Vinyl Signs!

Today at our Church's MLife group we made these great vinyl signs! It was such a fun craft, that I bought an extra set to take home and let Molly make. She had the best time painting the 2x12 board with pink paint. Then her favorite part was rubbing the vinyl letters on with a popsicle stick.

She was thrilled to get to paint and do this whole craft by herself. She was SO proud to put it on the dresser in her room and show her dad the second he got home. :)

New Year's Eve!

This year we had a fun New Year's Eve celebration with the girls! We celebrated at 6pm, since that was midnight in Paris, and if you know Molly, you know she loves everything Paris!

This party was all about this girls, so Molly had the BEST time, doing everyone's hair and picking out all our outfits. (whoopsies, I forgot to get a picture of me with 20 clips in my hair ;) We all ended up in pink, but she loved being a fashion designer. This Paris dress Grandma gave her for Christmas was perfect!

We had noisemakers and party blowers to start off the celebration!

Molly was very excited to watch the countdown and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower live on the computer!

And Confetti Poppers from the dollar store were a big hit with the girls, and Dad. :)

We had sparkling Grape Juice to Toast the New Year!

Molly couldn't get enough...

Nora tried some...

But wasn't so sure. :)

Molly worked hard all afternoon making decorations. Here is the tablecloth she decorated with markers, stickers and balloons. She was very proud. I just taped a giant piece of white paper to our vinyl table cloth and sent her loose. :)

Indoor Smores for dessert were a big hit!

But the biggest hit of the night was playing glow in the dark hide and seek! We saw this idea over at one of my favorite blogs, Play at Home Mom. Here is a picture of some of the glow sticks hidden in Molly's room. Some in her shoes, under the doll bed, in her plastic drawers! The girls had the BEST time with this. (even though it was super hard to show in a picture)

I got a few glow sticks from the dollar store, and I picked up a ten pack of glow stick bracelets from the grocery store to hid through out the house. Then I let the girls find them as fast as they could and put them in a bucket in the kitchen. This was such a hit, we played for over an hour! Molly loved taking a turn hiding them too.

We had a fantastic time celebrating with Molly and Nora, and since they are only 4 and 1, it was nice to have them still in bed by 8. :)

Dec. Recap

I thought I should probably do a quick recap of some of the fun we've been having in December. We had a VERY busy and FUN month. I've been busy with the girls, sewing projects (which I can start posting pics of now that all the gifts are given), parties and so much more, so I've kind of had a month disconnected from the computer, but I definitely got a lot done. :)

We had dance, school parties, family parties, Les Miserables, Wizard of Oz, Church Christmas programs, an amazing Jars of Clay Concert, Trans Syberian Orchestra, Christmas around the world at the gardens, crafts, playdates, and SO much more!!!

Here are a few of the pictures I already have uploaded. Now I'm off to download and order the picture from the last 4 days of parties. :)

Nora LOVED decorating the tree this year!

We went to Holland and Zeeland's Christmas parties. Here is Molly and her cousin Maisy at the parade!

Lots of great cookie decorating!

Molly actually playing the games at her Preschool Christmas party! For those of you who know Molly, this is a HUGE deal! She has lots of anxiety after everything, especially if things are a little different, so she NEVER plays any games at parties, or carnivals, etc. So this was SUCH an awesome day for us!

Doing a Christmas performance at dance class!

Nora enjoying the snow at Fredrick Meijer Gardens!

I took Molly to see the Wizard of Oz at the Civic Theater, her first real play, we had the best time!

Even being ridiculously busy, we still had time to be silly!

Merry Christmas 2011

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas!

Recycled Wrapping!

After making this TP roll wreath last year, I am always looking for places to use these fun TP roll flowers. Here is my take on recycled wrapping. It's a present wrapped in a paper grocery bag, (my trick to make the paper look nice since it's so thick, is to use double sided tape so you don't have big chucks of tape on the outside) then I wrapped a strip of burlap and ribbon around the top, (also secured with double sided tape) and then just used clear thread to tie the TP roll flower on top, and added a label. I think it is super cute, green, and thrifty.

Favorite Kids Christmas Crafts/Ideas Recap

Here are some of our favorite kid ideas and crafts
from past Christmas posts.

Handmade Nativity Set

Christmas Light Fingerprint Bags

Popsicle Stick Sleds

Handprint and Footprint Reindeer

Bow Wreath Craft

Favorite Christmas Crafts Recap

Here are a few of the most popular past Christmas craft posts from my blog, the Reindeer Rootbeer/Beer I made last year have exploded all over Pinterest! I am SO flattered and glad people love this fun, easy craft! (Clink on the links or pictures below for the original posts.)

Reindeer Rootbeer / Beer

Candy Cane Mittens

Personalized Bags

Ornament Wreath

For more of the fun projects we've done the past few years, check out my old Christmas posts HERE. And come back tomorrow for some of my favorite kids Christmas crafts from last year. :)