Recycled Christmas Cards = Cute Gift/Treat Tags

I got this idea from a Family Circle magazine. Basically, You use old Christmas cards to cut out shapes to make little Christmas trees for tags to put on gifts or goodies. The first ones I made are with strips of different patterned cards, stacked up to form a tree:

 

And the second ones I made were simply triangles cut out with some kind of a "star" on top:

Z is for ZZZZZZ

No picture and No activity. Just a very merry Christmas from us to you!

Y is for YUMMY


We didn't do an activity for this, besides having eaten plenty of yummy goodies this season to count for the whole year round! :)

X is for XYLOPHONE


 I know xylophone isn't very Christmasy, but there aren't a whole lot of options with the letter X. We didn't do an activity, but you could do a Christmas song or something musical.

W is for WINTER


Activity: Snowing Letters
Last year I had some cut out snowflake letters that I used to write lower case letters on. I chose a few at a time and threw them up in the air. If they landed letter-side up, I had LM pick them up and identify the letter. Then we did it again with more letters.


U is for UNWRAPPING


Activity: We haven't done anything yet, but I wanted to do some kind of present game where LM could unwrap presents. Maybe some kind of learning activity/game........not sure yet. Any good ideas?????

T is for TREE



Activity: Foam Shape Trees
I cut out some tree shapes using some glittery cardstock I had from some giant shamrocks I got on clearance last year. Then LM used these sticky-back Foam shapes to decorate the trees! We sent one to my nephew on his Mission, and the other 2 will go to Grandparents.



S is for SNOWMAN


Activity: Felt Snowman
I want to use my new love of FELT, and cut out a snowman that LM and LB can play with. Maybe in the form of being able to build it themselves.....when/if I get it done, I'll post about it.

R is for REINDEER


Activity: Pin the Nose on Rudolph
This was one we did last year with our cousins. I had saved the printout of Rudolph (found on google images, just type in "Rudolph coloring page", or something like that) and the noses. We used Sticky-tack to put it on the wall and for the noses. We had fun taking turns being blindfolded, and trying to get closest to his nose.

Felt Mitten Ornament Tutorial





Here is a fun little Mommy-craft that I've been working on lately. This is a pretty simple craft and would be a fun activity for older kids to do too!





If you are interested in making some of your own, here are the basic steps:

1. Using felt (I LOVE FELT!), cut out 4 mittens of the same color. I made a pattern out of felt and use that to cut out 2 at a time. The dimensions of the mittens I've made are appx. 2.75" x 2.75". You can make them bigger or smaller!


2. Using felt, cut out circles of whatever color you want your flowers to be. I just cut the circles out freehand. They aren't perfect, but that's part of what makes them look cute and handmade.


3. Cut triangles out of your circle to make it look like a flower. You could round the edges more also if you like. I've kept mine straight.


4. Layer the flowers however you desire, and stitch them onto your mittens. I usually just do a single stitch, but sometimes have done a cross-stitch, or a french-knot.


5. Choose what color of thread you want to sew the mittens together with. I usually choose one of the colors of one of the flowers.

6. Using a blanket-stitch, stitch the 2 mittens together. (There are some good videos on YouTube of how to do a blanket stitch. It's very easy, and the videos are a good way to learn!)

7. (Optional) Leave an opening so that you can fill the mitten with a pinch of batting.
OR you can just leave them flat. Both ways end up looking really cute.


8. Cut a piece of twine appx 8" long and tie knots on both ends. Then, place one knot inside the mitten and continue to blanket-stitch, securing it inside.

9. Repeat steps 5-7 with mitten #2, stitching the other end of the twine into the 2nd mitten.
And you are done!!

I have gotten quite felt-happy over this little project, and have thoroughly enjoyed coming up with various color-combinations for mittens a-plenty! Here are some of the combos I've already made:











And here are several others just waiting to be finished!

 Because I'm planning on giving these to family & friends, I'm making a bunch. But I bet that even if you just want to make 1-2, you may end up like me and just not be able to stop!! haha.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!




Q is for QUILT


Activity: Quilt Square Hopping
We haven't done this yet, but I have a bunch of fabric of different colors. Maybe some day I'll make a quilt with them......but for now, I'm planning on cutting out 2 small squares of several different fabrics. I will lay one of each on the floor, and put the others in a bag. I will pull out a square and have LM hop onto that square on the floor. We'll see h ow it goes......

P is for PRESENTS


Activity: Present Games
I bought this package of present ornaments at the dollar store. I first had LM sort them according to color. Then he lined them up in a pattern. Then we had a present race where I would ask him to run and get me a present of a certain color. Was good to have him get some energy out!

O is for ORNAMENTS


Activity: Handprint Ornaments
We used some red and green finger-paint to have the boys each make a handprint. I cut them out, wrote their names and ages on them, and mounted them onto some silver card-stock and covered them with contact paper. Then I punched 2 holes in the top to lace a red chenille stem through so we could hang them on the tree.


N is for NATIVITY


Activity: Tell the Nativity Story
For Family Home Evening, we told the Nativity Story with the help of this cute nativity printable from Makingfriends.com.

M is for MITTENS


Activity: Mitten Matching
(note: we haven't done this quite yet.....'tis the season for busy-ness, I suppose!)
Here is the plan: We have an awful lot of mittens for some reason. So, I gathered them all up, and am going to put one of each pair into a bag and have LM reach in and see if he could find each mittens match by just feeling them.

L is for LIGHTS


Activity: Christmas Light Patterns
I used 3 different colors of card-stock and cut out light bulb shapes. I then cut a white piece of card-stock in half and traced the light bulb shape onto both, about 12 times. Using 2-3 of the colors, I would start a pattern and have LM continue it.

K is for KINDNESS


Activity: Goodies and Presents for friends

Kindness is seen all around at Christmas time. We are getting ready for Christmas by getting some goodies made and presents picked out for our friends & family. Such fun!

J is for JESUS


Activity: Christmas Frame

We do a lot of fun activities around Christmas time, but I wanted to be sure my boys knew really why we have Christmas: to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. So, using red and green construction paper squares, LM and I created a frame for a picture of the Savior.


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