Target the Stars Blog

Just because we're low on cash and time this Christmas doesn't mean we have to be low on creativity and fun. After nine solid months of being unemployed, I finally found a job. The upside being great - yeah for health insurance and a steady income! The downside, we're strapped for cash this Christmas and working full time I have to find more creative ways to spend quality time with my kids.  Figuring out what I wanted to give our 11-year-old daughter was a challenge.  Electronics are too easy and fleeting, plus we're not really going to spend time together. So, I came up with a unique way to make sure we spend fun times together in 2015.  I purchased 26 envelopes, punched two holes on the side opposite the seal, and tied them with twine . I printed each letter of the alphabet with two weeks starting January 1, cut them out and pasted them on each of the envelopes.   Every two weeks she gets to open and envelope and find a craft I found on Pinterest and sometimes a co

Reading books is one of my favorite ways to get ready for Christmas.  This year I made an Advent pillow and filled it with the titles of our favorite Christmas stories.  Each day the kids pick out the story of the day and we read it.  I tried to coordinate some of the stories with TV broadcasts of Elf on the Shelf and How the Grinch Stole Christmas . First we read the books, then rented  The Polar Express and Miracle on 34th Street , We read the most religious books like Oh Holy Night and How Many Miles to Bethlehem , and How Jesus Came on the Sundays in Advent then lit the new candle for the week.  We read The Nutcracker the night before we went to see the ballet performance and of course read The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.   Creating the pillow was pretty easy. I purchased fabric at Joann Fabrics that already had numbers on it and sewed the top of each flap and then sewed the other three sides onto the back material.    I also sewed a little pocket on the back w

As soon as the Mall of America publishes it's 2015 coupon book I will update Twin Cities Family Fun Guide. Meanwhile, Alphabet Adventures: A to Z Activities, Crafts, & Recipes is only $10.80 on Amazon.com and would make the perfect Christmas gift for kids, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, daycare providers, Big Brothers/Big Sisters!