My friend Michelle sent me a note with her favorite Christmas memory filled with traditions: “Absolutely, hands down…. Family dinner, followed by the opening of one gift, then Midnight service at church, ending with ‘Silent Night’ by candlelight and coming home and making ‘reindeer food’ with my nieces and nephews. They’re grown now and we [...]
Rhonda, a fellow elf, sent in a favorite family tradition: “Every year on Christmas eve, we bake a birthday cake for Jesus. We light some candles and sing Happy Birthday. We have decided his favorite cake is probably chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.” My daughter thinks this is a great idea! Kids love birthday parties [...]
If you aren’t already reading books at bedtime, this is a great tradition to start. It’s great for your infants, toddlers, pre-readers, young readers, advanced readers, and tweens! Here are some great Christmas titles for the season: The Night Before Christmas: The Heirloom Edition Christmas in the Manger Board Book The Polar Express Gingerbread Friends [...]
Today, let’s take some time to check our progress. How are you doing with the first 50 days of preparation for Christmas? Do you know where you’re spending Christmas this year, or are you playing host/ess? Menu? Guests? Have you scheduled a family portrait sitting and selected/ordered Christmas cards? Are you handmaking gifts this year? [...]
It’s time for another Christmas Cookie trial run! This is the time to try those new cookie recipes out before you’re committed to making 13 dozen for a cookie swap. Make a batch and send them to work with Dad, or pack them in the kids’ lunches this week! Go back to Day 90 Post [...]
Fondant is a wonderful thing. A versatile confection used in everything from cake decorating to homemade candies, you can make fondant at home and experiment with using it for your special occasion sweets. I’ve made fondant mints that used peppermint extract and pressed them into candy molds. They were a big hit! You can shape [...]
Every kid loves to see their name on various items: books, mugs, placemats, signs, or just about anything else! What could be better than a Christmas Story featuring your child? Our daughter received one of these as a gift a few years ago, and it is still one of her favorite books! Personalized gifts are [...]
I’ve been trying to find the perfect hat to knit to convince other people to knit for fun, and I think I’ve found it! Who can resist this baby hat? For the experienced knitter, this could be an afternoon project. In fact, most knitted hat projects can be made in a day or two. They [...]
Christmas has traditionally been a great time for movie watching with the family. There are already a couple of movies out for the whole family, but Christmas will have some new releases for your viewing enjoyment. I took the kids to see High School Musical 3 on Friday, and I thought it was a really [...]
This is a novel but necessary concept for many people in this economic climate. Forced by circumstance (lay-off, bankruptcy, foreclosure, health problems, other catastrophes,) many Americans will be having a “Buy Nothing” Christmas, or at least a “Buy a WHOLE LOT LESS” Christmas this year. Even if you aren’t under tremendous economic pressure, there are [...]