hot still to think about chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Not for us crafty folks trying to get a jump-start on the homemade holiday gift season.

Feeling bad about the ten rolls of gift wrap you blew through this past holiday? Well, make up for your global destructiveness by tossing those empty wrapping paper tubes to the kids for oodles of quick cheap thrills. Marie from awe-inspiring family site Make and Takes has put together a fun little list of clever ideas for upcycling those empty wrapping paper rolls.

Amy from Let's Explore has a simple yet grand idea for repurposing all those holiday cards into a fun activity for young kids. She's provided a fast and easy tutorial on how to make a "Christmas Card Puzzle Game". I can't wait to make a set or two of these puzzle cards for my own 2 year old daughter. It's such a basic, clean matching/puzzle idea that I know my detail obsessed little girl is going to go crazy over.

Out with the old, in with the new includes that crispy evergreen, half a day away from being a serious fire hazard, sadly sitting in the corner of the living room among the holiday rubbish. Now that you're beginning to regain the strength that's been sucked dry from too many champagne toasts, sugar cookies and cabbage rolls on New Year's Eve you're more likely going to want to pack away the holiday cheer for another year this weekend. But what to do with the dead tree?