Rudolph the Red Nose

Christmas Cards for Soldiers

This is the first round my 2nd graders made for a special request of cards for 5 soldiers deployed. Too cute- their messages made me want to cry!

Air dry clay trees

These turned out awesome! Only snapped a few pics before the kids left. This is one of my own original art lessons:-)

Christmas tree paper collage

I thought this project with my kindergarteners was going to be a Pinterest fail... But it came together at the last minute! Definitely would be better for first grade and up! The original pin had white splatter paint but I already had glitter out so I went with it:-) sorry for the sideways pics!

Christmas ornaments

Air dry clay with sparkle paint and yarn! They made cycles and wreathed. Super easy and great fun:-) I let each student make two. I also gave some upper grades to do candy canes. Just forgot to take pics!

Clay characters continued

Here are some more characters, and some of their predrawings. There is also some of the Christmas pottery included:-)

Christmas Presents

I love wrapping presents! In fact if I buy anything for my husband in December I usually just wrap it up and save it to give him for Christmas. I have in fact wrapped up $3 iPad screen cleaners for him this year. I had really wanted to do the brown paper wrapping this year, but I could NOT find it anywhere around here (rural SW Virginia). So I settled with using hemp as the ribbon this year and made clay name tags for some. Anyway, please don't judge my Christmas tree. I didn't really put all that much effort into it this year because we will not be around and quite frankly the fact it has any ornaments on it is a miracle.  Notice that it is lacking a tree topper. Yup, never brought it up from the basement.

typical I do blues for wrapping paper, but I decided to use the bells as my touch of blue this year.

that circle up front is one of the clay name tags I made.

said poorly decorated christmas tree.

our fireplace has been so amazing this year! 

There are some very special presents from me and my husband this year!

Can't wait to GIVE them away! I can't believe the surprise I have kept this year:-) Normally I tell everyone what I got them:-)

Link Up: Confessions, Christmas Edition

1. I have bought and wrapped presents for everyone on my Christmas list. No joke. Done. That's not my confession. My confession is this. While these presents are sitting under the Christmas tree so beautifully wrapped, my Christmas tree is undecorated. I have had it up since Thanksgiving, and quite honestly I am not in the mood to decorate it. I heard a funny explanation of Christmas trees on the radio the other day and it hasn't helped motivate me. Here it is.

my christmas tree 2012

Christmas trees- who thought of that? I'll tell you who. A drunk guy did. He was outside, thought it would be funny to chop a pine down and put it in his house. When he woke up to his wife scratching her head he quickly came up with an explanation,"Oh honey, we're going to decorate this tree all beautiful like- with lights and little colored balls, it will be beautiful...we'll also take decorations from inside, like lights, and put them outside. Its a great idea."

So I got to thinking, who really did think of the idea of bring a big old tree into a house and decorating it? I betting on this story.


2. I was pretty skeptical about Santa Clause at about age 4, but held on to the belief until about 5th grade, and would have for much longer, had mom not told me when I asked her in 5th grade. I can't wait to be Santa for my own kids!!

3. I LOVE LOVE LOVE giving gifts. But I am terrible at surprises. When I think of something really good to give someone I want to tell them the moment I buy it. I told my brothers what I got them almost every year, even when they didn't want to know. Usually the day I bought the present. I have gotten better.  Homemade gifts/art, I will never tell. They are too special.

4. I LOVE getting presents about as much as I love giving them. I especially like being surprised. Here are some "surprises" I am hoping to find under the tree:

kindle fire

short uggs

navy and white shower curtain

iphone- but I know this won't be happening due to my current contract.

5. As impatient as I am, I have only peeked at one Christmas present my entire life. I actually unwrapped the present at one end pulled it out, then put it back together. I am not sure why I haven't ever peeked again, maybe it was guilt.

6. I may or may not have purposely spent less (time, thought, & money) on someone this year because of what I got from them last year. Usually, this does not bother me,  I almost never compare what I bought to what I receive. But for some reason this one person really got to me last year and I am holding a grudge. You can say the were on my naughty list.

7. I bought my fur baby a really super  cute fru-fru collar for Christmas even though I am totally against dressing up my dog in fru-fru type things. My heart melts every time I see her in it.

8. I have begged my parents to do  their Christmas a day early so I can be there when everyone opens their presents (it's the in-laws turn this year). They have agreed.

9. I still wake up at 5am ready to open presents. I am *cough* 27 years old.

10. My outdoor christmas light electrical hookup looks like something Clark Griswold did in Christmas Vacation.

yup, that was me.

and now my the lights connected to this are seriously NOT working as of last night.

How about your confessions???