Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Christmas Cheer

Every store, radio station and channel you turn to seems to be buzzing with Christmas cheer.  I'm not quite there yet.  I am starting to make some Christmas plans for my family, but am holding off on going into Christmas mode until after my birthday and Thanksgiving.  We've RSVP'd to breakfast with Santa and his reindeer, started our Christmas shopping and are already mapping out our holiday plans, but it still looks like Fall at my house.  We're establishing family traditions of our own and always the holidays with plenty of special things in the works.

I have seen lots of clever new Christmas ideas this year 
and I thought I'd share some cute options with you today.

My mom used to make these cinnamon ornaments for our tree 
and I'd love to give it a try with Olive this year.  They smell SO good!!
cinnamon ornaments (they make your tree smell amazing):

Find some fun ORNAMENTS that Olive and I can make together.
I think I could hot glue this tree together and then she could color it and glue on the ornaments.
I was surprised at how the toddlers really got into this - they painted the popsicle sticks, then were so proud when they stuck sequins, rhinestones, and pompoms on top... I want to try buttons too!:  
Practice our COLORS with Christmas themed activities.
S's just starting to learn colours to this might help (since he LOVES Christmas lights)

Make some DIY SNOW PAINT out of koolaid.  I think I'd put it in bowls for Olive 
instead of squirt bottles, but it looks like so much fun.

Make some type of felt Christmas tree for Olive to DECORATE
Another festive DIY sewing project finished! Felt tree with felt ornaments to play with in the lead up to Christmas. Tutorial here: http://www.cheriebobbins.com/soap-sandwiches-and-a-conical-tree/:

 I'd love to do some HAND PRINT art
Handprint reindeer with footprint sleigh:

I'm also gathering our Christmas BOOKS and adding a few new ones to our collection.

I got the book Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones to review for Christmas.  It's a board book with lovely illustrations to go along with the Christmas story.  The animals spread th word and share the real Christmas story.  The pages have the perfect amount of wording for a board book and tons of animals for your child to point out on each page.  You can tell that everyone is excited to meet God's great gift.
*I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review of it.

6 comments:

  1. Tis the season! I love all of these ideas. Cinnamon ornaments smell so wonderful!

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  2. Like you, I'm gathering inspiration for Christmas but still enjoying fall!!

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  3. I'm not in the Christmas mood yet, either. BUT I have been thinking of some fun things for Elizabeth. But I'm also still trying to think of fun Thanksgiving activities. Love the idea of doing some DIY ornaments. That's a fun idea. I plan on doing a felt tree too... was even thinking of making it a small travel felt board so we could take it to church... we'll see if that actually happens. And I like buying a new Christmas book to add to our collection. I'm also starting to think about Advent calendars and what I want to do for that. So many ideas!!

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  4. I love the handprint art! So cute and perfect for the grandparents!
    The Rad Wife

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  5. I have always wanted to make the cinnamon ornaments too! It's totally going on my list!

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  6. I've never done cinnamon ornaments! Thanks, Whitney, for this awesome roundup!

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