More Homemade Christmas Gifts

I found a really neat inexpensive gift idea on Women Living Well blog before Christmas.  I LOVED the idea and wanted to make this for my parents!  Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until DECEMBER 23 to get it together.  By the time I cut out the letters, took the pictures, got the pictures printed, and found the frames at Michael's, it was Christmas Eve!  This just shows how easy these cool picture frames really are!  We even made one for my brother since he's the uncle to all 4 of the grandchildren.

For my brother and sister-in-law, we spelled out "McCarty."

We spelled out "Grammy" and "PawPaw" for my parents.

The suggestions on the Women Living Well blog said to print the pictures in black and white, so you don't have to worry about coordinating colors.  And I matted the pictures with this cool 4x6 black cardstock that I found at Michael's.  Made the work even easier!  

Our other inexpensive gift for the family was homemade ice cream kits and homemade hot cocoa kits.

The boys made these for our extended family.  We put all of the items in a plastic shoebox lined with Christmas tissue paper.

Homemade Hot Cocoa

Do you like hot chocolate? 

Our family absolutely loves it!

So when my dear friend, Kim, made some wonderful homemade hot cocoa for us last year, I knew we had to get the recipe!  She was so sweet to share it with us, so we decided to make it for gifts this year.  

Here's the "oh so simple" recipe:

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 large Nesquik chocolate milk mix

9.6 oz Carnation powdered milk (my friend says other brands don't taste as yummy)

6 oz. Coffee-mate creamer

Stir the 4 ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

Here's how to make your yummy cup of cocoa...

We made these gifts for Sunday School and choir teachers and our friends
at our homeschool co-op.

We also made homemade hot cocoa gift packs for our extended family...
We put everything in a plastic shoebox/storage box with
festive tissue paper around it.  

We also made these super easy chocolate spoons to stir in
the hot cocoa!  We just dipped the spoons in melted
chocolate almond bark and then dipped some in sprinkles and
drizzled some with white chocolate almond bark.  Too cute!

Salt Dough Ornaments

Another crafty day in December, we made Salt Dough Ornaments.  Why have we not ever done this before?  They were the easiest & most fun things to create!  I really enjoyed baking & painting them too!

Here's the recipe:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

Directions:

Mix the salt and flour.  Add in half the water and stir.  Then gradually add the remaining water.  Knead until the dough is smooth.  Roll out the dough on baking paper or floured surface.  Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or design your own.  

Bake at 250 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Make sure they don't burn.  Let them cool completely and then paint them.  

It's that simple!  I'm thinking we could make these for every holiday...Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving...the choice are endless!

Here are some pictures of the boys having fun...

Some of Ethan's buddies came over one afternoon, so they
helped us paint them.  They were very creative!

Showing off their creations!

The boys both made their names for their Christmas tree in their bedroom/schoolroom.

And I had fun painting a few crosses. 

My Talented Husband

A few weeks ago, my multi-talented husband decided to turn his old clarinet (the one he played in middle school) into a lamp.  He's been talking about doing this for years, and he finally took the time to do it.  He looked around town at the different flea markets and discount stores to find the perfect base for the lamp.  He was excited to find this marble ashtray for only $9...he just turned it upside down & drilled a hole in the middle of it!  A much better use for the marble than an ashtray, I'd say!  He then purchased a light kit at Lowe's & constructed the lamp.  He only blew the breaker once before he got it to work properly!  I'm so proud of him!  He's quite creative!