It's All About Family

Every year around this time, the kids start getting excited about the kickoff of the holiday season. First they'll get to celebrate Halloween by going door-to-door in costume gathering candy. Then before you know it, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and New Years will be upon us. Looking for ways to make this holiday season meaningful?

The key to success is taking the time to come up with things you can do together as a family. An activity sure to make an impression on everyone is working on holiday-themed arts and crafts projects together. Rather than going out and buying decorations -- which anyone can do -- think about how much fun, and meaningful it will be to make them instead. This time of year, stores across the country are fully stocked with the materials needed to make just about any holiday decoration you can imagine. For Halloween, there are artificial pumpkins you can carve into reusable Jack-o-lanterns, all the materials you need to make a holiday-themed centerpiece, and easy-to-use foam craft kits that allow even the little ones to construct 3-dimensional haunted houses, scary skeletons or even witches on broomsticks.

Here's another project the entire family would enjoy doing, a "Mummy Pumpkin". The materials you need are: Medium white pumpkin, cheesecloth, brown, white, red and black acrylic paint, gel medium, scissors, a paintbrush, a ruler, disposable plates, paper towels and a container of water. Instructions: Cut strips of cheesecloth, each about 3-inches wide. Apply strips to the pumpkin by wrapping with Gel Medium. Be sure to leave an open space for the eyes and mouth. Let dry. Paint the eyes and mouth with acrylic paints as desired. Use a small amount of water to thin brown paint and dry crush over pumpkin. Let dry.

Once Halloween has passed, turn your attention to Christmas. Among the more popular projects are wreaths and ornaments, gingerbread houses and snowmen, even personalized gift tags. Many of the projects are so simple, the little ones can do them either on their own or with minimal assistance. Here are the instructions for making a Reindeer Ornament: Materials: A reindeer pattern (which you can download from the Michaels Web site (www.michaels.com), a plastic snap together ball, brown craft foam, brown and tan felt squares, a small red jingle bell, oval wiggle eyes, 1/2 yard of green ribbon, craft glue, scissors and a black permanent marker. Instructions: Using patterns (or free-hand draw if desired), cut two antlers from the brown craft foam, two ears from brown felt and hair from tan felt. Glue the antlers, ears and hair to the plastic shell. Glue the wiggle eyes and red jingle bell nose in place. Use the marker to draw a mouth and eyelashes. Tie ribbon into a bow and glue to the bottom of the ball.

Have some fun with the family and remember to visit my website at http://www.alan-realtor.com for the latest and greatest real estate info on the Northshore. Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated. SeeYou......