ornaments with a purpose

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "Consume less. Share more." Ahhh...music to my ear wax. Can you say re-purpose and reuse? Clearly, we can't save every recyclable thing for a future project because that's hording (see A&E's Horders) but how about, for instance, creating a CD Christmas Ornament with the kids. Or instead of buying new holiday ornaments and decorations, how about asking family members to gift you decorative items they aren't using anymore. My mom-in-law passed on some hand made 70's retro ornaments from my hubby's great grandmother and a few he had created in grade school. The girls think their fun, I didn't spend a dime, and we didn't contribute to the landfill.

merry christmas baby

I am too creative and cheap to buy gift tags. So I went online and found some downloadable print and color Christmas Gift Tags, gave them to the girls, and let them add their special crayon touch. Very homemade, cute and inexpensive.

We also attended a kid's Christmas party. The hosts asked us to bring a canned food item for the local food bank and a dozen cookies per kid. At the party, we made tube sock snowmen, candy ornaments (I would not stop inhaling the gummy bears), and did some near the fireplace caroling with instruments. All of the cookies were spread out on a table and the kids walked around the table, choosing, eating and moving on to the next treat. The girls and I made and brought pink frosted shortbread cookies like Uncle Seth's and chocolate chip peanut butter cookies (we used organic chocolate chips and Trader Joe's organic peanut butter). The pink ones went the fastest but I am not sure they tasted the best. I loved the haystacks that Jayden and her mom brought. Here's the recipe. Merry Christmas!

DAYCARE

I am anticipating going back to work soon so I have been making my list and checking it... well more than twice. If you are joining the game of finding a childcare center, take some notes first on what you really want in a daycare and talk to some of your working mommy friends. Here are some qualities to look for: safety, clean record, staff attentiveness, location to home, cost, outside play, cleanliness, and pre-school curriculum. Keep in mind, there are licensed in-home day cares (cheaper & less structure), day care centers (more expensive & more structure), family or friends (familiar, even less structure, cheaper or free). Try to take your little one at least twice to play before they begin attending. Glam it up by calling it a school not daycare. Here's a site providing more info.