Gettin' Crafty

Cole loves being creative (as do I), and the holidays always provide the perfect opportunites for us to get crafty.  This year, we made some pumpkin cookies, a thankful chain, handprint turkeys, and a fall blessings mix.  FuN!!

Pumpkin Cookie Recipe:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Thankful Chain:  

Our family began a new tradition this year.  From November 1 - Thanksgiving, we make a chain listing all of our blessings and thankful things.  Each day, I write one blessing on a strip of construction paper and we add it to our chain.  We then use the chain to decorate Cole's Christmas tree :)

Turkey Time!

Making handprint turkeys with Mommy...

leftover feathers from Halloween worked great!

drawing the sky, sun, and grass

Fall Blessings Mix:  I found a few variations of this online.  This one is more 'spiritual'.  There's another cute one that strictly focuses on the fall season and Thanksgiving.

  

1 cup pretzels, These represent that we are to be salt and light to the world.

1 cup Honey Nut Cheerios, These circles represent God's never ending love for us. The honey is the sweetness of His Spirit over us even when things seem a little nuts.
1 cup Goldfish, These fish represent the call that Christ has put on our lives to be fishers of men.
I cup Craisin's, These fruits represent the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
1 cup Animal Crackers, These represent the wonder and diversity of God's creation.
1 cup Marshmallows, These represent what our hearts and spirit should be. Our hearts and spirit should be soft and sweet for others. The praise of our hearts and spirits should be pliable and squishy for God.
1 cup Candy Corn, The triangle represents the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.