Snowflake Craft and or Gift

I saw this project on Pintrest and thought, 'Yeah, I can do that!' You can apply this craft to any age from toddler to senior and the finished object is really quite cheque...or at least unique. Grandmas and aunties alike would love to receive such a one-of-a-kind thoughtful gift.

You will Need:

- Popsicle sticks

- Glue 

- Paint (brushes, water cup, palate)

- Strips of ribbon or thread

- (optional) glitter, Pom-poms, stickers, ribbon...go wild!

Tips & suggestions:

With standard-size sticks, you will use between 4-20 per snowflake depending on the design you choose. Tongue depressor sized sticks are also an option.

I used a hot glue gun, but squeeze glue is preferrable for gentle hands.

I was lazy and spray painted one side of the sticks in the yard with white paint from a previous project, but hand-painting is much more fun. 

I used leftover ribbon from my hair bow phase, but you could also use a skein of Red Heart

Steps:

First, you want to paint your sticks. If the design will be free-hanging, remember to paint both sides. Paint a few extras in case you mess one up in construction. Let them dry completely.

While the sticks are drying, you can think of your design. I had Austin assemble the remining sticks into different shapes at the table, but you could also draw different designs, test them out, and choose together. You can even break a stick in half to make super original designs (touch up the broken edges before assembly). 

Once you've chosen and tested your snowflake design, touched up any paint spots, and assured that they are completely dry, you can start assembling it. Lay the pieces out and glue them together. Our sticks laid on top of each other, so waiting for glue to dry is...keep blowing on it or use a glue gun.

Finally, you can add embellishments and accents to your snowflake. Every snowflake is supposed to be different, so it's impossible to mess up. If your snowflake is large, you might want to knot the ribbon/thread. If it's light, a double-wrapped piece of tape might do just fine.

I'm also eyeballing quite a few other holiday DIY's, like sock snowmen, felt trees, paper plate trees...There are so many lovely ideas for holiday crafting and gifting! Have you made these before? Are you planning to make them? If so, please share in a comment.

Thrifty Holiday Gift Exchange

Austin is an active member of the local library's Teen Library Council. It's very important to me that Austin learns integration with his peers as well as a selfless sense of humility for the smaller humans in this world. I always remind him that, "Somebody did it for you when you were that age." It has proven to be quite productive to his social skills. For example, I was VERY proud when he took it upon himself to be a knight at the princess party and impressed by his patient authority over the sweet little girls in their adorable frilly dresses. He also surprised me on game night. When one of the younger boys became upset about losing, Austin encouraged him and helped to avoid a meltdown by saying, "Now that you know my strategy, I'm not sure I want to play you again. You might beat me." Later, he told me that he gave the boy 'a run for his money,' but winning is 50/50 based on your AI players.

For this season, the TLC has done Operation Christmas Box. Oh my, it was such an exciting and hectic event. The boxes had to be reorganized at a designated person's home. At the end of our Teen Movie Night, we gathered for one of the members to do a blessing for the boxes (our mod wasn't affiliated on-shift for this). The blessing couldn't have been anymore appropriate and touching. These kids never stop amazing me!

The teen Christmas party is tomorrow. We agreed to a $5 cap on a Secret Santa gift exchange. I was kind of worried about how to choose $5 in gifts that were neutural in gender, desirable, and not all candy. I tried not to take authority because this is Austin's gift bag to fill. It was SO hard that Austin allowed me to choose one of the 5 dollar gifts. 

If you're trying to figure out what to get as neutural gifts for a kid of an unknown age, please review this list of 2015 Dollar Tree finds. It's a good idea to keep a few pre-wrapped gifts in your trunk for when your cousin bring his girlfriends kids or the neighbor's little one just doesn't take a hint...you never know. Every kid deserves to be included, right?!

Here are some of the things we eyeballed in the Dollar Tree:

- puzzle boxes

- 2 for $1 jingle antlers

- an ear flap hat of Santa or Frosty

- stockings both big and small (for money or candy)

- a very small wind-up toy train and tracks

- ornaments

- Snowglobes both small and large

- tons of choices in candy

- goofy stuffed animals

- candy canes of assorted flavors

- 2 ceramic ornaments with 3 paint colors and a small brush

- stickers

- coloring/activity books

- a print of 'A Christmas Carol' as well as other Christian reading and mini-bibles

(Oh how I love my Sheetz cup - for size, NOT included)

We chose 5 of the things from the list above. Feel free to guess as a comment, tell us which 5 items you'd choose, or just vent about the surprise guests/gift exchanges you've experienced. "Look, it's the gift of warmth" *passing a trunk hoodie wrapped in a Walmart bag and duct tape* You know, you can avoid this nightmare by packing an emergency gift. 

(You see two. Now guess the other 3)