Great Reads for Children

Great Reads for Children (any time of the year):
Reading to our kids is such a beautiful way to bond with them whether your a parent, grandparent, teacher, caregiver....

The List

One of my favorite Authors: Robert Munsch:

• Love You Forever- Can't finish this story without crying.
• Kiss Me, I'm Perfect  
• Smelly Socks- My son loves this book b/c he relates.
• We Share Everything
• Make up Mess
• Class Clown

Whoever You Are by Mem Fox

The Mitten by Jan Brett

The Donkeys First Christmas by S T Schroder

The Brambley Hedge Series by Jill Barklem

The Fern Hollow Series by John Patience

The Three Trees by Elena Pasquals

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

You are Special by Max Lucado

With you all the Way by Max Lucado My boys love this because it's about Knights.

The Christmas Sweater by Glen Beck Great story and illustrations

The Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall

What a Wonderful Life by George David Weiss We love to sing so we would sing this to our boys when they were little. It has the lyrics to the song in book form.

A Wish to be a Christmas Tree - Colleen Monroe

The Way I Feel by Janan Cain I love al the color in this book.

Peeping Beauty by Mary Jane Auch Great little story for girls.

The Christmas Giant - Steve Light

Percy the Park Keeper by Nick Butterworth

The Little House by Burton

The Pine Tree Parable- Liz Curtis Higgs
 
The Chronicles of Narnia Series

The Twelve Prayers of Christmas by Candy Chand

Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle

Nicholas Cricket By Joyce Maxner

I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont Great illustrations and the counselor in me just likes this book.

Dream Snow- by Eric Carle

Anna Dewdney series on Llama Llama - Llamas run wild here so when we go camping we have been able to hang out with them!

• Llama llama Misses Mama  
• Llama Llama Red Pajamas
• Llama Llama Holiday Drama

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever -by Barbara Robinson My FAVORITE book and movie

Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale -by Martin Waddell

How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods Great pictures

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka Hilarious book

Snowball Fight!- Jimmy Fallon

Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini The boys love his moosteache

The Series of There was an Old Lady books by Lucille Colandro

The First Bear in Africa by Satomi Ichikawa

The Snow Tree - Caroline Repchuk

I Love You More Than Rainbows by Susan E Crites

The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco Portrays the Holocaust for children in an excellent way

Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

All the Ways I Love You by Theresa Trinder

Christmas Book Countdown

This is one of the many Advent ideas from our Simple or Fancy Xmas Advent Calendar Ideas .

I am in love with childrens books! I love the illustrations, the colors they use and the stories!  My dream is to be a children books writer. It most likely will never happen but hey a girl can dream, right. 
One of the things we do in our home is have a Book Countdown to go along with our Advent Calendar.  Depending on how many books I was able to purchase prior to Dec. that is where we start our countdown. Last year, the boys were lucky and we had 24 books! One year we did a 12 days to Christmas countdown.

The great thing about this is you can also check out books from the library and wrap them up and of course return them when your done.  We have done that and I actually prefer that but we don't have a public library here, I know sad but true.

We use a variety of books not just Christmas books below are some of the books that have made it to our Christmas countdown.
Great Reads for Children (any time of the year):
One of my favorite Authors: Robert Munsch:

• Love You Forever- Can't finish this story without crying.
• Kiss Me, I'm Perfect
• Smelly Socks- My son loves this book b/c he relates.
• We Share Everything
• Make up Mess
• Class Clown

•  Whoever You Are by Mem Fox
• The Mitten by Jan Brett
• The Donkeys First Christmas by S T Schroder
• The Brambley Hedge Series by Jill Barklem
•  The Fern Hollow Series by John Patience
• The Three Trees by Elena Pasquals
• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
• You are Special by Max Lucado
• With you all the Way by Max Lucado  My boys love this because it's about Knights.
• The Christmas Sweater by Glen Beck  Great story and illustrations
• The Ox Cart Man by  Donald Hall
• What a Wonderful Life by George David Weiss  We love to sing so we would sing this to our boys when they were little. It has the lyrics to the song in book form.
• A Wish to be a Christmas Tree - Colleen Monroe
• The Way I Feel by Janan Cain   I love al the color in this book.
• Peeping Beauty by Mary Jane Auch  Great little story for girls.
• The Christmas Giant - Steve Light
•  Percy the Park Keeper by Nick Butterworth
• The Little House by Burton
• The Pine Tree Parable- Liz Curtis Higgs
• Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae  You can buy this with the cd and I love the violin playing cricket part.
• Merry Christmas Curious George - Margret and H.A. Rey  Our boys love George!
• Narnia Series
• The Twelve Prayers of Christmas by Candy Chand
• Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
• Nicholas Cricket By Joyce Maxner
• I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont    Great illustrations and the counselor in me just likes this book.
• Dream Snow- by Eric Carle

Anna Dewdney series on Llama Llama - Llamas run wild here so when we go camping we have been able to hang out with them!

• Llama llama Misses Mama
• Llama Llama Red Pajamas
• Llama Llama Holiday Drama

• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever -by Barbara Robinson  FAVORITE book and movie
• Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale -by Martin Waddell
• How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods    Great pictures
• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka   Hilarious book
• Snowball Fight!- Jimmy Fallon
• What Santa Can't Do - Douglas Wood
• Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini  The boys love his moosteache
• The Series of There was an Old Lady books by Lucille Colandro
• The First Bear in Africa by Satomi Ichikawa
• The Snow Tree - Caroline Repchuk
• I Love You More Than Rainbows by Susan E Crites
• The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco  Portrays the Holocaust for children in an excellent way
• Was That Christmas - Hilary McKay
• Mouse's First Christmas - Lauren Thompson
• Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
• All the Ways I Love You by Theresa Trinder

What are some of your Children Book Favorites? 
We get most of our books from Scholastics because they are inexpensive, also Walmart has a good selection online to choose from and they are well priced.
Enjoy reading! 

Picture from Babyccino Kids.  A great website I stumbled upon Christian Children's Book Review  not all her book reviews are from Christian writers.

Sunday Linky Parties

http://www.flamingotoes.com/
http://www.iheartnaptime.net/link-parties-2/
http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/p/link-parties.html
http://petitehermine.blogspot.com/
http://www.sistersofthewildwest.blogspot.com/
http://my1929charmerblog.com/
http://www.homemakeronadime.com/
http://www.marvelouslymessy.com/
http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

Shabby Chic Rosette Christmas Ornament

Lovely Rosettes on your Christmas tree from our Drab to Fab DIY Christmas Ornaments Collection.

Supplies-
Crepe paper
STYROFOAM balls
Craft glue
ribbon
paper clip

1. Cut strips of crepe paper about 10inches long and twist them.  I don't twist them tightly b/c I like my rosettes to look a little fluffy.
2. Loosely twisted paper and roll into rosettes.

3.Once rolled glue them to styrofoam ball.
4. Insert paper clip so that you can hang it on the tree.
5. Make a bow and glue at the top.

DIY Ornament using Napkins

From my Fab to Drab Collection comes this clear glass ornament covered w/ a snowflake napkin using my homemade Modge Podge. 

Cut the pieces into squares and start applying all over ball. Let it dry.

Pottery Barn Knock Off Tree Advent Calendar

Every year my advent calendars get better!  I started off with a shoe organizer calendar and last year I sewed felt pockets and stringed them to ribbon.  This is one of the many from the collection Simple or Fancy DIY Xmas Advent Calendars.  Inside each pocket is a card w/ an activity and candy. We use it in conjuction with What God Wants for Christmas which comes with 7 gift boxes that we place inside each pocket of our advent calendar.  An example of the Activity card:
Day: 21 Sharing the Good News
Ornament: Mini Megaphone
Verse 2:16-20
Activity: as a family shout the good news

or more involved
Day: 19 Jesus is God's Gift to Us
Ornament: Gift box
Verse: Mt 1:21-23
Sing: Away in the Manger
Activity: Find something in your house that you want to "give" to another family member and stick it in a gift bag. It can be silly or for real either way at the end of the game it all goes back.  (last year I got a pacifier)
Open Box #4 from What God Wants for Christmas (You can find this at your local Christian Bookstore)
If you would like a copy of the Advent Activity Cards below in the comments write your email or email me at inspiredbyfamilymag@yahoo.com.
This is my inspiration from Pottery Barn.
Supplies:
Felt
Christmas stickers
Xmas scrapbook paper
Fabric glue

1. Using chalk draft your tree onto green felt then cut it out. I made lots of mistakes while drawing so I was glad for the chalk.
2. Cut the tree, trunk and star out.
3. Make 24 or 25 red pockets all the same size. We celebrate Xmas on the 24th a Latin American tradition.
4. First lay pockets where you want them to ensure they will all fit and then glue them.
5. Glue ribbon to each pocket. You can use a variety of patterns or just one as I did.
6. Then glue stickers on to ensure that they will stay.
7. Make circles from Xmas paper and number them.
I used silver glittery alphabet stickers to monogram our tree.

No sewing involved and if I do say so myself it turned out pretty darn cute!

Advent Calendar using Toilet Paper Rolls

We have moved the details to this post to our new website Inspired by Familia!  You can find the details for this easy craft over here.

Little Baker Apron

Your adorable little baker must have their own little adorable apron.
Supplies:
Ribbon of different widths
solid child size apron

1. Gather your wide ribbon and sew it together. Place a smaller width ribbon over it and sew it.
2. Cut the straps that come with the apron and replace them with thin width ribbon. Sew it on each side.

You can find these child size aprons at your local craft store or order them by the dozen from Oriental Trading Company.
Add a cake box mix and mixing spoons to the kit!

   or a cupcake baking kit like this!

picture from Bake it Pretty

Visit Inspired by Family for all 18 DIY Gifts & Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Paint Your Own Ceramic Gifts

This is a great gift idea for anyone in your life! No need for special equipment just use your own oven! Bake at 300 degrees for 30minutes.

Sassy Mug-This one is my favorite!

Supplies:
Plate or mug
Pebeo Porcelaine 150 your color choices
Pebeo Porcelaine Gloss finish
Dry Erase marker

1. Use the dry eraser marker to draft your design and get an idea of what you want it to look like. Erase it and then start your painting.
2. Follow the directions on the paint. These paints are permanent and dishwasher safe once baked.
*Since many vitreous and ceramic materials cannot withstand sudden changes in temperature, we recommend that you place your piece in a room temperature oven and allow it to warm up with the oven. After 30 minutes, turn the oven off and allow it to cool back to room temperature gradually.

Personalized plate and bowl set.

Teacher gift: The flowers are the kids fingerprints. I traced around their fingerprints and added a stem. It says "Plant a Seed and Watch it Grow".

Poppies Serving Platter I ordered my paints online but you can get them at your local craft store.

Visit Inspired by Family for all 18 DIY Gifts & Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Chic Rosette Ring/Necklace

Doesn't this look like a for reelz porcelain rose ring?
It's actually made from rick rack. I came across this beauty over at Crafting Chicks.



What you need is:

•  2 Med siz rick rack 10 inches long
• ring blank, barrette or necklace
• glue

1. Twist the two pieces together and lay them flat.
2. Sew them down once side close to the middle.
3. To form the rosette roll it up from the middle out and place glue as you roll to keep it together.
4. Tuck in the end pc and glue it down.
5. You can either keep the petals flat or as shown in the picture above roll them down. I prefer the flat look.

Visit Inspired by Family for all 18 DIY Gifts & Stocking Stuffer Ideas

DIY Coasters

I love this fab and easy gift idea! Not to mention affordable.

This is what you will need:

4 square tiles
scrapbook paper
4 pieces of felt or felt dots
Mod Podge
Sponge brush
Glue
Clear acrylic sealer or Polyurethan coating

1. Cut scrapbook paper to fit each tile.
2. Spread Modge over each tile and place paper over it. Let it dry. You can also use a picture instead of scrapbook paper.

3.Brush Modge over the paper that has been glued and let it dry.
4. Glue felt pieces to bottom or use felt dots.
5. Once it's completely dry spray with clear coating.

I told you it was easy!

Pictures from the The Cottage Home and Muffin Tin Mom

Visit Inspired by Family for all 18 DIY Gifts & Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Pumpkin Apple Bread with Caramel Apple Sauce

Yum, three of my favorite Fall ingredients in one recipe.


Pumpkin Apple Bread with Caramel Sauce
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 (15-oz) can solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2-1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (2 cups)


Caramel Sauce:
1/2 cp caramel sauce (I use the kind for dipping apples)
4 tbl of milk

To make the bread: Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 X 5 inch loaf pans. Set aside. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice into a medium bowl. Whisk together pumpkin oil, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Add flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Fold in apples. Divide batter between buttered loaf pans. Sprinkle half of topping evenly over each loaf. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of bread comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool loaves in pans on a rack for 45 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely, about 1 hour. Yield: two loaves.


For the caramel sauce put ingredients in sauce pan over low heat until it dissolves. Drizzle over bread while it's warm!


Recipe and picture from One Perfect Bite