Thankful for those LITTLE HANDS!!!!!!!

     Do you know what the one thing I have learned the quickest about being a Grandmother is?   Just how those little ones LOVE to keep their little hands busy. Oh my, if you turn away for even a brief moment those hands are into something else.

     With the Thanksgiving season upon us and Christmas just around the corner, it's a wonderful time to combine your hands with those little ones and do some fun, creative things together.  Really for me it's a time for my grandchildren and I to let ourselves relax and as my kids say hang loose.

     One of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions is to help the little ones make a fun place tag/favor so that the guests know who sits where.  Now I didn't say for the adults to do it all and just let the little hands have a small part.  Does it really matter how fancy or perfect they look?  NO!!!!!!!  It's  far more important to help the little ones know that you trust them and believe in them that they can do something.  It builds their self esteem.

     So here are a few suggestions for those name tags/favors.

     One that I really like is taking a little paper nut cup and filling it with little dinner mints or nuts.  Then taking your child's hand and drawing the outline of it on paper and cutting out as many as you need.  This makes a darling turkey, just add two dots for the eyes on the thumb and a little red gobble and then glue it on the front of the little cup and write the names.  Easy and look who will get all the credit..... Why the little hands of course.

     Another one is taking a chocolate pin striped cookie, turning it on the chocolate side. Then taking a large marshmallow and slicing it into thirds,so it looks like the white trim on a pilgrims hat. Take some frosting and secure the white trim to the cookie.Then take some frosting and stick a Rolo for the top of the hat, and put it on the white trim.  Then cut a small, square piece of black licorice and stick it on the white for the buckle of the hat and attach a paper with your guests name on it.

    One idea I love a lot of course is, making Carmel apples.  If you have the funds then buying them is super, there are some darling, yummy made ones.  But if that's not a option because of a large group then, making them is really easy and you can buy the decorations and guess what?  The little ones love to do the decorating.  Now here we go with NOT worrying about having them look PERFECT!!!!!  It doesn't matter.  Then after they dry put them in a plastic bag and tie them up and write the name of your guest on a attached little paper or even a little sticker.

     Something I also like to do is take the time to share all the GRANDMA'S ATTIC information you have on what THANKSGIVING is all about.  A wonderful time to do this when your hands are busy at work.  Even take the time to share about their PILGRIM ANCESTOR'S.  I mean aren't we all immigrants! 

     Oh and don't forget that at this time of year,  that The GRANDMA cookies get even better.  Yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, and Applesauce, Raisin Cookies.  Add a nice glass of Apple Juice or Warm Chocolate Milk or even some EGGNOG!!!!!!!  Enjoy and most important be safe xoxoxox

A SHELF THAT KEEPS ON SHARING!!!!!

     I am so excited to share this fun idea with all of you.  In fact this idea comes from my wonderful, beautiful mother-in-law, that I call mom.  Since I started dating my husband, his mother always had what she called a HOLIDAY SHELF.  Now she kept hers in the main bathroom of her house.  I am not sure why there lol, but at least EVERYONE saw it time and time again.  It made going to the bathroom fun just to see what she had on her shelf.  It wasn't a huge shelf but she would decorate it for EVERY HOLIDAY!!!!  When it wasn't a holiday she would decorate it with seasonal items.

     I loved looking at this shelf time and time again.  It had little nick- nacks on it and sometimes lights and garland of some sort.  Since that time I decided to do that in my own home and I have for 26 of our married years.  I love decorating it and love having the children help me decorate it. I love the looks on their faces as they walk in the door.  I put mine up by the door in the hall so they would never miss it as they walked in.

     My daughter who just got married decided that she wanted one in her home and so she now has one.  I told her that you don't have to decorate it all at once by going out and buying tons of things.  The object is to ADD to it every year with something new and simple.  Maybe its a holiday gift that someone has given you or you buy a little something each year and then you keep the items all together as your shelf decorations each year.  Since we have relocated I have now combined my holiday shelf with my holiday plate shelf and I am totally loving it.

     I have enclosed a picture of my new shelf and I hope you enjoy it.  I hope you will put one up in your own home to share with others.  I promise that your neighbors and friends and family will make it a fun  tradition in their own lives.
     In fact why don't you head on up to GRANDMAS ATTIC  to find what things you can add to your New Holiday Shelf!!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxox

It's Time to Get Out the Fall Time Fun From Grandmas Attic!!

     Here are some fun ideas to do with your family for Fall time! The Game of GHOSTBUSTERS. I took some plastic WHITE kitchen garbage cans and cut out two black eyes and a round black mouth with black paper and taped them on one side.  They looked like a ghost lol.  Then I formed two barriers out of a table tipped sides way and a long couch and then I divided the group into two teams and handed them each a Nerf dart gun and 12 darts.  When I said go, the object of the game was to see which team could get as many darts in the opposite garbage can in the time allowed. It was so simple to do and so so much fun.  Children and adults loved this and they could all participate in this.  Trust me they ended up shooting each other and laughing and having fun.

     Then we did a different musical square BOOGIE walk.  I numbered each square on the underside and turned the music on and when it stopped I called out a number.  That person got to choose a prize first.  I loved this because everyone was a WINNER!!!!!!!

     It was such a great family party and tons of fun.......... My daughter Emily brought, I am sure one of her Grandmothers favorite sugar cookie recipe's to share with ALL of us and let me tell you they were YUMMY!!!! I think I ate a total of 4 of them myself!!!!!!!

     With the Holidays coming and so much gathering, we have to remember that things don't have to cost a lot, in fact hardly nothing at all.  It's not the amount of money that is spent, but on the FUN you can create.........  It just takes some imagination and who knows what you can find up in  GRANDMOTHERS ATTIC!!!!!!!!!!