From Christmas Cards To Letters To Santa – Get Your Kids Involved!

From Christmas Cards To Letters To Santa – Get Your Kids Involved!

Making homemade Christmas cards with your kids is an inexpensive and fun way to prepare for the coming holidays and it can work hand in hand with the creation of letters to Santa. You can use items you already have around the house.  I will give you a few ideas to get you started. From there let your imagination and Christmas spirit take over. Now go and get creative.

Choose a theme for your Christmas card. Christmas gives us an endless array of possibilities. You can go for an elegant Victorian theme or a rustic woodland theme. Let your preference and style guide you. Most of the time kids have no problem picking a theme

If you wanted to do a Santa cards you could look through sale ads for pictures to cut out and glue onto your card. A real cute idea is to make a trim around the front of the card that looks like Santa’s nice list.  You could also make a Santa face and glue cotton balls for his mustache, beard, and eyebrows.  

Maybe there is a new arrival to your family. In that case you should do a baby’s first Christmas card. Pictures of teddy bears and other cuddly animals look adorable on these cards. Pearlized paint add a sweet finishing touch.

Grandparents love to get anything hand made by their grandchildren. Christmas cards give you the chance to combine the season’s greeting with pictures. I try to find a photo that has my parents and children together. If there are any interest they have in common incorporate that into your card.

Rudolph makes a charming theme. You could include a small envelop that contains reindeer food for the receipt to set out on Christmas Eve. For Rudolph’s nose use glitter or something else shiny to draw attention. Along the border of your card you could make hoof prints or the names of all of Santa’s reindeer.

If fancy is more your style use lace and glue on gemstones. Try to find paper with a metallic sheen. Look for old Christmas cards or catalogs to find pictures that can be used on your card. Look for pictures of fruit or birds. Hand cut snowflakes will look exquisite on these cards also.

Inside your card make sure to put in a personalized message for the person who will be receiving it. Help your child with what to write look through old Christmas cards or search the internet for ideas. Tell them to write something from the heart. Kids usually love working on crafts like this. Let them write special letters to Santa and messages to loved ones in Christmas cards.

Depending on their level of handwriting you may want to write the address on the envelope. Allow your child to put the stamp on and put it in the mail box.

  

Sometimes You Find Gifts From Santa When You Least Expect Them

 A few years back we had a massive snow storm hit our town two days before Christmas. Almost everyone’s power was knocked out.  The frigid temperatures and ice were making the job of repairing the lines nearly impossible. Our family was luckier than most because we had a generator running and a warm fire blazing in the fire place. All of my kids were writing letters to Santa by the light of the fireplace. The news reported that it could be over a week before they had power restored to everyone.

I couldn’t help but worry about Emily, the young mother who lived down the street. I knew that her power was out. She was new to the area and had mentioned that she had no family nearby. There was no way I would be able to relax until I knew that this woman and her four year old little girl Kendra were alright. Driving was out of the question so I put on my snow clothes and went on foot. Emily opened the door to her apartment chattering her teeth. At once I told her to pack up Kendra and come to stay at my house. It took us awhile to maneuver in the knee deep snow. Once we were in the house I placed Emily and little Kendra in front of the fire. Kendra hid behind her mom and watched my kids work on their Christmas letters. It brought joy to heart to see this women and her child warm and at peace on this cold night.

Everyone in our family loved having little Kendra around. My girls helped her make a letter to Santa. The glitter sprinkled across the card gleamed in the light of the fire. While Kendra became the center of my kids’ attention Emily got a chance to sit back and relax. After they finished with the letter they showed Kendra how to make cotton ball snowmen. It was a surprise to me how grown my kids seemed compared to Kendra. The smallest thing would just light up her face.

It was clear to me that the power wouldn’t be restored before Christmas. I wasn’t sure how I was going to come up with enough gifts for Kendra to open on Christmas morning. My youngest daughter went through her toys and found several that would make nice gifts. I decided that I would give Kendra the clothes I had bought for my niece I could replace them later. Emily cried when we showed her the gifts.

On Christmas morning Kendra was so excited to find gifts from Santa. We had a wonderful Christmas that year. Not only did we get the chance to share our home and hearts with these two wonderful people but we also made new friends for life. It is clear to me that this terrible snowstorm turned out to be a wonderful gift from Santa.

Helping Soldiers Overseas This Holiday Season

This Christmas while you are celebrating with your family there will be thousands of military families separated for the holiday season. Some of those families may have lost a family member to war. Shouldn't we do what we can to help these families in need?

They have given up their life as they knew it to fight for our country. Some of them overseas may not come back. Christmas without your mom or dad there would be hard; I could not imagine having a Christmas without them. We should all do what we can to show our support for everyone over there fighting so that you and I can live our life like normal.

While they can't spend time with their family you and I will be enjoying Christmas with ours. But there are lots of ways to help the soldiers and their families have a better Christmas even though both their parents may not be there.

Some things that you can send to the soldiers while they are serving for our country are phone cards and Christmas cards to send back to their families, puzzle books, cigarettes, books, magazines, fleece blankets, hats (black only), footballs, basketballs and DVDs, just about anything that you can think of you can send to them.

Some of the things that you can not send to the soldiers are alcoholic beverages, anything that depicts nudity, unauthorized political material and pork and pork by- products. If any contraband is found in the package what so ever your package may not be delivered so make sure you read what they can have and not have.

I myself am by no means rich but I can always manage to send them something, even if it is just candy canes. As you can see, you can get items from this list at almost any store. It just lets the soldiers know that we are thinking of them and appreciate what they are doing for us.

Christmas has always been a special time for my family and I am sure yours too. These families are separated for the holidays and we should do what we can to help them this holiday season. This year I plan to use Thanksgiving as a beginning day of collecting things on the list from family and friends and making a gift basket to send to the soldiers. So this year, as our kids write their Christmas letters to Santa, we plan on helping them make Christmas cards for soldiers and preparing care packages.

No matter how you celebrate Christmas just don't forget about our soldiers and all they do for us. Remember that while they are working for us we should all do our part to help them as much as possible.

Spreading Kindness During The Holidays

I can remember the year that I helped my mom get everything ready to take to the nursing home. She went there every year to visit the residents and this year she wanted me to go with her to help.

To be honest, I didn’t really want to go but my mom talked me into it. She said that the people there did not have anybody to visit them and it would make their day if I came along – I finally decided I would.

I helped my mom make Christmas cards from construction paper to pass out; I also helped her make the Christmas cookies with the little Santa Clauses on them. We bought special Christmas tins to place the cookies in. The preparation for the visit to the nursing home was actually kind of fun.

When it was time to take all of our goodies inside I started to get nervous; I had never done anything like this before and did not know what to expect. When we got inside the entry way a lady led us to the ‘gathering room’. That is where we handed out our cookies and cards. I remember feeling sad that some of the people couldn’t have the cookies (because of diabetes or other complications).

All of the people there were very friendly and wanted to talk to us. They seemed so happy to have us there – it made me feel glad that I came. We were there for hours. Even after the cookies were gone some of the people stayed just to talk to us.

We visited some of the people in their rooms. My mom brushed some of the ladies’ hair, but a lot of the people were asleep so we just left our homemade Christmas card on their nightstand. I liked being in the rooms with the people better than being in the gathering room.

We could talk to them one on one and did not have a bunch of people trying to talk to us at once. They were very appreciative about their cookies and cards. Many of them asked us to come back not only for the Christmas holiday, but just to visit and play games with them.


This is a Christmas that I will never forget. I have gone back to that nursing home to visit and pass out cards and cookies many times over the years. The people living there are so appreciative when someone takes the time to visit with them.

My children are even involved now – they help me make the Christmas cards and cookies, and they go with me for the vists. My kids love it and look forward to it every year.

Parenthood Changes Christmas

Are you a parent with young children and just realized that Christmas is coming soon? Have you ever thought about how much Christmas changes every year now that you have kids? When you were younger you thought about the things that you wanted for yourself but now that you have kids you worry about them and their wants and needs. Your only concern is making Christmas special for them. Christmas becomes more stressful for you because they depend on you for their Christmas joy. You want their Christmas to be as wonderful as yours was as a child, or even better.

Every year your child is a year older, wiser and smarter so you are trying hard to keep up with them. Being a parent with young children affects the way you decorate your home, shop and celebrate for the Christmas season. Now that you have children you could start your own family traditions with them. Or carry them on from when you were a child. Something that you do every year with your family, something they will soon look forward to every year.

One of our family traditions is sitting around the table and helping the children write their letters to Santa and then helping them mail those letters off to the North Pole. We also spend time doing Christmas craft projects and making decorations.

Decorating your home can actually be more fun now that you have kids. Don't be afraid to let your kids make a mess and get dirty. You will never get a better gift than a handmade gift from your child. You can have them make ornaments to put on the tree and Christmas cards to give to the family. You will probably be able to use the decorations every year and it will be a memory that you and your child have together. You could even make this a tradition that the kids will love.

Shopping is a lot more difficult now and since you are shopping for the kids you will have to find a babysitter for them. Online shopping is more convenient and you can do it when the kids go to bed. You can also have your gifts delivered to your door so you do not even have to leave the house.

When your kids are young it's a good time to teach them the meaning of Christmas - that it is not about the material things that they may get but that Christmas is about giving rather than receiving, and being there for your family and friends.