It’s December already and so is the time for Santa’s elves to arrive. These lovable characters are too cute to find place in homes before Christmas. As we know they are believed to be Santa’s helpers who every night report to Santa about kids’ daily activities. So just they being around, kids try to put up their best behaviour so that they are on Santa’s nice list.
There can be nothing more interesting than to make your own elf and perch it at different spots each morning. Kids can simply have fun spotting them. Here is a simple DIY for these cute North Pole characters.
Materials required:
Plain sheets of paper Play dough (red, white) Doll head Scissors Paint (red), paint brush Knife Glue Rolling pin
Directions:
1. Using plain sheets of paper, make body of the shelf in form of a cylinder. Make paper tubes for hands (and pass them through the holes from the cylinder). Similarly, make the paper tubes for legs and stick it to the body using glue.
2. Using paper sheets, make a cone for the cap and a circle for its neck accessory and trim its edges to make it spiky.
3. Paint the body in red and its cap in red and white.
4. Fix the accessories and the doll head using glue.
5. Now taking a rolling pin, flatten the red play dough and cut it into rectangles to cover its body. Also, make white gloves with white play dough.
Some interesting elf on the shelf ideas:
Have a happy time doing your own elf on the shelf!
Christmas is here and so it’s time to get a little gingerbready! We did a cute little ginger bread house this season. And I must say it was such an interesting project to work on.
The thumb rule that goes with doing a gingerbread house is that there is no rule except to have fun throughout. Doing it from the scratch including baking gives you the advantage of keeping the ingredients as per your taste, specially if you don’t want too much of the spice content. Decorating it is the more fun part; of course chowing it down being the most!
Ingredients:
For baking-
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
Preparing the shapes: First cut out paper templates for the various shapes required for the house. You will need two of each shape i.e. two rectangles 3 by 5 inches to make front and back, two rectangles 3 by 51/2 inches for the roof. Two pieces for the ends of the house; 3 inches wide at the base, 3 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 5 1/2 inches from the bottom.
Make the cookie dough: Add all the dry ingredients together that is flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice together in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar and molasses together on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined.
Wrap cookie tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. (This is super important else cookie will lose the shape and constructing the house will be difficult.)
Cutting dough into shapes: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and make two balls of it. Roll each ball between parchment paper. The dough will be a little difficult to handle; the parchment will do much of the work. Keep the rolled dough slightly thick (around ¼ inch). Using a pizza cutter or small knife, cut the dough into the gingerbread house template shapes. Re-roll dough scraps so you have enough dough for the whole house. Any extra dough can be used to create fun shapes using cookie cutters like a star or an X-mas tree or a ginger bread man.
Baking: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Arrange gingerbread house shapes onto prepared baking sheets, and bake the house pieces for about 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow shapes to cool completely on the baking sheets or on the counter.
Assembling and decorating: Select a base for the gingerbread-house. Stick the front piece of the house on the base using the royal icing. Stick the remaining sides and roof using the icing glue. Hold in place for a few minutes. You will need supporting objects for pieces to stay. Wait for some time before doing the roof so that the base sets properly.
Before decorating, the icing on the entire house must completely set. Allow the entire house to set at room temperature for at least 3 hours, before decorating. Decorate with butter cream icing and all the candies and stuff of your choice. Let your beautiful creation be a candy to your eyes for a day or two and then of course it’s ready to be munched down!
Tips and tricks:
1. Cookie dough can be made 3 days in advance. Baked pieces of the house can be stored for 1 week and can frozen for upto 3 months.
2. Cool the baked gingerbread house pieces on a flat surface, else the corners will curl a bit.
3. If you are not a great fan of too much spices in the cookie, you can alter the ratio according to yourself; I did.
Mother’s day
is round the corner. The day which mamas all around the world look forward to–
to be loved, surprised and spoilt.
And why not! It’s such a feeling of pride, fulfillment and joy for mothers to be appreciated for what they do.
However, it might be a tougher road for some amongst us. The day might come rubbing some of the hidden bruises. Truly, they are the special ones, and this is just to appreciate their enormous strength and worth which is beyond words.
The mother who is far apart from her
children.
Step by step, she has been there to see her child grow. When he started to sit, she waited for him to stand. When he could stand, she waited for him to walk. When he learnt to walk, she taught her how to fly. Now when he has learnt to fly, he is somewhere making her feel proud- working, raising, achieving.
The pangs of
separation are bitter. Sometimes she has meltdowns, tearing her world apart. But
again she stands strong, defiant and unbewildered; instilling in herself the
spirit she infused in her child. And she finds joy in his achievements, pain in
his sorrows, mirth in his laughter and life in his life.
The mother who is hopeful– that she
will hold her own child someday.
There she has
been through the journey of innumerable prayers, moments of disgust, lost hope
and revived faith. She in her mind, has made a million pictures of their unborn;
lived a thousand unlived moments of holding, playing, cuddling, and rejoicing.
She just can’t hold over the fact that how beautiful their life would be when
it happens. Days, months and years have passed, she has learnt to live in
acceptance and anticipation.
But this
journey has given her something which is beyond the superficial. An unfazed faith
that there is nothing above God’s will– faith that everlasting happiness is
worth the wait. Forbearance– to stay strong through the most vulnerable moments.
Hope– that the best time is yet to come. And above all, the blessing of togetherness
with her other half, standing by her through thick and thin.
The mother who is bereaving the loss
of her child.
This can be
the most devastating thing that can ever be in one’s life. The child, who brought a new ray of hope, is
gone now. The pain is excruciating. She
has questioned the almighty, willed her own end over her beloved’s, stood
hopeless at the altar– all of it, times and over. But the truth is she has him
no more– lost to the disease, lost to the mishap, lost to the crime. God willed
this to her and the reason is beyond her understanding.
Amidst all the mayhem, she understands that this the time of test. From somewhere in the universe, she gets forbearance and strength to bear something unimaginable like this. She finds connection with God and learns to withstand the deadliest of challenges that life has thrown at her. She learns to part away from something so precious. It was given by him and taken away by him. This is something that teaches her to face any circumstance whatsoever in life.
Someone who has lost her mother.
There can be
nothing more terrible than this. Even a thought like this is enough to run
shivers down anyone’s spine. A mother is the first symbol of strength, love and
dedication. When she is gone, she leaves a void that is irreplaceable and a burden
which is heaviest to bear. The pain might grow less with time but the memory is
un-erasable.
However, God
always compensates for what he takes away. He sends angels to take care of
those in distress. He gives them a stronger mind to withstand; and an ability
to connect to a deeper level. And there she finds a whole new strength; and discovers
life through a whole new perspective.
Unfathomable gift of strength and more power to all such women. I love you, Happy Mothers Day!
Mom's Diary 