Christmas Traditions

Christmas is the yummiest time of the year.  I really love traditions that involve food.  But I love Christmas in general.  I always have. I was the one that always hung the stockings by the chimney with care (well, more like up on a nail on the wall with care).  I even wrapped my own christmas presents.  My parents just put my presents in big boxes.  There is one tradition that my parents had that I still do today.

We made chili on Christmas Eve.

Yea, I know it seems like a silly tradition.  But it was something I did look foward to at Christmas time.  It would cook all day ( my mom always made it from scratch…i cheat…mine is from a can…but it is chili).  She would make extra spicey for her and my dad and would make a whole other separate pot for me and my brother.  When my brother got a girlfriend that didn’t eat chili, I thought she was going to pass out.  But fear not.  My mom found a white chicken chili recipe for her…and it is delish.  But she will not give it to me….dang her…dang her to heck.  I really love this tradition and I wanted to share it. 

What kind of traditions do you and your family do?  What traditions did you do as a child?  What do you think would make a fantastic tradition?

Winter Bazaar–snowflakes

Hello everyone.  ok…I love christmas.  I wanted to decorate the house and for little to no money.  My hubby was kind enough to show me and our oldest son how to make snowflakes.  I had a step by step picture I hope I can describe for you as to how to make them.  They are so easy but kind of time consuming.  I did have about 15 different snowflakes to show you but our daughter was kind enough to rip them up…oh well.

1. Get a regular piece of typing paper.
2. Fold it in such a way that it goes over itself, meets on one side, and makes a point.
3. Fold it over again to make a triangle.  You will have some excess on the bottom.
4. Now cut that excess off.
5. Fold one of the bottom points over so it meets in the middle.  The top point should still be at a point.  The bottom point should be hanging over, so to speak.
6. Do the same with the other bottom point.
7. Now flip it over…and where you see the paper edge…cut the excess bottom points off.
8. Now you are left with an even smaller, yet thicker, triangle.
9. Now start cutting….you can cut any design you want….experiment.  I just took a picture of the one I made.
10. Now you can unfold it and TADA….you have a magical snowflake.
11. I included pictures of the snowflakes that survived my daughter’s hands.

Now go and see what other Christmas goodies you can do over at Scribbit’s blog….well…Christmas is over 2 weeks away…you may have time.

WINTER BAZAAR

I love Christmas.  Well, I love all the holidays.  My husband, not so much.  But I like to think he loves that I love Christmas.  Anyway, when we got together, I wanted to have a Christmas tradition that was just for us…a new tradition.  We actually stumbled on this one bored and quiet night.

CHOCOLATE COVERED POTATOE CHIPS

Oh, they are so good.  They are simple but are time consuming–and so worth it.

• Start with good quality rippled potatoe chips…must be rippled.
• Then get some chocolate.  I use 1 bag of chocolate chips with one tablespoon of crisco.
• Get a little basting brush.  Go on…get one.
• Melt the chocolate and crisco in a double boiler…or a big bowl of slowly boiling water with a small bowl that fits on top of-but not in big bowl-for choc. and crisco.  Don’t forget to stir once in awhile so chocolate doesn’t burn.
• While choc. is melting, pick out the best and biggest chips to use.
• Lay out wax paper…you will need alot of space for the choc. covered chips to cool.
• Once melted, take chip, dip only half way, and brush off excess chocolate.
• You can vary anyway you want–more choc. covering–more choc. on chip—etc.
• You should let them cool before you eat them but I bet you all the chocolate in the world you can’t wait.

We make this every year and they never seem to last to Christmas day.  Once you make them, you will find out why!  Now go check out Scribbit and find more awesome Christmas traditions…who knows…maybe you and yours can find a new tradition to start.

Winter Bazaar

Alright everyone, tis the season to get into christmas.  I love Christmas.  I think it may be my favorite holiday.

When I was a kid, my parents would take us to Hallmark to buy a Christmas ornament every year.  Yea…we have alot of ornaments.  I did manage to collect all of one plate series and a doll ornament set.  But now that I have my own kids, I wanted to do ornaments but I wanted to be more craftsy about it.

This year we are doing something simple, due to the fact that my 2 oldest are only 5 and 1 1/2.  So we are doing cookie cutter ornaments.

This is very simple and your kids can help you every step of the way.  So go to almost any store–a craft store would probably have a bigger selection.  Find some fantastic Christmas cookie cutters.  Now you have to go and find some gotta-have-it ribbon.  Let your kids each choose their own ribbon.  Don’t forget the puffy paint to label whose ornament is whose.

Then, when you get home you can put these together, lickity-split.  Just help your little ones cut the ribbon and tie it to their cookie cutter ornament.  Label and let dry and there you go.  Simple and awesome.  Now go and see what other artsy fartsy stuff is at the Winter Bazaar!

Support our troops—craft style!

So this post is kind of artsy fartsy…if you check out the site…it really is…I promise. 

Support our troops. Even if you don’t support the war, it is important to support those men and women who feel they are fighting to protect freedom and liberty for humanity. The easiest way to do that this holiday season is to send them a Christmas card. You can pick different cards that have different sayings. You can even make your own greeting. You can’t pick a certain soldier to send one to, but you know whichever soldier gets your card, he/she will share it with their whole camp. So, please, sign up to mail Christmas cards so our troops. They need all the support and love we can send them this holiday season.

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Oatmeal Milk Bath

Oatmeal Milk Bath

1 cup cornstarch
2 cups powdered milk
1/2 cup oatmal

• Using a funnel, layer cornstarch, powdered milk and oatmeal into a decorative sealable bottle, one ingredient at a time.
• Attached a gift tag with the directions (Add a generous amount of Oatmeal Milk Bath to warm running bath water. Soak, relax and enjoy!)
• Give one to everyone you know who just needs 20 minutes of relaxation.

This gift is perfect for Christmas presents, bridal shower, baby shower, etc.