you know what they say about idle hands...

Which is exactly why, as it got closer to the holidays, we spent our evenings being crafty.  The kids made candy cane mice to give to their classmates and neighborhood friends:

Then they made snowmen out of milk jugs:

They also made reindeer root beer for part of Uncle B's present:

And finally, our tree topper.  We have had a pretty star since we got married.  Last year, our unreliable strings of lights burnt out, and we replaced them with LED lights.  The star and the lights didn't look right together.  The plan was to replace it this year.  I didn't see anything I really liked, and honestly, I didn't have a lot of time to make a grand search for one.  Last week, we decided to make our own!  We used a piece from an empty wrapping paper roll and cut the star out of whatever shipping box had arrived that day.  We bought silver (washable) paint, and the kids put two coats on each piece.  Then we sprinkled on the glitter and let it dry overnight.  The next morning, it was ready to top our tree!