Hanukkah

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!

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.

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.

I really do love children's holiday books. We fill our humble living space with decorations and a full basket of themed books we've collected over the years. At this point we have such a nice collection of books for each holiday that we are, perhaps, even slightly more excited about the books than the decorations.

My kids are crawling the walls counting down the day until sundown Friday in anticipation of the beginning of Chanukah. The best I can do to keep them focused on the week ahead yet not damper their spirits is craft, craft, craft with them.

Every Friday my children light the Shabbat candles. My 10 year old handles the matches skillfully, while my 3 year old daughter gets help from my husband (much to her disliking).

And because she wants to be just like her older brother, doing everything he does without help from mommy and daddy, it's going to be a real challenge come Chanukah this year. My husband and I will wrestle to hold her hand so she doesn't burn the house down or worse, herself.

Chanukah begins at sundown December 11th...Yikes! That leaves practically no time for holiday crafting with my kids, something that brings me huge amounts of pleasure. Decorating our home together with symbols and colors associated with the Festival of Lights using recycled materials simply warms my heart.

Hanukkah 2009 is almost here (starts Friday, December 11); time to dust off the menorah, toss the dreidel and eat lots and lots of fried foods. For us, it's also time to crank the holiday music and let loose. For the past few years, The LeeVees have been in heavy rotation as we've lit the candles and recited the blessings. But this year, we've got another new favorite, "Chanukah Fever," and it's got a seriously contagious energy.

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.