DIY - Christmas Dollhouse

 

 

This house inspired me the minute it popped up in my Facebook news feed! My mom turned me onto Martha's Vintage Attic's Facebook page and I've been constantly sharing ideas! This tin dollhouse was simply the cutest thing I had ever seen and I knew I had to either find it or replicate it. Turns out, I replicated it!

My mom and I scoured the pages of eBay. I found several houses I liked, shared the links with her, and it turns out we both loved this darling colonial version. One that just happens to be the style of my dream home. I wanted to make it and have it ready for our holiday party, but according to the shipping directions, it might not even make it in time. I took my chances and it arrived with a week to spare! 

I was also inspired by a simple table top centerpiece from their site, so a trip to Michael's was in order. And, as luck would have it, everything I needed was 50% off! I stocked up on minuature wreaths, lights, and ornaments for the centerpiece. My mom went as well and found the sleigh that I had decided against but wished I had purchased once home. She also picked up the minature wrapped gifts and lights, as well as provided the batting and felt for the rest of the project. I was set!

Below are a series of photos and how the house took shape. I am so happy with the result. I didn't use hot glue as I didn't want to lose the integrity of the dollhouse. What if I had a different use for it down the road, and I don't mean with another child! Instead, I used good ol' Scotch tape and Zots.  

These are the things you'll need.

And the house, of course!

I decided to lay the felt on the roof first.

 

I placed Scotch tape across the peak only.

Then cut to look like snow.

What do you think so far?

To adhere the wreaths, I used Zots. (I find them on the floor from time to time.)

It's starting to take shape!

 

Next up, the lights. They work too!

I'm loving it!

This is the sleigh I passed up. So cute!

And this is the final version. Darling!

The Santa was a surprise. As you can see from the inspriration photo above, they had a Santa and his reindeer. We weren't sure where or when we would find something like that. I remembered the Santa at the last minute. When decorating a small tree for McKinley's play area, I discovered an antique Santa that belonged to my grandmother. What a perfect piece to finish off this antique Christmas house!

Crafting Alone at the Holidays

The holiday tradition creation continues at the Krasnow home. I really want to try and create memories that last a lifetime and traditions that we can continue year after year. Or as long as McKinley will participate. You know those pesky teenagers... 

My Christmas traditions consisted of going out on a tree hunt with my parents every year where we would hit every tree lot we could find. My dad and I would get out, scout the lot for the perfect tree while my mom stayed toasty warm in the car. When we thought we had found "the one", my mom would get out and give us her feedback. And, we generally ended up getting the very first tree we saw! My mom and I made cookies as most families do. My dad and I went Christmas shopping together every year for my mom. I'm not sure if it was actually on Christmas Eve, but it was as close to Christmas as we could get without it truly being last minute. We watched White Christmas every Christmas Eve night. And, we never opened our gifts on Christmas Eve. We were Christmas Day people. However, my mom allowed one gift on Christmas Eve and it was generally one of those books of Lifesavers.

Some of the Krasnow traditions I started last year are going to be pretty easy to continue. A couple of days prior to Christmas, my mom and I took McKinley to Crown Center for lunch at Fritz's, play time in Santa's Crayola Christmas Land, photos with Santa, and drinks for me and mom inside the Weston. I have it on the calendar for Friday the 20th and can't wait to do it all again. Last year was the first year I actually spent the night at my own home. I wanted McKinley to wake up on Christmas morning at his house, as I had done every Christmas for the past 38 years. My parents came over to help celebrate. I made a corn chowder for dinner, the Santa Sleigh Cocktail via Sandra Lee, tried to watch White Christmas, and went to bed so Santa could come. I plan to recreate this memory every year, or every year that my parents decide to spend the night and wake up with us on Christmas morning.

This year, I've wanted to add a few more things to the fold. McKinley and I have continued to bake, but I've added arts and crafts to the mix. We made classic construction paper garland a couple of weeks ago and it was a huge success! McKinley helped me thread the paper through each ring, alternating color, and he really paid attention to his work. It hangs in his bedroom and looks so cute! We made clothespin characters, which I thought were ornaments. I was wrong. They are simply characters and the tree also resides in his room along side a jingle bell tree on a little side table. (I have since purchased clothes pin ornaments that I hope to make next year.) Because things were going so well in the craft world, I decided it was time to experiment with a gingerbread house. This is an experiment that went so wrong so fast!

Upon opening the box I knew we were doomed. Both sides of the house were broken. And, since I had never built a gingerbread house before, I wasn't sure if it could be repaired. However, I kept hold of my positive holiday spirit and assured myself it could be salvaged. I got all of our house pieces, icing, and candies together. I had Joel at the ready with the camera. I needed him to capture this amazing new holiday tradition. We were ready!

As I started to assemble the house, I found pretty early on that the broken pieces were going to be harder to repair than I had hoped. It wasn't until I started to add the two triangle pieces to make the eave of the house, that the whole thing caved in. Oh, and I should say that while I was putting the sides of the house together, McKinley had completely lost interest. I mean, I had two sides of the house up and he was ready to play in the living room. What was happening to my new, cherished tradition? I was determined to not give up. So I added the front of the house, attached the roof, and started to attached the eaves when again, the whole thing started to collapse. It started with the broken pieces and then each piece started shifting, slowly into itself, and then fell into a heap. There I sat, all alone in the kitchen, devastated.

My devastation slowly turned to frustration which then turned to anger. Anger over the fact that my pieces were broken to begin with, anger over being left alone in the kitchen to finish the craft by myself, and anger that I am pretty sure this is how my life is going to be. Me, wanting so badly to create wonderful memories for my family, working hands on with my son in hopes that he will want to do these things year after year, and finding that I could just be that mom who does these things alone while the boys go off and do boys things. Because who wants to do girly things with their mom when you're a little boy who just wants to play cars, and trucks, and stuff. My hopes were dashed for the rest of the evening.

I always have these preconceived notions that life can should be like Hallmark commercials, ABC Family shows, and any Christmas movie every written. Everyone sitting around the table together, playing, eating, hanging out, simply enjoying each others company and completing any fun tasks at hand. However, life isn't really like that, especially mine, and I may just need to craft alone and show the boys what I've made in hopes of getting enthusiastic oohhs and aahhs! And about that gingerbread house, it wound up in the trash! Merry Christmas!

The "Elf on the Shelf"

So this mama has a question about the Elf on the Shelf. We don't have one, and probably won't get one, because if I'm being honest that thing creeps me out! (Look at his eyes. There's something there that isn't quite right.) According to their website, "The Elf on the Shelf® is a special scout elf sent from the North Pole to help Santa Claus manage his naughty and nice lists." When I was a child, I was simply told that if I were a good girl, I would be put on Santa's nice list. If I wasn't good, well I would be on the bad. It's like the carol says, "He knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake." It's plain and simple.

I wasn't a model child. I had temper tantrums just like everyone else. I was scolded, spanked (my parents were "old school"), and as a teenager, grounded. I'm not one to try and start controversy. I have, in the past, been slammed by others when expressing my opinion, and I will probably be slammed again. But, if we bring out this elf during the month of December, place him in different areas of the house at night (if one actually remembers), and ask that our children be good or the Elf will go tell Santa, what are we doing the remaining eleven months out of the year? Does your Elf sit out all year long? If so, that's a whole lot of remembering to move him. And, do we really need an Elf to discipline our children?

I will admit, McKinley is a pretty amazing kid most of the time. He's learning to say "please" and "thank you" unprompted. He's helping more and more when it comes to putting his toys away at night or when moving on to something else when playing. He's hanging up his jacket and placing his hats in their designated spot. And, above all, he's brushing his teeth twice a day with little or no fight. But, we also have our days. The long Thanksgiving weekend was very trying in our house. There were lots of "nos", thrown toys, battles over brushing his teeth, and a broken antique tree topper when he wasn't allowed to play with it. There was lots of rug time (he sits on the rug during "time out"), tears from both McKinley and myself, and lots of hugs to show that there were no hard feelings. 

We didn't threaten him with Santa's naughty or nice list. We didn't have "the elf" watching his every move. We simply disciplined him in the manner in which we always do. And, it worked. By the following week, things were back to normal somewhat normal. No's were replaced with his "okay" response. Please and thank you were back on the menu. Teeth were getting brushed before bed. (Granddaddy takes care of the teeth during the day.) And as for the tree topper, I finally had to break down and order a new one as I couldn't find time to head to my favorite antique store.

Again, I'm not looking for a fight. I'm not looking for comments telling me why I should buy the "Elf on the Shelf". This is a blog written by me and everything written is my opinion. I just don't understand why an elf replaced good ole fashion discipline.

The End

The Holidays - Creating New Traditions

The holidays are upon us and I for one am ready! I've actually been in the holiday spirit for weeks, but had to save my enthusiasm until after Thanksgiving. I am definitely one to NOT skip Thanksgiving. In my house, I refer to it as "The Forgotten Holiday". However, the Friday after Thanksgiving is a full on decorating day and I love how things are taking shape!

One thing I really want to focus on this year is creating new traditions and working more hands on with McKinley. He is getting to an age where we are baking together more so I really want to start exploring more arts and crafts projects. For Halloween, we made foam ornaments and decorated a little tree that sat by the front door. For Thanksgiving, we made lollipop stick puppets that didn't really go over all that well. For Christmas, I have lots in store. Baking cookies, crafting, and decorating. And last night was our first crafting session.

I wasn't going to put a tree in McKinley's rooms this year only because the living room tree has been such an ordeal. He is far more exploratory than he was last year and some of the ornaments are beginning to show some wear. His bedroom tree last year consisted of nothing but Santa ornaments, and since he has a tendency to wander upstairs and play in his room, I could just see these ornaments lying on the floor in pieces. Then, as I was searching for other decorations, I found a box of ornaments that I had forgotten about. Non-breakable ornaments that were on the main tree last year. Ornaments that were purchased only for him. Cars characters, Jake characters, and a few soft ones as well. McKinley can definitely have his own tree!

And because I'm going for non-breakable, I really wanted to make things with him that he can hang on the tree himself. So, last night we made the tradition construction paper garland! You know the ones I'm talking about, right? The ones all of us have made over the years and I'm pretty sure it started in Pre-School.

You take red and green construction paper, or any color you choose, and begin folding it back and forth like an accordion. I didn't take the time to measure a piece to create a template and then mark each one accordingly. I just folded the paper back and forth.

Once you've created all the folds you can, start cutting. And, if you have a toddler who has Play-Doo scissors, they can help "cut" as well. We have not entered the world of safety scissors....

Now, I'm not going to fool into thinking I'm a professional photographer, a professional blogger, or a professional crafter. In the real world, you snap pictures when you can, cut the strips of paper on your own while your husband gives your son a bath, and then pick up crafting where you left off. Everyone is in their pajamas because this is real life! And, you crop the photos so you readers don't see the clutter in every shot!

After the bath, McKinley continues to "cut" the strips for our garland.

Now the assembly can begin. I made the rings and McKinley helped me thread each color. And, he knew exactly the color pattern without me prompting him! He's a genius!

Helping mama fold the paper over to make the ring.

And here's the finished product. To McKinley, this is a roller coaster.  (And dreidel's are ice cream cones.) We will place this around McKinley's tree this weekend. I can't wait to show you the finished product. We have a few other crafts to make before we decorate the tree. I can't wait to get started on those!

What family traditions have you started with your children? What are some of your favorites? Can't wait to hear all about them!