How the Love Birds Do Holidays Crafts

In a world of Pinterest it's so easy to get overwhelmed with the options for crafting this season. Instead it's been a great option for us to participate in ready-made crafting events with our local moms' meet-up group. Here's what we've been up to . . .

A few weeks ago a German family invited a group over to make lanterns for Lanterne Laufen, a celebration in honor of St. Martin a soldier who gave his coat to a beggar on a cold winter's night. I love learning about other cultures' traditions and still have fond memories of Mr. Love Bird's time in Germany where he played basketball his first season out of college. I'd love to take Lil Love Bird back with us some day to visit, but for now our German crafting playdate suffices! 

We made our lanterns on a Thursday and while Nia was more into playing with the other children I ended up making most of the lantern! That Saturday we joined several other families to walk along the waterfront as is tradition (you can see a video here). 

That big building in the background is the World Trade Center

It was my first time to the waterfront post-Sandy and many of the lights were still out and the Path stations were a mess (and still are!) with lots of repair crews around, but it was still a good night to be out as it wasn't too cold.
 

A few weeks later another mom hosted a Thanksgiving craft playdate at her home. We used leaves and various material to make turkey collages. It took a lot of convincing, but I finally got Nia to paint a little on her turkey then she was back to playing with toys and running around. 

I rarely get pictures of myself doing activities with Nia and am so thankful to Olivia S. for capturing these moments!

Next up, I'd love to make an advent calendar (great planning the day before, right?!), but I've come across a few simple ideas that I think can make work and will see if I can run out to Target for supplies depending on how the day goes . . .

What crafts have you been making with your family?