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Tag Archives: Christmas

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

11 / 30 / 1812 / 1 / 18

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments | Mama Papa Bubba

After making the most adorable little Christmas truck ornaments {inspired by Little Blue Truck’s Christmas} with Sam earlier this week, today Miss G and I made her book-inspired ornament of the year… Test tube snow globe ornaments inspired by the pages of Ada Twist, Scientist!  I wasn’t sure how they were going to turn out, but now that they’re done, I think they’re so beautiful and fun!

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments{this post contains affiliate links}

If you’ve not read Ada Twist, Scientist, you must…  Along with the other books in the collection (Rosie Revere, Engineer and Iggy Peck, Architect), it’s one of our absolute favourites.  Ada is endlessly curious and while her experiments and quests to figure out how things work often wreak havoc in her family’s day-to-day life, she learns the value of thinking her way through things and always remaining curious.

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

The pages of the book are filled with bottles of Ada’s colourful concoctions and experiments, which is exactly what inspired Miss G’s little test tube snow globe ornaments.

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

There’s a lot of wiggle room as far as which materials you use for these test tube snow globe ornaments, but here’s what we used to make ours:

– little glass craft jars with screw on lids (I REALLY wanted ones with rounded bottoms like these ones with cork tops, but alas… small town living doesn’t always allow for these things.  We ended up finding these very similar flat-bottomed glass craft jars at our local Dollarama and they worked just fine. In fact, they’re probably better for the fact that they stand on their own while making them, but they’re just not quite as test tube like.)

– Gorilla Contact Adhesive (I wouldn’t use something like this with Sam, but Miss G is 8 now and this glue worked really well)

– mini bottle brush trees (we found ours at Michael’s in the Tiny Treasures section)

– water

– liquid food colouring

– different types of confetti and slime add-ins

– water

– embroidery thread

– washi tape (which we ended up adding into the mix at the last minute)

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Here’s a closer look at the little confetti bits and slime add-ins I put out for Miss G to use.  These were all things that came in one of those big slime making add-in kits you can order online.

Here’s how Grae made her test tube snow globes…

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

First up, she tested the bottle brush trees in the glass craft jars to make sure they fit well.

Test tube snow globes

Most of them fit perfectly and the ones that didn’t simply got a little trim.

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Then it was time to adhere the trees in the bottoms of the test tubes.  To do this, we simply followed the instructions on the Gorilla Contact Adhesive packaging and put a little glue on the base of the tree, a little glue in the bottom of the test tube, let both sit for two minutes, and then carefully put the tree down into the test tube and pushed it down firmly.  {In true Miss G fashion, the two minutes of waiting just HAD to be filled with reading.}

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Now while the glue we used does say that it’s ‘immediate contact’, it also says that the glue isn’t fully cured for 24 hours, so we probably should have waited before adding water, but we didn’t.  We gave the trees 10 or 15 minutes to set, then went ahead with the project like the impatient people we are – hah!  One thing to note is that the trees / test tubes that we used a thin layer of adhesive on definitely formed a more immediate bond, while the ones with more adhesive were still wiggly when we moved on to the next step

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Next up, the water.

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Aren’t they pretty just like this?

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Then Grae worked on tinting the water with liquid food colouring.  Because a full drop was too much for the amount of water in our little test tubes, she used a food pick to add the teeniest bit of colouring at a time until the colour was just right.

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

With the water the perfect shade, she added in all of the confetti, bits, and bobs her little heart desired.

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Here are her finished test tube snow globes…  Aren’t they gorgeous?

At this point you could secure the test tube lids with glue, but we skipped that part and just ensured that they were screwed on as tightly as possible.

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Now while I thought we’d tie our baker’s twine / embroidery thread around the test tubes and create our little hanging loop that way, it just didn’t work out how we thought it would…  Instead, we opted to tape a little loop of thread to either side of the lid and then secure everything with several rounds of decorative washi tape, which I think looks really cute too.

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

Here they are all done and ready for the tree!

Test Tube Snow Globe Ornaments

NewImageThis post is part of the awesome  10 Days of #KidMadeChristmas Ornaments series we’ve participated in in years past…  If you’re looking for some fantastic ornament ideas to try at home with your kids, pop over and check out the master list of kid-made ornaments – there are SO many lovely ones this year!

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Homemade Christmas Truck Ornaments

11 / 29 / 1812 / 1 / 18

Homemade Christmas Truck Ornaments | Mama Papa Bubba

One of the Christmas traditions I just adore?  Making a new Christmas ornament with each kiddo every year!  It’s such a fun one-on-one project and I think the kids really love hanging their newly made decorations on the tree {and revisiting their old ones each year}.  The type of ornament we make is often inspired by something they love or by a favourite book, and this year Sam’s little homemade Christmas truck ornaments were inspired by Little Blue Truck, the star of a collection of books we’ve read again and again.

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Holiday Bucket List

11 / 30 / 17

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One of the things I try really hard to do as a mama is make to carve out a little bit of time each day to spend just with my little Miss G.  It’s usually not a ton of time, but being that she was our one and only for more than 5 years, I think it’s important. Sometimes we read together, sometimes we read side by side, sometimes we chat, sometimes we colour, sometimes we watch a show, and sometimes we work on a project together… The list goes on, but  a few nights ago, we sat at my computer together and created a holiday bucket list filled with all of the things we hope to do while she’s on break from school.  {I can’t wait!}

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Christmas Eve {2016}

12 / 24 / 161 / 18 / 17

This whole sneaking away for a quiet, low key Christmas thing…  Can we do it every year?  Pretty please??  We only just arrived here on Salt Spring yesterday, but I’m already in love with Christmas 2016.  We have both of our babies at home with us this year {best feeling ever!}, we really have nothing to do, and there’s little to no holiday stress involved.  Love it.

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Mini Christmas Letter Ornament

12 / 6 / 1612 / 1 / 18

Mini Christmas Letter Ornament Keepsake | Mama Papa Bubba

This weekend we took our stash of Christmas books out and oh my word… Was Miss G ever excited.  She’s been asking to take them out for ages now, so as soon as we did, she got straight to sorting, organizing, and reading them.  {Gosh, I love her.}  

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Baking Soda Clay Baby Footprint Keepsake

12 / 5 / 1612 / 1 / 18

baking-soda-clay-baby-footprint-keepsake-mama-papa-bubba

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already amidst December, and in our house, December 1st means that all things Christmas are fair game.  We’re doing a very low key Christmas this year {like really low key}, but low key doesn’t mean without tradition.  Our fun little traditions are much too special anticipated to let go of, so this year we’ll simply pare down a little bit when needed.  Like instead of 10 different types of homemade Christmas ornaments, maybe one or two will do…  

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A Balcony Snowman

12 / 30 / 141 / 21 / 15

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A Cold Sunday in Heidelberg

12 / 28 / 141 / 12 / 15

On Sundays in Heidelberg, most everything is closed.  And while that can be slightly annoying when you’re in need of milk or in the mood to browse, I sort of love it at the same time.  Growing up, I lived in a teeny tiny town in northern Alberta where everything was closed on Sundays…  It meant that on that day each week, our day was spent together as a family.  Those days were slower than the others and I loved it.

Today was one of those days.  A cold Sunday where we didn’t do much of anything other than force ourselves out of the flat for an hour to play at a nearby school.  And it was lovely.

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REAL Snow

12 / 27 / 141 / 12 / 15

Today, well into our morning routine of sitting at the table together sipping on hot drinks before the sun rises, we realized something…

IMG 7366

Our balcony was covered in a blanket of snow!  It was so dark outside we hadn’t noticed even though we’d been sitting right in front of it for nearly 30 minutes, but the moment we did, we threw on our coats and boots {in between shrieks of ‘It’s snowing, Papa!  It’s snowing!’, of course} and headed outside to play.  It was heavy and sticky – the perfect snow for building things with, which made it that much better.

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SNOW! {Boxing Day 2014}

12 / 26 / 141 / 12 / 15

Today, after what was a fairly usual {holiday} day of exploring, visiting with friends, and playground fun, Miss G got the very best Christmas present of all…  SNOW.  Something she’s been patiently waiting for for nearly two years now {my poor little Canadian girl} and definitely a wish come true!

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Christmas Day {2014}

12 / 25 / 141 / 12 / 15

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Ahhh… Such a great day.  There’s nothing quite like seeing Christmas through the eyes of your child.  Everything is just so exciting and wonderful.  And though I’ve come to the conclusion that Christmas away from Canada and our families will always be a touch strange, I think we’ve settled into a nice little holiday routine with just our family of 3.

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Christmas Eve {2014}

12 / 24 / 141 / 12 / 15

Our Christmas Eve was a lovely one this year…

Our flat was filled with friends {who are also visiting Heidelberg} for brunch, Grae and I did some midday ice play, the sun came out just in time for a long walk and visit to one of our favourite playgrounds, and we came across huge piles of leaves on our way home {a treat for a desert-dwelling kiddo!}  Upon our return, we found chocolate and a handmade card on our doorstep and finished off our day with a movie night {the original Rudolph} and Miss G’s Christmas Eve presents {Christmas jammies and books, as always}.  Here is our day in photos…

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Exploring Heidelberg {Day 2}

12 / 21 / 141 / 12 / 15

Whew…What a day!  After getting a fabulous night of sleep last night, we spent the majority of today out and about enjoying Heidelberg and soaking in crisp outdoor air – something we certainly don’t get enough of in Kuwait.  A welcomed change.

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Making and Eating Gingerbread People Cookies {a first}

12 / 16 / 141 / 12 / 15

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Christmas Tree Photo Scavenger Hunt

12 / 14 / 141 / 12 / 15

Christmas Tree Photo Scavenger Hunt | Mama Papa Bubba

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