Lila Doll Review

The Wee One has two goals in life:  To be a bakery (yes, a bakery) and to be a mom.  For Christmas she asked Santa to bring her a pacifier doll.  Santa spent countless hours reading reviews of dolls and putting them in and out of her Amazon cart.  Finally, with a week to Christmas it was do or die for that pacifier doll, which she had not stopped talking about.

Here is what we, Mr. and Mrs. Clause decided would be the perfect doll:

Corolle Lila

Those Corolle dolls get me every time with their sweet smell and cuddly bodies and then I look at the price.  It's a good thing I had a major coupon for Creative Kidstuff or I would still be looking.

When she threw up her hands and screamed, "Pacifier baby!"  that is when I knew I nailed it...or so I thought.

We are almost 3 months removed from Christmas and while she loves her pacifier doll, Carly, it is not her go-to doll.  The Wee One still has a soft spot for Ladybug's first Coroelle doll.  She is often annoyed with the crying and turns Carly off, which is totally fine by me - You've never heard a parent say a toy is too quiet.  The pacifier and the bottle are easy to insert in the doll's mouth, but I wish the pacifier would have come attached to the wrist or with a clip. We ended up using a ribbon to tie the pacifier to Carly's wrist after I spent hours (hours!) searching for it.  The doll is a good size, soft, and smells divine.

Overall I think this doll is a good doll and far less annoying than a lot of other interactive dolls.

DIY Wreath Ornament

I have a friend who is an amazing baker and decorator of all things sweet.  Her creations leave me thinking I can do the same thing and well I can't.  So, when I drew her name for an ornament exchange I knew what I wanted to do.  She needed a little of me (the wreath) and a little of her (the baking) on her tree.  Behold the cookie cutter wreath ornament!

Supplies from Michaels

• Unopened floral tape ($1.99 full price)
• Yarn
• Small cookie cutters
• Christmas card stock

You make it the same way as a regular wreath.

I Felt Naked

because my door didn't have any adornment for about a month.  It was nekkid and crying for some attention, so I thought I would make this new thing called a book pages wreath.  New and innovative about 3 years ago, but I am always running a few years behind.  I love this wreath so very much and it cost less than $5 and the mister thought that was the best part.

The back of the wreath is a 9"x9" square with a small circle cut out in the middle.  I added a few pages on the outside and now I can see I need to add a few more.  No craft is complete without herpes, er glitter.

It's a Winter Wonderland - December Sensory Bin

One of the thing I love about living in the tundra is the four seasons.  Sadly we are stuck in 3.5 season since the last three years have been disappointing for snow.  My husband isn't complaining, but it's hard to get in the season when it's cold and there is no snow.  I put together a sensory bin of what I think it should look like around here minus the penguins.

What's Inside:

• Clear pony beads
• Pom-poms (green, white, and red for Rudolf's nose)
• Evergreen trees
• Snowpeople
• Penguins
• Christmas balls
• Horn pick
• Lights
• Santa
• Kids playing in the snow

A Sneak Peak

So...what's new?  

The Two Steps house has been busy for the past month learning new skills and getting ready for Christmas. My dad has been teaching me how to wood work and we made a console table as my first project. If I would have known how empowering power tools were, I would have started long ago.  

Now, I am busy making Christmas gifts for the kiddos.  We are having a no electronics or battery Christmas because it's already loud over here.  As a side not my husband told me two years ago while we were enjoying our morning coffee that it couldn't possible get any louder here.  Should I ask him how he feels now?  Anyway, here is a sneak peak of Ladybug's big gift.  

I

Calling All Shoppers

One of my mommy friends sent out the word that Target would be starting their semi-annual 70% off toy sale.  Oh glorious gluttony of toys I was going to embark on when I realized we could do some good too.  The Wee One and I went first to get some Christmas shopping out of the way, then picked up Mister and Ladybug from a preschool program to return to one of the four Targets in our area.

On the way I explained we would be picking up a few toys to donate when Christmas rolls around.  We talked about how some children are less fortunate us and don't get toys at Christmas.  Mister and Ladybug were very concerned and agreed we should take this opportunity to purchase toys at a good price.  So, if you happen to be at Target and it's not too picked over, maybe you want to purchase a few items too because we all know how hectic Christmas season can get.

DIY Baby Gift

Christmas is so close that I can hear Santa and his reindeer.  I can also hear the kiddos squealing with delight as they open their gifts.  The rush is on, and if you are still stumped for a baby gift idea, I think I have the solution.  I promise it will only take a few short hours and this is coming from a novice sewer. 

Hop on over to Notes from the Patch for the most amazing and darling hooded towels.  The first one took me a few hours (and it would have been longer had my mom not come to my rescue -I did say I was a novice) but the second one was finished in 45 minutes!

You will need:

• Bath towels (Mine are avocado from Target)
• One hand towel (this will make two hooded towels)
• Thread
• Ric-rac
• Fabric (1/8 - 1/4 of a yard)

I did not sew the hood and the towel together like the directions.  I put right sides together and sewed the seam on the inside down.

The second baby gift is a sensory blanket.  This should only take you 10 minutes (novice sewer) to complete.  I used some remnants I had left from other projects.

When pinning on the ribbon make sure your fabric has right sides together and the ribbon loops pinned on the inside.  You want the ribbon edges to be pinned flush with the edges of the blanket. 

Line up your ribbon a straighter and more even than this picture.

Again the fabric should be even on the top. 

Have You Met Will?

In September, I gave two confessions and now I have one more: I am an Over Achieving Elf on the Shelf Mommy.  Yup, our "Will" has has roasted marshmallows, bungee jumped from the ceiling fan from toilet paper, stacked blocks with his "friends", and decorated the window with paper snowflakes.  Don't get me wrong I thought the blog post was funny, but a confession every so often is good for the soul.

And you know I don't care because I get as much excitement out of making "Will" do mischievous things as my children do finding him.  My crazy husband and I spent an hour learning how to make paper snowflakes and decorating the window. I suppose we could have spent that hour mindlessly watching television, but we had fun (fun for a ma'am) and enjoyed each other's company. 

I loved when my children were excited to tell Santa that they knew "Will" and every night before bed they want to hear the story about how "Will" came to live with us.  They call their Nay-Nay to tell her what "Will" was up to the night before.  I hope they talk about "Will" when they get older because that means my overachieving efforts were worth it. 

P.S. For the record I don't have a spare toilet to put out in our yard.

Ho Ho Ho!

So, this may date me when I say I have been doing this craft with kids for 20 years.  It's almost too painful to write because I feel like I am 20.  I thought I looked like I was 20 until I was ma'amed at the store.  I didn't realize the teen was speaking to me until he or she (I can't remember because I was in shock I was a ma'am) said it a few more many more times.

Anyway enough of my aging pity party, this has been two decades of kids who have loved this craft.  One child made this Santa from December until July and his mother would have to be a sleuth about getting rid of a few.  She never called me to sit again and I like to think it's because she paid more for cotton balls and paper plates in those seven months than all year.

The end of Santa's hat has a bell.  I also had Mister and Ladybug use their pincer grasp to stretch a few cotton balls.

Play Dough Gingerbread Cookies and Homemade Hot Chocolate

I love the way my home smells during the December.  The Christmas tree, gingerbread, fresh bread, and cooking make my house smell wonderful.

Mister, Ladybug, and the Wee One helped me make homemade hot chocolate and gingerbread play dough.  For the hot chocolate I used a mixture of vanilla sugar and sugar and cut down on the the total amount of sugar.

Play dough - Our go-to recipe

1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
 We added your typical gingerbread spices. 

I provided a rolling pin, cookie cutters, and buttons for their gingerbread play dough.

You Have Been Elfed

Our neighborhood is nice in so many ways, but it's filled with older families.  The days when the neighbors gathered and had block parties have passed.  Now Christmas parties are only for adults because those throwing the parties have children who don't need bedtime stories and band aids for scrapped knees. 

When I drove through newer neighborhoods over Halloween, I saw neighbors playing You've Been Booed.  I made comments to my husband that I wanted to do that because I am sucker for things like that. It dawned on me this weekend that I shouldn't wait for my neighbors to start - I should do it!  Our countdown chain had us making cookies for the neighbors and instead of dropping them off, we elfed them.  I can't wait to see if it catches on!  I hope this continues as a neighborhood tradition because I can see my children telling stories about elfing the neighbors when they are adults.

These are the elf baskets I used with cookies covered on a plate.  The cookies were decorated by the children and they are a lovely shade of brown (red and green frosting mixed) and a ton of sprinkles.  My guess is the neighbors figured out who elfed them as soon as they saw their treats.

Shhh, It's a Surprise!

Ladybug loves fairies and I love peg people.  When I saw the new (or I am late to the peg people party) fad of peg people floating around I had to make her a take-along peg doll fairy set.  The materials were bought at Michael's and JoAnn Fabrics with coupons.

The carrying/cottage for the fairies.  It is a cigar box and it soaks up a ton of paint.

The fairies house.  I am debating if I should make them little sleeping bags.  The cabinet, table, chairs, plates, bowls, cupcakes, cups, and ladybugs are movable.

The peg people fairy friends.

If time permits (Mister still needs a Batman cape) I will make a fairy felt play mat that rolls up and can be stored inside.

Gingerbread Dreams - Part One

So far I have put out fun and easy activities for the kiddos and they have enjoyed every activity very much.

Practical Life and Sensory

I found this activity was good for their grip.  Mister and Ladybug have to insert the erasers on the pencil. 

Mister and Ladybug were so excited to have their own tree.  I put out this same activity last year, but they weren't as interested.

The Wee One completed the same activity and started counting each ball as she put it into the spaces.

Matching and clipping clothespins on gingerbread houses.

This is another activity from last year, but again they seemed to enjoy it this year.  Ladybug made up stories about each group of Santas.

Ladybug and Mister make the felt gingerbread look like the ornament.

Christmas card puzzle






Enjoy the Season and Do Good

Amanda inspired me to make an Advent activity chain.  We started on December 3rd rather than the 1st.

• Buy a Christmas Tree
• Decorate the house for Christmas
• Operation Care Package for Kids (I hope we aren't too late for this)
• Drop off a toys for Toys for Tots
• Have a Christmas music dance party and roast marshmallows
• Visit Santa
• Watch Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer
• Make and deliver cookies for the neighbors
• Go sledding or make a snowman (weather depending) and make hot chocolate from scratch
• Buy books for preschool book exchange
• Donate some money from our piggy banks to the Salvation Army Red Kettles
• Make a Christmas craft with Mommy
• Write a letter to Santa
• Watch a Christmas special on Netflix
• Donate food at the local food bank
• Make a gingerbread house
• Make salt dough ornaments
• Unwrap and read a new Christmas book
• Make snowflake decorations for the assisted living home
• Bake and deliver cookies to Daddy's work
• Drive around and look at lights
• Make pine cone feeders for the birds, leave out cookies for Santa, leave carrots for the reindeer, and say goodbye to Will (Elf on the Shelf)
• Merry Christmas!  What are you thankful for?

We colored and glittered stars for our chain.  Mister has some issues with his pencil grip, so I broke his crayons which force him to hold them correctly. 

Salad Spun Christmas Trees

For a few days, I walked around my house with the most brilliant idea.  I gave myself high-fives, gold stars, pats on the back, and an A+ because it was that good.  The kids would love it, I would love it, and it was creative and new.  I am sure you know where this story is going by now because very little is ever new in the blogging world. 

My Idea

Materials

We tried using both colors, but it looked better just using the green.



Even the Wee One participated.  She used her feet and sat on the salad spinner.  If you haven't noticed we love our pajamas around here.



Family made Chrsitmas garland. 

It's already been done - two-years-ago.  My ego has been deflated with one little click, but it's still a neat idea.