Countdown to Christmas - share your Christmas ideas here!

[MiniOwner]

Aww Maria your amazing post!!

[MiniOwner]

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[yiayia]

I have not yet contributed to this thread - but pop in to have a read anyway - and just want to say what a lovely post by Maria. Heartwarming and inspiring and I am so glad it is now a season of joy again for you.

[Cris]

Love the idea for the sock game. Wondering if I can do something similar for my family on Christmas day.
Love the advent calendars Alison. I did a lego one a few years ago for the boys and it was fun.
The wreath is fab Susan and I may save it for another year because this year I'm going to a class to make my own wreath out of greenery etc which should be fun (I've never done it before)
Maria - Thank you for sharing. What great friends you have. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year with your new husband.

[MiniOwner]

Talking of Advent calendars reminded me of this jar I did containing family activities for each day leading up to Christmas. I used jars from Ikea but any empty jar will do. I was delighted to find that Stickles draw and dry very well on glass to add some sparkle

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advent activities.pdf

advent activities blue.pdf

[alison 2]

Oh wow Sue, that’s a great idea, will try that for my kids and their partners/families - a project for next year though I think as I’d like to do it properly

Marie, thanks for sharing your story. I’m so glad you now look forward to Christmas again, you can teach your hubby some of our crazy British customs xx

[RED HEAD]

Loving all these suggestions. Some great ideas.
Maria, thanks for sharing. So glad that you have found happiness again.
Ellie

[Susie.A]

We did something similar last year Sue for my niece. Her mum wanted a jar full of mindfulness quotes and ideas. So she sent me the list and I typed them up and printed them and they were folded and went into the jar. Each day she had to pick out one slip of paper and follow whatever it said. They were printed on beautiful pearlescent paper and my sister found a pretty jar. They were quite varied and mostly they were about focusing on the positive things in life, simple things to do that we miss out on in the rush of just getting through the day.

[MiniOwner]

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[MiniOwner]

These are the Christmas Crackers mentioned by Maria

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crackers.pdf
Christmas Cracker Jokes.pdf

[cantstopstampin]

what a great idea Sue. our christmases were brilliant.............loads of family..................then mom died who seemed to be the king pin and family drifted and drifted away. myself and cousins decided to put on a hall christmas party and it ran for about 5 years "but our mean lot" begrudged stumping up the then 'fiver' towards the hall and dj and it dwindled. The last one we did me and the cousins were £30 each out of pocket because of people saying they'd pay us the fiver on the night...................they didn't come.

[alison 2]

Oh that’s a shame. My extended family get together every December for a meal so we can exchange presents, etc. Used to be just my mum and her siblings, then our generation was invited, now some of our kids come too. It’s nice to catch up.

Sue, thanks for another crafty idea, I always think about making my own crackers, on to my ‘to do’ list

[Maria in France]

thats a shame cant stop stampin. Some people cant see the bigger picture it seems. The hall sounded a great idea.

I did used to love Christmas when we all lived nearby and had it together, but that isnt tennable once the family start marrying and having kids i guess and in our case we all moved away (i live in france, brother lives in italy, cousin in hong kong etc). then we stopped all the traditions like presents because it cost too much in postage and was too diffiuclt to send and then, overseas, you cant get the products (mince pies, xmas pud, crackers, xmas cake etc) and so it becomes a very watered down version and that takes the fun out of it and leaves you with just the tedious parts (that its expensive and an unwanted disruption to normal life) thats what happened in our famly anyway. Plus we have no young children in our family either, and so that also kills it off a bit. it isnt the same when you are adults and worrying about the food and the presents.

Anyway, im not minding it at all this year, we shall have a nice time,at least i am not alone and have my Jean'Louis now and we are making our own traditions though it still isnt the christmases we had as youngsters and only one day here, everyone goes back to work on Boxing Day.

Thank you everyone for your nice comments too on my earlier post

[MiniOwner]

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[MiniOwner]

I thought I'd share my mum's Christmas pudding recipe with you today ... she has made the same one since we were children. The original McDougall's recipe book is tattered and erm ... messy with ingredient traces but the pudding is the best I've ever tasted. I made a page featuring the pudding and wrote out the recipe on a journalling card.

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Nan's recipe.pdf