Holiday Gift Giving: 12 Days of Christmas
As the song says “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” It took me a little more time to get in gear for the Christmas Holidays this year, but the girls Holiday spirit along with the countless Christmas songs is quite contagious! Once again the excitement is building in our house and we are counting down the final days. One of the ways we try to spread out the Holiday Cheer in our house is by doing the 12 Days of Christmas. I used bigger boxes this year so it is actually pretty tall (it’s taller than me….not that I am a giant, ha), but it made it more difficult to get a great picture.
The 12 Days of Christmas allows the girls can open one gift a day for 12 days prior to Christmas. By doing it this way they have the time to enjoy each gift because they get one gift every day versus everything packed into one day! Starting December 13th the girls will be able to open one gift a day with the last one being opened on Christmas Eve. Plus, doing the 12 Days of Christmas motivates me to wrap some gifts early so I am not up late the day before Christmas trying to get all the wrapping completed, instead I can relax and go to bed at a decent time!
Some years I keep the cost to under $20 total, including boxes and wrapping paper, while other years we add their main gifts to this stack. Most of the gifts were bought on clearance, using coupons, or at discount over the past year. We did a joint stack for both of our girls again this year, although you can choose to do a stack for each person. You can chose to do whatever works best for your family.
In the past I have shared the items that I put into their 12 Days of Christmas packages, however, it is not possible to do that this year. Mainly because the girls are fluent readers AND they are frequent readers of my blog (wink…wink)! So in order to keep their gifts a secret I will not be able to spill-the-beans on the contents of the packages. I would be happy to share the list of the items I put into their boxes if you send me a message and promise not to tell my kids (shhhh….it’ll be our secret). I just cannot post publicly what is in each box. I have compiled a list of ideas on items that work well in the 12 Days of Christmas packages to get you started!
Ideas for 12 Days of Christmas:
- CDs
- Hair Accessories
- Make Up
- Socks or Tights
- Chapstick
- Socks
- Gloves or Scarf
- Card Game
- Construction Paper
- Markers or Crayons
- Matchbox cars
- Small Toys
- Baby Doll Clothes
- Christmas Underwear
- Shoes
- Slippers
- Books
- Clothes
- Pajamas
- Popcorn Tin
- Mix Nuts
- Sweet Treats
- Christmas Ornaments
- Crafts
- Games
- Gift Cards
- The ideas are endless! 🙂
I wrapped the items in the original boxes or found boxes around the house to put the items into. The Christmas paper was purchased on clearance and I used a coupon. Many of the items we purchased on clearance throughout the year and / or used CVS – ECBs and Walgreens – Register Rewards, Swagbucks Gift Cards or Coupons. I cannot remember the price for all the items but with the rewards it very reasonable price for 12 gifts and some days had multiple items in them.
We did a joint stack for our girls to save money, however, the items we picked match their individual interests. The kids recently discovered the 12 Days of Christmas presents wrapped and ready by our tree! I love seeing their faces and hearing their comments when they first see the stack.
If you need some more ideas you can check out our previous 12 Days of Christmas posts for our family over the past few years:
Halloween Candy Buy Back Programs
Happy Halloween! Halloween is a wonderful time to create memories with your family. At least in our area there are a lot of Fall Festivals, pumpkin carving, hayrides, dressing up and candy…..sometimes too much candy. Every wonder if you’ll be able to eat, share, or giveaway all the candy before the next Halloween hits?
Dentists all over the country are participating in a Halloween Candy Buy Back Program. They buy the kids Halloween candy then donate it to the groups that send it to those in Military Service.
- Example: Holly Tree Pediatric Dentistry in our area (1334 South Hwy 14, Simpsonville, SC 29681 / Phone: 864-297-5585) is Buying Back Halloween Candy and giving the kids $1 per pound ($5 max per child) and a Treat bag. All the candy will be donated to our Troops Overseas.
If it is something you interested in participating in you can read more about on the FAQ page and search for locations near you!
Photo by Rochelle
Easy Saltine Toffee Candy
The Easy Saltine Toffee Candy is one of our favorite treats to make around the Holidays. It is delicious and super easy to make! This year we included a bag of Easy Saltine Toffee Candy in our gifts to our neighbors! After making it we placed the candy in decorative bags and put a bow. The Easy Saltine Toffee Candy is always a hit and you probably already have all the ingredients in your kitchen.
Easy Saltine Toffee Candy
- 1 sleeve salted Saltine crackers
- 1 stick butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- Sprinkles (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray jelly roll pan with non-stick spray. Place a single layer of saltine crackers on the jelly roll pan (1 sleeve).
Melt brown sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once boiling, let it boil for 3 minutes. Immediately pour over crackers and bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes (or until bubbly).
Remove from oven and spread chocolate chips over the top of the crackers. Let stand for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to spread the melted chocolate. Shake some sprinkles over the top. Cool completely in the freezer for 1 hour or until the chocolate hardens.
Remove from freezer, break into small pieces, and serve . Store any leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
The sprinkles are optional. You can leave the top plain or add many other great items on it (such as nuts or a drizzle of white or red chocolate) to give it an extra special touch.
Side view of the Easy Saltine Toffee Candy
Gift Giving: 12 Days of Christmas Appreciation
12 Days of Christmas Appreciation for my Husband
Last year I did the 12 days of Christmas Appreciation for my husband so this year as I was putting together the 12 Days for the girls I decided to do one with Christmas gifts I had gotten for him. The one I did last year for him had to be small because he was traveling for work several days prior to Christmas, this year he finished most of his traveling in time to start the 12 days of Christmas. I debated back and forth about posting it this year because I know he reads my blog and didn’t want him to know in advance all the goodies I had picked up for him so instead I decided to post it a few days into the 12 days a Christmas and list the items that he has already opened. If you want more details on what I got him or ideas on what to do for your spouse shoot me an email and I can give that to you personally without him seeing it! 🙂
Here is what Jake’s 12 Days of Christmas includes (at least the first few days):
Day 1: Berry Blast & Vanilla Energy Strips (purchased using rewards from CVS & Walgreens)
Day 2: Table Topics – Road Trip To Go Card Game for Upcoming 2013 Family Trips (free after a coupon) 🙂
Day 3: Spinach & Artichoke Dip Mix (free after coupon)
The 12 Days of Christmas started on December 13th (the day he came back from one of his work trips). Every night after dinner he opens his gift for the day. I used a variety of boxes that the items came in or that I had already at the house. Once the boxes were wrapped I put a bow on top and waited for him to come home. He was surprised to see a stack waiting for him to open too.
If you don’t have time to put this together for Christmas consider doing it for Valentine’s Day (for your “sweetheart”), the month of your anniversary, your spouse’s birthday, or another special occasion. The point is to express your love and appreciation for your spouse.
Here’s a picture of the wrapped stacks:
12 Days of Christmas
I am grateful for a loving, caring and hard working man that loves me despite all my craziness. This is just one way to share my love with him during the Christmas Holiday. It was a lot of fun picking out the gifts, wrapping, and giving them to my man. It is my intention to show appreciation to my husband at least once a day. Thankful for an extra opportunity to say “I love you” to my best friend and life partner!
Gift Giving: 12 Days of Christmas
It’s that time of year again…..excitement is building and the countdown to the final days of Christmas draws nearer. This year we decided to spread the Holiday Cheer out at our house this year by doing the 12 Days of Christmas again. I did this last year and the year before; both years it was a huge hit!
Christmas morning can be so busy and this allows an opportunity to spread the fun over 12 days instead of packing everything into one day. Starting December 13th the girls will be able to open one a day with the last one being opened on Christmas Eve. The cost in the previous years was less than $20 total, including boxes and wrapping paper, however, we decided to add their “big” gift to this stack. Most of the gifts were bought on clearance over the past year and their big gift really wasn’t that much because we got a great deal on it. We did a joint stack for both of our girls, although you can choose to do a stack for each person.
12 Days of Christmas
- Day 1: Reindeer Christmas Socks (purchase last year after Christmas on clearance with rewards)
- Day 2: White Christmas Teddy Bear Shaped Soap (purchased last year after Christmas on clearance and with rewards)
- Day 3: “B” and “K” Candy Cane Striped Christmas Ornament for each girl (purchased last year after Christmas on clearance with rewards)
- Day 4: Christmas Stocking Sticker Craft (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 5: Two Colgate Kids Christmas Toothpastes (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 6: Two Christmas Games – Pin the Star on the Tree & Christmas Checkers (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 7: Christmas Bear Pez Dispensers and Pez Candy Packs (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 8: Disney Cars Christmas Spiral Notebooks (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 9: Gingerbread House Kit (purchased on clearance)
- Day 10: Princess and Frosty Hot Chocolate Tins Sets (found on clearance at Kmart and used gift card)
- Day 11: New Winter PJ’s for each to wear (picked up on sale)
- Day 12: New Digital Camera’s (purchased when it was on sale with Swagbucks gift cards)
Their cameras are their “big” items for Christmas this year. Jake and I decided to give them to the girls for the last day of their 12 Days of Christmas so they would have the cameras to use on Christmas Day. The girls are taking more and more pictures these days. The inexpensive, non-English digital cameras that we bought for them several years ago have held up remarkably well. Whenever their cameras are not working over the past several months they were asking to borrow mine to use so we decided to do a little research, save up (including earning Swagbucks) and get them a little better quality cameras this year since they both are showing a big interest in photography and creative writing. The cameras made my typical $20 or less 12 Days of Christmas gifts a little higher this year but since it included their big gift for the Holidays I am okay with that because they will be so excited to start using them. This time around we got the same camera, but in different colors to help keep track whose is whose without putting names on each camera.
Other Ideas for 12 Days of Christmas:
- Hair Accessories
- Facial Cleansers or Make Up – if you have a teenager just starting to wear makeup or want to update your collection my Mary Kay contact is doing a 12 Day of Christmas set! If your husband is looking for something awesome to get you he may want to contact Ann too.
- Socks or Tights
- Chapstick
- Socks
- Gloves or Scarf
- Card Game
- Construction Paper
- Markers or Crayons
- Matchbox cars
- Small Toys
- Baby Doll Clothes
- Christmas Underwear
- The ideas are endless!
I wrapped them in the original boxes or found ones around the house to put the items into. The Christmas paper was purchased on clearance and I used a coupon. Many of the items we purchased on clearance throughout the year and / or used CVS – ECBs and Walgreens – Register Rewards, Swagbucks Gift Cards or Coupons. I cannot remember the price for all the items but with the rewards it very reasonable price for 12 gifts and some days had multiple items in them.
We did a joint stack for our girls to save money, however, the items we picked match their individual interests (for example, the pj’s were themed to match each girls tastes). When the girls walked into the room and saw the stack of gifts they were super excited. Love seeing their faces and hearing their comments when they first see the stack.
Halloween Candy Buy Back Programs
Hope everyone had an amazing Holiday. Halloween is a great time to create memories with your family. The Fall Festivals, pumpkin carving, hayrides, dressing up and candy…..sometimes too much candy. Every wonder if you’ll be able to eat, share, or giveaway all the candy before the next Halloween hits!
Dentists all over the country are participating in a Halloween Candy Buy Back Program. They buy the kids Halloween candy then donate it to the groups that send it to those in Military Service.
- Example: Holly Tree Pediatric Dentistry in our area (1334 South Hwy 14, Simpsonville, SC 29681 / Phone: 864-297-5585) is Buying Back Halloween Candy and giving the kids $1 per pound ($5 max per child) and a Treat bag. All the candy will be donated to our Troops Overseas.
If it is something you interested in participating in you can read more about on the FAQ page and search for locations near you!
Photo by Rochelle
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Gift Giving: 12 Days of Christmas Appreciation
12 Days of Christmas Appreciation
Last year I did the 12 days of Christmas for the girls so this year as I was putting together the 12 Days for the girls I was thinking about ways I could be a blessing for my husband as well. I wanted to do the 12 Days of Christmas for him but the problem is he is traveling for work several days prior to Christmas. He travels pretty lightly so for me to squeeze in an extra few gifts into his suitcase would be difficult. I thought about doing 12 Days of “Love Notes” but I already send him a folder when he travels with “I Love You” notes from myself and the girls. I eventually came up with 12 gifts and “love notes” for my husband’s 12 Days of Christmas Appreciation that would easily fit into his suitcase.
Here is what my 12 Days of Christmas includes:
Day 1: You stole a “Piece” of my heart! (Reese’s Pieces)
Day 2: We are “mint” to be together! Love You! (Junior Mints)
Day 3: Thanks for being my “lifesaver” so many times! (Life Savers)
Day 4: We know how to have a “jolly” good time together! (Jolly Rancher)
Day 5: You are the brightest “star” in my sky! (Starburst)
Day 6: I call you “sweet”pea because you are the “sweet”est part of my life! (Sweet Tarts)
Day 7: You are an amazing Daddy to our “kids”! (Sour Patch Kids)
Day 8: You have o”fish”ally stolen my heart! (Swedish Fish)
Day 9: You are my “M”agnificant & “M”arvelous life partner! (M&Ms)
Day 10: You are my “Baby”love and my “Baby”cake! (Sugar Babies)
(“BabyLove” & “BabyCake” are two of the nicknames I have for my man, just ask the kids!)
Day 11: You are my smokin “hot” man! (Hot Tamales)
Day 12: I love traveling and going to “Charleston” with you handsome! (Charleston Chews)
Once that was done I wrapped the boxes, put a bow on top, and set it up for him. The neat part about using these boxes is they are all fairly uniform in size so they make putting your 12 Days of Christmas Appreciation stack together really easy. You can put together this entire stack of gifts for under $12 if you paid full price for everything. Walmart sells these boxes for $0.98 each everyday so if you can find some of them on sale at another store or use your Extra Care Bucks at CVS or Register Rewards at Walgreens you could easily put this together for less than $5. If you don’t have time to put this together for Christmas consider doing it for Valentine’s Day (for your “sweetheart”), the month of your anniversary, your spouse’s birthday, or another special occasion. The point is to express your love and appreciation for your spouse.
The girls helped me pick out a couple of the boxes of candy. They were excited about his gifts and told me that “Daddy is nice so he will probably share some of his candy with us.” You know what, they are right! Their Daddy is sweet and generous which means the girls will most likely get a taste of his 12 Days of Christmas Appreciation. Here’s a picture of the wrapped stack:
12 Days of Christmas Appreciation Stack
I am grateful for a loving, caring and hard working man that loves me despite all my craziness. This is just one way to share my love with him not only for the Christmas Holiday but remind him even when he is away from home that I love him dearly. It was a lot of fun putting together the sayings, wrapping the gifts and giving them to my man to put into his suitcase. It is my intention to show appreciation to my husband at least once a day. Thankful for an extra opportunity to say “I love you” to my best friend and life partner!
I received my inspiration from The Dating Divas after seeing her “You stole a “Piece” of my heart!” and “You have o”fish”ally stolen my heart!” After the jump start on the idea I came up with the other goodies and sweet sayings for my hubby.
Gift Giving: 12 Days of Christmas
This year we decided to spread the Holiday Cheer out at our house this year by doing the 12 Days of Christmas again. I did this last year and it was a huge hit. Christmas morning can be so busy and this allows an opportunity to spread the fun over 12 days instead of packing everything into one day. Starting December 13th the girls will be able to open one a day until Christmas. The cost was less than $20 total, including boxes and wrapping paper. Most of the gifts were bought on clearance over the past year. We did a joint stack for both of our girls, however, you can choose to do a stack for each person.
Here is what our 12 Days of Christmas includes:
- Day 1: Christmas Ornament for each girl (purchased last year after Christmas on clearance with rewards).
- Day 2: Two Music CD’s by Suzi Shelton (received CD’s from doing a review and giveaway)
- Day 3: DVD Veggie Tales (DVD was free, but paid a small fee for shipping)
- Day 4: Two Giant Candy Canes, one Princess and 1 Cars (purchased with rewards)
- Day 5: Two Christmas Coloring Books (purchased on clearance with rewards)
- Day 6: Christmas Craft, painting ornaments (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 7: Christmas Flower and Snowman (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 8: Christmas Book God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren (purchased when it was on sale with Swagbucks gift card)
- Day 9: Two Christmas Headbands (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 10: Game (found on clearance at Kmart and used gift card)
- Day 11: Two Hooded Bath Towels (used a coupon and picked them up on Black Friday)
- Day 12: PJs for each to wear Christmas Eve (picked up on sale and used a coupon)
Other Ideas for 12 Days of Christmas:
- Hair Accessories
- Facial Cleansers or Make Up – if you have a teenager just starting to wear makeup or want to update your collection my Mary Kay contact is doing a 12 Day of Christmas set! If your husband is looking for something awesome to get you he may want to contact Ann too.
- Socks or Tights
- Chapstick
- Socks
- Gloves or Scarf
- Card Game
- Construction Paper
- Markers or Crayons
- Matchbox cars
- Small Toys
- Baby Doll Clothes
- Christmas Underwear
- The ideas are endless!
Karlie & Brina excited about their 12 Days of Christmas
I wrapped them in the original boxes or found ones around the house to put the items into. The Christmas paper was purchased on clearance and I used a coupon. Many of the items we purchased on clearance throughout the year and / or used CVS – ECBs and Walgreens – Register Rewards, Swagbucks Gift Cards or Coupons. I cannot remember the price for all the items but with the rewards it may have been under $10 out of pocket for the entire set of 12 gifts and some days had multiple items in them. We did a joint stack for our girls to save money, however, the items we picked match their individual interests (for example the craft with one being princess and the other being cars). When the girls walked into the room and saw the stack of gifts they were super excited.
They Really DO Love Me!
One of the many "I Love You" notes from Jake and girls! Recently I went on a quick road trip to Orlando, Florida with some friends. They were moving their items down from North Carolina to Orlando and I was able to spend time traveling with their sweet family. It was great having a few hours to catch up with friends. They have three adorable children who traveled very well in the van. We stopped for lunch at McDonald’s and let them run around then they crashed in the van for a couple hours. It was wonderful having some time to relax and talk with another Mom friend while traveling. For dinner we ate outside at a great place called, Crispers, they have a delicious chicken salad wrap if you ever get a chance to go there! Thankfully everyone made it safely to Orlando and in good spirits. The kids had school the next day so they quickly took their baths and were tucked into bed. The next morning I flew out of Orlando back to Greenville, SC.
It was nice having a relaxing time with friends. Although it was a quick trip it was enjoyable and reminded me of the many amazing blessing I have in my life from my spouse to my children, family and friends. When I arrived home I was greeted by a VERY excited Skipper! She was bouncing all around me and eventually gave me a lick on the hand before I was able to give her a treat. Glad to have such a warm welcome home. Since Jake was at work and the girls were at school I was just planning on having a quiet day of catching up in the office. When I got to the top of the stairs I found my first “I Love You” note, I quickly found out that I had “I Love You” notes scattered across the house to welcome me home. Jake even made the bed before heading into work. My keyboard had a note on it and underneath the note was one of my favorite candies – Milk Duds. So thankful for a husband who takes the time to show me his love and to know that my family really does miss me when I am away even for a short trip. I am also grateful for a husband who is willing and knows how to get the girls up, ready, and off to school (which can be an adventure some mornings)!
Here pictures from my short trip and love notes from my family, simple yet beautiful and perfect! Jake really knows how to melt my heart!
Napkin from my snack at the airport! 
Strawberry Blast Smoothie, it was delicious!!! 
Yummy chocolate chip muffin! 
My "I Love You" note on the keyboard! 
The "I Love You" note on my keyboard had an extra special surprise underneath, MILK DUDS! Delicious! I had a series of “I Love You” notes all over the house!
- On the Kitchen Counter
- The Kitchen Floor
- Dining Room Table
- Office Chair
- Keyboard
- Hallway
- Bathroom
- Bed with a treat underneath
- Bedroom floor
- Entryway
- In the Printer…..as soon as I printed something a hidden “I love you” note popped out of the printer…super sweet! The girls thought this one was so funny!
Thankful for my sweet family and that they took the time to show their love to me. It was a lot of fun coming home to the special surprise. I had a wonderful time with our friends as well as coming home to my great family (yes I know I am bias).
