Oh, no, I feel like one of the stores with my Christmas stuff out too early

I hate how all the stores already have their Christmas stuff out. It is really crazy. Stores around here have all their Halloween costumes marked down 50% already. One of them has had all fall decorations and costumes marked down 50% for a month. What is wrong with this picture?

Hazel in her new house for a tea party

Anyway, we decided to do a few crafts last night and this morning. One of the first things we did was to make a thank you note to the wonderful family who gave us their Waldorf playstands (which an uncle had made for them). (Please note that the link for the playstands is to illustrate more what they are for those of you that may not know than to advertise any specific store or playstand.) Now Hazel can make a "house" without using every chair in the room. We use large pieces of cotton flannel and smaller silks and large clips that I found at Michaels on clearance for 50 cents each. They are not as nice as the Waldorf ones, but much cheaper. Well anyway, Hazel and I made them a card today to thank them for the playstands. I still cannot get over their generosity. The mother keeps thanking me for taking them since she was worried about what to do with them. She even delivered them to us since she didn't think they would fit in my car. Needless to say I used this as a lesson in gratitude and we made them a nice thank you using construction paper, crayons, stickers and a rubber stamp. Plus I included the picture above so they could see Hazel in her house.

We also made some lollipop spiders. I saw these posted on a few blogs and thought they would be fun. Hazel loves lollipops and has a good friend with severe nut allergies, so I thought we could make some for him to make his Halloween special. I bought organic lollipops at Trader Joes and used some pipe cleaners, a pom pom and googly eyes and glue. Hazel had some trouble with the concept. I went out last night to a talk at Hazel's school on the math curriculum and left Hazel and Steve to make a few. This is what I came home to:

Well at least they are decorated.

Now for my Christmas ornament crafts. I got this idea from Sesame Street Parents Christmas Holiday Projects for Parents & Children. I picked it up at Ocean State Job Lot for $2.99 last year when we were still letting Hazel watch some tv and she loves Elmo.

I of course did not read the directions first. If I had I would have seen that you should glue before painting, though I don't think this would be as much fun for Hazel since she would have to wait to decorate. Having them painted ahead of time worked well. Needless to say we glued the pasta together and then glued on decorations (mostly pom poms). I still need to tie strings to them so they can be tree ornaments. And we have more painted pasta to work with, but this at least gives you the idea.

Our Tree

Hazel's Tree

Our Wreath

My Tree