It's Not Too Late!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions as a kid was making our gingerbread house each year with my mom and brother.  This is the third year I have made one with my kids, and although Christmas is just days away, it's not too late to make one!  

1.  Assemble your supplies:

Easy gingerbread:

2 3/4 C flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground ginger

2/3 C molasses

1/3 C brown sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 C oil

1 egg

Mix, roll out with a rolling pin, use some paper templates to make a front, back, two sides, and two roof pieces... here's where you can get as creative as your little heart desires :)

Bake pieces at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes

Easy Royal Icing:

3 egg whites at room temperature

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 lb. powdered sugar

use a mixer to really fluff it up, use icing bags with a simple decorator's tip to apply it to gingerbread (if you don't have these, a thick Ziploc with a tiny hole cut in the corner will work)... and although this icing is technically edible, it dries rock hard... perfect for gingerbread house glue!

2.  Assemble some adorable helpers

3.  Use the glue to stick on whatever candy you have... a great way to use up Halloween or Christmas party candy!

4.  Glue the pieces of the house together with the icing, and enjoy the finished house as part of your decor for a few days... and if your kids are anything like my brother and I were as kids, they'll enjoy prying off the stale candy after Christmas.  Man, kids will eat almost anything.

Merry Christmas

{Card design by Redbud Designs}

Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Six

{To My Sweet Boy on his Sixth Birthday}

Buddy Boy, you are a big personality. Nothing you do is small. You feel things deeply, experience things strongly, love completely, and generally live your young life to the fullest.

When you were just inside me, we knew you were going to be wild. When you were only a few weeks old, we knew you had a strong desire to be on the go. I cringed a little when, at three months the pediatrician commented on your remarkable strength, and warned us that you would probably be walking at eight or nine months. He was right. You were ready to run at nine and a half months. And climb. And climb. And climb. You still climb, and to be honest, it drives us nuts. We constantly remind you to only climb things meant to be climbed, like playground equipment, but it doesn't matter. When you were three, I turned for just a minute outside at church, and when I turned back around, you were halfway up the wall. You scaled a wall. Like Spiderman. Always keeping us on our toes.

You love others fully, and you are compassionate. Injustice infuriates you. You tell us you want to go to Africa when you are grown and tell everyone about Jesus, every single person. This makes my heart swell. I hope you travel the world and fulfill this purpose that God has placed in your heart. I will start praying now that I will be able to let you go. I love that a day does not go by that you don't tell your family that you love them. I love to hear your prayers when you thank God for the blessings in your life. And I love that you can recognize these blessings.

You are generous. You share with your sister all the time, everyday, without us prompting you, and often without any appreciation from her. You are a great big brother. Please continue to be your sisters' protector. When you are teenagers. When you are adults. When mom and dad cannot be there.

We pray that you will choose what God has planned for your life. God has gifted you with great intelligence, and a crazy memory. You are kind, you are compassionate, you want justice in this world. You have a great sense of humor, and you have an insane amount of energy. You really wear us out, but we adore you. We are crazy about you. You are a gift straight from God.

Buddy Boy, we celebrate your birth today! Happy Sixth!

Double Dream Hands!

I cannot stop laughing... but you at least have to give this guy credit for his sincerity.

Frosty {Ornament}

{This is an oldie, but a goodie.  I posted this quick and easy tutorial last year. If you're in a scramble for an adorable gift, this is quick, and so so cute!}

So if you're like 95% of America... you are in the process of switching over all of your household light bulbs to the new energy efficient CFL variety (if you're not... you should!). At our house, as the old energy guzzlers burn out, we replace with the new and improved. Well, this week the last of our bulbs finally kicked the bucket and that left me with supplies for this adorable little ornament, which will soon be sent off to live at Goofball's teachers' houses. Although, they are just so cute, I think I'll make an extra one for our tree, I just love snowmen!

To get started:

1) Gather these supplies: an old lightbulb, various shades of acrylic paint (white is a must, but the other colors are up to you), some iridescent glitter, modge podge (although this isn't mandatory as I discovered today), fabric scraps, tiny bit of orange felt, sponge brush

2) Paint a thin-ish coat of white paint on the bulb part only (leaving the top silver for now), and sprinkle on the glitter while the paint is still wet (this saves you a step and eliminates the need for modge podge). I found that sticking the silver end in the playdough freed up my hands while it dried.

3) Dab some dark paint for the coal eyes, mouth, buttons, add the tiny orange felt triangle (I used a hot glue gun)

4) Add a scrap of fabric for the scarf, add some detail by cutting some fringe in the ends, hot glue that baby on...

5) Paint the silvery top a color of your choice, wrap some ribbon around the the top, and you've got yourself one darling little snowman ornament... doesn't it feel great to be crafty AND green :)

L'alfabeto Fan Page Giveaway

Are you a Fan of L'alfabeto on Facebook yet?  If not, head over and join the fun and stay in the loop about giveaways, sales, and coupon codes coming in January.

We had a giveaway for Facebook Fans this week when we reached 300 "Likes".  The lucky winners (yes, two!) of the custom wire monograms are...

Katie Tate Probandt and Kimberly Chris Holland.

{Winners were selected via Random.org}

Congratulations!  Please email me at lalfabeto@gmail.com to claim your prize :)