Category: Gifts

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Christmas “Lists”

Searching around online at all the “stuff” there is to do, to see, to make, to buy, to have at Christmas time–can be a bit overwhelming. In fact, sometimes it feels like my brain’s going in 17 directions at once. A person can blow up that way.

There’s just so much. But sift through it–I did–and bookmarked everything that made me sigh or smile or slow down for a minute and think happy thoughts. The rest can just blow away.

Now, understand–all I can really show you are things that work for me–but that’s ok. People have been scooting closer to whisper good ideas in each others’ ears since before the flood.

I think it’s how we keep each other warm.

Quick~Easy~Fabulous:

Gifts in a Bottle About a hundred ways to pack joy in a jar.

Recycled Paper Ornaments This should keep little hands pretty busy.

Salt Dough Ornaments Other food-ish ornaments as well.

Simple Christmas Simple, low cost Christmas Projects–just click past the ads.

Felt Cookies I know, I know…again with the felt!

So much fun stuff.

If you get a good idea from any of this–I hope you’ll share it with us.

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Glass Pebble Magnets

These little fridge magnets were so easy and fun to make…

I couldn’t get myself to stop…

Start with clear, glass craft pebbles–size 3/4″ and 1-1/2″ worked well with 3/4 in magnet buttons. I found all this at Walmart–but I’ve seen them at the dollars store too. You just have to keep your eyes open and snag them when you can.

Next, decide what you want as your pictures. I used stickers, fabric and tiny words from magazines. The original idea was to use photos, but I’m getting low on printer ink, so I had to improvise.

Cut your pictures out and glue them on the back. I just used Mod Podge–anything that dries clear will work. Next–once the glue is dry–use a hot glue gun to stick the magnets on the back. Be careful here, especially with the tiny pebbles. I thought I had finally made friends with my evil glue gun…

I was mistaken.

Let the cute little things sit and settle for a day or two before making them hold the plum pudding recipe on the fridge. It will seal the bond to let it rest a bit. An Altoids box is a great storage case for your magnets–and also makes it easier to wrap them up as a gift.

Especially if your fingers have bandaids all over them.

Sheesh.

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Personal History Prompt Jar

~What could you see from your childhood bedroom window?

~What did you do, as a child, that got you in big trouble?

~Do you remember a favorite nursery rhyme?

~Have you ever gone fishing?

These are just a few of the personal history prompts that we’ve folded up mysteriously and sealed into a class jar. Someone you love–grandma, grampa, mom, dad–then, chooses one question each day to trigger a slew of childhood memories. It doesn’t matter so much if they write them down in a formal journal or a simple spiral notebook, as long as they start putting it on paper…for the rest of us to enjoy.

Probably the number one reason people hesitate to begin a journal or personal history in the first place, is because they have no idea where to start. So what better gift to give them than a box or bag or–in our case–a cleaned candle jar–of daily prompts with intriguing questions that will actually be fun to write about. If they answer only one question per day–in six months they will have quite an impressive history. And who knows? That history may just be their Christmas present to you–next year!

Instructions:

Click on the link below to make your own copy of the prompts. Print them on white or colored paper–or both. Cut them into strips. Fold them and store them in a bottle or box. Tie a ribbon around it–and there you have it. A family heirloom in the making. Oh, and adding a pretty pen and notebook or journal is a nice touch too.

 

 

Click the following link:

Personal History Prompts

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Homemade Holidays

Here’s the list…

Don’t be afraid. It’s not a nasty old “to do” list. Well, wait…maybe it is. But not the nasty part. It’s the fun kind. The sitting-in-front-of-a-good-movie-with-a-project-on-my-lap-kind. These are some of the things I’m taking on for Christmas. A few are actually in the works and some are still just on paper. And I admit, a couple will likely never see the light of day. But I’m gonna make a valiant attempt. Because I think, homemade stuff is just…better.

When I was a kid, every few years my mom would say, “Let’s make presents for each other this Christmas.” At the time, I’m sure I thought, “Not a chance,” so the projects would never even get started. Ultimately, we’d end up buying something for each other at Woolworth’s, a few days after the school break. It wasn’t until I was a bit older that I realized that those words were mom’s attempt to rein us back in from all the craziness that holiday commercials can suck a kid into. That, and to keep us from spending every penny we had when we had so few. Sadly, we didn’t cooperate too well with her good intentions–if I remember right.

It’s different at our house now.

“Handmade,” to me is such a sweet word–beautiful even. My children have given me so many gifts over the years.  Surprisingly, most of the home crafted ones are still around. Probably, because the gifts made by the hands we love, are sheltered, and guarded and kept safely treasured—held carefully close–just like the sweet things that created them.