It's November...already?!

Time flies by quickly, doesn't it? Just a few days after it will be December already, and pretty soon, we'll all be celebrating Christmas!

I'm sure you've started decorating for the holidays, even just a little bit, to get you into the Christmas spirit. We've started early as October decorating for Christmas in our household.

I'd like to share with you this simple DIY craft we did with our tissue cardboard tubes. I was meaning to use them for some arts and crafts projects for the kids, so I kept a stash. One day, I just thought of finally using them and make Christmas ornaments :) It was also about time we had a little change in our decorations anyway. So instead of buying new ones, we did this:

1. Materials: We gathered some tissue cardboard tubes, some poster paint, left over cloth and felt, pompoms and pipe cleaners.

2. We started painting the tubes with poster paint. We each made Santa, an Angel, a Snowman, and a Reindeer.

The little boy is painting a snowman...

3. Let the paint dry and then add some details using left over cloth and felt, and some pipe cleaners. We used the cloth for scarves and Santa's hat, the felt for the brim in Santa's hat, Snowmen hats, and the Angels' wings, the pompoms for reindeer noses and Santa's hat (again, hehe), and the pipe cleaners we're used as reindeer antlers, angel halos, snowmen noses, and loops at the back so we can hang the ornaments.

4. Finish by drawing faces and outlining using a black pentel pen. Kiel drew most of the faces, while I made the outlines. 

5. And then you can finally hang them on the tree

Kiel was very happy to have made this, and he feels very proud seeing them up in the tree, knowing that we made them together.

How about you? Do you have any Christmas saving crafts or hacks you'd like to share too?

If you like our little project, we'd love to get some feedback in the comments below.

Pin this project for later, plus see some other Christmas crafts ideas:
Follow Lique's board Christmas crafts ideas on Pinterest.

Happy Holidays!

What is Christmas?

When I was a child, I anticipated Christmas because of the family reunions, Christmas parties, and the presents! I was a kid...it's human nature that you get excited for gifts, right? 

Now that I'm a Mom, I feel happy for my children when they get gifts. Frankly, I'm also excited to be "Santa Claus" for them.

But I would also like to instill in them that Christmas is first and foremost Jesus' Birthday. 

Photo Source

I believe it's important to instill good values in your child. I am not a perfect, saintly mom... I am a work-in-progress-sometimes-struggling-to-be-sane kind of mom. But enough of the labels, let's go back to the Values Formation...

I have been (officially) homeschooling my toddler for 3 weeks now. We're following The Letter of the Week Curriculum. I use it as a guide, mostly following the Words, Rhymes, and some of the Music, and then I add and improvise with some lessons too.

One way I improvise is including Christmas in our Lessons. Like for the first week, Letter A, I included Advent in our Lesson. We made an Advent Wreath out of a paper plate and art paper. We also made a Holy Family by using paper cups, paint, and some left over cloth. For Letter B week, I included Baby Jesus in our lesson and then we read about the Nativity in his Bible Story Book. Last week was C week, and of course, to be consistent, I included Christmas in our Lesson. We made Christmas Cards by using white crayons and watercolor (which will be given to the grandparents too), wrapped some gifts together, read stories and listened to Christmas Carols.

Cutting and Pasting. Making his Advent Wreath.

Watching the Nativity Story (HERE is the link on YouTube)

The Holy Family

So Cute. He Presented his Wreath to Jesus and said: "Happy Birthday Jesus"

Aside from our Lessons, I remind him that Jesus' birthday is near and we will celebrate it together with family. He asked if he will blow a cake, and now I think we should do that to celebrate the occasion! Why not right?

When he receives presents and he wants to open them, I tell him to wait for Christmas because gift opening is part of Jesus' birthday party so he needs to be extra patient :)

Although he also knows about Santa Claus, because that's what he sees in decorations and in the Cartoons he watches, I tell him that it is Jesus that asks Santa to give gifts because he loves the little Children. Maybe when he's a little older, we'll learn about Saint Nicholas.

How about you, how do you introduce Christmas to your child? I'd love to hear about them. Do Share!


Happy Holidays!

It's that time of the year again... Christmas songs all-around, blinking lights, and all types of SALE and Holiday Promos! Right? 

All those SALE signs give me mixed-feelings of confusion, anxiety, and excitement all at the same time, I didn't even think that was possible!

In as much as I would highly recommend doing your Christmas shopping as early as possible, sometimes the Holiday Rush is just inevitable. I start my Christmas list as early as August-October, but there will always be times that I seem to forget someone and then immediately panic go out to buy a gift, any gift!

If you haven't finished your Christmas shopping yet, here some practical gift ideas you might find useful as you do your Holiday shopping...

For Kids:


1. Personalized Books

Instead of toys, books are a great gift alternative for kids. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they find themselves as the main character of the story?

I stumbled upon Look It's About Me online.

"LOOK IT’S ABOUT ME books will captivate your child’s imagination, while helping them learn how to read and develop self-esteem in a distinctive way that they will cherish forever. Our books are an extraordinary gift idea for that special little star in your life."

They have a number of stories you can choose from. You can even browse through the book first so you know what you're getting.

The books might be a little pricey, costing at 1,250php each, but keep in mind that it is personalized - it will have your child's name, picture, and a dedication in the preface. Best of all, he or she will be the only one who'll have that book, so it's truly unique :)

2. Crochet Hats 

Christmas time can be a little chilly, so why not get the kids crochet hats from Honeybaby? (shameless plug!) They are soft and snug too, made of cotton yarn and comes in cute designs.

Honeybaby crochet hats are on a Holiday Promo: Get 5 hats for 500php each (up to 1000php in savings).

Do check out the website for available designs and sizes:

honeybabyonline1.wix.com/shop

3. Deal Coupons

Give the gift of experience! You can buy deal coupons online and have them named after the recipient or give them vouchers.

You can choose from Art Classes or Museum Passes and many others.

4. Christmas Chocolates

Who doesn't love chocolates? 

MyChoco SweetArt and Unit16Sweets Offer Holiday Chocolates in various flavors and cute holiday wrappers. You may even have yours personalized.

Chocolates costs 22php up to 90php depending on size.

Cute Frozen-themed chocolates from MyChoco SweetArt

Holiday Chocolates from Unit16Sweets

For Family:

1. Herbal Aroma Pillows

In this day and age when people get too busy, sometimes you just need some TLC. Kimochi Aroma Pillows are unique and practical gifts for loved ones.

"KIMOCHI AROMA MICROWABLE PILLOW is a natural and safe home remedy for various types of aches and pains…contains a unique mixture of various grains and seeds which sustains and gives off heat relief which lasts longer... Wrapped in special high quality cotton fabric, it also gives off a soothing aroma for added therapeutic effect."

Source

Pillow Sizes and Prices:

Wrap Around Size: 15cmx39cm - P400.00

Square Size: 16cmx19cm - P200.00

Wrist Size: 7cmx19cm - P120.00

Palm Size: 8cmx11cm - P60.00

2. Family Tree

Personalized gifts are the most thoughtful of all. You may have your family tree printed in Photo/glossy paper, Sintra Board, or Canvass.

Family Trees make nice home decors too! Photo from Artique

Design Fee is 500php for any size. Cost of printing depends on size and material. Email mangelicastro@gmail.com for inquiries.

3. Hand-stamped Jewelry

Istorya Creations make customized, hand-stamped jewelry that would make thoughtful gifts for loved-ones. Just check out their tumblr for such beautiful pieces! http://istoryacreations.tumblr.com/

Istorya's Philosophy: "A custom jewelry that expresses your personal inspiration is much more meaningful than another piece of fashion jewelry… Here in Istorya every piece tells a story."

Wouldn't you love one of these pieces too?

Source

For Friends:

1. DIY Kits
DIY gifts are not only creative, but also heartfelt. I'm sure your friends would love something you made yourself. These Mason Jar Kits make wonderful gifts! Classyclutter has lots of neat ideas.

Source

Isn't this spa in a bottle too cute or what?

2. Gift Packs
Lots of stores offer Christmas Gift Packs, which makes it more convenient to buy gifts. Here are some stores that I always check for Christmas offers:

Bench
Bench has gift packs for all ages. They now also have an online shop. You can browse through some of their gift packs HERE.

Or you can visit the Bench Branch near you to see for yourself. Better if you have a Bench Card so you can earn points too!

Source

Human Nature
I love organic products, and I'm happy Human Nature has Christmas Bundles too. They also have Social Enterprise Gifts aside from their products.

You can buy Online or visit the nearest Human Nature Dealer in your area.

Source

Watsons
Watsons not only has Holiday gift packs, they also have freebies and promos for participating products.

You can view Watsons' Christmas Gifts Finds online or visit your nearest Watson's branch.

Source

Just some of their gift packs, there are lots more!

I hope you find this list useful! But keep in mind that whatever gift you give, it's still the thought that counts :)

Do you know of any other practical gift finds? I'd love to hear them!

Happy Holidays,

It's that time of the year... All I can say is "ang bilis!", it's Christmas Season once again! 

I loved Christmas as a kid..and I still do up to now! But the feeling of excitement and joy is different as compared to when you were a kid, you know? They say that Christmas is really a holiday for the children..not just because of the gifts, toys, and aguinaldo, but mainly because it's the day baby Jesus was born. I shared my reflection about Keeping Christ in Christmas last year. Our Christmas has become even more meaningful now that we have baby Hailey. Yes! I recently gave birth last November 7 to a healthy 6-pound little girl. That's another thing off my Life List.

Kuya Kiel welcoming his baby sister, Hailey

So, this is also the time when I get into decorating. Last year our motif was Red-Green-Silver, and I shared how I "recycled" most of the decorations I used. 

Well this year, I want a NEW theme for Christmas :) I want to decorate for the kids! Now what do I mean by that? Well, since I now have 2 children, I want our decorations to be childproof kid-friendly and appealing. Keeping in mind that Christmas is for children, I used lots of colors and not just one or two. Mainly I used Red, Green (mostly Olive green), Blue/Teal, and Yellows/Gold... Something like this:

Due to my nesting before Hailey was born, I had my husband do some DIY refurbishing first before I go and decorate! He, together with my sister and our yaya, painted one side of the wall a fresh green (we used odorless paint). Hubby further installed hanging shelves (bought from Wilcon Home depot). We also installed cabinet doors for the kids. By "we" I mean I also helped :) We bought plywood and had them cut to specific dimensions. We smoothened the edges and used sticker paper to finish it instead of varnish.

Whew! I haven't been on my blog space for quite some time. I took the extra time to be with my family for the Holidays, as I said I would in my previous post.

Unlike the past years, this Holiday season has been my busiest so far. We've been visiting ninongs and ninangs (godparents), relatives, and friends here in Manila, in Batangas, and in Pampanga... Talk about travelling South to North and vice versa! Now you know the reason behind my short blog hiatus. 

Here's what briefly happened over the Holidays and how we spent it with family and friends..

December 24, 2012
This year, Christmas Eve was spent with my Family in Lipa. We attended the Christmas Eve mass at our alma mater, De La Salle Lipa. And I'm happy to have seen old friends there too. At home, we anxiously waited for midnight to open our presents, a family tradition we've had ever since I can remember. We prayed the rosary and thanked God for His blessings. Had a family picture taking (too bad Kiel was fast asleep at that time, he's an early sleeper, haha) while waiting too.

Christmas Eve Mass at DLSL with old friends and family :)

Picture taking at home...Kiel is now fast asleep -_- zzz