Happy Hanukkah! Nearly belatedly! In honor of the Jewish Festival of Lights, I have another Mimi paper doll available to print and color; you can get it
. There's a brief story-ette about Mimi going to a Hanukkah feast, and it includes a menorah that can stand up when assembled, as shown above. The top part of the menorah is a "pocket" in which you can insert the correct number of candles for the current night of Hanukkah (today is the 6th day of Hanukkah for 2009, so you'd insert six candles, plus the center one or
candle, which is used to light the others). I was too lazy/rushed to color Mimi and her menorah, but she looks great "colorized" with colored pencils or crayons.
Not sure why this image came out vertically; thought I'd saved it rotated...
Quick question: I've been posting various paper dolls as sort of doodly coloring pages - just pencil sketches, and no color. What do you think - should I keep doing them that way, or would you greatly prefer something more final-artish that you'd have to print in color? (Keep in mind that would likely mean I'd make even fewer of them...)
One of my favorite things about December is the variety of special days (Christmas, Hanukkah, St. Lucia Day, St. Nicholas Day, the winter solstice, etc.), and the opportunities they provide to learn about different cultures (or even just people who have different traditions). My husband and I both grew up celebrating Christmas, so that's the December holiday we celebrate with our kids, but our extended families include people from diverse backgrounds, including the Jewish faith. We live some distance from them, so our kids have only occasionally celebrated Hanukkah with those relatives. Fortunately, though, we long had a tradition of sharing holidays with neighbors and good friends who are Jewish. Their kids came over each year to help decorate our Christmas tree, sing a few Christmas songs, and have a holiday dinner, and our kids went to their house each year for a Hanukkah feast, complete with dreidel games and songs and decorations. (They always sent extra latkes home for me, the latke-fiend. Yum!)
Here's my favorite low-fat latke recipe. I don't have a photo to show you because I haven't managed to make them yet this year, but I'll try to add a picture later. These are quite tasty, though perhaps not as scrumptious as the crispy fried ones. I cut the recipe out of some newspaper many years ago; more than that I can't tell you about its origin. Sorry.
Low Fat Potato Latkes
3 lbs. potatoes (I've used both Idaho and Yukon gold)
1 onion
1/3 cup matzo meal or flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 T chopped parsley
2 eggs plus 4 additional whites
salt and freshly ground pepper, to t
Posted on 7/27/2009
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Hello! It’s back to school time soon! Make lunch more fun for your kids by slipping in some notes, jokes or riddles in their lunch box. There are many websites where you can find notes and jokes that you can print for free. I found the best of them and here they are. These notes are so cute, your kids will love them!
http://www.alenkasprintables.com/lunchboxnotes.shtml
Alenkasprintables is one of my all time favorite websites for free printables. You will find free lunch box printable notes in here. The graphics are very cute! There are also editable notes! You can edit the notes before printing them. You can change the words and replace with your own text. And while you’re on this website, check out their other wonderful free printables too. They have free school printables, free “color me” notecards, free printable awards, free printable name cards and free printable address labels. They also have printable chore charts and bookmarks that you can print for free.
http://disney-stationary.com/printables/lunch-notes.php
Children love Disney characters! There are free printable lunch notes with images of Disney Characters from the High School Musical, Wall-E, the Jonas Brothers, Honnah Montana, Disney Princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, etc), Dumbo, Mickey Mouse, etc.
http://familyfun.go.com/printables/craft-templates/printable/lunch-box-jokes/lunch-box-jokes.html
There are jokes that you can print and cut out. The children will like these!
http://www.kidprintables.com/lunchboxnotes/
These are very cute notes. If you put them on your kids’ lunch box they will be very happy. It is a nice surprise and it makes them feel very loved and special.
http://www.youthonline.ca/stationery/lunchboxnotes/
You will find free cute lunchbox notes in free, ready to print and cut.
http://printables.familyeducation.com/tv/tvsearch.php?in=fe_printables&type=printable&theme=lunchbox-notes
There are many assorted lunch box notes in here. These are very thoughtful notes. The children will adore them.
http://www.gingerbreadnook.com/backpacknotes/
There are 4 notes per page to print. The bears and bunnies graphics are absolutely adorable. These free backpack and lunch notes are great!
http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/parenting_features/first-day-of-school/brown-bag-school-lunch/kids-lunch-boxes/index.jhtml
You will find really cute free printable lunch box love notes in here. The characters are Dora The Explorer, Blue’s Clues, Oswald and Little Bill.
http://www.frugal-families.com/printables/lunchboxnotes.gif
There are 8 lovely lunch box notes ready to print and cut.
http://www.the-heart-of-motherhood.com/printable-lunchbox-notes.html
There are 10 nice individual lunch box notes. You can print them on plain paper or card stock.
I hope you enjoyed this article on where to find free printable notes and jokes for your children’s lunch box!
Posted on 7/27/2009
Blog:
Time Machine, Three Trips: Where Would You Go?
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lunchbox,
lunchbox notes,
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Add a tag
Hello! It’s back to school time soon! Make lunch more fun for your kids by slipping in some notes, jokes or riddles in their lunch box. There are many websites where you can find notes and jokes that you can print for free. I found the best of them and here they are. These notes are so cute, your kids will love them!
http://www.alenkasprintables.com/lunchboxnotes.shtml
Alenkasprintables is one of my all time favorite websites for free printables. You will find free lunch box printable notes in here. The graphics are very cute! There are also editable notes! You can edit the notes before printing them. You can change the words and replace with your own text. And while you’re on this website, check out their other wonderful free printables too. They have free school printables, free “color me” notecards, free printable awards, free printable name cards and free printable address labels. They also have printable chore charts and bookmarks that you can print for free.
http://disney-stationary.com/printables/lunch-notes.php
Children love Disney characters! There are free printable lunch notes with images of Disney Characters from the High School Musical, Wall-E, the Jonas Brothers, Honnah Montana, Disney Princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, etc), Dumbo, Mickey Mouse, etc.
http://familyfun.go.com/printables/craft-templates/printable/lunch-box-jokes/lunch-box-jokes.html
There are jokes that you can print and cut out. The children will like these!
http://www.kidprintables.com/lunchboxnotes/
These are very cute notes. If you put them on your kids’ lunch box they will be very happy. It is a nice surprise and it makes them feel very loved and special.
http://www.youthonline.ca/stationery/lunchboxnotes/
You will find free cute lunchbox notes in free, ready to print and cut.
http://printables.familyeducation.com/tv/tvsearch.php?in=fe_printables&type=printable&theme=lunchbox-notes
There are many assorted lunch box notes in here. These are very thoughtful notes. The children will adore them.
http://www.gingerbreadnook.com/backpacknotes/
There are 4 notes per page to print. The bears and bunnies graphics are absolutely adorable. These free backpack and lunch notes are great!
http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/parenting_features/first-day-of-school/brown-bag-school-lunch/kids-lunch-boxes/index.jhtml
You will find really cute free printable lunch box love notes in here. The characters are Dora The Explorer, Blue’s Clues, Oswald and Little Bill.
http://www.frugal-families.com/printables/lunchboxnotes.gif
There are 8 lovely lunch box notes ready to print and cut.
http://www.the-heart-of-motherhood.com/printable-lunchbox-notes.html
There are 10 nice individual lunch box notes. You can print them on plain paper or card stock.
I hope you enjoyed this article on where to find free printable notes and jokes for your children’s lunch box!
When my kids were small I saw a cute idea in a magazine (maybe Family Fun?)for kids to send a Valentine to distant relatives. We've since used the "hug card" to send thank you notes, get well soon cards, and simply "I miss you" notes. Have your kid lie down and spread out his arms on a long sheet of paper. (We used the rolls we had for easel painting, but you can also just tape sheets of paper together.) Trace around your kid's hands, arms, head and neck, then cut out the shape. Your kid can add hair and facial features with crayons or markers, and then dictate a note for you to print across the "hug." It takes a lot of folding to fit in an envelope and it's kind of a pain to cut out, but I've never known a grandparent who wasn't ga-ga for a note like this.
And speaking of cute mail, don't let your kid forget to send a little thank you note to Santa! After all, I bet Santa went to a lot of trouble in his workshop or hanging out in those long lines at the mall, not to mention the late night on Christmas Eve and all. Standard mail delivery to the North Pole is a bit iffy after December 25th, but you can rely on Elf Mail to get a miniature note to Kris Kringle promptly. You can get a pdf to print a template for a make-your-own Elf mailbox, plus a cute little Elf-sized greeting card and envelope
here. My sample, above, is just assembled from the paper print out, but it does look (and work) even better if you print it on cardstock. You can choose your own color scheme and add whatever decorations/embellishments you prefer.
Assembly is fairly straight forward, but it's definitely a job for grown ups or skilled older kids.
Supplies
- Cardstock, white paper
- Craft-quality glue stick or tacky glue and toothpick; repositionable glue stick
- Scissors, craft knife, chopstick, scoring tool (like inkless ballpoint pen)
- Markers, stickers, whatever for embellishing the mailbox and cards
I also have some tips to make assembly easier.
- You can print and cut out the template on cardstock and trace it onto whatever paper or card you want - or make life a little easier by printing a copy on paper, cutting loosely around the mailbox and extra parts (the support piece, the door handle, and the key) and lightly gluing them to your cardstock with a repositionable glue stick or spray adhesive. Then carefully cut out along the dark solid lines and score and fold along the dashed and dotted lines with the template still in place. (If you've glued the template to the right side, just follow the mountain versus valley fold lines as marked - but reverse them if you glue it to the wrong side.) Don't forget to use a craft knife to cut out 3 sides of the lower door (the one for the elf mailman to use to remove the mail) and cut out the keyhole too, because it does kind of work with the key.
- Remove the template, and assemble the mailbox, using a glue stick or tacky glue applied with a toothpick. First, glue the support piece to the underside of the shelf that connects to the pull-down door (A in my template). The tabs will fold up next to the door (you'll glue them to the inner sides in a minute). Glue the handle to the door.
- Cut out the little triangle-y parts around the part that curves over the top if you haven't already done so. (It's easier to do the folds before you cut them out.)
- Fold the main part into a box shape, and secure by gluing the long tab to the edge it meets. You may have to reach inside from both the top and bottom to pinch it or use your chopstick to get it to stick well. Then fold the shelf and door into position and glue the little tabs of the support piece just in front of the pull-down door - this isn't absolutely necessary, but it does make everything more stable when you open and close the door to drop the letters in.
- Fold up the bottom and glue its tabs in place. You may need to use a chopstick or something to reach in and rub the surfaces together.
- Rub glue on the triangle tabs on both sides of the curved top piece and position them carefully. This is a bit tricky. Again, a chopstick is useful for reaching inside for the gluing.
- Cut out some cards and envelopes. Have your kid dictate notes and maybe decorate the fronts with mini artwork or tiny stickers. (You can also enlarge the notes 200%, write them and then reduce 50% to make it easier if you're at the reading glasses stage of life like I am.) Then let your kid post his mail!
The mailbox is also excellent for sending letters to the Tooth Fairy or any other tiny creatures who frequent your home.
Here's a
link for some more printable miniature envelopes at
Jim's Dollhouse Pages (which also has tons of other printable cool miniatures in different scales).
If you like the idea of the mailbox, but can't muster the energy to make another craft after the holiday season, you can buy a lovely little metal one here from Hearthsong, one of my favorite catalog/online toy stores. Or you can hunt for a vintage one like this that makes me feel utterly nostalgic and sentimental - I used to buy very similar ones for like 35 cents at the Williamsburg Pharmacy in Arlington, VA when I was a kid. I think I had about a dozen of them, but none survived our various moves. Sigh. Maybe I'll have to buy myself a holiday letdown gift... Tomorrow (or soon) the templates and tutorial for the mushroom glitter house!
This is really a test for me. I'm trying to see if I've figured out a way to add a printable pdf file to a blog posting. If it works, I have some more goodies to add soon!
Click on this link here (I hope) to take you to a black and white paper doll of Mimi and friends that you can print out, color, and play with, if you're so inclined. (To print the pdf file, click on the iPaper button on the toolbar and select print.)
You're free to use this image for non-commercial purposes, including printing it out for a class or library storytime. The picture above is of some of the pieces colored with colored pencils, cut out, glued to cereal box cardboard where applicable (i.e., Mimi, Bunny, and Frank), and assembled where necessary (i.e., the book). I'm working on making a full color, 3-D Mimi paper doll to post on my website too, and I'll link to it here as well once I finish it.
I have been ga-ga for paper dolls as long as I can remember. When we were young, my mom used to let me and my sisters pick them out at the five and dime if we'd been good on long shopping outings. My favorites were the ones that came with lots of accessories, like a crib to put the baby in, or little bowls of food with tiny spoons, etc. My grandmother also used to save the Betsy McCall paper dolls that came in her copies of
McCall's Magazine for us to play with when we came to visit. (You can find printables of these old paper doll pages at Janie's The Bleu Door site
here, as well as links to other paper doll sites.)
I really credit a lot of my skill with scissors to years of practice cutting out paper dolls and clothing. I remember too, my mom showing me how to make my own paper dolls by drawing a doll figure, taping it to the window, taping another piece of paper over it, and then drawing clothes that would fit. I made zillions of my own dolls, figuring out the engineering of accessory furniture and other items as well. And then I spent hours and hours pretending with my dolls. All those skills have served me well in my writing and illustrating!
For using paper dolls with very young children, I recommend using the Scotch Repositionable glue sticks rather than the tabs for putting clothes on - much less frustrating for tiny hands. The repositionable glue stick has a bond roughly equivalent to a Post-It Note, so it's easy to attach and remove and won't leave a huge permanent mess all over your kitchen table. Because the print outs are close to free (just the cost of paper and ink) you can let the little ones have a go at cutting them out themselves, which they'll probably do badly. One thing that makes it easier is to first cut around each piece so the paper is easier to manipulate.
Oh no! It’s Christmas Eve and somebody forgot to buy tags for the gifts. Hmm. Well, you could just get out your Post-it pad or use your burrito wrapper from lunch. Aren’t you swanky.
I loved those questions you hope your students won't ask. I used to teach elementary school and I think my kids used to lie awake at night dreaming of questions to ask. :)
Following your blog. Looking forward to getting to know you better.
Thanks Pam. looking forward to reading your stuff as well :)
Great ideas! I'm following your blog now!
Thank you so much. And you will be automatically entered into my Giveaway once I hit 50 followers :)