Sunday, November 29, 2009

Holiday Countdown - Day Three - November 29

When Aleks read today's scroll he asked, "How is this a fun activity?" I replied that sometimes we have things that are related to the holidays that need to get done and so sometimes those things are on the list. He said this wasn't fun for him. He'd already played outside with a friend from down the street all day and I was rushing out the door to get to three different stores before they all closed for the evening, so I was a little miffed that he had to object.

Thus in my frustration, I said, "well how about we make hot cocoa and watch a movie all together?" He thought that was cool as long as there was popcorn too and we looked into inviting Heather & Steve to join us. Unfortunately, they were in the midst of a two hour drive back from visiting family and we were unable to have them over. In the end, it was good because I could keep my bathroom looking skuzzy and we could work on our designated activity while we watched the movie.

While I was at the store, I changed my mind about hot cocoa and bought root beer and vanilla ice cream for floats instead. This was a genius idea. The boys loved it.So the activity?
The thing about finishing up holiday cards is that as with everything that I do, I tend to seek the most labor intensive methods just to torture myself. So the holiday cards are being constructed by hand this year. And there are at last count 72 people on our card-receiving list.

I put Aleks straight to work drawing pictures for the cards while we watched Lord of the Rings. Bastian fell asleep on the couch, but I used some of his paintings on some of the cards.
The basis is a holiday letter printed on not-quite-cardstock, which we fold and then decorate the front of. The not-quite-cardstock is only available in white, it would seem, which kinda sucks. But maybe the photos wouldn't look so good otherwise.
I did five cards a couple of days ago and distributed them at Thanksgiving. Tonight we got 9 done. I may do one more (or several more) before I call it a night. I figure if I get 10 done a day we can have them all out before Christmas. Ack.
I also wrote the titles of each piece on the back of the cards and dated them. Our friend Jay said we should number them like fine art prints.

2 comments:

Julie said...

Wow! I would say labor intensive. I've thought about doing handmade cards before, but then in the back of my mind think of how many we send out (not as many as you, but I think around 50), and then I rethink the idea:)

Anyway I love them, how original & personal. Nice.

Kim C. in NC said...

I LOVE your countdown activity idea and have stolen it :)
Yesterday our activity was planting an amaryllis bulb. Today our activity was making pumpkin pie scented play dough. Smells wonderful! We are also doing the LEGO Advent calendar and my boys take turns opening the little kit each night at bedtime.