Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Kids in the Gingerbread Kitchen

All ready for a day in the Gingerbread Kitchen with my boys!

Me in my {brand new} early Christmas gift
from my dear Grandma,
an adorable apron!

I always go ALL gingerbread men and candy in my kitchen during the holidays.
Buttermilk Cinnamon Toast and Eggs taste much better on Gingerbread dishes!

My gingerbread tree is looped with twine bows on the branches,
lined with gingerbread garland, and topped with a little man.

I made this gingerbread man out of a paper bag when I was 9 years old
at my creative next door neighbor's house.

And more books of course...
this book, Gingerbread Baby is one of my boys' favorites!

So the scene is set.
Now I just need busy little
hands to help me with some December creations!



First we start with the simple basics.
I love me some Betty Crocker.
(For kitchen projects involving more than 1 child, I highly recommend the already prepared stuff.)

Mix, mix with those wide eyes and little hands...
take turns too!
We completely overcooked the cookies,
but maybe this will prevent them from breaking as we assemble all the cut sugar cookie stars into a big tree.

The gumdrops were the exciting part...





Ta da!
Sugar Cookie Star Christmas Tree

Please don't fall, please don't fall.


Waiting at my Mom's every year are the classic gingerbread men!
The boys always look forward to it.
It looks like my Dad helped decorate these this year
(just a guess as I notice some men in cool shades...)

And another fun treat for the boys at my parent's house is my Dad's vintage car and airplane tree. It's topped with an old toy plane and tied with racing checks ribbon and a racing checks tree skirt. He's an avid collector of vintage cars and airplanes so this tree fits him perfectly. The boys have SO enjoyed finding all the "cool" cars on it!

And our last little project for the holidays...
At Kotah's School Party his teacher taught the kids to make cinnamon applesauce dough in class! He was able to take the dough home to make sweet-smelling tree ornaments. We used cookie cutters and made a ribbon garland with ours. It's so adorable! :)
A big THANK YOU to his teacher for teaching us this.





Here's my Curious Little Questions for you!

Do you theme out your kitchen?
If so, what do you do?
Do you decorate your kitchen the same or different every year?
What's your FAVORITE activity to do with your kids in December?

Don't forget to check out this post I have here on making the holidays easier and {almost} stress free!

24 comments:

Linda@Coastal Charm said...

Your "gingerbread kitchen" is soooo CUTE! I don't have a theme for my kitchen...I change it out every year...I know the hubby wishes I would keep it the same! Hope you have a great time today cooking with your boys. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Blessings,
Linda

Judy@cutest-little-things.blogspot.com said...

My dining room and kitchen are both all sweet things - cookies, candies, and of course - GINGERBREAD!!

Love all of your decor, Lisa!

I have matching Christmas aprons for me and my son, too! We'll be donning them soon to bake his sugar cookies for Santa!

Anonymous said...

LOVE it all! Esp. the garland:) Thanks for sharing your creative and fun kitchen!

Tootsie said...

Love the gingerbread!
just a quick visit to say Merry Christmas to you my friend and a very happy new year

Valencia Jones-Edwards said...

I just love your apron!! My kitchen is ginger bread too...lol I guess cause it's a food.

Paula @ Organizing Tips For Moms said...

I don't do a theme in my kitchen or anywhere else in the house, but I have decorations that always go in the kitchen like garland and snowmen. Love you pictures and the cookie tree!

Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog said...

I wish I had the room to decorate the kitchen... for now, I'll have to settle for checking out beautiful blogger spaces :).

I just love that tree you made with your kiddos~ it's too cute!

Michelle @ Delicate Construction said...

Those are all soo cute! What great ideas!

caveman said...

Your dad's tree is uniquely him! Three more days until Christmas :)

Jenny said...

So cute. Love the apron. Great ideas which is totally no surprise!

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Many Blessings at Christmas, from my mountain top to your home….Hugs and Smiles Gl♥ria

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

I still have to make my gingerbread men yet. Ahhhhh. Running out of time!! Love your apron!!

Kelly Miller said...

I've never decorated my kitchen per se, but I do put out snowman hand towels and oven mitts and create a little Christmas craft display board for the kids multiple creations. That counts, right?

Your home looks awesome as usual.

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Oh, how cute! Loved all of your pics and what fun!

Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry (gingerbread) Christmas, Lisa!

XO,

Sheila :-)

Hoity Toity Baby said...

I used to go all out....now that I have the twins it's all I can do right now to keep it all cleaned up! LOL

I look forward to the days when they are old enough to really help me with projects like baking!

You're a good Mommy {L}!

Kathleen Grace said...

I didnt do much decorating in the kitchen this year. Yours is adorable though! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

b. said...

so festive! the cookie garland is cute.. so are the gingerbread men.

Jane said...

Hi Lisa
Thank you so much for your sweet comments. You will never know how much they mean to me. I look forward to reading your blogs...and following your family. Your boys are so like mine were...oh so long ago. You have so many years of wonderful times ahead!

Our kitchen does not have a particular theme...nor does any room in our home. I change everything around each year...and use what I have. (Of course, I have an extensive collection of items after 33+ years of marriage!) And if I need something for the wall...I paint it. (you can see some of my work in the "open house" post. One thing we do repeat year after year is making cinnamon rolls for the family and friends on Christmas Eve Day. Tomorrow my 23 yr old is coming to help...his request!!! And we baked (meaning I) about 24 dozen cracked sugar cookies...had lots of egg yolks to use after making a meringue dessert for 2 different parties. Our neighbors are going to love them.
Have a blessed Christmas with your parents, your boys, Chris, and the rest of your family and friends.
Hugs,
Jane (artfully graced)

PS Too-Loose is no longer in print. (darn!!!) Unfortunately, I donated the book to our library. Hopefully, they will let me buy it back so I can read to future grandchildren.

The Little Miss said...

oh my gosh such a great post! love it!!! Your kids are darling!

I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas!!! I hope your week is going great!

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thank you sweetie!

Leanne said...

Merry Christmas to you and your sweet family. Your boys did a great job. I love when mine want to help in the kitchen. It's usually my boys more than my girls. Have a wonderful day!

Its So Very Cheri said...

LOVE the gingerbread-I collect them too, as well as Santas, Snowmen and Reindeer... I thought about making cute "recipe card ornaments" for my tree. Maybe next year...

Love your Dad's tree--I saw a Hallmark plane on there-we have a Hallmark collection for each of our kids. G1 is trains G2 is planes G3 is fire engines and Miss G4 is gingerbread houses. All of the kids ornaments came out the christmas before they were born, except G3s and his started one year earlier--if I ever find his ornament I will get it for his collection.

We make gingerbread men every year. It's funny because I do not remember EVER making gingerbread cookies as a kid but my boys said we had to make them for Santa when they were very little and we have made them every year.

Merry Christmas
Cheri

Kim -today's creative blog said...

looks like great fun!

Julie From Inmates said...

Very creative!!! I don't do well with the boxed Gingerbread House kits, much less making my own gingerbread cookies from scratch!! I'm impressed!!! And no, I don't do a themed kitchen except for the sunflowers that I use year-round!

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