Magnetic Nativity Project - Easy and Fun

I wanted a nativity that Eden could play with and that would be durable, portable, and easy. This is what I came up with:

I bought this small (probably 6"x8") whiteboard for under $3:

Then, using craft paper I already had I made the background (blue sky, green hills, sandy ground):

I just used double stick tape to put it onto the whiteboard:

Again, using craft paper I already had, I made this simple stable. You could simplify it even more by leaving off the rafters:

Next I printed off these images. They can be found here. Then I covered the images with contact paper and cut them out:

I covered the stable/background with contact paper and placed magnetic tape (that I already had) on the back of the nativity images:

My total cost for this project (excluding items I already had) was less than $3. If I had purchased the magnetic tape and craft paper it still would have come in under $5. I have given some of these as gifts (and plan to do some more). Eden took hers to church last week and it was a great quiet Christ-centered activity for her to do during the talks.

Food Friday - Holiday Slush

Hello Bamafam readers. This is BamDaddy here. I'm retro-posting Food Friday for this Christmas week. When I suggested a recipe to Heidi, she reminded me that I could also post on this blog. Silly Daddy. So I want to share with you a favorite Kesler family recipe that we always enjoy on Christmas Eve. I know there are a lot of slushes around out there, and maybe you've had this before. Anyway, here goes:

Ingredients:
2 cans frozen concentrate orange juice + 1 can water
2 cans frozen concentrate lemonade + 1 can water
46 oz. can pineapple juice
3-4 bananas - smashed
7-Up (or Sprite)

Instructions:
• Mix juices in the blender.
• Add banana.
• Blend well.
• Put into containers for freezing (we usually use big canning jars with metal lids, but anything you can freeze will work.
• Mix Frozen Concentrate with 7-Up to desired consistency (we just use our KitchenAid to blend it) serve.

Enjoy! Merry Christmas slushing from me (us)!

Tradition and Limited-time Offer

Many years ago, Charlotte started a tradition. She crocheted hats, wrapped them, and then held a Christmas Lottery to determine the recipients. When people visited her college apartment they got to draw a number and possibly win a hat. What fun!

Then we became roommates and I wanted in on the fun. I made hats too. More people got hats. Pretty soon EVERYONE got hats. We started to have Christmas Lottery parties. Fun, fun.

As a flashback to those silly days, I have been making hats (besides, it is a great way to use up the dregs of yarn from the year's projects).

Do YOU want in on the fun? Ok! Here is the deal: while supplies last I will be giving a hat a way a day. Each day I will randomly select a number and then I will determine the corresponding comment from the day before and that person gets the hat!

These are cute hats, by the way!
Behold a few of my hats on the cutest (if not always cooperative) model ever: