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. 

Breakfast with Santa

Still trying to post our Christmas memories...

We had the opportunity to attend a local fundraiser this year called "Breakfast with Santa."   Ethan had a wonderful time...mostly because his best friends were there.

Ethan's sweetie.

Ethan's buddy & his little sister.  Ethan tends to boss her around a lot.
I think it's because she's the only one younger than he is. :)

Palo Duro Canyon (Fall Vacation Part 4)

Another highlight of our vacation was spending the night at Palo Duro Canyon.  We enjoyed learning about the canyon and hiking and learning how to Geocache.  (You can go here  to read my husband's chronicles of Geocaching...very FUN family outing!)

It was really hot when we got there that afternoon...95 degrees at the end of October!  But the next morning it was 45 degrees!  That's the way I like it!

The boys even got to earn a Junior Ranger Badge by learning about the history of the canyon.  We had such a great time together!  And the canyon was beautiful!  God is so creative with His creation!

Learning in the education center.

Daddy is pointing at Palo Duro Canyon & Ethan is pointing at Caprock Canyons (where we went the next day).

We stayed in the "Cow Camp Cabins" at the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon.  There are only 4 cabins that were built in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corp workers who initially developed road access into the canyon.  They were really rustic, and those of you who know me, will know that this was pushing my limits.  But surprisingly, I really liked them.  I didn't really like having to use the restroom down the street, but the little cabin was really neat!  It had this bunkbed, a little microwave, a mini-fridge, and a table with 2 chairs.  Because of the burn ban, we didn't get to have a fire or cook anything, but that's ok.

We began our Geocaching journey here on the Juniper Trail in Palo Duro Canyon.  We all had a wonderful time searching for little hidden treasures!

I love this picture of Daddy & our boys!

My husband got a little carried away trying to find one and never did.  He climbed up this HUGE steep hill.  Can you see Evan sitting about halfway down in the picture above?  He has a white t-shirt and an orange cap.  It was getting too steep for him, so he stopped & waited on Daddy to get back down.  He later thought the cache might be around the curve, but we didn't have time to search...it was getting dark!

Eating dinner in our little cabin.

Our cabin the next morning...cool & crisp & beautiful!

These beautiful trees were in the bottom of the canyon but not at the top.