Day 9 of the Twelve Days of Christmas

Today is the easiest project of all! It is a 12 Days of Christmas paper chain. All you need is some Christmas paper, or red and green construction paper, and some ideas for activities for the family to do. Now I know that I had activities on the Advent Calendar cards, but not everyone will make an Advent calendar, and a lot of you already have one. So here's another way to spend time with the family, and you get to choose the activities! You will need 12 pieces of paper, 8"x1". Write an activity on the back of each strip of paper and then staple them together into a chain. Hang the chain somewhere where all the family can see it, and every morning, tear off a link and do the activity for the day. Or you could tear it off at night and know what you are doing the next day. Either way is good.

Let your children help you choose the activities to write on the links. You may be surprised at what they come up with! This paper chain is also part of my 6 Sundays of Christmas that I'm doing in Relief Society. They will get it this Sunday so they can start it on Tuesday.

One of my activities is to take a gift to the neighbors. Here are ten suggestions for neighbor gifts that are more fun than expensive.

1. Attach a tag to a jar of homemade salsa that says, "Add a little spice to your holidays!"

2. Attach a tag to a measuring cup filled with goodies that says, "Wishing you joy beyond measure this holiday season."

3. Fill a jar with Hershey's Hug and Kisses and add a label that says, "Here are hugs and kisses for you and your family this holiday season."

4. Tie a bag of microwave popcorn to a 2-liter bottle of Sprite and attach a tag that says, "Just Poppin' in to wish you holidays that are Merry and Sprite!

5. Put a tag that says, "Hope you have a pasta-tively wonderful Christmas!" to a bag of specialty pasta.

6. Buy a roll of cookie dough and put a label on it that says, "Here's some extra dough for Christmas!"

7. Put some Hershey's kisses in a wire whisk and wrap it in cellophane with a pretty bow on it, and attach a tag that says, "We whisk you a Merry Kiss-mas!"

8. Wrap up a block of cheese and a grater and attach a tag that says, "Thank you for being such GRATE neighbors!"

9.  Attach a tag that says,"Have a "souper" holiday season!" to a bag of soup mix.

10. Give a bag of oranges with a tag that says, "Orange you glad we're friends? I sure am! Merry Christmas".

If you Google neighbor gifts, you will get hundreds of ideas. And remember.........your neighbors are your goldmine, and you are theirs. Sy Wise said, "Very few burdens are heavy if everyone lifts." If you help lift your neighbors, they will return the favor. Until tomorrow,

I go home tomorrow!

YEAH!!! I can't wait to get back to my husband, and to be able to say "I finished." This has been the longest ongoing project I've ever been involved in besides my family. These last two volumes of the book have almost 650 pages each. Add to that the 700 from the first volume, and you have a whopping 2000 pages!!! It will be really nice to see it all in print.

Now I have to go home and get a real job. One that earns money. That filthy lucre that is so necessary in our society. It's been 6 months now since Chuck worked, and we are no longer holding our heads above water. Both of us will be pounding the pavement. I'm not looking forward to it at all. The arthritis and carpal tunnel are so bad in my hands that I'm not even sure what type of job I can do, but I guess I will find out.

I won't be posting any cute projects for a little while, because job hunting takes a lot of time, but I will keep you "posted" on how things are going. So here's the last one for now. It's a really cute paper pocket, and you can even make your own pattern!

You will need four ovals of cardstock, two the same color for the inside and two different prints for the outside. Your ovals can be any size you want them to be, but mine were about 5x7. The two for the inside need to be 1/4 inch bigger all the way around, and cut the edges with some cute scallop scissors or another edger design. Now fold your ovals in half, putting one end toward the other end and gently creasing the middle. Fold the inside ovals with the design tot he inside and the other two with the design to the outside. Put the two inside ovals together, overlapping to form a right angle at the bottom and a heart shape at the top. Glue them together where they overlap. Now put the two outside ovals on the outside (he he) of them and pull the bottom corner all the way down. This closes off the whole at the bottom and allows the scallops to show at the top.

Now, you need a handle. You can use a strip of matching paper, or some ribbon. Glue it to each side where the ovals overlap, and glue a button on top. Embellishments are totally up to you. A little tag with a sentiment is nice, or just decorate the tag and put a card inside. A big flower glued to the side would be cute...just about anything you can imagine is OK. Easy, huh?

Put a little tissue or paper shredd inside and snuggle a really decadent chocolate or some small gift, and its ready to go. These would make cute Valentines, or May Day baskets, gifts for Mother's Day or teachers or birthdays. They will also make cute little door hangers for visiting teachers. Especially if you have a sister you can never catch! Have fun trying out all the different combinations of paper and embellishments, and make yourself a stash to have on hand. You never know when you might need something to hold a small gift or some candy! The one shown at right is made from Birthday cardstock.

Okay. Time to go for now. Keep smiling. Smiles will light the world. May you have enough flour in your cupboard and may your socks all match. Gramma G.

Back in Nevada again...

Cameron and Halena in their "Oregon hats". Ahhhh, Christmas in the motorhome...

Well, I'm back in Nevada putting the last finishing touches on the last two volumes of the book. If you ever think about writing a history book, think again! It's a long, long process. All the research, the actual writing, checking facts, trying to GET facts from people, waiting for people to "have the time" to get you histories and photos, etc. We've been working on this for 8 years, and we're finally going to call it done. We still don't have all the stories and photos we would like to have, but getting some people to cooperate is like pulling teeth from a yeti. NO FUN! I will breathe a lot easier, we both will, when we send the final draft off to the publisher and say, "Print it!" That is a really nice feeling. I think I would like to try my hand at some children's books, but I'm not sure how to go about getting them published, because I can't afford to self-publish. After seeing the costs of these books, I KNOW how expensive it is, plus you don't have the marketing team behind you if you self-publish. That hasn't been an obstacle with these books, because people have been waiting for them to get finished. The first 500 copies were gone in under three weeks! But I know that's NOT the norm. I'm going to do a little research into how to get published and see what I can find out.

I had planned on getting started on the ABC book again this week, but the photos are on my computer at home and I'm not there. I thought I put them on my thumb drive, but I can't find them, so that will have to wait until I get back home. I fly home on the 24th, and I can hardly wait!

Sometime in the next couple of days I will have a pattern for a cute little bee for you to make out of 1"x4" pine. Really easy and really cute. You can adjust the pattern to any size you want, so he can have many different uses. Large, he can hang on your door with a little sign that says BUZZ ON IN! Or he could be made small for a package topper for Visiting Teaching or for a neighbor gift. Put a magnet on the back and give him a little tag with your name and phone number that says "If you need anything, just give me a buzz!" I will make a sample and get a photo posted as soon as I can, but I'm at a disadvantage right now. I'm staying with my son while in Nevada, and I don't have any of my tools or supplies. It's very frustrating, but, I will do my best.

I've been looking up quotes for another project I have going, and I came across one I really like and thought you might, too. It doesn't have an author listed, unfortunately, but it goes like this.
"Any person who doesn't diligently discover where his talents and opportunities for the good of the world lie, and who doesn't devote himself to developing them, has missed the whole reason for his existence.

Have a good day and may all your socks match! Gramma G

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Christmas!!

Another wreath. But this can be made in any size, from large enough to hand on a door to small enough to hang on your tree. Its all in the size of the circles. Kids love to make this one, and I call it the Roundabout Wreath!

You will need:
Old Christmas cards of Christmas print cardstock
A heavy piece of cardboard the size you want your wreath
Scissors and glue
Ribbon for hanging

Cut a circle from the cardboard the a little smaller than you want the finished wreath. Measure 3" into the circle all around, and draw a line. Cut the middle of the wreath out on this line. To make the back look nice, you can paint it or cover it with wrapping paper. Cut a 20" piece of ribbon, put on end through the circle, put the two ends together, and tie a knot close to the wreath. Tie the ends together with another knot. This is you hanger.

Using cups, lids, cans, etc., cut circles from the Christmas cards or cardstock in at least three different sizes. Some of your circles should be a solid color, too, to help tie all the different designs together. Start gluing the circles to the wreath circle. Overlap them, mix up the sizes, even stack some, to make a pleasing design. You can add glitter glue to some, bows, buttons, bells....whatever you like! You can use a theme, like all Santas or all Nativities, or use a color scheme, like red and green (of course) or pink and sage green, or just mix it up.

These are fun and easy to make and they make a good project for school classes if you are a teacher or room mother. Have fun with them, and make one for all your neighbors. Let the kids deliver them to the doorstep, ring the bell and run, just like on May Day. They will love hiding in the bushes, watching the neighbors answer the door to find their friendship offering. Add a plate of cookies or homemade candies, and you'll have the whole neighborhood raving about the little elf that visited them!
Perhaps the best yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles! 'Night, Gramma G.