The Fire is so Delightful

Our apartment has a cute little fireplace, a great place to hang stockings and a great mantel to decorate, but it's not super practical for actual fire. For one thing, it'd be way too warm in here, for another it'd be way to tempting for little fingers. Yesterday our advent activity was to make a cozy replica.

The logs are cardboard tubes, colored by an enthusiastic almost 5yo. We tore the edges to make them look more log-y, and because tearing things on purpose is fun. The fire is metallic origami paper and vellum, both in reds and yellows, cut into flame shapes, crumpled a bit and layered. We backed it with christmas lights, but I'm going to get some flameless candles so it'll flicker. It looks fantastic, and not just in the cheesy gag way I'd expected. It really feels cozier in here with it's warm glow. Of all the cookies, gnomes, ornaments and decorations we've made, this was the thing that B was the most giddy over. You could even say it lit a fire under him. Har de har.

Today we'll be making Santa's mustache pops. Like the ones from B's birthday, but with white chocolate and sprinkled with candy cane bits!