Favorite Christmas Books

I am a major advocate for reading. Even the smell of books is enough to put me in a happy place. 

This, coupled with my addiction to beautifully illustrated children's books, has amassed an impressive library of children's books. Today I am going to kick off the holiday season with my favorite Christmas reads. 

Image Credit: Amazon.com

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, by Susan Wojciechowski. This is my all-time favorite Christmas book. I have linked to the Amazon 1995 print. There is good reason for this. While the new books have a CD, they have done a hatchet-job of the breathtaking illustrations. It is a travesty, as the illustrations make the book extraordinary. You can see the difference against the newer copy here. 

A sad, reclusive woodcarver is visited by a widow and her son. They are new to the town, and she has realized that her family nativity set is gone. She asks the woodcarver to make her a new set before Christmas. He grumpily accepts the job, and is visited the following week by the widow and her son because the boy wants to watch him carve. As the woodcarver works, the boy teaches him about his nativity set- each figure and why it was special. Slowly, as each visit approaches, the woodcarver is softened by the kindness of the widow and the joy of the boy. The illustrations are warm and heartfelt and the story is lyrical and poignant.

Image Credit: ZiggityZoom

The Christmas Magic, by Lauren Thompson. I have to be honest here, I am a complete sucker for anything illustrated by Jon Muth. Not only are the illustrations frame-worthy, but the stories are almost always guaranteed to be spectacular. This is no exception. The story is a sweet and almost poetic narrative of Santa preparing for Christmas. This is not your 'holly, jolly Santa' story, but rather a more wise, kind, and old Santa whom you can imagine hand-carving toys of the past. 

Image Credit: Amazon.com

Great Joy, by Kate DiCamello.  This is a touching story of a little girl, Frances, who shows great compassion and love for others. I can't do justice to the simple, beautiful story by trying to explain it. Check it out. 

Some other great reads for the holiday season: 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss

A Charlie Brown Christmas, by Charles Schultz

The Jolly Christmas Postman, by Allen Ahlberg

The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg

Please add your favorites below! 

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Last Friday, Little Tomato got in a wee-bit of trouble... she decided to give herself a haircut. In the time that it took for me to change clothes, she had lopped off some massive chunks of hair. She didn't just get the front, but had somehow managed to hack off some of the back too.

I didn't so much 'yell at her' as I began to squeak the words, "No, no, your beautiful hair!" in an eerily high-pitched voice.

Needless to say, the day did not go as planned and we spent the morning at the hairstylist taking a good 4-5 inches off the length (with lots of layers to hide the more 'dramatic' chunks of missing hair). I spent the afternoon vacuuming human hair off the floor that had somehow traversed half the rooms in the house.

So this morning, while we were working on a Thanksgiving craft, I opened the drawer to her desk to find what looked like a dead animal.

Oh, wait... no. Never mind. Just some evidence of last Friday's debacle.

Blessing Bags

Today my friend Sarah and I made 'blessing bags' together with our kids. We had both seen this idea on Pinterest [original link here] and wanted to do this as a November activity.

Sarah brought a book called, "The Tooth," by Avi Slodovnick which addresses giving to homeless and read it to the kids. We briefly talked about how some people do not have homes and the simple things we use every day like a toothbrush, chapstick, warm gloves, and food.We then gave each child five bags to fill with the various items and they enjoyed walking around the table filling the bags with blessings.

For anyone interested in doing this activity, there is a great 'how-to' on the link above, and I have included our list of items below.

A video of the reading of "The Tooth,"Avi Slodovnick can be found HERE at Storyline, read by Annette Bening.

We purchased gallon-size plastic bags and filled them with the following items:

• Gloves
• Toothbrush & toothpaste
• Facial tissues
• Reusable collapsible water bottle
• Shampoo, lotion & soap
• Chapstick
• Cough drops
• Band-aids
• Deodorant
• Granola bars
• Cracker sandwiches
• Applesauce
• Gum

Meet Libby

Yesterday I was planning on having my November 'craft day' with friends, however Little Tomato was feeling under the weather, so it was cancelled. However, Husband graciously watched her yesterday to allow me to still have the day to sew. I just purchased a new sewing book, Storybook Toys by Jill Hamor, and was eager to get to sewing with this book.

I ended up making my own pattern for both the doll and clothing, but I found the book really helpful regarding general information on face embroidery and yarn hair construction.

I have named her Libby, and intend to also make a handkerchief to tie in her hair for a little accessorizing. Libby was inspired by this adorable photo I saw on Pinterest.

Libby's shoes are removable so she can run with her bare feet. :)

Her hair is Nature's Choice Organic Cotton yarn, and is incredibly soft.

Her facial features are embroidered.

I couldn't resist adding the banjo playing bear to her smock. And the knee pads just added to the cuteness. 

MDC IdeaPaint Pro

I thought I would elaborate a bit on the MDC IdeaPaint Pro I used on the Learning Room wall. I had someone question whether it is worth the cost, as it is somewhat cost-prohibitive.

IdeaPaint Pro, a  2-part kit.

The MDC IdeaPaint that I used is the IdeaPaint Pro, which is as heavy-duty as you can get for dry erase paint; it is what they use in commercial applications where it is used regularly (ex. schools).  

The major plus of this stuff is that if applied properly it won't ghost like like cheap marker boards. The kit covers 50 sq/ft (which is the equivalent of a 5'-0" x 10'-0" dry-erase board). I covered this major swatch of wall and a 3'-0" x 4'-0" board with the extra paint. If you were to look at the pricing for a dry-erase board that size, this is a far cheaper option (especially for a durable, high-quality one).  

The cons:
 
IdeaPaint Pro only comes in 50 sq/ft coverage, you can't get a smaller kit to minimize cost.

It has a strong odor when you apply it. If you have children, you will want to install this when they are not home in a *very well ventilated area* and give it a good 24 hours for the odor to dissipate. 

**If you purchase the IdeaPaint Create, this will have far less odor (it is considered a low-VOC product). "Create" is also available in a clear coat (to apply over an existing wall color). However if this is for use by children, it would be a wise decision to make it *crystal clear* which wall in your house is the only wall in your house to color with markers... or you may end up with some major touch-ups on your newly graffitied walls.

You *must* watch the installation video and follow it to a "T". It does not apply like standard paint. You need to keep a wet edge, apply thoroughly, and you cannot touch-up later. You also need to prep the wall prior to painting to avoid a bumpy writing surface. If you question your ability to apply it properly, you will want to hire a professional painter who has experience with epoxy paint (this applies similar to an epoxy). 

So to give you the SHORT answer, if you truly want the large-scale surface for dry-erase markers and want something durable, yes, it is worth the cost. If you do not want something this big, you may be better off buying a good quality large-scale marker board. 

Let the Marker Fun Commence

Some time ago I used MDC's IdeaPaint to make a large swatch of wall into a marker board. However, I did not advertise that this big white swatch of wall was 'writing ready' to Little Tomato because it would be far too easy to get 'overzealous' and run over the edges onto the *non-erasable* adjacent wall.

Yesterday we hung the new frame onto the marker board wall in the Learning Room. It is amazing what a difference the frame makes! The marker board paint went from an understated color accent to a BIG statement.

To make the frame, we purchased primed MDF crown molding trim and painted it. It took several coats, as the color is deep, and the primed MDF only comes in white primer (not a deep-base primer). Husband mitered the corners and screwed braces into the four corners. We nailed it to the wall, and voila!  I still need to do touch-ups, but it is at least ready for Little Tomato to wield markers.