Here's some of the crafts that we did over christmas... i was very impressed with how they all turned out- my niece painted the coffee cup and my sister made the felt flower
on the headband- soooo cute.... and very, very simple....
THE RUFFLE FLEECE SCARFE:
Need fleece- 58-60" long, 7-8" wide.
Fold fleece in half and cut slits angled down towards center leaving 1" of no-cut zone in center, alternate the cuts from side to side- it will form a continuous "Z" formation. (see photo) From one cut to
the next it should be 1-1/2 to 2" apart.
Trim factory ends and cut in slits how desired.
Shown is the European Knot, cuts can be customized once on to see where they are needed. The FELT FLOWER: shown on scarf was purchased as a set of 4 from Hobby Lobby- however, the one shown on the head band was made out of multiple layers of felt hot glued together with a gem glued in the middle.
DOT-PAINTED CHINA:
This idea was from the Martha Stewart website- there are different templates you can download or create your own design. We used Porceline Food Safe Paint, ceramic mugs, plates, bowls, etc...., black transfer paper, pencil and toothpicks.
First you get your design- place the transfer paper on your dish, place your design on top, use a pencil to trace over the design. This will transfer the design to the dish. You then poor a dime size amount of desired paints and use your toothpick to "dot paint" on the design.
Once your finished, you place your items in a cold oven and bake at 375 for 20-30 min. These will need to be hand- washed. My sister did this for teacher gifts for christmas- what a GREAT idea!
Meg just passed her nursing boards....WOO-HOO.... it was definitely a time to celebrate- and what better way but with chocolate?...... try this
yummy recipe-
though i will warn you- it is VERY rich. 
Today was mops at our church....i'm in charge of the newsletter they hand out that gives moms tips, recipes, crafts, and fun things to do with their kids. Here's some excerpts from this month. I get most of the information from martha stewart, martha stewart kids and the family fun websites and magazines- ....i am always looking for fun things to include so if you know of any sites, magazines or activities let me know- i would be VERY, VERY appreciative. 
so for the past two months my neighbor and i have been getting together on the first tuesday of the month and cooking up some food. Today was number 3 of getting together and our other neighbor and good friend joined in on the fun and it was amazing- we whipped up Bruschetta Chicken Bake, Chicken Pot Pies, Three Cheese Chicken Casserole and a roaster full of Chili. The kids were all down for naps and 2-1/2 hours later we had 8 or so meals apiece. I LOVE MY NEIGHBORS!!!!! If you know of any great freezer recipes, feel free to email them- we'd LOVE it! :)
