Feathers in Our Nest

a blog about faith, family, food, & more written by a wife and stay at home mom of five

The Kids’ Table

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My niece and two nephews are coming to visit next week!  They are 2, 4, and 4, respectively.  I want them to have a great time at our house, so I’ve come up with some fun activities for them to do while they’re here.  Maybe some of these ideas will help you as you plan activities for the children at your Christmas gatherings!

– Play-dough
I may be inviting a small mess here, but I’m making some homemade play-dough for the kids to play with at the kitchen table.  I’m going to make red and green and give them Christmas cookie cutters to use to make pretend cookies.  Play-dough is really easy to make, and I’m hoping it will keep them busy for a little while!

– Tree-trimming
We have a small (4′) Christmas tree that we are setting up in our dining room this year.  I thought it would be fun to let the kids decorate it!  I bought some non-breakable ornaments from the Dollar Tree (plastic candy canes, gold jingle bells, etc.) for them to use.

– Christmas books
I don’t have many children’s Christmas books yet, so I’m going to check out a bunch from the library and leave them in a big basket in the living room.  (My mom used to set such “book traps” when we were young, and I know that played a part in all of us becoming avid readers!)

– Gingerbread men/women sandwiches
One of my nephews eats PB&J almost exclusively 🙂 but I thought he might like making his sandwich more “festive” by cutting it out with a large gingerbread man cookie cutter.

– Coloring books
I haven’t come across any Christmas coloring books at the Dollar Tree yet this year, but I hope to pick up a few when I do.  If not, I’ll just print out some pages and provide crayons so the kids can color pictures for us.

– Cookie decorating
If we get really brave, maybe we’ll let the kids decorate some Christmas sugar cookies!  I always loved doing that as a child.  I’ll put icing in little bottles and have sugar/candy for them to sprinkle on the cookies.

I think those are all the ideas I have so far.  If you still need inspiration, there are tons of frugal craft ideas on this blog!

I want to hear from you…
How do you make the kids’ table fun at your family gatherings?

Whimsical Christmas Wreath

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This is a great project to put together while watching a Christmas movie with your family!

Start with a plain grapevine wreath (available at Michael’s or A.C.Moore).  Cut out circles of varying size from an assortment of red and green fabrics (I also used white and black & white fabrics too).  No need to measure these – just cut small, medium, and large circles.  Stack three circles together in a way that looks good.  Poke a hole in the center through all three layers using a sharp pair of scissors (careful!).  Poke a brad into the hole and open up the back.  Using hot glue, adhere circles randomly to your grapevine wreath until it looks the way you want it to.  Add any other embellishments (like sparkly snowflake ornaments) as desired.  Tie on a ribbon loop at the top for hanging purposes.  Voila!

For all the Preparing for Christmas Week posts, click here!

Linking to:
Tatertots & Jello

I want to hear from you…
Share your hand-crafted Christmas wreaths with us!
Link them up (from Christmases past and present) in the comments!
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Holiday Breakfast Ideas

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Whether you have company in your home or not, it is fun to make holiday breakfasts special and delicious, while still allowing you to spend time with your family.

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Here’s a list of some ideas for you!
– Breakfast Souffle (make with sausage or bacon)
– Bacon Muffins
– Buttermilk Biscuits
– Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread
– Pumpkin Spice & Cranberry Orange Bagels (make ahead) and cream cheese
– Baked French Toast
– Cinnamon Rolls
– Quiche (this quiche recipe is similar to one we make)
– Yogurt and Granola Parfaits

I want to hear from you…
– What are your favorite breakfast foods for the holidays?
– Do you have a traditional Christmas morning breakfast?

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