Borax Ornaments & Such....

I've been updating Thumper's Science Page, ES Grammar Bio, and it got me thinking that I never posted our ornaments that we made this year for our Christmas Tree. ( We got the idea from the Logic Stage Chemistry book).

I didn't post ANY pictures of us doing festive activities.  I guess it's not too late!  We volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House this past December and baked cookies for the guests staying there.  We baked & created A LOT at home....cookies, homemade marshmallows, rum cake, gingerbread houses, etc!  We usually always make a Christmas ornament for our tree.  This year we stole the idea from the lab in Elemental Science's Chemistry that Flower did for an assignment.  We started making all sorts of Christmas figures out of pipe cleaners, made the Borax solution, waited 24 hrs, and we had beautiful crystal-like ornaments!

Let the Christmas Goodies Begin!! (and the extra holiday pounds)

We are a house of BAKERS!!  I think this is one of our favorite times of the year because we can get away with doing an excessive amount of baking without feeling guilty!!  We make lots of different cookies, cakes (decorating cakes), breads, & our annual gingerbread houses!

We usually have an annual gingerbread house decorating party, but this year we are not.  This year we are going to change things up a bit with our gingerbread houses......You can go back to last years post about our gingerbread house party to see how I made the little houses.  We always make our main gingerbread house out of gingerbread, though, and not the graham crackers like the little houses.  So, this year instead of "gingerbread" we are going to use "sturdy cardboard"!!  I know, some of you may say that is cheating, but it will still have the same effect and even help with adding more detail.  We have decided to make row houses so each of us will have our own to decorate, but it will all be connected.  Merry Christmas!

Making the rooftops

Hot glue wax paper on the windows...tedious job!

  

  

We designed a cardboard gingerbread chapel for my mother & grandmother to decorate for their home!  

I am so pleased at how beautiful it turned out....more than I had expected!  

Christmas is Open!!

We put our tree up on Sunday and it looks gorgeous!  I love all our homemade ornaments!  Every year since the kids were babies, we started making a family picture ornament with the date. We either make the ornament ourselves or we buy one and refurbish it in our own way then we add our Christmas Picture to it!  We all get a kick out of pulling those out every year to see how we have grown! 



This year we started the Christmas Book Basket, which I found on Pinterest.  There are 25 books in my basket though because I couldn't leave out Christmas night!  The present in front of the basket is a little something my kids can enjoy throughout the whole month and it helps with grammar!  MadLibs Christmas Style!  They each do 1-2 pages a day!  It's funny!

 

Every year we make our own ornament of some sort.....Thumper wanted to use recycled stuff.  So we came up with these pretty, dainty Christmas flower snowflakes.  That's what they kept calling it!

We used toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls....cut them into strips....hot glued them together....painted them....add a little shiny pompom and twaaalaa!  Beautiful on the tree!

 



Check back next week for pictures of our annual Gingerbread House Decorating.....We always have a kids decorating party where we all get together and decorate their own gingerbread house that I put together for them in advance!  This has been an exciting tradition each year, though it is a lot of work on my part! Everyone brings a candy (cereal, etc.)  of their own!  This year my hubby & I will have a Gingerbread House Decorating Throw Down!  We will make our houses together, then we split and decorate them up.  At the party, we'll have the kids & parents vote on which they like the most!  I don't know if I can stand the wait!


So we didn't get the chance to do our Gingerbread House Throw Down, but we did still have our Decorating Party with the kids and family.  It is always an exciting party to throw!  For some reason I cannot upload pictures to my blog from my computer.  I'll have to figure out why later and get them posted!

Okay, so the picture feature on Blogger was down.....But now it's up so here are some of our gingerbread houses from our party!

 I prepared 16 houses to decorate using graham crackers.  I make my own Royal Icing that has never failed me.  I put the icing in ziplock baggies for the kids to pipe it on.

 My little house!

 Everyone had their own inventive ways of making cars and all sorts of yummy figures!

Until next Christmas.......!