happy hanukkah!!

Hi holiday crafters!!
In honor of the beginning of Hanukkah, I wanted to make a simple but special project that I saw on the internet at the Parents.com site.  I thought this was such a cute idea for a child so I decided to make two of them for my friend whose daughter had twins about three years ago.  Take a look....

First I painted each of the little spools (pale blue and medium blue)) and a stick (white) about a foot long.  Then I hot glued each spool to the stick. (It is easiest to get them aligned if you attach the center one first. I used glue dots to add the little snowflakes to the front of the spools.  You could also number each spool.  Now what you can't see in the picture is the colorful (and glittery) pencils (unsharpened).  You put the pencils in the spools and each day you "light" the candle by adding an arrowhead pencil eraser to the top (ie fake flames - mine were yellow and orange).  My friend's kids are in a family of multiple religious associations so it seemed like a simple way to introduce some of the Jewish traditions to the girls.  To my delight, my girlfriend really seemed happy with the gift and said she will overnight the menorrahs to her daughter - I thought she might want to wait til next year when the girls are a bit older but she seems eager to send them right away.  It is such fun to make a gift and have it well received.  I was delighted too.
Soon I will get back to the gift tags and I also have some holiday treats and a special calendar for you as well.   As I said yesterday...busy times!!!
If you are feeling a bit overwrought and tired, consider coming to my fun stampin session next Thursday.  I have scheduled both a day and an evening session so you can pick the one that fits your schedule. Be sure to make your reservation by Tuesday of next week.
Remember the big discounts are still available in the store on my Stampin Up website:   http://peggyouten.stampinup.net
Peggy