Last Minute Advent Pendant

Cheery Advent pendant

My kids have been asking, “How many days until Christmas?” ever since the stores started hauling out the Christmas stuff.

So pretty much forever.

Now that it’s actually December, I wanted to give them a way to count down the days until Christmas without having to ask me thirty times a day (not that I don’t love that).

We have done Advent calendars in the past: you know, those flimsy little drug store calendars filled with tiny bits of chocolate that fall out on the wrong days and make kids cry. I’ve had stacks of them on top of my fridge every Christmas for the past few years, and I am always so happy to throw them away on Christmas Eve because they no longer look charming and everyone is kinda bitter about the fact that we spent actual money on them.

This year (read: yesterday) I decided I wanted to do something different. With Jeff deploying to Africa just a few weeks after Christmas, these days are precious. In one sense, the countdown to Christmas is also a countdown to his departure.

There is not enough chocolate in the world to make me want to count down to that.

Instead, I wanted to celebrate each day we have together, and each day we count down to the most glorious miracle of Christ’s birth, with a calendar that focuses on the time we have as a family.

Advent pendant garland over what my landlord calls “caramel” colored walls.

I decided to make an Advent pendant banner using Christmas card stock. Now, I thought of this brilliant idea at exactly 2:45 yesterday afternoon, and at exactly 2:45 yesterday afternoon, I realized I did not have Christmas card stock.

Off to Hobby Lobby I went. Except Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday. Off to Walmart I went! Except Walmart was a bust. Off to Target I went (at this point, I was absolutely not going to be back in five minutes like I had promised). Target had one option for Christmas card stock, and after fighting my way through the crowds of people buying stuffed Olafs, I did not even care what the paper looked like. Christmas card stock: check!

I realized later that I could have used plain paper and it would have worked just fine. Alas.

Creating the pendants is a breeze. Each of my card stock squares was 6×6 inches, so I cut each square in half with my paper cutter (you can also use scissors). That gave me two 3×6 rectangles. I cut the rectangles from the top corners to the bottom center, giving me two triangle pendants from each square of card stock.

24 triangles later, I assembled my banner on a jute string using two dabs of hot glue on each corner of the pendants.

DIY Advent calendar

Viola! My Advent banner was assembled.

Now, your temptation at this point will be to make this more complicated than it needs to be. But mammas, it is December 1^st and you are thinking of making an Advent calendar. The over-achiever Christmas crafty train left way back in October.

We are now in Get ‘Er Done mode.

So, you could add decorations to your pendants. You could. Don’t.

Advent garland

I did add two little buttons on the ends of the jute string while I was waiting for my hot glue gun to heat up, but I gave myself a good talking to when I considered adding little decorations to each pendant. That’s crazy talk right there.

However, I happened to have a scalloped, round paper punch so I did punch out 24 circles for the dates. If you do not have a scalloped paper punch, do not panic. This step is completely optional. You could write the dates directly on the banners, or add bits of ribbon or strips of paper for the dates.

I affixed each date to a pendant using a big glob of hot glue to give dimension to the date circles. Once they dried, I ran my finger under the edge to make sure the date circles popped up a little.

Then, I simply wrote the dates on with gold Sharpie, flipped the banner over, and added a fun Advent activity to the back of each pendant.

Advent ideas

Could not be easier.

A simple, gold-Sharpied clothespin helps us keep track of the days. Just move it over one day as you count down to Christmas.

Advent pendant

Now, if you have trouble thinking of Advent activities, you’re probably trying to get on that over-achiever train again. Stop it. Christmas does not have to be crazy, bigger-than-life, or expensive to be wonderful. In fact, your Advent list can include many of the things you already do during the Christmas season:

*Bake cookies

*Watch The Nutcracker

*Go to the church Christmas program

*Have cocoa and candy canes

*Make a gingerbread house

*Read The Night Before Christmas

*Go caroling

*Make gifts for teachers and friends

*Deliver cookies to neighbors

*Attend a Christmas concert

*Take the Polar Express to look at Christmas lights

*Make snowflakes

*Go ice skating

*Make a Christmas craft

*Read the Christmas story

*Look at pictures of past Christmases

*Sip eggnog around the Christmas tree

*Make homemade marshmallows

*Watch Frosty the Snowman

*Read How the Grinch Stole Christmas

*Volunteer at a local charity

*Play in the snow!

*Reenact the Christmas story

*Draw names and do something nice for another family member

*Open ONE present (this is our activity for the last day of Advent–Christmas Eve!)

You get the idea. The goal is to be intentional about spending time together, doing the things you love to do, creating memories as a family. Each day, have the kids write about the activity on the back of that day’s pendant. After the Christmas season is over, you’ll have a memory to cherish.

And isn’t that better than cheap chocolate? Any day.

Countdown to Christmas

Simply Homemade: Pocket Survival Kit

When it comes to making simple, homemade gifts for girls, things are easy. Girls love hair bows, ornaments, pretty smelling bath bubbles, and just about anything Pinterest can conceive of.

Boys are another story.

Boys want things that shoot and cut and require batteries. I don’t know about you, but I cannot crotchet a remote control helicopter.

All season, I have wondered what I could make that my outdoor-loving, snake-catching, fast-living boy would like. I wanted him to more than like it, since I was going to put time into making it. I wanted him to love it.

I wondered and wondered about it until one day, we met a man at a flea market who was selling knives and various outdoor supplies. He happened to have a pocket survival kit that my son went crazy over. I had found my solution.

A pocket survival kit is just what it sounds like. It’s a small tin packed full of all the little goodies a boy might need to survive the wilds of his own backyard (except food and water–you want the boy to come home sometime). They sell them pre-packaged online at various sporting websites, and, apparently, at El Paso flea markets.

The great thing is, you can make one for much less money. This is the perfect gift to make yourself because it gives you control over what goes in the box, and you can make it as fun or functional as you like simply by changing the quality and type of items you include.

You will also find that this Pocket Survival Kit is a great resource for teaching your child real-life skills like how to read a compass or how to start a fire. It’s the kind of gift that leads to memorable moments of teaching and learning together.

Like all the gifts in this series, it’s completely easy to do. All of the contents are readily available at any store that sells sporting or outdoor supplies, and most of them are very inexpensive (unless you decide to upgrade to better gear).

Here’s how you can make a Pocket Survival Kit for your own mini survival man (or woman).

How to Pack a Pocket Survival Kit

You will need a small tin (an Altoids box or Sucrets tin is perfect).

Everything you pack is going to have to go inside of this tin, which should be small enough to fit in your wilderness man’s pocket. That means you need to get the smallest, yet most functional, versions of any or all of the following items:

A mirror (this is for signaling for help)

Laser pointer (also for signaling)

Emergency whistle (sometimes these are included in pocket knives or lasers, so keep an eye out for a dual-function tool to save space)

Pocket knife/multi-tool

A lighter***

Compass

Fish hooks

Fishing line

Rappelling clips (carabiners)

Wire saw

Emergency blanket (this will be too big to fit in your tin unless you cut it down to size or use a vacuum sealer to compress it)

Water purification tabs (because what could be cooler than drinking out of a mud puddle?)

Small bag (so you can purify said mud puddle)

Various sizes of safety pins

Razor blades, if the recipient knows how to handle these (secure them under the duct tape in any case)

Once you’ve gathered all your items, pack everything in the tin.

Mark the back of the box with the Morse code signal for SOS. Later, teach your child how to use the laser pointer or mirror to signal for help. It’s fun!

SOS

If you look at the picture closely, you will see that I covered the tin with duct tape. I also put another strip on the bottom. You never know when duct tape could save a life.

Close it up and your Pocket Survival Kit is ready for giving!

This makes a great stocking stuffer or gift for an outdoorsy young man or woman. However, please use your discretion when giving a gift like this unless you are confident of the recipient’s maturity. Be sure he or she knows how to handle the tools properly and is responsible with them. If you have any question about any part of the kit, exclude it.

My nine-year-old son is very responsible and has been taught how to use each of the components of this box, and he has been I would not worry about him abusing any of them. But not every nine-year-old boy is the same!

Of these fire starting options, a lighter is probably the best bet

A note on fire starters

You will notice that I included several fire-starting options in the photo above, but only listed a lighter to included in the box. Lighters are great fire starters, but you can choose any option you like. Matches, magnesium strips, or even magnifying glasses can work. I actually put several in the kit for my son because I opted to leave the emergency blanket out.

If you have to choose, a lighter is by far the most reliable in a real emergency situation. If you pack a magnifying glass, it could be cloudy. Matches get wet. Magnesium strips are hard to use to build a real fire.

Choose the option that you like the best and which will be most interesting to your child. Then, teach him how to use it safely and efficiently.

There you have it, a fantastic, simple gift for the boy in your life. If he’s anything like my son, he’s going to love it.

*The posts in this series may contain affiliate links for your convenience.

Save

Simply Homemade: Sugared Bath Bombs

I’m as giddy as a schoolgirl about today’s Simply Homemade project. We’ve been making some pretty fun projects since the series started, but this one takes the cake. The cupcake, to be exact.

A cupcake?

“What’s the big deal?” You might be thinking. The cupcake trend has peaked, hasn’t it? Aren’t we all over cupcakes?

I will pretend I didn’t hear you and offer this little comfort: you won’t be eating these cupcakes. You and your hips are perfectly safe with me.

These cupcakes are for the bath. That’s right! Today’s Simply Homemade project features DIY Sugared Bath Bombs. Cupcake bath bombs. Squeeee!

What good little girl (or grown-up little girl) wouldn’t want to receive one of these in her stocking on Christmas morning?

You all do?

No problem.

Naturally, Sugared Bath Bombs are so easy to make, I can whip up a batch of these in less time than it takes to make the real thing, and with far fewer ingredients. Here’s how I cooked them up in time for gift-giving.

How to make Sugared Bath Bombs

Ingredients:

1 c. baking soda

1/2 c. corn starch

1/2 c. Epsom salts

1/2 cup instant drink mix, like Crystal Light or unsweetened Kool-Aid, with “citric acid” listed as the first ingredient. You can also use 1/2 cup plain citric acid, available at health stores or through Amazon. But of course, you’ll want to make these right away and who has time to wait for UPS?

1/3 cup oil *Any oil will do; I used equal parts coconut oil and calendula oil for their skin-loving properties. Almond oil, melted shea butter, and even olive oil would be great alternatives.

*Note: If you use plain citric acid, you will want to add 1 t. essential oils in a scent you like. Try lavender, peppermint, or lemon. Essential oils get expensive, which is why I used drink mix. However, essential oils have so many wonderful health benefits, it’s worth the expense if you’re doing this on a small scale.

**If you went the plain citric acid route, you may also want to add a bit of natural food coloring. Just a few drops will do. After all, you don’t want your bath water to look like Kool-Aid. If you use a drink mix for the citric acid component, it will already be flavored and scented, but it won’t look like Kool-Aid.

For Icing:

6 cups powdered sugar

4 egg whites

Extra Stuff You’ll Need:

Sprinkles, raw sugar, or other edible decorations

Cupcake wrappers

Instructions:

Blend the dry ingredients very well. I put all the dry ingredients in my Vitamix and let it whir for a minute. It’s important to incorporate the citric acid throughout if you want the bath bombs to fizz consistently. If you do not have a blender, just employ some child labor to do the mixing.

When the dry ingredients are maxed out on the mixing, slowly add the oil. Do this about a tablespoon at a time, mixing well between additions.

Soon, the mixture will begin to clump together. When you can press it into your first and it holds its shape, you’re done.

Distribute the mixture into your cupcake tins. I used 12 wrappers, but if you want fatter bath bombs, use fewer wrappers. It’s not an exact science.

Press the mixture into the wrappers using as much pressure as you can. You want the bombs to hold their shape! We used a 1/4 measure as a press.

Ignore my messy-looking stoneware cupcake pan. That’s what we call “seasoned.”

Set the bath bombs aside to dry and harden while you make the icing.

Icing Action:

This type of Royal Icing dries hard, which is what you want if your Sugared Bath Bombs are going to make it to Christmas morning without looking all smooshy. Smooshy=not the spirit of Christmas.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and powdered sugar until it turns glossy and peaks form. The peaks should be stiff enough to stand up but soft enough to bend a little at the ends.

Pipe the icing onto the tops of the cupcakes using a pastry bag. You can also use a Ziploc bag with one corner cut off, which is what I did because I have no idea where the movers packed my my cake decorating supplies. They’re probably in with the winter coats.

You can also use a star tip, if your movers left your cake decorations alone.

Sprinkle the cupcakes with edible decorations while the icing is wet. It sets quickly, so work fast!

Allow your pretty little Sugared Bath Bombs to cure overnight, if possible, to give the icing time to harden all the way through.

Package your Sugared Bath Bombs in cellophane and ribbons and all the usual suspects.

Or, gift one on a pretty little thrifted plate.

That’s all there is to it. Who new fat-free, calorie-free cupcakes could be so easy?

So, fill up some stockings, fill up the tub, and enjoy your very own Simply Homemade creation!

*Safety notes for not-very-sensible people: Do not eat these. You probably won’t die if you do, but let’s not find out. It’s probably not a good idea to give these to small children because even if you tell them not to eat them, they will. In fact, if you tell them not to eat these, they will be 100x more likely to do so.

Secondarily, the oils in these Sugared Bath Bombs can make the tub slippery. It is best not to dance the polka while bathing with one of these fizzing away in the water. I know. I’m such a spoil-sport.

One last thing, because I know you’ll ask: Yes, it’s okay to bathe with frosting. I won’t tell. Big stores sell sugar scrubs for lots of money. This is just a sugar scrub minus the scrub, minus the big money. Your tub will not mind, and even the sprinkles will dissolve in the water (that’s why we chose edible embellishments on an item you can’t even eat).

Now, go get yourself some citric acid.

Join us tomorrow for another Simply Homemade project! I’d give you a clue if I had one.

Save