Comments on: 10 Fun and Frugal Things to Do Before Christmas

By: peakeyed » 10 Fun and Frugal Things to Do Before Christmas

peakeyed » 10 Fun and Frugal Things to Do Before Christmas — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:16:30 +0000

[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerptAttend a Christmas Cantata, Parades of Lights, or Christmas Eve Service in your community. Check your local paper for details. Then drive around the neighborhoods to view Christmas lights and well decorated homes on your way home. … [...]

By: Tina in AL

Tina in AL — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 05:32:18 +0000

We have a number of favorite holiday traditions.
I grew up celebrating advent and having a family advent wreath. We’ve continued this tradition with our children. We love the time reading the Bible, discussing Jesus’ first coming and the second coming we’re expecting, & singing the Christmas hymns together.
Ever since the birth of our first child, my sweet mother-in-law has given us an ornament each year for each of the children with their pictures in the ornaments. These are the most precious ornaments on our trees – we (the children & us) enjoy seeing them each year.
A few years ago I heard of the idea of making our annual Christmas letter a newsletter and giving the kids the responsibility of being family reporters. This had made it so fun to read their perspectives on the events of the year.
Finally, our tree skirt was a family tradition for years (although it’s now full). I made a tree skirt from pretty, plain material and each year had the kids place their hand prints & write their names on it. The skirt is now full, so they no longer paint their hand prints on it but I have sweet little hand prints (and a set of foot prints) from years gone by.
Thank you for offering this opportunity to share these traditions/memories, for the great recipes and ideas you share, and for offering this wonderful contest.
Have a blessed Christmas.
In His love,
Tina in AL

By: Laura Weimer

Laura Weimer — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:21:30 +0000

Marilyn, your house sounds so much like our house at Christmas! We have so many traditions. This year we started some new ones…Christmas caroling with some of the neighbor kids, and having devotions every morning using the Jesse Tree. Some tried and true ones are driving to Naples, CA (looks like Naples Italy with canals and very nice homes.) We take our picture by this huge fountain, eat pizza at a local place, and then walk the canals looking at the pretty trees and lights. My dh doesn’t do much cooking but at Christmas he loves to get a prime and rib and he does the cooking! It always turns out great. My favorite is baking with the kids. We bake bread, cookies and make caramel popcorn for the neighbors. We pick a day, and then deliver all the goodies with cards. For the cookies, we invite the neighbor kids over to decorate the sugar cookies we’ve baked. I bake shapes like trees, stars, angels, etc. and then we talk about what each of the shapes are and what they are a symbol of at Christmas. The kids love it and it gives us a chance to share the gospel with the neighbor kids and sometimes their parents!
Sugar cookies:
1 cup butter, at room temp
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt

Beat butter and sugar until blended, then beat on high speed until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well blended. Add flour and salt, beat on low until combined, then on medium until well blended. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Chill dough in fridge at least 15 minutes, or up to 2 days. Working with one portion at a time, roll out on floured surface until 1/8 in thick. Cut out cookies, bake on baking sheets at 350 degees for 7 to 9 minutes.
Icing for spreading:
3 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup water. Mix together and add food coloring of choice.
Icing for piping:
2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and 1 1/2 tbsp water. Mix until smooth. Add food coloring a few drops at a time. icing should be thick. Pipe through pastry bag, or plastic food bag with the corner snipped.

By: Dareth Kettner

Dareth Kettner — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:51:00 +0000

My husband’s work keeps him very busy at Christmas. Often, gift giving is squeezed in, sometimes a week before Christmas. So, we made putting our tree up a special night. We always eat the same food and have egg nog and cider. We always listen to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas(my husband’s favorite) CD, first. We decorate the tree, and the kids take turns putting the star on top. We turn off all the lights in the house and then turn on the tree lights. It is a wonderful family night that we all look forward to each year!

By: Michelle Johnson

Michelle Johnson — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:25:38 +0000

Cheri Shelnutt, that is the first I’ve heard of the straw and I LOVE IT! Thank you thank you. I cant wait until next year to do it!!!!! It actually brought tears to my eyes reading it. How perfect to remember Jesus in this way. I LOVE IT!

Jeanette Fields, we go to see the lights in Chickasha too. Its one the girls all really look forward to. We walk through and buy hot chocolate when we are done. My oldest daughter was just saying the other day how she wanted to walk through again this year b/c last year we sang christmas carols as we went and people noticed.

Michelle D, this year we were going to do an adoption with the 12 days of C-mas. We planned and planned the things we would give the family based on teh song. The girls were so excited. My 8 yo wash actually jumping up and down with excitement to do this. Now I”m on bedrest for pregnancy and we cant. But we will NEXT year.

Anyway, 2 of my favorite traditions (and the girls say they love it too) we should be able to do this year. One night after all the girls are in bed we pop popcorn and put hot chocolate in spill proof cups. Then we wake them up and load them up in the van. (DH has it heated up and with blankets at everyones seat.) Then we drive all around town listening to christmas music and looking at lights.

My other favorite happens on c-mas morning. I hand out the stockings but instead of the girls ripping into them, we go around the room, one at a time, and relate our gift to Jesus. Oh, you should hear the funny things that are said, especially when the kids are younger. It literally takes us all morning to do the stockings and we need food and drink breaks. But it makes it more meaningful.

I have so many more, but will stop here.

By: Erin Mewes

Erin Mewes — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:32:12 +0000

We have a different activity to do every day in December…we watch the Grinch, make gifts (cocoa and cookie mixes in a jar) for siblings, we make gingerbread houses (with leftover Halloween candy!), go for a drive to see all the pretty lights, make something yummy for the pets as well as the outdoor animals, make goodies for our friends, go to the mall to see the decorations (and have a cocoa!), go to the Christmas parade…stuff like that. The kids look forward to it every year!

By: Donna P.

Donna P. — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:23:14 +0000

We used to watch the Christmas Carol every year. I have the Muppet Christmas Carol and A Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart. We would make hot chocolate, eat home made cookies. The girls can still recite parts of the movies and actually remember some of the songs off the Muppet classic! This year, we are miles apart but they still remember sitting watching these movies and they tell me these are wonderful memories!

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 04:00:49 +0000

My children and I have several traditions on Christmas Eve. First, like a couple of other posters, they receive two gifts: one is a pair of pajamas and the other is an ornament. The ornament tradition started with my mother giving them to my sister, brother and I so that we would have ornaments for our own tree when we moved out as adults. Now, my children get one from me and one from each grandmother! We are going to need multiple trees soon! Another tradition is eating home made pizza on Christmas Eve. We also alternate which child will put Baby Jesus in the manger, so that each child gets a turn. Our last Christmas Eve tradition is that someone reads “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and then I follow up with the Christmas story from the Bible before everyone is tucked into bed. It really is a special time for my children and I.

Thank you for this opportunity!
Heather

By: K Mikell

K Mikell — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:16:40 +0000

A couple of years ago we made cookies in a jar for all the people on our street. I made up invitations with the recipies on them, and asked the neighbors to keep some for their families, and bring some to our party. We haven’t been able to do it again until this year. But, during the making of the jars we prayed for each neighbor and that they would come to know Christ. Since we’ve just moved, it provided a great way to get to know our neighbors!

By: Dori

Dori — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:38:16 +0000

A favored family tradition was that on Christmas Eve, we kids could always choose one gift to open right before bed from under the tree. (Usually the really big one was not under it yet, so that way our parents kept the next morning from being a letdown with the smaller gifts!!!)
My children have embraced this idea WHOLEHEARTEDLY, (of course!) and can barely wait to go to bed on Christmas Eve! This is great for my husband and me, as we get some much needed quality time together on a special eve, get to wrap last minute gifts and share some spiced cider without the whole “crew”. It’s the only night of the year my kids beg to go to bed, starting about, oh, 6pm.. LOL