Flashback Friday: It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
Karlie and Brina
The girls were super thrilled with all the neat Christmas items around the house to play with. We were constantly putting Christmas ornaments back on the trees and various decorations back in their place. Their curiosity was peaked and they loved exploring all the cool stuff. The most interesting place we found a Christmas decoration during their first Christmas Holiday was in a diaper. We went to change Karlie one time and she some how managed to get a good chunk of an ornament that she pulled off the tree down her diaper. We think she was chewing on it, dropped it and it fell down in her dress only to re-appear at her next diaper change. We were pretty surprised, but it didn’t seem to bother her at all.
Crafts: Painting Christmas Ornaments
Karlie and Brina's hand painted ornaments! We went to early service one Sunday with the family. Love getting up early going to church and coming home to a relaxing time with our family. On the way home we stopped by to get a newspaper at Walgreens. As a super special treat Jake went to Dunkin Donuts, the girls were so excited to get donuts. They picked out some yummy sprinkle ones and we headed home. We had a relaxing time sitting around the table eating donuts, talking and laughing.
After finishing up the donuts the girls wanted to do a craft. We pulled out some ceramic ornaments, striped the girls down to their underwear and let them paint. They had a BLAST! We had to give them a bath after painting but it was well worth a bath in the middle of the day. Jake watched the girls and started the crockpot for our potluck at church that night while I took a quick nap. Sundays are a wonderful day with the family. Not every Sunday is as peaceful and relaxing, however, we treasure the ones that are that way. It is fun creating memories. Hopefully they will look back at the ornaments and remember the sweet time we had together.
Brina painting her tree! 
Karlie being silly! 
Brina checking out her ornaments.... 
Karlie painting.... 
Karlie's decorated ornaments! 
Brina's decorated ornaments! The Kids Christmas Tree
When Jake and I were first married we didn’t have a Christmas Tree so his Mom gave us a small one that she had and wasn’t using anymore. We used that little Christmas tree for several years! It was easy to put up and take down. Plus, a lot of the Holidays we were traveling to visit family so a real tree didn’t work well for us. We were in an apartment at the time and the tree was perfect. When Jake’s Mom moved to Seattle she gave us their family tree. It has been nice being able to decorate a full tree for the Holidays, especially now that we have kids, even though it is more work we have a grand time.Since we no longer use the smaller tree as our main one we have let the girls adopt that tree to put up in their bedroom. We put the tree up on a small folding table and they do all the decorating. The ornaments on their tree are wooden or plastic so if they should fall off they will not break. It has been a lot of fun seeing them decorate and re-decorate their cute little tree. Every year they have gotten better at spreading out the ornaments and decorating. They love falling asleep with the Christmas lights glowing on their tree. It has been a fun Holiday tradition we started three years ago that has really been a hit for the girls.
Do your kids decorate their rooms? What do they do to get their rooms ready for the Holiday season?
Christmas Ornament Tradition
Every year we give each of the girls a new ornament to hang on the Christmas tree. When it is time to decorate for Christmas they have a lot of fun pulling out the ornaments with their names on it and talking about the memories from that year. Once they leave home and are out on their own they will receive all of their ornaments that they had accumulated throughout the years to put on their tree in their new home.Every year the ornament is unique. We write the child’s name and the year on the ornament. Any homemade ornaments they make at home, school, church or at another event we put their name on it so they can add it to their collection of ornaments. Sometimes on craft nights we put together fun items to hang around the house and share with family and friends. The girls enjoy seeing ornaments that Mommy made as a little girl too. They giggle at the ornaments I put together and love knowing that they will have their ornaments on the tree as well.
Our tree doesn’t have to be perfectly color coordinated. We have had branches with 6 ornaments on it and others that have several bulbs of the same color right next to each other. It is not necessarily “how” it looks but that it is an expression of fun times together as a family. Having the kids help decorate the tree that is full of memorable ornaments is more important to me then the perfect tree. They have been known to rearrange the ornaments almost daily some years. In our house decorating the tree is a fun time of listening to Christmas music, reminiscing, and decorating together as a family.
Do you have a fun family tradition when it comes to decorating your family Christmas tree?
Gift Giving: Homemade Handprint Ornaments
Are you looking for great gifts to give but are on a tight budget? This is a simple recipe that uses a few items from your pantry and makes a thoughtful Christmas Gift. Last year for Christmas gifts we made Homemade Cinnamon Handprints for Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and extended family members. They were inexpensive, easy to do, and the girls had a lot of fun. You probably have all the ingredients already.
Cinnamon Handprint Ornaments:
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 cup Salt
- 5 teaspoons Cinnamon
- 3/4 cup Water
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in water gradually to make dough. If it is sticking to your hands, add more flour or if it is too crumbling add more water. Knead dough for approximately 8 minutes until smooth. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out dough to desired thickness (typically between 1/4 to 3/4 inches thick).
We used a football cookie cutter for the oval (you can use a circle or anything big enough that they can fit their hands in) than lightly floured their hands before making a slight indention on the clay. We took a stamp and pressed their first initial in the bottom of each palm to help us remember who it belonged to. Since my girls are twins their hand sizes are almost the same!
After making the handprint in the clay use a straw to make a hole in the top so you can hang the ornament.
Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hour. (Thicker dough will take longer to bake). They are done when the clay is dry, you notice a slight change in color. Cool and add a ribbon of your choice!
Optional: Once cooled you can use spray on polyurethane for extra shine.
Ours still smell great even after a year. We made more than one batch since we have a large family but you can do as many as you want. With the extra dough we made Christmas ornaments so we could hang them on the tree.
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. 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: A Labrador Puppy Christmas Ornament for each (purchased with rewards last year after Christmas on clearance).
- Day 2: A CD with Songs and Stories – 1 on Traveling and 1 on Classical Stories and Songs (purchased with rewards in $1 section)
- Day 3: Travel Game for 2 – Connect 4 (found on clearance at Bi-Lo for 49 cents)
- Day 4: 4 Plastic Christmas Cups – Red with Snowmen (purchased with rewards on clearance last year)
- Day 5: Books – 1 on “Helping Others” and 1 on “Forgiving” (purchased at Dollar Tree)
- Day 6: Christmas Craft with Stickers (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 7: 2 Mini Mouse Candy Canes filled with Christmas Tree Candy (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 8: 2 Snowman Coloring Books and 1 Princess & 1 Cars Coloring Craft Ornaments (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 9: 2 Snowman Headbands (purchased with rewards on clearance)
- Day 10: Rub on Color Pattern Craft (received free with a Buy 1 Get 1 Free Deal)
- Day 11: A pair of Fuzzy Slippers for each – 1 Pink Set and 1 Purple Set. (Picked Up on Black Friday)
- Day 12: PJs for each to wear Christmas Eve – 1 with Owls and 1 with Rockets (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!
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 last year with rewards. Many of the items we purchased on clearance throughout the year and / or used CVS – ECBs and Walgreens – Register Rewards. 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. Now they are counting down the days to Monday, December 13th to start the 12 Days of Christmas celebration.
Artscow: Personalized Photo Ornaments for $1.99
Artscow is offering personalized Christmas ornaments for $1.99 each including free shipping worldwide. Create your own by adding your favorite photographs of the kids and family. These are great gifts for grandparents or you can hang on them on your Christmas tree. Offer good for one sided ornaments only.
Coupon Code: ORNTS2010
Expiration Date: 11/25/2010
Terms and Conditions: No quantity limit. Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional offers. ArtsCow has the right to terminate this promotion at any given time without prior notice. Offer applies to single sided ornaments only. In case of dispute, ArtsCow’s decision is final.
