Creating some collectables
While we don’t go shopping anywhere just to get their gimmicks, we have managed to gather a few of the Woolworths Christmas collectables this year. Have you collected them, too?
I decided to keep them aside so we could put them together as a Christmas activity, which we did this afternoon. It was a simple activity but we all enjoyed doing it together.
I have no idea if we have all the different pieces but it is a good collection, and here are some of my thoughts about them.
- they are made of cardboard – not plastic – so that is a HUGE win (we wouldn’t have collected any at all had they been plastic)
- they are sturdy so will last – I think they will even be okay to use again next Christmas!
- the layers of board can separate a bit too easily meaning pushing some bits through the slot was hard (particularly the key going into the robot – my daughter couldn’t get it in)
- the collectables are more challenging to put together and sturdier than the ornaments in our press out advent calendar
- some pieces don’t stand very well – for instance, the Christmas tree has two parts but as only one rests on the ground the final tree is wobbly
We don’t have the Christmas tree stand – Woolworths decided to only give it to some members (those who buy the ‘correct things’ during the year according to their response when I questioned this) and sell it to others, and I choose not to pay for it. So the kids can just arrange them on the mantle piece or their window sills I think.
Where do (or would) you display these collectables in your house? Would you add them to your stored Christmas items for next ear as well?
Tinkles the Elf tries riding a bike
Good plan to get some more exercise Tinkles, but I think this bike is a little too big for you! But it has inspired us to go for a bike ride today so thanks Tinkles.
Countdown – day 21!
Well that’s it for the school year – the last schools have now had their final days (yes, state schools in some states have had classes right up to today!) and summer holidays are officially here! I think that makes tonight’s advent calendar opening even more exciting for those kids, including mine!
Ornament calendar
So, to finish the school year, my kids discovered a candle decoration and a picture of a candle with hot chocolate and an orange (maybe the orange is for us summer Christmas people and the drink for our northern neighbours?)
Lego City
Time is ticking away and Christmas is edging closer, so a themed clock tower is a well timed find in the City advent calendar tonight!
Lego Friends
Day twenty-one and Christmas presents have arrived! Cute little gifts with a holder on the side for a string to hang them on the tree, my daughter is very happy with today’s find!
Christmas book
Tonight’s book to share is the toys’ night before Christmas which is such a beautiful book and somewhat appropriate as we are getting so close to Christmas Eve!
Making gingerbread with Tinkles
Not so conveniently placed, Tinkles was sitting in front of the pantry this morning inviting the kids to cook with her!
She was helpful by getting out a bowl and spoons, some flour, sugar and food dye, and left a note for the children. She even had two Christmas aprons ready for the children, along with some gingerbread train cutters.
Being a school day, we can’t do the cooking until this afternoon (but it does help fill in the ‘what do we take to the after school party tomorrow?’ question!) Of course, we will have to use a different bowl and spoon as Tinkles is sitting in the bowl! I didn’t realise it straight away, but my son wrote a note to Tinkles in response, too.
Tinkles asked “Would you like to bake with me? Maybe we could make some biscuits…” and my son responded with “Yes, But I have to go to school and I can’t touch you!”
Advent count down reaches day twenty!
Wow, we’ve made it to day twenty now.
What has happened on the 20th December? Well, in 1699 Peter the Great changed New Year from 1 September to 1 January, Grimm’s Rumpelstiltskin was first published in 1812, It’s a wonderful Life (a classic movie played every Christmas) premiered in 1946, and Rosa Parks sat in a ‘white seat’ on a bus in 1956.
Ornament calendar
Our ornament calendar today produced a sack for Santa – the image clearly shows it is full as the elves are struggling to move it!
Lego City
My son likes this mini digging machine, but I’m not sure it will fit in with his mining Lego very well as it is so small!
Lego Friends
Tonight’s Lego ornament is pretty – a white snowflake with blue ‘waterdrops’ on the end to give it colour and interest – and fits in with the white Christmas model.
Christmas book
And tonight’s Christmas book is Santa is coming to Australia! – and he is coming soon! It is a cute book and my kids love spotting places they can recognise – maybe we can get a map out tonight and they can trace Santa’s journey across Australia, too.
An elf popping out of a kitchen drawer!
Peaking out of the kitchen drawers this morning – I think Tinkles knows finding her was pretty tough twice this week (in the laundry and with the elephant tea set) so she made it easy today!
Not sure how exciting it would have been inside a drawer of plates and bowls though, not if Santa needs reports about our kitchen drawers 🙂
It’s Wednesday and it’s day 19 in our countdown
Wednesday, middle of the working week and heading for our last weekend before Christmas…
What Christmas cooking have you done this year? Maybe some edible gifts, a gingerbread creation, vanilla wreaths or perhaps some Turron.
Ornament calendar
Merrit holding a baby’s rattle – a very relevant ornament theme once you have read the accompanying story – and having her hand licked by a reindeer in the hidden image.
Lego City
The Lego City advent calendar’s flap revealed a lot of pieces tonight – my son formed them into two remote cars and two remote controllers, with a lo of spare pieces left over. I wonder how many kids will get a remote control car from Santa this year?
Lego Friends
We now have a gingerbread man ornament hanging up, thanks to the Friends calendar. He is quite cute and but I don’t think he’d be as much fun to eat as our gingerbread sleigh or gingerbread house!
Christmas book
Tonight, my son is going to read us Wake up Bear! which I am truly looking forward to as I remember it being a special story we enjoyed last time we read it.
Tinkles the Elf finds some elephants
This must be the week of hiding well as it again took us a while to find Tinkles the Elf today, although we did manage it before leaving for school unlike when she hid in the washing machine!
In the lounge room there is a glass fronted cabinet with glass shelves. It was on one of those shelves, interacting with an elephant tea set, that we found Tinkles. Luckily there is little tinsel around that cabinet so it was easier to spot her red and green outfit!
We’re onto day 18 in advent calendars
One week to go to Christmas! School, work, advent calendars and preparations are still going strong though, so let’s find out what our calendars provided for day eighteen…
Ornament calendar
Perhaps not a typical ornament, Santa’s hat is certainly a well known symbol of Christmas and good cheer!
Lego City
As there is a picture of this on the box, my son has been looking for this monster truck to come out of the calendar since day one!
Lego Friends
Following on from all the cupcakes on Sunday (day sixteen), the Friends ornament is a cake stand.
Christmas book
Tonight’s Christmas book is going to be Santa’s Husband which is such a great book for making us question perceptions and accepting alternatives. If you haven’t read it with your family yet, I suggest you read my review (so you know what to expect) and then read the book with as many children as you can!
Even elves need to work out!
There was great amusement and happiness this morning when we discovered Tinkles sitting on the kitchen bench lifting weight!
Sure, the weights were marshmallows, but that is more significant when you are as small as Tinkles!
Whilst Tinkles may feel marshmallows are heavy enough to lift, my son thinks they are tasty enough to eat…
8 days to Christmas – day seventeen is here!
Just 8 days to go until Christmas – are you excited or worried about the size of your ‘things to do before Christmas’ list?
Ornament calendar
While this ornament looks fancy and is bigger than most other ones, it was still just two simple pieces interconnected to make our reindeer.
Lego City
I love the little chef with his tray of biscuits that my son found behind flap 17! He is inspiring me to go bake something, too…
Lego Friends
Today’s ornament from the Friends advent calendar is colourful and cute – but is it a boot on wheels or an unusually shaped vehicle?
Christmas book
Tonight’s Christmas book is The naughtiest reindeer in the zoo which will be a nice story to read while those biscuits are cooking I think!
Tinkles the Elf hides in the laundry
Tinkles was well hidden today – I ended up finding her long after the kids had gone to school as she was sitting in the door of the washing machine! Not sure if she thinks she needs a clean or she just thought it was a funny spot to hide – lucky I spotted her before I put on a load of washing as it may have been a bit dangerous for an elf…
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