Homemade Gifts

I made four homemade gifts this year! They were fun to make, and they were my favorites to give out. Here is what I made:

1. Saige's Foot Print Reindeer Ornament

2. Ready to Bake Snickerdoodles. I made the dough, rolled them and covered in cinnamon/sugar, spread them out on a piece of wax paper that was set on a plate, and froze them. Once frozen I put them in a container and wrote up instructions on how to bake them. This is what they will look like when they are baked:

3. Coconut Sugar Scrub. Ingredients: 1/4 cup of coconut oil, 1/2 cup of sugar, squirt of coconut mango body lotion from Bath and Body Works. Smelled SOOOOOO good.(No picture, sorry).

4. Magnets! (My Favorite)
Process: Brush modge podge on the flat side of a clear, flat, glass marble. Sprinkle glitter on it (the really sparkly glitter worked the best!). Let it dry overnight. Dump the excess glitter off. Brush modge podge on the glitter. Brush a little modge podge on a magnet. Put the magnet on the glitter and push lightly. Let it dry overnight.

New Year's Resolutions

1. Only one non-water drink a day. (I've been doing this for two weeks now with success, I only "took a break" on Christmas and the day after.)

2. $75 a week to spend on groceries and personal care items (I am not including baby formula in this, but I am including diapers and wipes).

3. Mailing or handing out birthday cards to people on my birthday list.

What are yours?

Mary

In 2006, I was blessed to celebrate my first Christmas as a Mother. That year I could relate to the Christmas story in a whole new way. I’ve always thought that “it must have been hard” to give birth to a baby in a stable, but I really had no idea what Mary was missing out on. She had to travel a far distance right before she gave birth, and the traveling did not occur by car. She had to give birth in a dirty stable with only her husband there, not in a clean hospital with doctors, nurses, and her mom. These things must have been hard to endure, but the thing that got to me the most was what told in Matthew 2:13 and 16.

Matthew 2:13: When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Matthew 2:16: When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

I can’t imagine Mary’s emotional state as she dealt with the fact that someone was trying to kill her child, and that because of her child, many many other children were killed.

This Christmas Eve, my Sister and I sung a song called “Breath of Heaven.” It’s a song about what Mary may have thinking right before she gave birth. It's such a powerful song, and makes you look at Mary in a different way. I hope it speaks to you!

Static Ball

Cold weather means extra static in the dryer. Although it's funny to see Aubree's hair once she takes off her very staticky shirt, static is incredibly annoying. Dryer sheets can only do so much, and lately I've been too cheap to buy another box of dryer sheets (even on sale, with a coupon, and part of a catalina deal). I saw a tip online that said to roll up a ball of aluminum foil and stick it in the dryer, and it will take away the static, so I decided to try it. I pulled out a sheet about the length of two lasagna pans, rolled it up, and threw it in the dryer. I am happy to announce that IT WORKED! There is no static!!!!! The ball of foil (which is now a more compact ball) can be used over and over again to keep the static away. Now I don't have to buy dryer sheets again!!!!

* Update: After a few loads, I noticed the static comes back a little bit and the ball gets smaller. I am going to put in two or three more balls to see if that helps.

Quick Tip: Easy Way to Open a Plastic Cap

I have the hardest time opening up bottles that have the plastic caps with the tiny grooves. Specifically Mott's Apple Juice bottles (yes, I still drink Mott's, no I'm not worried I'll die from Arsenic poisoning). They are soooooooo hard to open. Here is what usually goes down:

1. I pick up the bottle and try to open it, and think that this time, I can actually open it with no problem.

2. Hold it tight with one arm and then try to open it with the other hand.

3. Put the bottle between my knees, then try to open it.

4. Grab a shirt sleeve or paper towel and use it to cover the cap and then try to open it.

5. Skip #2-#4 and go straight for what I have found out really works: WET the paper towel, and use that to cover the cap and open it. Cotton is actually stronger when it is wet, and when it's wet, it can grip the cap better and allow you to open the cap up without making your hand hurt.

Ta-DA!

Oh Christmas Tree

It's starting to look like Christmas around my house! We have the outside lights up, the inside railing lights up, and today I printed out two "add a cotton ball everyday to make Santa's beard" advent calendars for Caura and Aubree (which are hung up under my regular calendar). Although there are a lot of decorations still to go up, there is one major thing that we still need: a tree...a real tree! We love to get real trees, thank goodness none of us are allergic to them. Many people are under the impression that a real tree is bad for the environment because you are cutting down a tree that should stay in the world. Here are a few reasons why you should feel good about getting a real tree:

1. Christmas trees are farmed. If they weren't used for Christmas, they wouldn't have existed in the first place.

2. When a the farmer cuts down the grown Christmas tree, he plants a new one.

3. You are keeping farmers in business.

4. Real trees are biodegradeable, artificial ones are not. Artificial trees will eventually end up in a landfill, where it will stay for a very...long...time.

***Tinsel and garland are not biodegradeable...please make sure you take everything off of the tree before you throw it away***

5. Lastly, they smell amazing.

Enjoy decorating your tree (whether it be real or artificial)!