Letters To Santa And Homemade Christmas Ornaments Make Christmas Special

Writing letters to Santa and making Christmas salt dough ornaments with your children is a great way to connect during the sometimes hectic Christmas season. We all know how important Santa letters can be. These ornaments can last for years as a reminder of the memories you made that year. Salt dough ornaments are so simple to make that even the youngest members of your family can participate.

The recipe is very easy to throw together and you probably already have the ingredients in your pantry. These ornaments are not for eating. Keep the dough in an air tight container until you are ready to use it so that it doesn’t dry out.

2 parts flour
1part salt
1part water

Mix the ingredients in a bowl. If you want colored dough add food coloring until you reach your desired hue. On a floured surface knead the dough. You can let the kids write their Christmas letters while you’re during this.

You need to work on a floured surface. You can roll out the dough and uses cookie cutters to make shapes. This is the easiest method for very young children. Older children might enjoy forming their own shapes.

You can add mirror pieces, glass beads, or glass gemstones. They will look dazzling on a lit up Christmas tree. These can also be used for the eyes and other accents on snowmen and gingerbread men.

A cute idea is to make a nice list with the names of all of your children and their ages. The names can be painted with gold or silver paint after they have baked.  Your kids can make a Christmas wish list. It is fun to look back at these ornaments and read past wishes.

You can make wrapped gift ornaments. You could even write a gift from Santa on the gift tag.  You can write your child’s name or the year in the to space. After you bake them make the ribbons using glitter glue.

My kids each make am ornament to leave out for Santa with the cookies and milk and magical reindeer food on Christmas Eve.

If you have used colored dough you can brush the top of the ornament with water for more vibrant colors. For a frosty effect dust light with flour before you bake. Put the name and date on the back of the ornament. Be sure to put a hole in the dough for a ribbon.

You will need to bake these in low heat between 200 – 250 degrees. Be patient they take several hours to dry depending on the thickness of the dough. After they have finished you can paint and decorate anyway you like. Always store these ornaments in an air tight container and they will last for years.

It’s simple traditions like Santa letters and homemade ornaments that can make special Christmas memories for all. These are the kind of things that kids remember when they grow up. They might forget what presents were bought for them and who came to celebrate with the family on Christmas Day, but they are not likely to forget the fun they had creating letters to Santa and ornaments to hang on the tree.

Create A Beautiful Christmas Gathering The Simple Way

Are you having guests over for the holiday season and don't know what you are going to about cooking, entertainment, food and drinks, and maybe even decorations? Well I am about to give you some simple, quick and inexpensive ways to make your Christmas gathering a beautiful occasion this Christmas season.

Something that you could serve that is quick and easy is a party tray. Whether it be a cheese tray with a variety of cheese and crackers, or a meat tray with sliced summer sausage or pepperoni, or it can be a vegetable tray with a variety of vegetables and some dressing to dip. This is a fun and inexpensive treat that all of your guests will love- even vegetarians.

For entertainment at your family gathering why not play a game or two? Charades or Christmas bingo are always fun and easy to prepare for. Charades is a great game for larger groups of people, you need two teams; one person from each team is given a secret from a movie, song title or a book to mimic to their team. The team has to try and guess it within 2 minutes.

Teams take turns and earn points for the correct answers in the time limit. No verbal cues are allowed. Creativity can be used when designing your own Christmas bingo game or you can purchase manufactured games in card shops. The point is to make things fun.

A great game for young kids is pin the tail on the reindeer. It is the same concept as pin the tail on the donkey but you use a reindeer instead.

Decorations can also be a worry, but I will share a few ideas that have worked for me in past years. One suggestion is to purchase plain wreaths (they can be artificial or real) and decorated them yourself with pinecones, berries, ribbons and small Christmas ornaments or anything else festive that you can find. Wreaths look great on your front door or above fire place as they give off a warm and festive feel.

Another idea is using old Christmas cards around the house. For instance you can put them on a mantel or if you have steps you can line them up the stairs. If you have small children they might like to make a Christmas count down calendar to count down the days till Christmas it's is a great way to get the kids involved for the season. You can try any of these easy ideas to make your next family gathering special for you and your family- they will help to make memories that will last a lifetime.