Traditions

I love traditions!  

I love them!  

There is something so meaningful and comforting about them.  They remind you how important family is.  They take you back to your childhood and let you share your favorite memories with your kids and your kids, kids.  Most of our tradtions happen around the holidays.  One of our traditions is opening one gift on Christmas Eve and it is suppose to be a surprise, but everyone knows it will be Christmas jammies.

One of my favorite traditions that I continued from my childhood is making Christas Cookies.  This year, Chloe and Claire helped me make the cookies.  My two teenagers were too busy to make cookies this year.  It's ok, I know in a few years, they will realize how much they love our traditions and won't want to miss them!

Chloe picked up on the process rather quickly.  After showing her once, she was rolling out the dough, cutting the cookies and putting them on the cookies sheet all by herself.  She hardly needed me there, except to make sure she didn't eat too much dough.

Claire wanted to be a helper too.  She picked out the cookie shapes she wanted.

I ate so many of these delicious masterpieces, that I had to do a cleanse immediately after new years.  I am pretty sure a week straight of Christmas cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner is a bit excessive.  I may have a problem.

My mom spent years as a daycare provider and preschool teacher.  She figured out a way to make decorating the cookies easy for kids to do.  She thins out the frosting so the kids can simply dip the cookies into a shallow bowl of frosting.  I still do it this way.  My kids and now grandkids have done it this way too.  They don't look as pretty as some of the beautiful sugar cookies that I have seen, but believe me, they taste amazing!  They really are the best sugar cookies I have ever had.

Chloe said, "I'll eat the cookie after I eat the candy off the top.  Smart Girl!

After all that hard work, Chloe needed to take a break on her favorite cushion!  :)

What are you favorite family tradtions?

Talk to you soon!

Love, 

Carol

Craft Day...Please join us!

We are partnering againwith Craft Hope and  Christmas in Dixie  ( here is their Facebook page ).  Our hope is to love on others by doing something we love.  Please join us!

This time we are looking ahead a few months to Christmas.  Yes!  Christmas in September.  
It's time, right?

We will be making handmade stockings for the Tornado Survivors. Over 12,000 families lost everything in the Alabama 2011 Tornados.  There are many many organizations helping these families put their lives back together.  This Christmas, however, they will have to start over with their Christmas decorations.  I would be so sad to loose my decorations, they have great sentimental value to me.

Sometimes things like this seem so little, but to the person receiving them they make a big difference.  They will know that someone all the way across the country cares for them.

We will be meeting again at my house.

On September 10, 2011

from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm (or whenever)

Feel free to bring any fabric, trims, vintage doilies, or even vintage sheets.  See the Craft Hope web site for some really cute stocking ideas.   But feel free to come with your own ideas and inspiration as well.  If you have a sewing machine, that would be great too.  If you don't know how to sew, never fear.  There will be plenty to do for non-sewers.

Let me know if you can make it.  We would love to see you here.

xoxo,

Carol

P.S.  Will it be legal to play Christmas music while we are working away?

Easy Chicken Costume

Fall is just around the corner and it's time to start thinking of Halloween Costumes.

Last year we dressed Chloe up like the cutest little chicken I've ever seen.

Most items were purchased.

White long sleeve onsie

White tights

And white feather boa.

I made the hat by just drawing a 1/2 circle and then a strip for the middle section.

I added ribbon to tie it on.

I then drew out the comb of the chicken head on paper and cut out of red felt.

I stuffed it with fiberfill and hand stitched it to the hat.

I think you may be able to find a hat online to avoid having to make one.  I just waited too long.

We pinned the boa to the onsie with safety pins.

And that was it!  How simple and adorable!

xoxo,

Carol