Tag Archives: christmas tree

Handprints and footprints for Christmas keepsakes

Posted on December 14, 2017 | 5 comments

Before having kids, Christmas was that glamorous night full of festivities and gifts, delicious food and lots of booze, and back home for the family gathering.

Now, with my boys (nady 5 and joud 2) are here, Christmas is not just that night, it is 24 days and 24 nights to it. Beautiful decorations can’t be those expensive intact objects, they are keepsakes done with tiny hands and big love. Red or green are not just ordinary colors. Santa becomes mom’s best friend and chocolate can replace a meal . . . Yes i turn into an elf to be able to communicate with santa and change the letters (toys) many times!

Christmas is more than just this night or day, it’s the anticipation to it that makes you live the season beaming with excitement and joy. Against all odds, my Christmas is not a classic one, the star is not anymore on top of the tree, it fell from the summit to spark in their eyes and Jesus left his crib to be born in their heart. My Christmas is THEM!

Christmas Keepsakes, kids will love doing their footprint and handprint as christmas tree, snowman, santa and rudolph.

Very easy and fun project to keep for the life. We spent a joyful time together doing them. Wish you lots of laughters as much and more than we had. And let the magic of the season start!

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come. Ho Ho Ho!

5 Comments

Posted in design, DIY, way to play

Tagged blog, blogger, christmas, christmas tree, colors, craft, creative kids, creativity, footprint, handmade, handprint, jaymmy, keepsake, kids activity, lebanon, marmite et ponpon, qatar, rudolph, santa, snowman, way to play

Christmas tree advent calendar – DIY

Posted on November 26, 2015 | 2 comments

Here comes Christmas! The most beautiful and meaningful annual festival when happiness is a small word to what I actually feel. This Christmas comes with double joy, my family doubled in size; Nady and Joud my Christmas star.

It’s not early to set up the festive mood especially when it comes to Christmas decoration. Advent calendar should be ready by 1st of December, so if you are willing to DIY as we did, better for you to go ahead.

Last year we had a reindeer advent calendar, this year we created a beautiful cute forest of Christmas trees to start the countdown to the big day. A fun and simple craft to lay the foundation of a very exciting season. What’s better than the Christmas day is the anticipation to it.

First you need to prepare 24 green cones, made with 200gsm cartons. You can use different shades of green to give it a realistic look.

After all is done, i gave them to Nady to unleash his creativity. Give your kids their favorites materials and watch them being creative; pompoms, paint, washi tape, stickers….

For display, lay them on a white surface or use cotton to create snow. The sky is the limit, use any material for the mood you want to settle.

Now the fun part of this advent calendar is what lays underneath 🙂 Oh yes, sweets and toys. Who doesn’t love a daily surprise gift while counting down?!

If your kid’s age let you take the advent calendar to the next level, don’t just hide sweets or toys under the cones, put words like love, hope, faith….to teach them the real meaning of Christmas.

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.

2 Comments

Posted in DIY, special occasions, way to play

Tagged advent calendar, blog, blogger, christmas, christmas tree, DIY, lebanon, marmite et ponpon, qatar, seasons greetings, way to play

Handmade Christmas tree ornaments- crafts for tiny hands

Posted on November 24, 2014 | 5 comments

Christmas is my favorite holiday; so joyful, festive and special for what it represents. When you say Christmas you immediately think of the decorated trees, shopping for gifts, lights, beautiful decorations, happy family gatherings, jingle bells, yummy food, midnight mass, visiting friends and family, kids waiting for Santa… and by the way my husband proposed to me on the Christmas eve! I always thought it can’t get better until my love Nady was born, he became the Christmas and the joy of the family! I admit that kids take Christmas to another level of feelings to discover that happiness is a small word to what you actually feel. He changed the whole concept and added more magic and excitement to this season. This year, we are decorating the house together, and specifically the tree. Handmade ornaments with salt dough! I love when he is involved in the crafts, it’s a quality and fun time together! Mon amour d’artiste! Very simple craft, doesn’t require a lot of ingredients and the outcome is wow! With just flour, salt and water you can do these beautiful ornaments! Mix:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water

and knead until smooth. If your dough is still crumbly you can add more water, or if it’s sticky you can add flour, you can always correct flour and water to get the consistency you want. Add coloring gel to the dough or paint it later if your kids are old enough to create designs on them. I love working with this dough, it’s so versatile; you can bake it for 15-20 mns on 200ºC or leave it to air dry for 2 days, if you are using decorations that can’t be baked. If you are leaving it to air dry i suggest to flip it after one day. For instance, we used colorful plastic pieces to decorate the tree shape ornament, and kept it to dry without baking. Nady was so happy rolling the dough, cutting, and poking the colored plastic bits. Grand garcon (big boy). He got so excited, he sat on the table! This is how they look on the tree after they dry! The sky is the limit, you can do any Christmas related shape you want! We used a straw to make the small hole, where we inserted a golden thread to be able to hang it on the tree. After baking these stars, i brushed them with little oil for a shiny look! We used the whole set of Christmas cookies cutters, so we did many shapes! And finally the colorful Christmas balls! I loved the outcome, the color blend makes you happy 🙂 You can be as much creative as you want, all depending on the material you have and the age of your kids. You can paint, use glitter, beads, pompoms……Let them unleash the artist inside them! These ornaments last for years if well stored in a dry container and not exposed to moisture in any way. Et voila our beautiful Christmas tree for the year 2014, done by Nady and the help of maman. 3a2bel kel seneh! This is how we wish you (in arabic) a long life to celebrate more christmases in the coming years. One month until Christmas, it’s never early to start celebrating, We did! What about you, did we put you in the mood?! If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page. More posts yet to come, stay tuned!