You will need the following three things to make these:

1) Scissors

2) White or cream-colored nylons- I buy the cheap $1 pair at Walmart. (In the photo are knee-highs that I already had on hand. A full pair works better and you'll get a lot more out of them.) One knee-high can produce up to 5 snowballs. One leg of a full pair of nylons can produce about 10.)

3) Poly-fil to stuff the nylon.

What you're going to do:

1) Grab a handful of the Poly-fil and stuff your stocking (just enough for one snowball). Then make a knot.

2) Make ANOTHER knot after the one you JUST made, leaving a little space between the two knots.

3) Cut between the two knots.

4) Repeat steps 1-3. Below is something you can do but you MUST remember to do step 2 or else you will waste a whole snowball.

Here's what you'll have:

We made hundreds of these last year for a Christmas party we had.

HOW TO PLAY:

If you are going to have a snowball fight, divide the group of people into two teams and divide the snowballs equally between the two teams.

Create boundaries. You can either put some masking tape down on the carpet to divide the room in half, or play on an indoor basketball court, or anywhere that has a boundary line. The teams must stay on their side of the line and cannot cross it.

Set a timer. Let them fight for 5 minutes or however long you'd like the fight to go on. You can have "rounds" of fights if you'd like.

At your signal, the teams will begin to throw snowballs at the other team. When time is up, each team will count the remaining snowballs on their own territory. The team with the LEAST amount of snowballs on their side is deemed the WINNER! (I like this part because they have to clean up the snowballs to see who the winner is.)

This morning we celebrated St. Lucia. St. Lucia Day is a Swedish holiday celebrated at Christmastime on December 13th.

St. Lucia was a young Christian girl who secretly brought food to the Christians in Rome who were hiding in the catacombs under the city in order to save themselves from persecution. She wore a crown of candles on her head to light the way and keep her hands free to carry as much as she could. She was sadly killed for her faith in 304 AD.   

Schools and little towns celebrate St. Lucia today in Sweden with a procession with a girl dressed as Lucia, and sing carols. Other children, both boys and girls, dress in white and are part of the procession. 

On December 12th we read Lucia Morning in Sweden and prepare our gingerbread cookies and saffron buns. In the early morning the girls dress up and we surprise Grandma (my 1/2 Swedish mother-in-law) with the cookies and buns. 

This year we decided not to do the saffron buns because my kids don't like them all that much. However, we did research a new Swedish food and ended up making Swedish cinnamon star bread. Swedish star bread is a mid-summer tradition but it looked so good that we gave it a try. And it was! And it was beautiful! We tried THIS recipe and it was a lot easier than I thought. There are a lot of steps but it goes quickly and it's fun. Don't let the lengthiness of the recipe deter you from making it. 

First make the dough and let it rise. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. After it rests, roll out the dough into 4 thin rounds and topped them with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. (The recipe says to keep the top layer plain- no butter or sugar/cinnamon. I didn't listen. It also called for egg instead of butter. I like butter.) Stack the 4 rounds on top of each other. Place a 10" plate on top of the dough and cut around the plate to create a nice clean circle.

Place a 2-3" diameter glass, cookie cutter, or lid in the center of the dough. Do not cut through this circle.

Cut the dough in to 4 pieces, then 8 pieces, and then 16. 

This is where it gets fun. Take 2 pieces right next to each other and twist the two outward at the same time, twice. Repeat with the remaining pieces.

 Final product! It is nice and soft.

Dust with powdered sugar or you could even try a little glaze. 

Have you ever tried to wash your child's stuffed animal in the washer? I have.

The first one never quite made it out the same. My daughter's favorite fluffy little puppy quickly turned to nappy little puppy. It was clean though... (sigh). 

Luckily, I bought a backup puppy- I buy a backup of my children's favorite attachment items (blankets, stuffed animal, etc.). 

I figured out how to wash the new puppy without ruining it. 

You will need a pillowcase and a hair elastic without metal.

Place the stuffed animal in a pillowcase and tie the pillowcase off with the hair elastic.

Throw the tied pillowcase into the washer and wash in warm or cold water. Use fabric softener.

Put the washed pillowcase/stuffed animal bundle into the dryer to dry. Dry on low.

When your stuffed animal is dry, hopefully it will look AND feel like it did when you bought it.

CLEAN! (And still fluffy and soft!)

 My daughter loves her new "Snow Puppy"

The Red Kitchen Blog has a cute, and FREE reading chart. Click HERE to view and print. 

2-3 Years Old

Pick up toys, books

Clean glass tables 

Wipe up messes

Take laundry to laundry room

Put clothes in hamper

Dust with sock on hands

Push in chairs after meals

Sort silverware

4 Years Old

Take dishes to sink after meals

Make bed

Clean room

Put groceries away

5 Years Old

Vacuum

Empty garbage cans

Straighten rooms

Clear table

Clean up after pet

6 Years Old

Dust

Load dishwasher

Empty dishwasher

Clean sinks

Mop floors

Fold and put away laundry

7 Years Old

Wash dishes

Clean toilets

Pull weeds

Rake leaves

8 Years Old

Clean mirrors

Sweep floors and patios

Clean windows

9 Years Old

Vacuum interior of car

Wash car

Straighten/organize drawers

Straighten/organize closets

10 Years Old

Clean stove

Clean oven

Do own laundry completely

11 Years Old

Clean refrigerator

Clean cupboards

12 Years Old

Iron own clothes

Mow lawn

File papers

Other Ideas to Consider:

Good Luck!

This post was part of THE SHADY PORCH ROCK 'N SHARE! For other great ideas, visit THE SHADY PORCH!