Handmade Christmas Gifts

Browsing around as some of us do…ahem…I’ve stumbled upon some really clever gift ideas–some of them quick and some are more involved. It’s always more fun to work them up myself and show you–but sometimes imitating the cleverness of others would be like re-inventing the wheel…or the Cheeto.

And you know how I feel about Cheetoes.

This creative planet just goes on and on…

crayon-roll-1Adorable “Crayon Roll” at Skip To My Lou.

baby headbandEasiest-Ever Baby Headband at Hooked on Crochet

simmering-potSimmering Pot Recipes” at Fragrant Home

clipboardsCovered Clipboards” right here at Gracious Rain -shameless plug

alien lampAlien Abduction Lamp” at Dollar Store Crafts

Monster RepellantMonster Repellent” at Little Birdie Secrets

prompt jarPersonal History Prompt Jar” at Gracious Rain- 2nd shameless plug

Needle bookNeedle Book” at Nini Makes

There now…something for anyone and everyone.

Go forth…

Create.

The “Christmas Look”

Hey guys! Check out my new Christmas header! What do you think?

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The first frame is the huge Christmas tree inside the Conference Center foyer in Salt Lake City. It is enormous and beautiful. We wandered around in the snowy cold enjoying the Christmas lights on Temple Square when we spied this lovely tree through the window. Even though it was in a large building–the picture makes it easy to imagine that we’re looking in the window of the neighborhood rich folks. Except that you can go to jail for that sort of thing. This is much better.

fudge

The second frame is our famous “Milk Chocolate Fudge.” It’s the same fudge that we have made for the past 25 years in this family. We make it in a huge double batch and often end up making a second dose. We finish that just in time for Valentine’s Day–when of course, you need more fudge! Ha ha.  You know what they say–“A day without fudge is like a day without sunshine.” Or maybe that was orange juice. I can’t remember…must be the sugar buzz. Ha!

pep bark

The third frame is our equally popular “Peppermint Bark.” Now you can pay a zillion bucks for 3 ozs of fancy-schmancy bark from some really snooty candy shop or you can be a “take charge” sort of person and just plain make your own. It is the easiest Christmas treat you could possibly make–and it’s really quite pretty too. We sent some to my far away cute boy in Lithuania and they went berserk over it. Of course they did. Sheesh.

button tree

The forth frame is our cute little crocheted “Button Tree.” So fun and easy to make that one Christmas, I made 9 of them in a couple of days–each with different buttons to suite the personalities of different family members. Mine is loaded with pink and purple sparkly ones–for instance. I’ll post the pattern in a few days–and if you know how to crochet-AT ALL- you’ll love this one.

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Lastly, the fifth frame is our beautiful Christmas lights on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It’s one of those sights that you don’t want to miss and will remember all your life. Millions of lights and millions of happy people just walking around feeling Christmas-y. It’s really incredible.

I hope you love our new December look. April worked hard on it and as always–has given Gracious Rain the cozy warm look we love. She always finds a way to make the site feel so like us.

 

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Happy Holidays Everyone!

Christmas Dolls

Did you have a favorite Christmas doll when you were young? Do you still remember when you first saw it under the Christmas tree?

Some of the memories of Christmas morning are so vivid to me that I swear I can still smell that new plastic whenever I see the pictures.

Oh, I remember the tinsel sparkling in the darkness as we tiptoed into the front room–long before we were suppose to. There seemed to be a tangible feeling of fresh magic just moments after Santa had left, enough magic in fact to make two covert children feel positively sick and shaky with excitement.

Then, finally, finally–when we were officially allowed to get up and the lights were turned on—oh…it took our breath away. Complete enchantment!

And even though I am many decades away from those days–I still have many Christmas morning reminders around me.

For years I kept some of my favorite dolls–from ancient days–in boxes in the basement or garage, never quite willing to give them away or give them up.

So a couple of years ago, I thought about those dolls and how rotten it must be for them to be stuffed away in those boxes. Don’t get me started on whether or not toys are alive–I’ll take you down.

ANYWAY–I took the dolls out, cleaned them up and now they decorate my room.  When I wake up each day it’s like I’m reliving 15 Christmas mornings all scooped up into one.

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After all these years, I’ve come to the realization that growing up is highly overrated…and in my case–

entirely unnecessary.

Family Advent Calendar

Oh, I couldn’t help myself–I had to show you this cute little thing.

Twenty-four origami envelopes–each with a different family friendly activity to do sometime during the day before bedtime. You’ll want to start out by making a list of things you and the kids would love to do as a family–then pick your favorite 24.

Next, write one activity on a sheet of origami paper–or Christmas scrapbook paper then, fold each paper into a cute little envelope. I’ve included an Origami Envelope Tutorial in the post below–if you want to use the one that we did.

Each envelope is either numbered or dated–that gives Mom the ability to plan the slightly longer activities on the weekend–and to put the simpler ones on the days when you might have a bit more going on. You might want to plan something really special for Christmas Eve.

Let your kids take turns reading the envelopes each morning. You’ll be surprised at how much fun they’ll have all day long as they look forward to drinking hot chocolate by the Christmas tree, or painting each others toenails.

After all…

so much of Christmas is about anticipation–isn’t it?

Activity Ideas

Read a favorite Christmas picture book—if you love books like us, this one could work for 20 of the activities!

Paint everyone’s toenails–even dad.

Sing “Silent Night” around the Christmas tree.

Take a Christmas treat to the neighbors.

Make hot chocolate with real chocolate bars and whip cream.

Read the Nativity story by candlelight

Bundle up–go outside and find the Big Dipper.

Write letters to Santa

Act out the Nativity story

Write service swap love notes to each other

Have breakfast for dinner

Make gingerbread men

String popcorn and cranberries

Make a Christmas paper chain

Choose and wrap toys for charity

Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn

Go out for milkshakes

Drive around to look at the Christmas lights

Write “what I love about you” notes to each other

Hand make Christmas tags

Make Peppermint Bark

Most of all—just enjoy being together!

Classy Halloween Treats

halloween

Ever dream of being so pulled together during the holiday season that you not only pass out Halloween treats to the neighborhood kids–but to the neighbors themselves? And to top that off, what if the the snack bags looked…well…stunning?  Sound impossible? Well, not now…

Here’s how to do it.

You’ll need:

Clear cello bags

3/4 inch black or orange ribbon

Printable address labels

Halloween treats (We made our famous popcorn ball recipe without shaping them into balls)

Fill the cello bags with whatever Halloween goodies you’d like. Seal them with tape or a twist tie. Wrap the ribbon around the middle of the bag and secure with a square knot.

Click on this Classy Halloween Labels link to print off some fabulous spooky labels of your own. Be sure to type your own name below the “Happy Halloween.” Load your printer with Standard 1″x 2-1/2″ address labels and push print. Stick them on and pass out your pretty stuff. Or you can run them off on heavy paper and use them as tags–either way—

be prepared for lots of clapping…

April halloween

and rightly so.