Craft co-op

A few months back, I got connected with an Oriental Trading craft co-op. Most Oriental Trading craft kits come in sets of 12. They're reasonably priced, but who needs 12 of the same craft? So each participant in our co-op paid for 1/12 of each 12-pack craft kit, then we each received one of each craft. Because of this, Landon and I have had a ton of fall and Thanksgiving crafts to work on. Of course, I haven't gotten photos of a single one yet, but we have done lots of sticker sheets, assembled a felt turkey, made a foam turkey coaster, decorated a leaf with rhinestones, made a squirrel magnet, and more. Pretty soon we'll start in on the Christmas crafts. If you're looking for seasonal craft kits at a reasonable price, perhaps you can round up 11 friends to participate in a craft co-op of your own.

Festival of Trees

We recently visited a local Festival of Trees. After checking out all the decorated tree displays, we headed to the kiddie area. There, Landon stamped his hand print on a backpack and decorated a BIG cookie (he ate it over the course of three days).

Operation Christmas Child

We worked together to fill two shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child this week.

Here's the project description from the OCC website: "Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ."

Landon got really involved. He helped pick out the items for our boxes at the store and understood that we were buying them to give to other kids. (Some of the items we included were crayons, coloring books, stuffed animals, soap, washcloths, socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and bubbles.) He helped pack the items into the shoeboxes and "signed his name" on a note that we included in each box.

I've been participating in OCC for a few years now and think it's a great project, especially for kids and families to participate in. If you're interested, now is the time to pack a shoebox. Next week (November 17-24) is National Collection Week. Visit the OCC website for packing instructions and to find a drop-off location near you.

Leaves

We had a warm week and plenty of leaves on the ground, so Landon got a few chances to play in the leaves. It's too bad that the cold weather has now arrived; he enjoyed the outdoor time.