Monday, December 10, 2012

Christmas Countdown - Dec 8-9 *

We're reading a winter / holiday book every day and doing something special, so we can really be engaged in the season.

This is my favorite project so far—flower lights! I've been waiting months to do it with Starboy. It's a two-parter, once you've acquired all the materials.


The night before, I cut the cups out of three egg cartons and punched a hole in the center, found the tempera paint and some glitter, brushes, bowls for paint. Starboy and I had made a special trip to the drugstore to find a short string of Christmas lights.

Then the fun began. We started with light blue paint, then added white, then added pink to make lavender, then more pink.....he only worked with one color at a time, but we ended up with flowers of many colors. I usually limit the palette for gift items. Susan Striker may or may not agree with this approach, but we were making the lights for Mary Jane's Christmas present, so I wanted to choose something that her parents might bear to look at.

We dusted the cups with glitter before letting them dry overnight. Starboy had a really hard time waiting for them to dry.

The next day, we popped the flowers onto the string of 20 lights. We only could find colored lights, but they look much more special than the white ones. The bottoms of the cups still were a little damp, but that made it easier to put the lights through. Make sure the cups are on the housing, and do not touch the bulbs, which can get hot. I had Starboy wash his hands when we were finished, to keep glitter from wandering towards his eyes.


Look at how beautiful!


Again, the books are a bit random. Perhaps something on giving gifts would have been better?
I've Seen Santa!
I've Seen Santa!
by David Bedford and Tim Warnes
A cute story about a baby bear who wants to see Santa but keeps catching his parents doing the elfing. Nice twist in the ending. Really nice illustrations

The Mitten 20th Anniversary Edition
The Mitten
by Jan Brett
A classic folktale with Brett's well-known gorgeous illustrations. This would be a lovely gift for any holiday—it's not Christmas themed.

My collection of holiday books isn't that large, and I didn't plan far enough ahead to order really great stuff through the library. Next year will be better, with some thanks to Santa. I think I'll make my plan this year, for next year, with a shopping list, so the project doesn't seem overwhelming.

*Join us at some linky parties! The Magic Onions and Natural Suburbia. Both have really awesome Friday linkups with about a gazillion ideas each week.


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