Homemade Wrapping Paper

Homemade Wrapping Paper:

Not quite half-assed....maybe almost a quarter?

When the gifts are not inspiring, one can always make an effort on the paper...(or just give up and draw on a napkin.)

In the olden days, when my sons were runny nosed small children, if I hauled out a giant sheet of paper and some paint, they would enthusiastically pitch in.  Now that they are adolescents who know how to blow their own noses, no such luck. 

So this was all me, sad to say. But let’s just imagine how good it could have been if others had been involved.  

I am going to cut it up into pieces and wrap small uninspiring items it it, so perhaps that will be an improvement?

Penguins and Polar Bear

Non Denominational Winter Holiday Image...that no one at my house wanted to use as a holiday card:

I was trying to come up with a Happy Holidays image that wasn’t too Christmasy. 

Unbelievably, tomorrow is the younger kid’s last day of school before the winter break, so I felt like I had to take a stab at the holiday card idea. No one was impressed....even though, coincidentally that younger kid is reading “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” for Language Arts class.

And yes, I know that penguins and polar bears reside on opposite sides of the planet.

But maybe they get together when they have time off from work over winter break?

Max and the Grinch Light it up

Happy first night of Hanukkah:

My kids are not very much fans of the Grinch. He is more my reference point. 

But I feel like we’ve all been a little grinchy lately, so I thought I should not exclude the green guy from the Festival of Lights.

And pyromania is really the driving force behind my kids’ interest in the menorah, so a little unsafe fire handling seemed appropriate as well. 

And Max the dog was always a highlight, but one didn’t get the sense that he would stand in the way of setting something inappropriate on fire.

Rudolph and Santa Take on the Snow Goons with Menorah Machine Guns

Holiday Team-up:

A belated Merry Christmas and a happy final day of #hanukkah2016! 

My kids are pleased to reap the benefits of both holidays. 

This one was a specific request, and, alas, is not drawn on a napkin. We were out of town and I was napkinless and markerless. I did have some watercolor paper and a little boxed paint set and was able to work on this rather muddy image.
I was asked to make Santa and Rudolph super buff (not my sons' term) and using menorah shaped machine guns. I added the Calvin and Hobbes style Snow Goons since it seemed like an enemy was in order.

My kids are of "mixed background" ie, as we like to say, some of us are Jewish by birth and some of us are "not." (Although those of us who are not might be able to say the entire Hanukkah blessing in Hebrew, while those of us who are might not...) At any rate, we celebrate any holiday which might involve the giving of gifts to children. Mercifully, the two holidays coincided this year.

Can you believe that no one else has used the hashtag #menorahmachinegun on Instagram ?!! Or even #machinegunmenorah

Yet another unfilled niche on the web.

You can see our other holiday (Christmas and Hanukkah) images at these links:

Christmas

Hanukkah 

Holiday Kids with Rudolph Menorah

We usually take a picture of the kids for a holiday card. This year, they were feeling uncooperative and I was feeling uninspired, so I drew this very Thomas Kinkade style mess instead.

Yes, there is nothing worse than a saccharine portrait of children drawn by their parent.

...except perhaps adding a reindeer with a bike light strapped to his nose to that portrait.

My apologies to those who celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas... and to Thomas Kinkade enthusiasts also.

Hanukkah Reindeer

Ansel was none too charmed by my attempt at interdenomenational  holiday cheer.  This one has not gone to school yet... and there are only 3 more days of Hanukkah.  I originally envisioned some sort of Rabbi Santa, but Ansel mounted a protest, so I reduced the sleigh cargo to a bag of loot.  Unfortunately, mostly what the holiday is about for the kids anyway....