The kit comes with everything to make a suitable gingerbread man but you could certainly add your own candies and sprinkles to make it a little more special. My kids were perfectly happy with what came in the box so I didn’t even bother bringing out more candy!

I’ve been having a lot of fun so far this Christmas. The kids are 7 and 5 and are really getting into the holiday. I hope they’ve been good this year so Santa will make a visit to our house!

Today I have a quick and simple craft that makes a great stocking-stuffer or gift for a teacher or bus driver.  I’m going to package these up with some treats and hot chocolate for all of the para-educators, bus drivers, and teachers that work with my children.

Supplies:

Felt

Pinking Shears

Thread

Rice

Lavender (optional)

Cut 2 pieces of felt into 2 1/2″ X 3 1/2″ rectangles. I used embossed felt from Eco-Fi.  I mixed two different shades of brown but you can really use any mix of colors or type of felt.

With right sides out, sew around three sides. Place a few spoonfuls of uncooked rice inside. If you have any lavender or potpourri lying around, you can add a bit of that as well.

Sew up the open side. Trim thread. These are also small enough that they can be sewn completely by hand. Maybe add an initial or decorative stitch before seaming it up.

Finish it off by cutting around each edge with pinking shears.

There you have it! What are you making for the teachers this year?

I love Twitter. What does that have to do with card making? Everything. This little card making activity came to be because of a few tweets with some Twitter friends. Kashoan and Kelli came over last Friday to work on some Christmas cards with me at my house.

I wanted to make some simple cards with some glitter. Here is what I came up with:

The image stamp is from Schlosser Designs’ Out of the Box set. I stamped it using a versamark ink pad (watermark) and then poured on a bit of heat n’ stick powder.  I used my heat gun to heat it up and then sprinkled on some turquoise glitter. I stamped the word “Sparkle” (from Stampin’ Up’s Warm Words set) and that was it.

This card was made the exact same way using the same stamp sets. I just used green ink and glitter.

I’m thinking that I want to go with a super simple and clean design for my holiday cards this year.

Are you still sending holiday cards? Do you include pictures? Letters? Nothing?

I am so in love with this little crocheted cap. The pattern is free and can be found at the Coats and Clark website.

I used Lily Sugar n’ Cream cotton yarn that I had in my stash.  The cap and the flower each used about 1/2 of a ball. I bought that yarn for around $1 each.

The cap took me about 1 hour to crochet. The flower also took about that same amount of time. Not bad for two hours of work and $1 worth of yarn!

I attached the flower with an alligator clip so if I ever decide to make more flowers in different colors, I can switch them out. I also didn’t felt the flower. Because I used cotton yarn, that just wasn’t possible. It made the flower bigger, but I like it like that! If you wanted a smaller flower without felting, just leave off the last layer of petals.

Wouldn’t these make the greatest gifts for the young girls on your list?

photo copyright Catholic Icing

Chances are you have all sorts of toilet paper rolls somewhere in your craft room.  You know I do!

1. Gelly Roll Glitter Pens

What crafter wouldn’t want to write (or embellish) with glitter?

2. Wintery Glitter from Martha Stewart

This might be a little big for a stocking stuffer, but any Martha Stewart glitter will do.  I’m starting to sense a theme here.  I better get off the glitter train for a moment because I know that it is not every crafter’s cup of tea.

3. Fat Quarters

“Fat quarter” is a term that refers to a yard of fabric that has been cut into 1/4 sections across the crosswise grain.  So, instead of a 9″ x 44″ piece of fabric you get an 18″ X 22″ piece.  Most craft and fabric stores have fat quarters for sale for around $1.  They come rolled up or in little squares and make the perfect stocking stuffer!

4.  Ribbon

A spool or two of fun ribbon appeals to a lot of different types of crafters.  Can you ever really have enough?

5.  Adhesives

Most crafters have their favorites.  If you are stuffing a stocking for a specific crafter, go snoop and see which kind she prefers.  Having extra adhesive (or any consumable, really) is always a good thing.

BONUS:

Massage gift certificate–just saying.  I’m sure I any crafter would love one of these in their stocking.

photo copyright Craftsquatch

1.  Twitter Pillow from Craftsquatch.etsy.com

This first item is perfect for any crafty geek in your life.  You can purchase one of these on Etsy for $20 but I’m sure most of my readers (at least here at this site) could make their own version for less.

2.  Wi-Fi Detector Shirt from ThinkGeek

Words can not describe how badly I want this shirt.  Actually, I want the technology on this shirt to put on one of my own.  It totally detects the wi-fi and lights up accordingly!  It’s only $20.  What a bargain!

3.  A Netbook

Any little netbook would probably do!  I’ve linked to this one pictured that I might purchase if I was shopping for myself.  My laptop is my primary computer but can sometimes be a bit cumbersome to lug around for meetings and conferences.  A netbook is a good bridge between my iPod Touch and laptop.  I think it would make a terrific gift for me any techie.

4. Flip Video Camera

This has been one of my favorite tech purchases ever.  It is so easy to use and so versatile.  This is not only a great gift for a techie (although, they probably already have one!) but it is a great overall gift for anyone…a new parent, a teenager, a blogger, a grandparent.  You don’t have to be very computer savvy to use it, either.  It’s got a flip out usb and built in software.  Easy peasy.

5. Notebook Cooling Pad

Sometimes you just need to use your laptop on the couch or in your bed.  Instead of burning up your legs and your computer, a cooling pad is the way to go.  This isn’t the one I have, but it looks pretty darn good and got some great reviews on Amazon.  The one I have is a bit bulky.  This one is lighter and slimmer.  That’s important.

Today we’ve got gifts for foodies.  Enjoy!

1.  Taste of Italy gift set from Vervacious: Voyage Inspired Fancy Foods

At $50 this is a little out of range for a hostess gift (at least for me!) but if you’re shopping for an adventurous chef wanna-be, this could be a great option.  Vervacious has so many different blends and gift sets (another great one is the Spanish Favorites for only $25).   They also offer subscriptions where they send out something amazing once a month.

2. Homemade Spice Rubs from ChristyNelson.net

Okay, I’m adding something I’ve already featured on this site.  It makes such a great gift and is so quick and easy that I couldn’t leave it off the list.

3. Kuhn Rikon Paring Knife

At $10, this knife could easily fit the hostess gift bill or be a great add-on to a fun food related gift.  There are many colors to choose from and did I mention that it’s NON STICK?  I’m putting this on my Christmas wishlist.

4. The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten

Is this book really over 10 years old?  I love it.  Jeffrey Steingarten is now very well known, having been a judge on Iron Chef America since it premiered.  This book is full of short articles so it is a great read over a period of time.  I own this book and find myself grabbing it when I have a few moments and just want to read a chapter or two.  I’ll warn you, though.  You might want to put his second book in your shopping cart as well.

5. Omaha Steaks Tasteful Gift Combo

I do live in Nebraska, you know.  This isn’t just a gift for foodies.  This is a gift for anyone that eats.  Well, anyone that eats meat.  At under $70 and free shipping, the recipient (and their family) will be enjoying this gift for months.  It is full of great food!

You’ll want a big bowl full of snow!  The rest of the recipe is pretty simple.

SNOW ICE CREAM RECIPE

1 big bowl of fresh snow

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix everything together.

Serve and enjoy!

It doesn’t look that great, but it tastes good!  I never realized how hard it is to photograph snow (and snow ice cream).

Any particular things you do on snow days?

When I was demoing the Cricut last week in Michigan, I made some Christmas cards for demos.  We had the Winter Woodland cartridge and it was the first time I had the chance to use it.   For the Warm Winter Wishes card I used the Winter Woodland cartridge exclusively.

This cards looks really cool in person.  I used Winter Woodland and Storybook.  I put glossy accents on the corner swirls.  You also can’t really tell from the picture but the paper is sparkly.

This is an in-progress photo of my own personal Christmas cards.  I brought some paper from home (Stampin’ UP’s Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red) to cut out with the Cricut.  SU paper in the Cricut?  Not that impressive.  It didn’t cut out as nice as some of the other paper brands we had on hand.  Oh well.  I used Doodlecharms for the trees.  I can’t remember where the Season’s Greetings sentiment came from.  Maybe Wild Card?

Do you all make your own Christmas cards?  What is your opinion on Christmas letters?  Do you include them or not?