Holiday Freebie Festival, Day 11! {FREEBIES}

It's Day 11 of our HOLIDAY FREEBIE FESTIVAL and today's pick from the link up is a great holiday craft to do with your kiddos from Catholic Icing - a DIY Nativity Set!

Print out the coloring pages and let your children do their thing.  Then cut out the different people and animals, glue them to toilet paper or paper towel rolls and your little ones will have a nativity set they can play with to their heart's content.

Is that a great idea or what?  Such a fun way to teach children what Christmas is really about.

Download the coloring sheets and get the full how-to at Catholic Icing and if you have a free holiday printable you'd like to share, enter it into the link up below!

*If you are reading this in via our e-mail newsletter or RSS feed, the link up won't show up. You have to visit the post on our website to view it.

Get Your Doodle On! {GIVEAWAY]

Stocking stuffers are always the hardest holiday gifts for me to buy.  So many of the "little" things for kids are junky that they don't really need and I hate buying the girls candy so color me stumped.  Wait a minute.  Rewind.  What was that I just typed?  "Color me."  Why did I think of this before?  Doodlers are the answer! 

 
Doodlers are upcycled chunky marbled crayons from Crayon Couture that are perfect for little hands.  And you won't believe the variety of shapes they come in!  There's Elmo for Sesame Street lovers.

Butterflies:

And rings for girly girls:

Rocket ships for the wannabe space explorer:

And a fun assortment of holiday goodies.

I love the super cute cupcakes.

And you can even get the letters to spell your child's name.

You may remember that I made my own chunky crayons as favors for Gabrielle and Alaina's first birthday party and while it wasn't hard, it was time consuming and it took a lot of crayons.  A lot.  And each one had to have the label peeled off.  Which took forever.  So this time around, I'll be ordering Doodlers for Gabrielle and Alaina.  For the reasonable price at Crayon Couture, it's so worth it.  It took me weeks to get the wax out from under my nails! 

Annie, the creative one behind the crayons, also has a wonderful blog called Ordinary to Extraordinary where she shares fabulous free printable coloring pages, great kids' craft projects and more.  It's a great resource for finding ways to help your child express his or her creativity.

So whether you're looking for sticking stuffers like I am or need practical but cool party favors, check out Crayon Couture.  If you don't see a shape you like, convo Annie because she can do custom work too! 

And guess what?  One lucky AFOMFT reader is going to win a $25 credit to buy the Doodlers of their choice!  To enter, visit Crayon Couture and post a comment here telling me what you'll buy if you win (this is mandatory).  For additional entries:

• Subscribe to AFOMFT or let us know you are a subscriber.
• Publicly follow Annie's Ordinary to Extraordinary blog
• Visit Crayon Couture and make the store a favorite.
• "Like" AFOMFT on Facebook 
• "Like" Crayon Couture on Facebook and leave a comment that A Few of My Favorite Things sent you.
• Ask your friends to "like" AFOMFT on Facebook by sending them this link - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN - and post a comment here with the names of each one who does.  You'll earn one entry per new friend who "likes" our page and names will be cross-checked.  
• Follow AFOMFT on Twitter (@AFOMFT or click the birdie icon on the sidebar) and tweet this post by clicking the graphic above or this giveaway:  It's the Holiday Happening on @AFOMFT w/ a giveaway-a-day all month! #Win a $25 credit to Crayon Couture - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFT
• Click here to vote for AFOMFT on Top Baby Blogs and post a comment here that you did - .  You can vote once per day per computer so if you vote every day or on different computers, be sure to post one comment for each one.
• Grab our button and put it on your blog or website and post a link here showing us.
• Grab our HOLIDAY HAPPENING button and put it on your blog or website and post a link here showing us.
• Blog or post on Facebook about this giveaway with a link to this post (worth 2 entries so please post two comments) and make sure your comments include a link to your status or blog post.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry (two if you've blogged about the giveaway) and make sure to include a link to your tweet, blog post, etc. All entries must be posted on AFOMFT as a direct comment to this post.  Comments on Facebook will not count as entries.  This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada and ends December 7th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected by random.org and announced on AFOMFT on December 8th. If the winner doesn't contact AFOMFT within 48 hours, a new drawing will be held so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

Images: Crayon Couture

Throw Your Own Thankful Party, Party 2: The Crafts {FREEBIE}

With Thanksgiving just 8 days away, it's time to get crafty with your kiddies!  If you're throwing a Thankful Party, any of these fun and easy projects will keep all of your little guests totally entertained.

I adore this cute 3-D Thankful Turkey Bag: 

And how fun is this Pumpkin Pie Thankful Spinner?

These Sunflower Pilgrim Pots would make great place cards or party favors:

Pipe cleaner finger puppets will keep the kids occupied before, during and after dinner.

And so will a good old game of Tic Tac Turkey.

{All of the above from Parents.com}

Balance the Busy has a great tutorial for how to make Hand Turkey Shirts using freezer stencils.

Your Starbucks addiction will pay off when your kids use the cup holders to make these mini-Mayflowers.  Get the how-to from 4 Crazy Kings.

Using a glove, you can craft a Turkey Puppet.

And a clothespin can be re-made into a Native American doll.

This Turkey Spoon craft from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman is easy to make and super cute.

And her Indian Dolls project kills me.  I have to make these with pictures of my family.

If your kids want to play dress up in the flesh, you can make some Turkey Hats.

Or go a little quirkier with Turkey Leg Hats.

Print out these fun masks from Craft. Jr. and your little Pilgrims can reenact the first Thanksgiving.

And Woo, Jr. has a turkey mask in both filled in and color-in versions.

While you're there, why not print out some Thanksgiving Mad Libs:

Or word searches:

And I can't resist throwing in a few more sweet treats that you can make with your children or just for them.

Look at these terrific turkey cookies one of our readers, Jaclyn, made!

Aren't they adorable?  Get the instructions at Pillsbury.com.

Family Corner shows you how to transform ice cream cones into Pilgrim hats.

Learn how to make all of these fantabulous cupcakes over at My Cake School.

And get the how to for this amazing giant Turkey Oreo from Munchkin Munchies.

Phew!  That's a whole lot of ways to craft up some thankfulness with your little one! For more Thanksgiving Kids Ideas, be sure to check out our posts on Treats to be Thankful For, our free Thanksgiving Kid's Party printables, and Turkey Day the Kids' Way, Part 1 and Part 2.  

Images: Parents,Balance the Busy, 4 Crazy Kings, Better Homes & Gardens, Ramblings of a Crazy Woman, Family Fun, Craft Jr., Woo, Jr., Family Corner, My Cake School & Munchkin Munchies

CRAFTASTIC: Get Your Gobble Gobble On

Thanksgiving is just a few short weeks away, so on day two of our HOLIDAY HAPPENING, here are a few turkey-day projects you - and your kiddies - are going to love!

Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar from Project Naptime. 

{via Be Different... Act Normal}

Bubble Wrap Indian Corn from Parents

Thankful Yarn Turkey from Parents

Give Thanks Banner from Parents

Paper Pilgrim Hat and Bonnet from Martha Stewart

Thanksgiving Finger Puppets from Martha Stewart

Turkey Pinata from Family Fun

Talking Turkey Glove Puppet from Better Homes & Gardens

Native American Clothespin Doll from Better Homes & Gardens

Gobbling Turkey Hat from Nick Jr.

If that round up doesn't inspire you to get your Thanksgiving craft on, I don't know what will.  Oh yes I do - tomorrow's feature on kids' table ideas for Thanksgiving Day!  You won't want to miss it.

Images: Project Naptime, Parents, Martha Stewart, Family Fun & Better Homes & Gardens

CRAFTASTIC: Gettin' Batty With It!

Your little ghoul will love having his or her own Bat Finger Puppets!

Such a fun way to keep the monsters busy at your Halloween party or just around the house.

For the full how to, visit The Mother Huddle.

Images: The Mother Huddle

CRAFTASTIC: DIY Halloween Decor the Kiddos Can Make!

Day 19 of GET YOUR GHOUL ON! MONTH brings a fun craft you can make with your kids - Bagel Witches from Pizzazzerie!

Are they fabulous or what?  And they're so easy to make using bagels, pretzels, candy and some embellishments.

Get the full how to HERE at Pizzazzerie.

And while we're talking Halloween projects, here are the pictures of the crafts from my visit to The Martha Stewart show last week.  This Glittered Candy Garland is made from Styrofoam and glitter and is a simple way to spookify your house.

And the Candy Wrapper House is a great post-Halloween project since you'll probably have lots of candy wrappers lying around!

Images: Pizzazzerie & Martha Stewart