10th December - Candy Cane Growing

So I've been super excited about this one, it completely captures the magic of Christmas and the kids imaginations. However it is a long term investment of time and effort as you'll be the one to help the candy cane to "grow".

So to grow your candy cane you will need:

1. Plant pots, 
2. Magic Snow
3. Elf magic dust (glitter)
4. Candy cane seeds (broken up candy cane piece)
5. Candy canes to add later
6. Water

 First I got Scarlett to pour some magic snow into a small pot. 

 She then put in the seed and sprinkled with the Elf magic dust. Next pour water over the seed to help it grow.

 To Scarlett's great excitement the magic snow puffs up instantly and the seed is hidden. 

The magic of this is every night I will add a bit of candy cane to the pot to make it look like it is growing. Then on Christmas eve they will have a full sized candy cane. I'll update you with photos of our growing candy cane over the next 14 days of advents.
I did think these would make a really fun present for friends kids, Might do that next year!

9th December - Glitter Pinecones

I'm not going to lie, this is a messy one but who doesn't love getting covered in glitter right?

We collected loads of pine cones from a friends garden a few months ago. I wasn't sure what to use them for at the time, but they kept well and feel very festive.

To try and control the mess I set up the craft by putting some blue tac on the end of a straw. We then stuck a pine cone to the straw and it helped to avoid getting super gluey fingers.

You can then easily dip the cone in glue then sprinkle with glitter. As Scarlett demonstrates below.

These look super cute and the girls really enjoyed this one.

8th December - Angel Hangers.

These Angel hangers are taken from an awesome Christmas Craft Book. I bought this book a couple of years ago and I can highly recommend it. We've done loads from the book and there's still so manage pages left to use for crafts it's brilliant. The prints are nice and colourful and the girls love the simplicity of them.

7th December - Christmas Tree Bunting

Thankfully we are back from hospital and Millie is on the mend WHOOP!!!!

Sitting down with them both to do this advent craft was lovely. 

For today's craft I had pre bought some felt tree bunting. Then let the girls add a sparkly star on top of each one. Nice and straight forward but looks really effective, and Scarlett really enjoys seeing this hanging up in the kitchen.

6th December - Mini Cardboard Tree

I used old Christmas cards to make our cardboard trees.

To make the tree's I did the following:

1. On the reverse of the card picture draw a tree template
2. Cut out the tree
3. Use the cut out as a template for 2 more trees and cut out.
4. Fold the cardboard pieces in half with the picture on the inside of the fold 
5. Add glue to the reverse side of the cards.
6. Stick together for a 3D stand up tree.
7. Hand over to the kids to decorate with stickers and anything sparkly. 

I didn't have a chance to take any photos of this craft as I'm still in hospital with Mills. Boo!

5th December - Sticker Book

I'm so glad I pre planned these crafts as today was a bit of a nightmare. Millie ended up in hospital last night and is in for the foreseeable future. So these advent crafts are a great distraction for Scarlett left at home without mummy and her little sister.
She's taken her sticker book along to grandma and grandpa's for a sleep over today.

Sticker books are a great Christmas craft for the advent, because you can't spend every day sat with them doing something and making a mess to clear away, so this type of activity keeps them busy and give you a break.

Struggling to feel in the festive spirit today, but hopefully illie will be sorted soon and we'll all be home together again.

4th December- Snow Flakes

I precut snow flakes..here's a good site for design inspiration Snowflakes

I then let the girls colouring them in then hung them from the ceiling in their bedroom. I have to be honest, I like my Christmas decorations and some of the bits the girls do aren't exactly in keeping with my theme, so these are what I use to decorate their room. It makes for a lovely colourful display.

3rd December - Christmas Cards

Homemade Christmas cards in my opinion are the best.

When you've not got much money and you want to show your love for people they can't be beaten. You spend time and effort (trying to make sure the kids don't mess them up) making them and endure mega hand cramp writing them all out...what more could your friends and family ask for!

So I included our handmade cards into the girls advent calendar to kill two birds with one stone.

So with a simple finger print design we set to work.

 Drying all the cards

2nd Decemer - Clay Hanging Decorations

Today we invited next door over for some craft fun and dinner. This was lovely for all the kids from 2 years to 5 years old. I enjoyed making some too!

I was too busy to take any action shots, but will post the finished results when they are dry.

I bought a 1kg block of white air dry clay and this is what we did.

1. I set out a plate for each child with their name on it to place the finished decorations onto to dry.
2. Cut a plastic folder divider in half for none stick mats
3. Set out rolling pins and cookie cutters.
4. let the kids roll out the clay, cut out shapes and don't forget to poke a hole in them so you can hang them.
5. Leave for 24 hours to dry
6. Paint and display.

We all had fun. Tip- If the clay starts to dry out too early add a splash of water to freshen it up again.

1st December - Letter to Santa

Our Christmas count down has begun and here is the first of our lovely crafts.

I created a template in word for the girls. Very simple but effective. 

I'll be honest, this was a bit lost on little one!

Drawing the frozen characters.

The finished letter. Quite impressed with her drawing of Santa here.

We posted the letters to the address royal main give you as they write a letter back from Santa. Looking forward to seeing the replies. Scarlett will be very excited!