DiamondAir

If anyone is interested, we came up with a couple more good ideas for
holiday fun/gift giving.

Our neighborhood is having a holiday party and cookie exchange today. So
we're baking up 5 dozen cookies to take, and then we get to exchange them
with everyone else. This means we can give out really nice assortments of
cookies in baskets as gifts to family without having to bake 10 different
kinds of cookies.

And the discussion on this list about consumption sparked another good
Christmas present idea. I'm getting plain canvas shopping bags from the
craft store and the kids and I are going to decorate them - maybe with
handprints - for the grandparents. So instead of getting another "My
grandkids love me" T-shirt, they can get something that they can use all
year 'round. And best of all, every time they use it, they save one more
plastic or paper shopping bag from being used, since the answer to the ol'
"Which is better, paper or plastic bags" argument is really *neither*!

-Robin-
the formerly craft-impaired...

Blue Skies!
-Robin-
Mom to Mackenzie (8/28/96) "What if there was no gravity, but we all held on
to something really tight??"
and Asa (10/5/99) who says "Odwalla!" (her favorite treat at the store)
http://www.geocities.com/the_clevengers Flying Clevenger Family

Deirdre Malfatto

> And the discussion on this list about consumption sparked another good
> Christmas present idea. I'm getting plain canvas shopping bags from the
> craft store and the kids and I are going to decorate them - maybe with
> handprints - for the grandparents.

This is a good idea. I was actually thinking of doing something
similar using the iron-on transfers that one can put through color
printers -- maybe a photo of the girls.

Deirdre in NYC
Mommy to Shoshana (12/18/96) and Elisheva (12/20/98)

Susan in FL

We're going to try making picture frames out of old CDs. We get the samples
all the time & have used them to make Christmas ornaments & center pieces.
Our Brownie troop we made decorations & put each girl's picture over the
center hole. Glitter glue, in moderation looks great. In our homeschool
group I brought the CDs & glitter glue. One of the boys (6) must have put a
pound of glitter glue on while I was working with another child. On the
center pieces we glued (hot glue) a small candle in the center & put small
decorative apples & greenery around it. The reflections were great.

Valerie

And the discussion on this list about consumption sparked another good
Christmas present idea. I'm getting plain canvas shopping bags from the
craft store and the kids and I are going to decorate them - maybe with
handprints - for the grandparents. So instead of getting another "My
grandkids love me" T-shirt, they can get something that they can use all
year 'round. And best of all, every time they use it, they save one more
plastic or paper shopping bag from being used, since the answer to the ol'
"Which is better, paper or plastic bags" argument is really *neither*!

-Robin-
the formerly craft-impaired...

Hi Robin...I did this for my step-father-of-sorts. We took a plain chef's
apron (from a craft store, all of $5) and had all the grandchildren put
their handprints on it in navy blue fabric paint. Then they signed by their
print (or we did). Now he looks very spiffy when he BBQ's.

--Valerie

Sonia Ulan

Thanks for the craft ideas Robin! I need more of them. You can be the
Unschooler's answer to Martha Stewart!!!

Please and thank you,

Sonia



DiamondAir wrote:
>
> If anyone is interested, we came up with a couple more good ideas for
> holiday fun/gift giving.
>
> Our neighborhood is having a holiday party and cookie exchange today. So
> we're baking up 5 dozen cookies to take, and then we get to exchange them
> with everyone else. This means we can give out really nice assortments of
> cookies in baskets as gifts to family without having to bake 10 different
> kinds of cookies.
>
> And the discussion on this list about consumption sparked another good
> Christmas present idea. I'm getting plain canvas shopping bags from the
> craft store and the kids and I are going to decorate them - maybe with
> handprints - for the grandparents. So instead of getting another "My
> grandkids love me" T-shirt, they can get something that they can use all
> year 'round. And best of all, every time they use it, they save one more
> plastic or paper shopping bag from being used, since the answer to the ol'
> "Which is better, paper or plastic bags" argument is really *neither*!
>
> -Robin-
> the formerly craft-impaired...
>
> Blue Skies!
> -Robin-
> Mom to Mackenzie (8/28/96) "What if there was no gravity, but we all held on
> to something really tight??"
> and Asa (10/5/99) who says "Odwalla!" (her favorite treat at the store)
> http://www.geocities.com/the_clevengers Flying Clevenger Family
>
>
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DiamondAir

> From: Sonia Ulan <sulan@...>
> Thanks for the craft ideas Robin! I need more of them. You can be the
> Unschooler's answer to Martha Stewart!!!


LOL! Well, probably not, but here's what else we're giving for Christmas:

- Homemade jam
- Cookies
- Shopping bags, decorated
- Hand-rolled beeswax candles - you can get sheets of beeswax and kids as
young as 2 or 3 can roll candles with help. Try contacting a beekeeper or
honey company first to see if you can get the beeswax there, it's a whole
lot cheaper than getting it at crafts or specialty stores and much cheaper
than getting the kits. Our honey company even sells wick by the yard. After
you roll the candles, you can cut out designs from beeswax and stick them to
it, or roll them in glitter
- I made a CD for each of my parents and my sister of our favorite Christmas
music from when I was a kid. I downloaded it all from Napster.com and burned
it onto a CD. This is great because all of the Christmas albums we loved as
a kid are on vinyl so of course we don't listen to them anymore. You'd be
surprised what you can find at Napster!
- A home-made ornament - this year we're doing wool angels. You take clean,
carded sheep's wool and tie some ribbon around it to make the head and body,
fluff out some wings and you have a lovely angel. Last year our ornament was
wreaths made from canning jar rings. Decorate with beads, felt, and such to
make a wreath. You can put a picture in the middle too, just glue it to the
flat center part of the canning jar lid and glue it in
- Some home-grown mint tea. My son and I picked and dried all the mint and
lemonbalm and we're gift-packing it up. We're also trying to make some
mint/lemonbalm lotion or lip balm, we'll see if we get that done in time.

Blue Skies!
-Robin-
Mom to Mackenzie (8/28/96) "What if there was no gravity, but we all held on
to something really tight??"
and Asa (10/5/99) who says "Odwalla!" (her favorite treat at the store)
http://www.geocities.com/the_clevengers Flying Clevenger Family

Cory and Amy Nelson

Would you be willing to share your recipe for mint/lemonbalm lipbalm, Robin?

Amy
Mama to Accalia (6/14/99)
"The hardest to learn was the least complicated" -Indigo Girls

DiamondAir

From: Cory and Amy Nelson <amynelson3@...>
>Would you be willing to share your recipe for mint/lemonbalm lipbalm,
Robin?

Sure, though this will be the first time I've made it, so I don't know yet
how it will come out. The person who posted this recipe says it makes a lot,
so have lots of jars and containers ready!


Ingredients:
1 cup Apricot kernal oil or Almond Oil or Grapeseed oil (I have been
infusing mint and lemonbalm in mine for several weeks now)
1/4 cup Beeswax;
1 tablespoon Honey

1)Gently heat oil and melt the beeswax in it;
2)When beeswax completely melted, remove from heat and stir in the honey(at
this point, you can also add Natural Flavoring Oil, if you want(not
flavoring extract, because it is in an alcohol base and does not mix well
with oil)-orange or peppermint or spearmint or anise oil for example. Add a
few drops and taste, then add more if needed)
3) when flavored correctly, take one tablespoon of the mix and put it in the
refrigerator. It will cool quickly, allowing you to test the consistency
before pouring into small containers. If too hard, add more oil; if too
soft, add more beeswax.
4) Pour into containers and let harden.

Blue Skies!
-Robin-
Mom to Mackenzie (8/28/96) "What if there was no gravity, but we all held on
to something really tight??"
and Asa (10/5/99) who says "Odwalla!" (her favorite treat at the store)
http://www.geocities.com/the_clevengers Flying Clevenger Family

Cory and Amy Nelson

Thanks so much, Robin! I can't wait to try it myself. You'll have to let me
know how it turns out. My aunt gave me some homemade honey lemon lip balm a
few years back, and I like it so much more than the store bought kind.

Amy
Mama to Accalia (6/14/99)
"The hardest to learn was the least complicated" -Indigo Girls

> Sure, though this will be the first time I've made it, so I don't know yet
> how it will come out. The person who posted this recipe says it makes a lot,
> so have lots of jars and containers ready!