Christmas Day - Hourly Photo Style

A few years ago, Andrea, over at A Peek Inside The Fishbowl started a Christmas Day Hourly Photo Challenge.  As someone who LOVES to take photos, I jumped on the chance to join in.  The idea is to take a picture every hour on the hour of what you are doing at that moment and then upload them to share you day.  I don't take the time to blog the pictures during the day, but I do post them to my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  And now, here they are, blog style!

9:00am - Let's get this party started!!  (Yes, Liam slept in until 9:00am!  But only because I kept him up until almost 10:00pm the night before!)

10:00am  (part 1) Good bye old pots, we've had a wonderful 15 years together but it is time you move on.  It is not good bye forever, you will now be our camping pots.

10:00am (part 2) Hello new pots!  You look so nick hanging on my wall!  Can't wait to get to know you!  Thanks Henry!!  :) 

11:00am  Turkey, get in the oven!  

12:00pm  Building ramps for the remote control monster truck that Santa brought!  I think Liam may grow up to be an architect or engineer.  He is always building stuff out of whatever he can find to build with!

1:00pm  Time to start decorating the birthday cake.  After five years of this I still can't believe that Liam was born on Christmas!!  

2:00pm  Still decorating the birthday cake.  And watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix.  

3:00pm (part 1) The cake is finished!!  For those of you who are NASCAR fans, you will know what it is, but for the rest of you, it is Danica Partick's number, she is Liam's favorite drive.  Because she is a girl and she's hot . . . yes, that really is what he say.

3:00pm (part 2)  Cake decorating mess has overtaken the kitchen.  Where is that clean up elf that I asked Santa for?

3:00pm (part 3) Building a Mega Blocks World of Warcraft dragon. 

4:00pm  Finally a chance to sit down and relax with a glass of wine and the Dr. Who marathon on Space.

5:00pm - Turkey's done.  Let's eat!

6:00pm  Birthday cake time!

7:00pm  Birthday and Christmas presents from Gabba and Aunties!

8:00pm  Kitten cuddles!

9:00pm Dr.Who Christmas Special!!!  (This is not a picture from the Christmas Special.  I was so excited to watch it that I forgot to take a picture!  This is a scene from the 50th Anniversary Special.)

10:00pm  The wine is almost gone and Dr. Who is almost over.  That means it is almost bedtime for this sleepy mommy!!

11:00pm  One last peek at my Christmas Birthday Boy!  And then off to bed!!

Christmas Fun - Grown Up Version - Homemade Bailey's Irish Cream

Christmas Fun - Grown Up Version - Homemade Bailey's Irish Cream

Yes, I said Homemade Bailey's.  It doesn't matter how you like your Irish Cream, in coffee or hot chocolate or on the rocks, this recipe will delight you!!

It is quick and easy to make and cheaper than the real stuff.  And I love that I can add as much chocolate as I want!  

It is a great hostess gift for all the holiday parties you get invited to or a nice little addition to a festive gift basket.  If you give it as a gift, you should probably include the recipe.  Most people that I give it to think it is better than the real stuff and start making their own!

So, here is the recipe, get out your blender and give it a try!

Bailey's Irish Cream

3 whole eggs

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup rye

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp chocolate syrup

Put everything in the blender.  

Blend on high until well mixed.

Store in refrigerator.

Makes approximately one liter.  

Christmas Fun - Clay Flower Pot Christmas Tree

Christmas Fun - Clay Flower Pot Christmas Tree

I found this idea on Pintrest (Clay Pot Christmas Tree) and I couldn't resist trying this with Liam this year.

Not only is it super cute and easy but it is cheap! 

All you need is 3 different sized flower pots, green acrylic paint, two or three other colours of acrylic paint, a foam paint brush, a pencil crayon, a little bit of felt (scraps will work), glue, a star, a wooden skewer and acrylic sealer.  I got everything I needed at the dollar store except for the acrylic sealer, I had to go to Walmart for that.

Here's how to do it . . . with picture!

Assemble materials.

Paint flower pots with foam paint brush.

Dabbing the brush gives a textured look and better coverage of paint.

Use the flat end of a pencil crayon to put "decorations" on your tree.  If your child is older, they can use a paint brush and paint more elaborate designs.  

Once the paint is all dry, glue some felt pieces around the inside of each pot.  This is so that the pots one stick together when stacked.  

Cover all three pots with acrylic sealer and stack.  Attach a star to a wooden skewer and place through the bottom center holes of the flower pots.

And there is it, a Clay Flower Pot Christmas Tree!

I think that one made out of the really big clay pots would make a cool outdoor Christmas Decoration!  I will put that on next year`s to do list!

Christmas Fun - Crystal Snowflakes

I've seen tons of pictures and tutorials around the internet for Crystal Snowflakes made from pipe cleaners, Borax and water.  

They looked pretty cool and the instructions seemed pretty simple, so I decided to give it a try!  Here is goes . . . step by step . . . 

Use three half pipe cleaners, twisted together int he middle to make a snowflake.

Mix 3 tablespoons of borax to 1 cup of boiling water, stirring to dissolve.  Add blue food colouring if desired.  (If mixing a large quantity, use 3/4 cup of borax to 4 cups of boiling water.)  Liam enjoyed measuring and mixing!

 Hang snowflakes over the top of a container by tying a string to the snowflake and the other end to a dowel, resting across the top of the container.  Fill your container with borax solution, making sure to cover the pipe cleaner completely and ensuring that the snowflakes are not touching the sides or bottom of the container.

Let sit over night.  About 4 hours later, the crystals were just starting to form on top of the water.

Remove snowflakes from borax mixture.

And there you have it . . . Broax Crystal Snowflakes!  Liam was super excited with his crystal snowflakes!

Overall, the project was just as easy as I expected!  I did have difficulty finding a container, the instructions said to use a jar and I didn't have anything big enough, so I used a stock pot and did three snowflakes together.  This used considerable more Borax and water than I anticipated.  (I used half a box of Broax just for this!)  But, other wise, super easy!

Some of the instructions that I saw before doing this said that they would be done in a couple of hours.  This was not the case.  If you try it, leave them overnight!

One other bit of advice if you try this - not only does the Borax form crystals on the pipe cleaners, it also forms crystals on the inside of the container.  When I do this again, I will use a disposable container so I don't have to spend an half an hour chipping water out of my pot! 

This is what my pot looked like when we were done.  The stuff at the bottom was rock hard and about half an inch thick!