kinda, sorta snow day

Our area of the country experienced some wintery mix of precipitation, starting with snow, then moving to sleet and ice, this morning which cancelled school for the kids. I wish they would have gotten more snow, since ice isn't much fun to play in, but we made the best of our at-home day with some crafts and cooking fun. Finn and I made some paper stars for the tree this morning. This was a fun and perfect craft for his age. He really enjoyed tearing up the paper and blending it with hot water.

We pressed our paper pulp into a cookie mold and then pushed them out onto a pan.

We brushed them with glitter glue about half-way through the baking time, which really made a lovely star! They were adorable, if fragile, when they completely dried out.

Elizabeth and Finn also spent some time in front of the fireplace reading Christmas books. Scenes like this always make me feel like I'm peeking into a Better Homes and Gardens magazine, but in all the best ways.

My next door neighbor, home from college, came over for a bit for a knitting lesson and to give me the low-down on her fabulous college life. She and I worked on a recipe of dragon bread from Baking Bread with Children, only this time we made Christmas Tree bread!

I love the little spiky branches she made on the tree,

and the way the bread puffed into a caricature of itself when it baked. I added the pumpkin seeds to the star at the top to make rays. It might have turned out a little bit less like a star and more like a spiny dinosaur head on top of the tree.

Our nature table corner received a bit of a makeover today as well. I'm happy to have Jack Frost join us on the table since it's so chilly outside!

Elizabeth made a Christmasy window drawing of our entire family. I'm sometimes amused at how little the older kids still make Finn in their art. He's our forever baby.

Elizabeth also spent some time making snowflakes, one of her favorite winter crafts! She still enjoys trying out different patterns from Snowflakes: Creative Paper Cutouts. Doesn't she do a wonderful job!

Last, but not least, we made some delicious black and white twist cookies using the recipe in Apples for Jam. A sweet treat to end a delightful day!