Sometimes My Imagination is Impressive

I have long since been an "upcycler," long before I even knew there was such a thing.  For those of you out of the know, an upcycler is someone who makes something better out of something that some might consider trash.  It's not the same as a recycler, so don't be confused.

What I have never been is a crafter.  I'm not particularly gifted in that way, but I am resourceful. So sometimes, when others might see something and think it is trash, I see something and see it as "potential."  (My husband calls this hoarding and will frequently say things like, "Carol, is there a reason we're saving old shoebox lids?"  . . . he's learned not to throw things away.)

Anyway, one day I was cleaning my bathroom, and I was shocked at how much toilet paper we go through in a week.  What brought this horror to my mind was that there were 11 empty toilet paper tubes in my trash can.  ELEVEN!  (Of course it is possible that it had been more than a week since I had last cleaned that bathroom.  Also possible is that I hadn't emptied the trash the last time I cleaned the bathroom.)

But nonetheless, ELEVEN empty toilet paper rolls!  I started thinking what I could do with those rolls (other than recycling of course) and continued to think about it the rest of the time that I was cleaning the house.  And then it hit me!  I could make a nativity scene out of them.

True story.







So, I collected my materials:

10 toilet paper tubes

2 glue sticks

Crayons

4x6 pieces of scrapbooking papers (these are the perfect height and width to go around a toilet paper tube

Flesh-toned Construction paper (this was all I had for the faces)

Scrap fabric (I cut mine into 4x6 rectangles)

Ribbon or twine to tie around the "waist" and headpieces of the characters and to make wings.

Cotton balls

Flexi Straws

I started with the Shepherds

The girls colored the faces of the shepherds and the sheep.  Then they glued the scrapbooking paper around the toilet paper roll and glued the faces on.   I cut one toilet paper roll in half for the sheep and let them glue on cotton balls.  While they were busy with that, I "dressed" the shepherds with their head pieces.  I stapled the fabric to the sides for extra support, and then tied the raffia ribbon on the waist of the shepherds, and lastly shoved the flexi straws through the belts to resemble staffs.  Voila.  Shepherds and sheep.

Then we made the Wise Men.

We constructed these the same way as the shepherds.  I love their faces!  We started off making them all different, but that was too much trouble and the girls couldn't agree on the fabric and the ribbon, so we just gave them all the same fabric and ribbon (which I ended up liking way better!)

Then we made the Angel.  

We had enough toilet paper tubes to make a host of angels, just not enough patience! We tried lots of fabrics, but nothing seemed right, so we settled for looping a piece of gold, wired ribbon and stapling it to the back for wings.

And lastly, we made Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. 

Do not be distracted by the fact that the baby Jesus has a mustache.  I mentioned that the girls decorated the faces, right?  :)

We made Mary and Joseph the same was as the other characters.  We made the manger and the baby Jesus by cutting a 1 inch strip out of the center of one of the toilet paper tubes.  We wrapped the cut out piece with swaddling cloth, tied it on, and THEN glued on the face.  We (and by we, I mean "I") took the other (larger) piece of the toilet paper tube, spread it open, and stapled raffia ribbon in it to resemble hay.  Then we simply placed the baby Jesus on top of it.

Here's a picture of the whole gang!

All that to say,  some might have seen merely empty toilet paper tubes, but I saw this.  Sometimes my imagination is impressive.  Just sayin'

Cookies with The Joneses

Well once again, "Cookies" has come and gone.  "Cookies" (in it's present form) is a tradition that started in our family in 1997, when Mike decided that he wanted to deliver cookies to the families for whom he was a Deacon. (I seriously struggled with that sentence!)

He only had 10 families, but as soon as I did the math (not a strong suit in my case) I realized that was 10 DOZEN cookies, and that didn't even count any for our own family to eat or to give away to neighbors, etc.

Soooooooo, being the creative mom that I am, I encouraged the boys to invite some friends over and we made a competition of it.  Boys will do just about anything if you make a competition out of it, INCLUDING decorating cookies for hours.

Downside to boys decorating cookies is that they are BOYS!  They do weird things like lick their fingers, and pile on too much frosting and too many sprinkles!

So we had to make some rules.  And that's what started, "The Rules."

Of course, we have added to The Rules over the years as the need has arose arisen arose. Whatever.

For example, there's the rule of submission (not meaning you have to bow down to my authority).  In order to submit an entry into the official competition, you must decorate at least 6 total cookies.  We had to make this rule because one year a person, who shall remain nameless (but she knows who she is), created only one cookie.  In two hours, she made one cookie.  It was a masterpiece.  And of course it won!  But others whined, revolted, suggested that it was not fair, and so the 6 cookie rule was born.

And you have to name your cookie that you enter into the competition.  I don't know how this rule came about, but I think it was because we had two cookies that were really similar and so when the vote happened (yes.  we vote.  by secret ballot), there was some confusion as to the winner.

One year, we invited a lot of people over (thinking "more people, less time decorating") but that was NOT a good idea!  So from that day forward, we have pretty much only invited one family over to help us.  Thus the coveted "invite."  (I don't know if it is actually coveted. I just like to make stuff up like that so the night sounds really mysterious and awesome.)

Here are the official rules:

1.  You may not lick your fingers.  If you do, you have to wash your hands immediately.

2.  Less is more.  That means don't pile up a bunch of junk on your cookie.  They just don't taste good that way.

3.  The Rule of Submission.  You must decorate a minimum of 6 cookies in order to enter 1 cookie into the competition.

4.  You must name your entry.  The more creative the name, the better.  This year's winner was "Harry Connick Ginger."

5.  The Vote is by secret ballot.  Each person gets one vote and you cannot vote for yourself.

6.  You may not eat any of the cookies on decorating night because the frosting must dry for at least 12 hours!

There's probably more rules.  We make them up as we go sometimes.

The winner is awarded something different every year.  Sometimes they get a really awesome handmade trophy.  Sometimes they get a Cookie Winner Ornament.  Sometimes they just get a collective round of approval (laced with a little jealousy by the losers!)


Here are some pictures of the 2012 Cookies night:

Shannay enjoying her cookies. 

Nikki enjoying hers!  (They got to break the rules and eat one!)

Very seriously at work.  

Zack and his Grandma Nana.

The winning cookie "Harry Connick Ginger."

Tabulating the votes.

The Victory Dance.

All Smiles with her trophy.  (Yeah, we spare no expense for our winner!)

So happy for Grandma!

Grandma's Victory Dance!

Our honored guests, Seth and Shawna Johnson

Fun Night.

The Johnsons and the Joneses

All that to say,  Cookies 2012, you're in the can.

Why to the North Pole, Of Course!

This past weekend, we took the girls to see the North Pole Express in Grapevine, TX.  Downtown Grapevine is so beautiful and quaint, and totally would have been worth the trip (if we hadn't been traveling with TODDLERS!)

Several people  told us (AFTER I paid the $18 a person for the tickets) that the ride was somewhat "lack luster."

By lack luster, they meant that the ride was not going to, in any way, resemble the movie The Polar Express.  For the most part, they were right.


As we prepared to board, we were ushered into a tent where we were entertained with a show, a mini hit parade of Christmas songs (most of which children would NOT know, but that the grown ups enjoyed).  The Conductor, a Tom Hanks type character, came out and nervously told us that the train was in the station and that we had to board AS SOON AS POSSIBLE because it was Christmas Eve and the train could not be late!

And then the train arrived, (a fact that caused Nikki to just about flip out!) and we were ready to board.

NIKKI WHEN SHE REALIZES THE TRAIN IS COMING!

The promotional brochure told us we would travel through the Christmas tree maze as we prepared to board the magical train!  True to it's billing, we walked through the maze, which was in fact a very clever way that they hid the barricades that guided the crowds in an orderly fashion to the train.  I supposed you could call it a "maze" if by maze you mean walk in a straight line and go the only direction that you are allowed to go until you are instructed to get on the train.  But when you're 3.5 feet tall, a "maze" of giant Christmas trees is pretty impressive no matter how it's laid out!

Then we boarded the train that would take us . . . "Why, to the North Pole, of course!"

It was 81 degrees outside.  It was 2:30 in the afternoon.  It was very, very sunny and bright.  It's Texas.

Only the magical imagination of a 4 year old could imagine this train ride was going to The North Pole.

And that's just what happened. Nikki was amazed that the conductor punched her ticket! And they were both thrilled when he stopped to take a picture with them!

And though the train only traveled forward about a half a mile, and then backward about a half a mile, the magic of Christmas transformed it into The Polar Express, complete with a visit by Santa.

I suppose the more sophisticated traveler would have doubted the destination.  I suppose they might have doubted that caribou on the track was what stopped the train and caused it to have to back up.

But that's the beauty of being a child.  Their imaginations are not yet cluttered with harsh reality (though in the case of Nikki and Shannay they certainly could be).

They laughed and sang and squealed with delight.  And they even looked out the window with wonder at the dry Texas landscape.

All that to say, it was a great weekend.  I learn a lot about joy from Nikki and Shannay.  A lot about joy.

All That to Say: Santa Logic

When Mike and I were in San Antonio last weekend, Zack and Christina took the girls to the mall.  

While there, Zack noticed that the Santa booth was being set up and mentioned to the girls that Santa would soon be there.  When they walked around the corner, he was surprised to see that Santa was already sitting in his chair.  And they girls were very excited as well.



The lady running the Santa booth asked Zack if the girls wanted to get their pictures taken with Santa, but at $34 for one picture, he declined.  He did ask if the girls could just sit on Santa's lap (apparently not typically allowed without paying the $$) and seeing that NO ONE else was in the mall, they allowed it.

Apparently he was a pretty awesome Santa and asked  the girls if they knew what Christmas was all about.  Shannay said it was Jesus' birthday, and the Santa told her she was right, and that Jesus was the most important part of Christmas.  (That makes me happy.  Please go see him.  He's at The Woodlands Mall)

Anyway, fast forward a week.

Shannay and I were talking about seeing Santa at the mall, and I asked her if she thought he was the real Santa or just a helper Santa.

This was her logic.

Shannay:  "He was the reeeeeeeeeeeeal Santa, Mama."

Me:  "How do you know?"

She held up two fingers and said,

"1.  He said "ho, ho, ho."  (duh Mom)

"And 2, he had presents."

Then she put her hands around her mouth to really drive home how secretive this information was and whispered, "I saw his presents."

LOL.

I love that girl. 

All that to say, you can't argue with her logic.  If the man looks like Santa, has presents and says, "ho, ho, ho" then he must be the reeeeeeeeal Santa.

This is going to be a fun Christmas!