DIY Christmas with Your Kids by Angela Brown

I met Angela years ago at a writing conference and we've been friends ever since. She moved away. I moved away. She moved back. I moved further away. But the internet keeps us in touch.

I had no idea what Angela would come up with for a DIY Christmas post, but I love her blog and I knew she would undoubtedly call upon her secret weapon. Chipmunk (aka, Danielle). I was not disappointed. Please welcome, Angela!


 Hanging with a Chipmunk

 Not this chipmunk:

Nor these chipmunks:

I’m talking about my chipmunk (aka, my darling, Danielle). 

She’s something that’s irreplaceable, just like the time I sometimes lose getting caught up in my personal projects.

This Christmas, I decided to do something a little different.  You see that ornament chipmunk is holding?  It’s a simple little thing really, made by removing the aluminum top, filling the glass ornament ball with cotton ball sized, red and silver frillies then adding red ribbon with snowflakes.

But what I love most of all is her smile.

So how did we go about making that smile?  It started with supplies from Hobby Lobby.  I adore that store.  From fabrics to crafts supplies to knick-knacks, Hobby Lobby has it all.  At the time I went shopping, I got what I needed at 50% off.  Yeah, call me spend-happy :o)

Glass ornaments, glitter, glue, red and silver frillies, and bling.  As you can see from the picture below, the glitter was a hit.

Chipmunk was able to produce these wonderful, personalized ornaments with minimal assistance. 

First, I covered the entire circumference of the glass ornament with Beacons’ ornament glue.  Next, I handed over the glitter and let her have a blast combining silver and snowflake white glitter.  That’s the one already completed.  She combined silver with green and red glitter for the ornament she’s working on in the picture.

It got messy, which is why I gave the junk mail new life.  It really made clean up as easy as 1 – 2 – 3.  But the mess was worth seeing this grin: 

Personalizing our own ornaments was great.  Having fun and spending time together…that’s more precious than anything.   Okay, I’m going to stop now before I start a tear-storm.  I suppose I can’t emphasize enough the joy I derived from hanging with chipmunk.

I recently did a post where I posed this question: What does this holiday season mean to you? From the comments, I could see that family time was and is at the top of the list.  But even I enjoy a little gift giving.  So I’d like to share two Kindle stories with two lucky winners chosen at random.  And yes, that means both winners will receive both titles.

Bah, Humbug! (a romantic comedy novella ) by Heather Horrocks and Christmas in Hell by Virginia Jewel.  The titles aren’t the typical merry, jolly, everything’s perfect sort of stories.  Honestly, the holidays can be that way.  So here’s your chance to get a few things off your chest.  Have you had an interesting Christmas mayhem moment?  You know, something like great Uncle Joe sipping one too many cups of spiked eggnog and showing the true meaning of full moon.  Or perhaps something less damaging to your eyes.  Even if it’s just your cat playing tag with your ornaments, this is your outlet.

Comment away.  That’s how the winners will be chosen.

NOTE: For other DIY Christmas posts, go here. All contests for the DIY posts end 12-22-11, so you can comment on any previous post.