Holidays Around the World Unit

Santa has come early this year with your all in one Holidays Around the World Unit!  Here is a fun and interactive unit that the students will love.  This unit includes lesson plans, research graphic organizers, and projects surrounding winter holidays celebrated around the world.  The great thing about this unit is that the students get to decide which holiday they want to learn further about.  All you need in one package!

Get your Holidays Around the World Unit by Clicking Here!

Holiday Cheer

Christmas has come and gone, and I am completely grateful for all the wonderful gifts that I received this year; however, my favorite part of the holiday is the giving.  This year I really wanted to give things that would be appreciated in many ways.  The gift that I was super excited about giving this year was my sister's wedding wreaths.  She will be having a rustic wedding at a beautiful barn in Barnesville, MN, so I wanted to give her a present for the wedding day and to decorate her home after.  Here is the wreaths that I created for her:

I used felt and burlap to create rosettes, leaves, and other small details. 

Also, I added medium sized pearls for a classic wedding touch.

Gift Wrapping

This year I decided to wrap my gifts with a rustic flair.  Brown paper, string, and pine cones create a beautiful present for any person on your list.

Start by wrapping your gifts in brown paper.  I found this paper at Target in the year round gift wrapping section (not the holiday section).

Then I used string to combine the two presents.

Hot glue on a few pine cones and a pine sprig.

Finally, I printed off a small B&W picture of the recipient (in this case recipient's') and attached it with a cute little clothes pin.

Perfect Christmas presents to be proud to give!

Quick Christmas Decor

The Christmas season is going fast, so if you are looking for a few quick decorating ideas here are a few that I love.

My old ladder is hung sideways on the wall.  Then I printed off pictures on card stock and wrote about the memorable moments.  Finally, using string and small clothespins, I hung the pictures to cherish.

Branches that were trimmed from our Christmas tree create a whimsical display in a large white porcelain pitcher.  A few pine cones added to the middle finished it off.

Toilet Paper Roll Christmas Trees

Christmas time in the classroom is always fun.  We created these cute trees with Toilet Paper Rolls, Q-Tips, and Paint!

I cut out a tree stencil for the kids to use to keep the shape of a Christmas tree.  Then they stamped the end of a toilet paper roll with green paint on the white opening.

Next, have the students take a q-tip and dot on their ornaments.

I used a rubber stamp with yellow paint for the star on top.

December Quotation

As I am sitting here looking outside at the Winter Wonderland, I remembered that I forgot to share my December quote printable with my followers!  I am so glad I remembered before it was January because this printable is to cute to not have displayed in your house.

Here is my finished product...

Print off your own at the following link:

December Quote

Christmas Moss Trees

As this Christmas season continues to unfold, I keep spying beautiful display ideas at stores.  One of my favorites was moss trees, but they cost $15-25 each!  So I went home and put on my craft cape to come up with these DIY Christmas Moss Trees.

I was so excited with my finished product that I could not keep it to myself, so here is your tutorial to make your very own moss trees.

How to make this rustic, modern Christmas display:

Materials:

White/Vanilla Craft Paint (Paintbrush)

Floral Foam Cones

Foam Block

Artificial Moss

Pots

Sticks

Pins

 Cut out artificial moss to fit floral cones and pin down.  Make sure to cover top and bottom as well.  (HINT) When I folded the bottom piece of moss to pin, it was like wrapping a present.

Paint the pots with craft paint.  First, I painted with a white normally.  Then, I used a vanilla color paint to the top by dabbing it on.  This gave it a rustic chic look.

 Add the foam to the pots to hold the sticks in place.

Put the natural sticks into the base of the floral cone and pot.

 Cover the foam with artificial moss.  I used hot glue to keep the moss in place.

Ta-Da!  Beautiful, inexpensive moss trees!

I added my give sign from Thanksgiving and a few pine cones to complete this masterpiece!

DIY Ornaments

This is the first Christmas that I will be able to fit a larger tree into my home, so I need more ornaments to add to it.  As a thrifty and crafty girl, I was determined to add only DIY ornaments.  Here is how it all went down.

First, we need a Christmas tree...

I found the perfect tree, now for a boyfriend to cut it...check!

Next, we need to make some cute ornaments...

Add buttons, ribbon, and felt to these little grape vine wreaths (49 cents at Michael's) to make these DIY ornaments.

This is another cheap way to make cute ornaments...using tinsel ribbon (ribbon with wire on the edges for those like me who do not know what tinsel ribbon is without googling it).  

Cut the 1.5" ribbon 40" long, and then follow these steps to make a beautiful star.

I added these to bare spots in the tree, so it looked fuller.

Happy Holidays!

Classroom Christmas Wish List

It is that time of the year to prepare the classroom for Christmas!  An important thing to remember is gearing parents toward the perfect presents that your classroom needs.  One way is to post a list of materials that you would like, but you could make it fun by having an interactive wish list.

I wrote the wish list items on these cut out candy canes:

 Then I made the big candy cane to make it more festive and decorative:

How fun is that!?  Now it is up to the parents to take a candy cane and buy the listed item.

Modern Christmas Wreath

I wanted to make my mom a holiday wreath that reflected her personality, so naturally I picked this leopard print ribbon!  She is absolutely in love with leopard, and it turned out so beautiful.

Here is what I used:

Grapevine Wreath

String of Holiday berries (gold)

Wooden Letters (Spray Painted Gold)

Ornaments (My mom had extra to use!)

I sprayed the joy sing with gold and antique white spray paint.

Separate the sprigs of berries and put a drop of hot glue at the end to attach it to the grapevine.

I then added two snowflakes (one on top of the other) for some extra glitz!

Ta-Da! Merry Christmas Mom! Love You!

 (She is so fun and spunky!)

Advent Calendar

Hello Fellow Bloggers!  It has been a little while since my last post, but with the holidays coming up, I have been very busy.  This weekend though was a perfect time to catch up! 

Since it is the first year and Christmas living with my boyfriend, I thought a great way to celebrate the holiday is by an Advent Calendar. 

I looked everywhere for a calendar that was both functional and charming.  Then I found a library card Advent calendar on sale for $50 at notonthehighstreet.com (talk about expensive)!

Being thrifty, I was driven to create this calendar for myself.  The entire project cost me about $3.00 (plus ink from the printer).

Here is how it turned out...

This project is too good to not share, so I am linking all the templates for this at the bottom of the post and sharing each step:

Print out the templates (found at the bottom of this post) and cut the pockets and cards.

Add your daily events to each library card.  My ideas ranged from enjoying hot cocoa by the fire, driving to see the Christmas lights, and watching The Santa Clause.

After cutting the pockets, fold the paper so the library card peeks out from the top and use adhesive tape to secure it down.



I added small Christmas trinkets and ornaments to open spaces.

Library Card Templates

Advent Library Cards Dec 1-4
Advent Library Cards Dec 5-8
Advent Library Cards Dec 9-12
Advent Library Cards Dec 13-16
Advent Library Cards Dec 17-20
Advent Library Cards Dec 21-24

Pocket Templates

Card Holders 1-2                                                  Card Holders 11-12
Card Holders 3-4                                                  Card Holders 13-14
Card Holders 5-6                                                  Card Holders 15-16
Card Holders 7-8                                                  Card Holders 17-18
Card Holders 9-10                                                Card Holders 19-20
                                                                              Card Holders 21-22
                                                                              Card Holders 23-24