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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query snowman. Sort by date Show all posts

The Snowman and the Snowdog DVD Review & Giveaway

Disclosure: NCircle Entertainment gave me a copy of the DVD free of charge and is supplying the one for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing The Snowman and the Snowdog DVD. Thank you to NCircle Entertainment for giving me a copy to review. Now we have not read the book, The Snowman and the Snowdog, however we have read and love The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. The Snowman and the Snowdog is a sequel to The Snowman. Both books are wordless and so is the movie. We have watched The Snowman movie on YouTube. Both movies make the book come alive. They literally seem to be the pictures of the book moving. Raymond Briggs worked with the producers to make sure the movies were what he wanted from his books and you can tell. If you do not know the books, they are lovely stories of the magic of childhood and snow.

Snow Globe
Now Hazel has been asking for weeks about when it will snow again. For several weeks we had a white sheet down on the floor of our family room so she could pretend it had snowed. Needless to say she was very excited to watch this movie and we really enjoyed. She was also excited about the crafts we made to go with it. I found the crafts and printables at The Snowman Craft Activities.



The movie shows a young boy and his mother moving into a house with their dog. The dog dies around Halloween. Around Christmas time he discovers a loose floorboard in his room and discovers a box with the making for a snowman and a picture of the boy and snowman from the first story. It happens to be snowing, so he goes out side and makes a duplicate of the snowman. He runs inside to get a new tangerine since the old one is shriveled and sees his dog's leash. He makes a snowdog next to the snowman with socks for ears and spots and using the shriveled tangerine for his nose. Similar to the first story, the snowman comes to life at night and so does the snowdog. The boy discovers this and goes on a magical adventure with them flying in the sky. They find an airplane to fly around in as well and then go sledding with other snowmen. Then they come to a Christmas tree with Santa packing his sleigh. The boy helps Santa and he tells him his Christmas wish. Santa gives the boy a small gift. The sun is about to rise, so the boy and his snowfriends must get home. I am going to leave the end a surprise for you since it is such a happy ending.

The DVD does have a bonus feature. We looked at it briefly, but it was not going to hold Hazel's attention. It was about Raymond Briggs. 

The Snowman and the Snowdog Mobile

For crafts we made a snow globe. We decided to make a dry one with fake snow and glitter instead of the liquid. We also made a mobile using the printable at The Snowman website. We also made the garland. I printed out extra of the snowdogs from the snow globe and used them in the garland so it would not be just the snowman.  I hung the mobile from the garland and hung it in Hazel's room. She can pretend it snows every day in there now.


Garland

We also made some paper snowflakes using the patterns found at The Snowman website. We hung them from the garland as well.



Finally we made some marshmallow snowmen. Again the idea came from The Snowman website. After making the first one, Hazel decided to get creative. I pulled out toothpicks since we were having trouble keeping them together. We also used some mini chocolate chips on some. I had trouble getting black frosting at first and bought the chips in case I didn't find any.



Now it is your turn to try to win a copy of this loving DVD. You can follow the Rafflecopter for what to do and follow my Giveaway Rules. Or if you cannot wait, you can purchase it at Barnes and Noble or Amazon. (Note these are not affiliate links, but are here for your convenience.)



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Winter Crafts Round-Up


I had so many incomplete ideas for my post today. Since they were all incomplete, I considered just not posting, but then I remembered I wanted to do a winter round-up since so many of you have not been following since 2011 when we began. So here it is, our past winter activities, crafts and books and a movie. Enjoy!!

Trinity Snowman & January Happenings

Today I am going to share with you a wonderful way to teach the Trinity to children and what will be happening this month here at Crafty Moms Share. First our lesson. I found on Proverbial Homemaker, Art Day Trinity Snowman Project on Pinterest. Her post led me to Hope Is Where the Heart Is to get the printable, Trinity Snowman. The printable is available for free at that link.
It is a lovely description of how the bottom ball of a snowman is the Father--the rock foundation, the middle ball is the Son with open arms and the head is the Holy Spirit--our counselor and friend. I think I like this explanation better than the apple one we read about and did a craft with in the fall.

The obvious project to go with this printable is a snowman craft. We went out to dinner tonight, but I prepared ahead of time by cutting out the three circles and gathering some supplies for Hazel to make a snowman. It entertained her until the food came. For other snowman ideas check out the features at this week's Sharing Saturday, our past snowman crafts and activities and our Winter Pinterest Board.

This month's author for Virtual Book Club for Kids is Laura Numeroff. She is best known for If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, but has a variety of books on all sorts of subjects. We will be sharing our chosen book and activity on January 13th.

Then on January 21st we will be "visiting" Peru with Around the World in 12 Dishes. We did a little exploration of Peru previously when we reviewed Daria's A Child's Life in the Andes. I am really excited to try the dish Daria suggested for us as well as a fun musical instrument craft I found. We will be posting our official dish on the 21st!! So join us then!!








I have been toying with the idea of running a Valentine swap again. Would you be interested in participating or having your child/ren participate? It would mean making some homemade Valentines and mailing them worldwide and then receiving some from all over the world. If you are interested, let me know. If there is interest I will put it together. 

That is what January brings! I hope you will join us for all the fun!



Snow Day!

Yesterday it snowed. Hazel was so excited. She has been asking since October to build a snowman. Of course, just our luck we are healthy enough to go out and play and get enough snow and of course it is a dry snow, but we made due. Above is a picture of part of our back yard. You can see the tracks where I pulled her on her sled.
The night before I made the squirt bottles of colored water for her to paint in the snow. They only worked a bit. Guess I should have invested in better bottles. But she did have fun. She even tried mixing colors because she wanted orange.
Hazel also made her first snow angel. We have been reading lots of books about snow, so wanted to do everything she saw in the books--make tracks in the snow, snowball fight, make a fort, make a snowman, catch snowflakes and make snow angels.

Then she pulled out her shovel (her garden shovel) so she could help Daddy shovel. She was shoveling the grass, but we didn't stop her. She also tried some more painting and color mixing. And made her second snow angel in the front yard--good thing since Daddy shoveled away her first one.
Next Hazel pulled Mommy in the sled. I helped with my hands. We didn't get a picture since Daddy was off shoveling and clearing all the exits to our house to keep us safe. Then I pulled her around the back yard.
I love our back yard. You can see the creek in this picture that goes around the back and side of our back yard. I took the back yard shots this morning, but the snow is still covering everything.
Then Hazel wanted to walk and make tracks. This is another part of our back yard. Then we pulled out some black felt and a magnifying glass to catch snowflakes and check them out. This didn't last too long since our magnifier wasn't strong enough and we were catching too many with how fast it was falling. Sorry I didn't get a good picture of it. Then Hazel wanted to build a snowman. So Daddy shoveled away her snow angel and that part of the driveway and made a big pile for her. Then we pulled out the snowman decorating kit someone gave us for her second birthday and tah dah! We have a snowman--sort of.
Then of course she wanted to build another one. I went inside to look for more decorating supplies and when I came back they had moved everything over to the second one.
I added the gloves and then took a picture. Then we re-dressed the first one.

I asked Hazel to sit with her snowmen, but somehow she ended up laying down. Not sure what happened there. She also has been very concerned that her monkey hat (otherwise known as her George hat since she loves Curious George) is outside. She wanted to be sure it wouldn't blow away. The hat no longer fits her, but she loves it. Guess I better not pack it up for the charity drop off I need to do.
By this time, Steve and I were getting cold so we made Hazel come in for some hot chocolate and lunch. We had grilled cheese sandwiches and soup with our hot chocolate. The perfect lunch for after playing in the snow. Then amazingly she took a nap for us.

Oh, and I have to share these cute mugs I bought ages ago and always kept for a day like this. This is what we had our hot chocolate in. Aren't they adorable? I bought them when I was single (and I have a matching plate) and always thought they would be perfect for hot chocolate after playing in the snow.
On another note, please go check out our Sharing Saturday. I am having trouble keeping up with all the wonderful posts. There are over 130 last time I checked, and it is still open. So go over and get inspired and feel free to share your amazing ideas.

The Snowman and The Snowman and the Snow Dog & Naya's Arctic Adventures: Meet Naya -- DVD Reviews and Giveaway!!

Disclosure: NCircle Entertainment gave me a copy of the DVDs free of charge and is supplying the ones for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the DVD on NCircle Entertainment's site for your convenience. You can also find their DVDs at local retailers!

Today I am sharing with you two fun DVDs that are perfect for winter and Christmas. Both are really wordless!! The first is a combination of two favorite ones one of which we have reviewed in the past The Snowman and The Snowman and the Snowdog. They are based on the books of the same titles by Raymond Briggs. Now both stories are available on one DVD!! 

Sharing Saturday 13-47

Have you entered my current giveaway? It is the perfect gift for any doll lover!


Sharing Saturday Button


Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! We had some wonderful ideas shared as always. This week is a bit crazy for me. Tomorrow is our BIG event at church. It is almost all together. I visited a few of last week's posts and we had many snowmen crafts shared, so I'm featuring a few of them and a couple of my other favorites!



1) From Crayon Box Chronicles: Build-A-Snowman Foam Dough

2) From Happy Hooligans: CD Snowman Ornament

3) From Little Wonders' Day: "Frozen" Treat Roll a Snowman Ice Cream in a Bag Game

4) From The Connection We Share: Snowman In A Jar Playdough Kit- Gift Ideas

5) From Keitha's Chaos: Math Activity from Our Elf on the Shelf

6) From Wesens-Art: Dancing Angel Tealights

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

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From Your Hostess:

This week we shared our craft filled Advent calendar, our Hope ornament and Advent Workshop crafts and wreaths, our leather doll clothes giveaway and a round-up of some of our top Christmas books that teach the story of Christmas or the meaning of Christmas. We will share an update on our crafts from our Advent calendar on Sunday as well as what we are making for week 2: Peace!



Don't forget to enter our Giveaway for that magenta leather doll clothes and accessories & a gift certificate for Leather Hide Store (see picture above)!!
 



Now for This Week's Party  
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1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

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 Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest

Disney's Frozen -- Marshmallow Olaf and Party Activity Ideas




With Halloween fast approaching, I know the holiday season is not far behind and then it will be time for Hazel's birthday party. Her theme this year is Disney's Frozen, so we are going to do it for her real birthday (well a couple of weeks after so it is not during the holidays). I have seen all over the web the bags with the tag "Do you wanna build a snowman?" and the supplies for a marshmallow snowman. I decided to see how they would come out. I have to say our tries did not turn out well. So this is something we will not be doing for the party. Now for full disclosure, our large marshmallows were stale, but I do not think this is what caused the issues.

Christmas DVDs Review and Giveaway

Disclosure: NCircle Entertainment gave me a copy of the DVDs free of charge and is supplying the ones for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the DVD on NCircle Entertainment's site for your convenience. You can also find their DVDs at local retailers!

To help get us in the Christmas spirit, NCircle Entertainment sent us four Christmas DVDs to review and are supplying another set of four to one of my wonderful readers!! Hazel was really excited to see a few of her favorite shows represented. She insisted we start with the newly released Octonauts: The Very Vegimal Christmas.


Snowy, Tea Party Kind of Day


Wednesdays are typically our day without many plans since it is the day between her two school days. I find it nice to have a day to play at home and spend time together. This morning was one of those days I was glad we did not have plans as it was snowing harder than they predicted. Our big plans for today was to have a tea party after breakfast and getting dressed. I made the tea during breakfast so it would be cool enough for Hazel by the time we got to the party.

Our next step was to get dressed and accessorized and then we had to dress all of our guests. Hazel wore her favorite pink dress and then piled on the jewelry. I told her she looked like she was from the 80's with all the bracelets (think Madonna or Cyndi Lauper). She basically put on every bracelet she could find and every ring. You cannot see it, but she did pick out a tiara which I am wearing in the picture above.

Then we poured the tea for our guests and got ours and our real snack (corn muffin top) ready. She loved this part. We even got a special guest who we gave a plastic cup to since she probably would have broken one of the porcelain ones.
I think she was a bit more interested in the pom poms and wands Hazel insisted we carry to the tea party. We had put them on the floor by the table and Fluffy was definitely keeping an eye on them. Of course her favorite part was that we would choose one of the dolls or Ducky to need more tea. Then after the corn muffin was gone she wanted me to cut up some apple. Needless to say it was a very fun morning.

After lunch we changed and put on our layers to go outside. Now the snow had turned to rain and it was wet and very heavy outside. However she really wanted to go play in it, so we did. After all, she has been wanting to make a big snowman for a couple of years now and we have not had a good snow for it. Well we did some shoveling and made a snowman and she made many snow angels. I think this might have been her biggest snowman yet. We used almost all of the snow that was on the driveway next to our garage. It made shoveling much easier after rolling it all into the snowman.
She also loved making footprints and dropping her shovel to make its footprint and handprints too in the snow. Afterward we came in for hot chocolate (well I had tea) and warmed up. By then the roads were clear so we went out to run some errands as well. We spent some time doing some crafts together, but I will share those another time. Have you done anything fun this week with your kids?

New Holiday & Winter Books Roundup

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have shared three roundups of new Christmas picture books as well as reviews of some other ones this month. Today I am sharing at another December holiday--Hanukkah and winter books for you to check out. We will start with the Hanukkah book. It is Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Hanukkah Party! by Leslie Kimmelman and illustrated by Tom Brannon. It is recommended for ages 3 to 7.

Sharing Saturday #51 Features

As promised I finally got to visit all of the 70 shared posts from Sharing Saturday #51. There are many amazing ideas shared there including many, many Christmas ones. Since Christmas was over a week ago, I am not going to share those here, but if you have leftover candy canes there are a couple of ideas there as well as some great Elf on the Shelf ideas and many Christmas crafts and lessons. So you if you want to be inspired for next Christmas go check them out and pin them!!

My mind this week has been on snow. Perhaps since our ground is now snow covered and Hazel finally got to make a small snowman. We did not get as much as I had hoped, but she really wanted to make a snowman. We also have been reading some great snow books which I will share another day. So my first features are snow related.
1) From Everyday Mom: Snowmen Cupcakes
2) From Adventures at Home with Mum: Melted Snowman Sensory Play
3) From Little Wonders' Days: Epsom Salt Pine Cones
4) From Life with Moore Babies: Snow Ice Cream
5) From School Time Snippets: Snowflake Canvas
6) From De Gulle Aarde: Pasta Snowflakes
7) From The Stitchin' Mommy--My Silly Stitchin' Adventures: Crocheted Snowflake Clip
8) From Boy Mama Teacher Mama: Snowflake Math

And here are a few of my other favorites that were not snow-related.

1) From Life on the Gravelly Road: Felt Stove Top (sorry I can't take a picture from her blog)
2) From Tousled Day: Angel Messages
3) From Bridgit's Bell: Winter Gnomes

What were your favorites from last week's Sharing Saturday? I hope you will join us tonight for this week's!!