I know! It's way too late to be posting this, but I love it and maybe you can use it with your scrapbooking, or for decorating next year. The files come ready to print, and even have a faint cut line around the circles so you can use your favorite pair of decorative scissors to cut them out. I cut mine out with some scalloped scissors and then used this fun Cricut machine thing to cut some white and green paper into fun circle shapes to glue behind the original circles. Then I used an awl (or an ice pick) and made holes and used brads to attach them all to the ribbon. The file also comes with one red and one green blank circle so you could type up your own garland if you'd like. Or make some cute photo ornaments. Or coasters. DH is a bit confused as to why I'm still decorating for Christmas, but when you have no furniture moved to your house yet (oh, yes, a Christmas tree, two chairs and an ottoman... still!), it makes it feel more home-y. After Christmas, it's going to be depressing around here! I'm going to be that neighbor with the decorations still up at Valentine's day...Anyone have any great Christmas/Holiday traditions to share? I'd love to hear them if you do! Leave a comment here on the blog, and I'll do a random drawing for a FREE sugar cookie digital scrapbooking kit on Friday the 28th! (which means the winner will be contacted on Saturday - so you have till midnight Friday to post!).
I hope I have time tomorrow to make the annual Christmas cake. When we were kids my mom always made "Baby Jesus Birthday Cake" to teach us who's birthday it was. The cake literally had, "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus" written on it, and she put a candle for each kid at our house on Christmas Eve and we'd blow them out, and then read the nativity story. Oh, and open a present. Last year I forgot to get cake ingredients and so we had to have Happy Birthday apple pie instead. It wasn't quite the same... Anyway, from my family to yours, hope you have the Merriest Christmas!
44 comments:
just found your blog because it's the first chance i've had in a long time to relax and do a little blog-hopping. loving all the nice things you share. our christmas tradition is matching pajamas and santa hats! we also have chocolate christmas coffee cake every christmas morning that's sooooooooo yummy! thanks for the inspiration and merry christmas to you! blessings!
I love the Christmas garland!
Every year Christmas I make christmas jammies for my kids and they get to open them on Christmas Eve so that they get to wear them for Christmas day.
Now that my kids are a little older I plan to start a tradition that we did growing up which was, my parents would take us all to a holiday movie in the theatre and then out for dinner a week or two before Christmas... Some of my fondest memories are time spent together as a family!
Love the garland and the cocoa topper from your last post.
My favorite tradition is one that a friend's family does every Christmas Eve. They have a steak dinner, and when they were growing up, it was one of the few times of the year that they got steak. And after dinner, they sit around and my friend's dad reads the Nativity story from the bible.
I always thought it was such a simple and no-fuss way to celebrate the meaning of Christmas.
ConnieC
We have the same Christmas tradition of a Birthday Cake for Jesus!
We are also going to start some new traditions this year while our children are still young - like having pizza on Christmas Eve (easy for mommy). LOL And singing hymns around the piano!
Merry Christmas to you and God bless you in the New Year!
Oh, I saw that kit and so wanted it!!!(It's on my wish list...) So, I'm certainly going to take a stab at being the lucky one to win it.
As for a family tradition of ours, every Christmas Eve our family sits down and reads the book "Polar Express," by Chris Van Allsburg. It's been a tradition of our since my daughter Emma was born, eight years ago. We look forward to every year, especially Emma! :)
And here is wishing you & your family a very merry Christms!!!
Just hubby & I so our "tradition" is to go look at lights Christmas Eve, come home and snuggle in with a Christmas movie (usually Christian), this year it is the Nativity Story. We always have "Wife Saver" for breakfast Christmas morning and invite any tenants left in the building (I am apt. manager) up for supper Christmas Day.
Yeah, I can see how apple pie wouldn't be quite the same, lol. Your Merry Christmas sign looks great. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday!
We have quite a few traditions, I have been posting daily on my blog since 1 Dec, so most are there.
On Christmas Eve, we take the kids for a walk in the neighbourhood to look at all the christmas lights and decorations. Then we come home, get their pyjamas on, have hot chocolate, and read the book "Twas the night before Christmas".
Every Christmas I try and eat as many sugar cookies and Christmas candy as I can. Then I start a diet on New Years. Oops! That is not a tradition that is just what really happens.
Every Monday in December we pile into the van. We drive through different neighborhoods and look at Christmas lights while we sing carols. It is great to see how many more lights are up the Monday before Christmas then the first Monday in December.
Christmas morning we have Grandpa and Grandma come over. We open presents and have a big breakfast.
You have such a lovely blog! Your photos are gorgeous, your stories uplifting and your designs beautiful. Thanks to you, I've found the CD calendar quickpages and I'm busily downloading them now. Thank you!
I love this project you posted!
We do pretty standard traditions. Dinner at the in-laws. Sing songs, open pajama gifts, act out nativity scene. I'm excited for my dd to wear the angel costume I made for her!
We always make homemade caramels, starting as soon as apple season does. The beginning of December we put bags of Granny Smith apples and 1 lb bags of caramels together and start the neighborhood deliveries. Finally, on December 24, we take the whole day to prepare for our own Christmas, which includes our favorite homemade caramel dip!
Love, love, love the garland...thanks so much!!
We are starting something with our little guy that my Mom did when I was little. New jammies on Christmas eve and an ornament that represents some special about the last year. Plus my MIL does 25 days of Christmas for all the grand kids...she even did it last year for our little guy when I was still pregnant with him.
The garland is great! Thank you for all your beautiful work!
Every Christmas Eve my family goes to our family cabin. We put up the Christmas lights outside and have a Christmas Eve dinner. Since there is usually a lot of snow on Christmas Eve in Utah, we have to ride snowmobiles in to get to the cabin. After dinner, we all get on the snowmobiles and go Christmas caroling to the other cabins in the area. It is cold and dark, but very fun.
On Christmas Eve my Grandpa always gathers the family around his chair and gets teary-eyed as he sees how blessed our family has been with health and happiness. He then reads the story of Jesus' birth from Luke chapter 2 in the Bible to remind us of the most wonderful gift we received on the first Christmas. Afterwards we all dig into the cookies; there are 4 kinds we make only for Christmas, so we have to eat enough to satisfy our cravings all year long! We then pass out from sugar comas and awaken at 8 am on Christmas morning and open presents in our pajamas!
Oops! I forgot to leave my e-mail in case I am lucky enough to win the drawing! It's sweetsunshine13@hotmail.com
Thank you for sharing your beautiful Christmas garland!
One of our best Christmas traditions was to attend Midnight Mass, go home or to Grandma's house for a visit and light lunch and then we would all go skating at the outdoor skating rink at city hall.
When our babies started arriving we had to modify this tradition somewhat. But, to this day we still love to get together, as time allows.
May you and your family have a Happy Christmas blessed with love and caring.
Betty
How pretty!
Thanks for the generosity! My husband started giving me a Christmas bear the first year we met - one that has the year stamped on its foot. We now have 17 beautiful bears, each different and each with its own memories of many beautiful Christmases together.
Meryy Christmas!
V.
I make amazing cinnamon-sticky buns on the 24th. They rise in the frig. overnight, then morning comes, I turn on the oven, let them rise a bit, pop 'em in, and we have hot sticky, gooey cinnamon buns while opening gifts. I also make Pizzelles (Italian lacey wafer cookies made in a special waffle-type-iron) with my dd - we've been doing it since she was 5. Fun and pretty. Finally, we go to church and to dinner at a place that has traditional English Christmas carolers that sing during dinner. The whole restaurant joins in for 12 days of Xmas song. Thank you for so many wonderful freebies. Your brushes and other things are one of the reasons I'm trying to start doing digi. Merry Christmas (maybe you'll get some furniture). xo Colleen
P.S. I'll post the recipe for the cinnamon buns on my blog sometime soon, but if you want to see it and can't wait, go to last year's Dec. archives - it's there!
one of my fav traditions is opening one present on christmas eve- it is always pjs of course but it kind of curbs the urge to open all those presents under the tree
We have a collection of animated creatures that started about ten years with Douglas, the fir tree that's motion activated. Each year we add something else. This year it was two somethings and we gave a pink flamingo that moves and sings "We wish you...." to our 13 year old grandson.
http://www.mootwodesigns.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=4722&cat=500&ppuser=11
Every Chrismas Eve my family gets together at my grandparents and we have a pot luck. We eat the same foods every year and our pot luck has become our tradition. This year I made recipe cards from digital kits and gave them to everyone to fill out. Then yesterday I took pictures of all the food items. I plan to make a recipe book/scrapbook for every family.
Thanks for the great freebie and I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!!
Edi
Our family had a large birthday candle for Jesus. The first thing we would do on Christmas morning was light the candle and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.
Wow, so many comments about new pj's on Christmas Eve. So, I'm not the only one with that tradition except that I always gave my children a coloring book and crayons as well.
Now, that we are older, we get together for Christmas dinner. With my mother turning 90 this March, and each of her seven children having children, etc., we now number over 60 people all in one house at one time, giving presents to each other. We pull names every year using little shrinkies of different toys with the person's name on it. The seven of us take turns hosting the festivities.
Other traditions include my sister's yule log and pine cone cake that are to die for. This year I didn't get to the yule log soon enough - it was gone.
Every holiday season, we go to see the Christmas Carol play at Trinity Theater in Providence, RI. They do it every year with a different flavor to it and my mother and her daughters all go together.
Thank you for all the wonderful freebies you give all through the year.
This sharing of traditions is a wonderful idea and I just may use the one by partyscrapper. That is great!
viviancarpentier@cox.net
Every Christmas Eve we head over to my Babcia's (grandma in Polish) house. Someone in the family dresses as Santa and hangs with all the kiddies. Afterwards, we break Oplatki. It is just like the host you receive at communion, but it looks like sticks of gum. Everyone in the family gets a stick. You offer yours to a family member, take a piece of theirs, then say something like 'merry christmas or happy new year or i love you.' My mom grew up with this tradition, I grew up with it and now my children will grow up with it as well.
Loved reading all the traditions. All my sons are mostly grown, only one still at home, so need to think of something now they are grown, plus the oldest just got married. Thanks for the cute garland. :)
some great traditions discussed here - we made our first gingerbread creation (a sleigh) this year with my 2.5y.o. - i'm already looking fwd to making one again next year with her! ya gotta start somewhere!
Merry Christmas!
- justine (aka Bellbird)
Awww, I love the idea of a happy birthday Jesus cake! I'm so doing that next year. We don't really have any traditions like that. We just have our regular routine of Christmas Eve Mass followed by dinner and gifts at my in-laws, Christmas morning at home, and Christmas afternoon/evening at my folks. Luckily all in the same town! I'm a big fan, Miss Natalie! Thanks for everything. I hope I am the LUCKY winner but congrats to the person that is! missybackues@gmail.com
It's kind of sad, but my Christmas tradition is that i'm always up late the night before trying to get everything ready! LOL. Seriously, though, this year I made caramel rolls for breakfast, and I hope that can be our Christmas morning tradition. :D
Christmas traditions are so great! Every Christmas Eve, my dad (The Cowboy) saddles up the horses and ponies and we go for a winter wonderland ride. This year I had to bow out due to broken leg, but it is so fun.
Each year we make home-made ice cream! We live in Minnesota, so we actually go outside to scoop up some snow to use in the ice cream churn. Our technology might have updated since my grandpa turned the crank by hand, but it still tastes better than anything you can buy in a store. I love the fact that my own children now get to join in on the tradition as well!
Just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much I am enjoying your PH Elements tutorials and also your blog. I received PH Elements 6 as a Christmas present and haven't a clue as to how it works, so naturally I looked it up on YouTube and found your videos which led me here! I can't wait to download some of the amazing freebies you have posted! Thank you and keep up the good work!
My sister and I had a Birthday Party for Jesus on Christmas Eve with my daughter and niece. We made a cake with them. The girls got a kick out of it. My daughter is 3 and my niece is 4. It is a tradition that we are going to do in the years to come.
My kids, hubby and I all go to cut down a tree we bring it home to decorate. When that is all done I make popcorn and cocoa and we watch Polar Express.
We are trying to combine our traditions and it is a bit hard. Dh's family always gets together for Christmas Eve....lots of food and presents. My family always had a big breakfast with peameal bacon (Canadian Bacon). It was always a special treat. I try to do that with my family now.
Every Thanksgiving we give our kids and grandkids a new Hallmark ornament to be used on their tree that year. They are getting quite a nice collection. We also have recently started having each family take a Christmas song, any Christmas song and sing it. lipsync it, dance to it, whatever they choose. It has turned out to be a really fun time.
SO Cute!!!!!! Pick me!!!
Love your work.
Thank you for being so generous with your talent.
Sue Benson
Kewl Garland!
Every year we give our kids ornaments on the 5th of December, so when they're adults, they'll have their own sets ready when they are out on their own.
We also ensure that we have our traditional foods that generations past would have at Christmas, such as wine pudding, potato sausage, swedish meatballs, rice pudding, etc. Then we have a little xmas program where the youngest sing or play instruments before we open any gifts.
Every Christmas we have a cousin (83 years old), my aunt, and a close friend all of whom have never been married and have not children come and spend the night with us on Christmas Eve. We get up Christmas morning and my Mom fixes the works for breakfast. Then we open presents. We make sure everyone has plenty of presents to open. It is lots of fun and to know that someone is not spending Christmas day alone and with no presents. When we get everything cleaned up then it is time to start on lunch. We have our traditional lunch of ham, turkey, dressing and veggies and dessert. Everyone enjoys the day and then we take some home that afternoon and some that night. We have done this for over 15 years and I would really miss not having them here with us. Oh yeah, on Christmas Eve night Santa comes by our house on a Firetruck and everyone loves getting out and waving to Santa.
So beautiful, thanks so much !!
Thank you for the garland. Can't be too early to stock up for next Christmas :)
Ahhh, just found this adorable garland freebie! Thanks for sharing! :-)
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