Christmas isn't Christmas for me unless some of the gifts and décor are handmade my me!  Even though I have so many tubs of Christmas decorations that my husband drags out of the shed for me every year, I always find and make items to add to my collection.  I usually remember and look forward to some of my special items that hold the best memories for me year after year.  (Which reminds me that I'm pretty sure that one of the tubs is missing!  I need to find it!)

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       A little over a year ago, I had this idea to do an activity for our women's group at church entitled "Gather."  One of the things our church emphasizes is the importance of family and family ties back through our ancestors.  We truly know that Families are Forever.  Knowing who you are and where you come from is a priceless gift that can give you a sense of comfort and belonging.  I find it remarkable to see in today's world how many people do DNA tests to find their relatives, and how many TV shows there are about searching for one's roots.  It all attests to me the importance of family being a part of our beings. 
       For this activity, I found some amazing family trees that are free to have printed from familyhistorydaily.com  I encourage you to search this site for a ton of family history ideas from research to family trees to other ways to display your family history.   These family trees are free to download and have printed.  I sent mine to Staples and had them printed for about $1  a piece!  They came out beautifully and make a very inexpensive gift just as is!  But, if you want to spruce them up a bit, I have a couple of ideas for you.  

     We happened to have some left over bead board at our house from a past project.  My family tree print is 11 x 17 inches, so I had my good husband cut out a piece for me to make a backer frame for my tree.  I decided that if someone is still doing research to find all of the names to fill in on their charts, this type of frame is perfect because it can be displayed and gradually filled in as they do more research.  

• You could easily use another type of board, whatever works for you. 
• I used black spray paint in a satin finish to spray the board.
• Use E6000 glue to attach loose bulldog clips to hold the tree on the board. 
• I used wooden letters and painted them silver to say "Gather" at the top of the board.  You could also say other things, such as your family name, or "Family", or "Blessed."  Whatever works for you.  You can also use vinyl instead of wood.  

     Then, just clip on the family tree, and you're  all done!  
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     For this beautiful black and white choice, I also printed it in the 11 x 17 size.  I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased the black frame, complete with mat in a 13 x19 size, the mat has an 11 x 17 opening.  
Using black alphabet stickers, I stuck the word "Gather" all over the mat in both upper and lower case letters.  I love how it came out.  

      As I mentioned, I came up with this idea a year ago, but then Covid hit our family so the activity was postponed.  We finally were able to do it this year!  Other parts of the activity included:

• A short family history lesson from a resource person showing us how to do family history on our phones in just 5 minutes per day.
• A potluck of favorite family meals
• A craft that preserved an old family recipe written in a grandmother's handwriting to display in your kitchen. 

      The thought just occurred to me that framing an old recipe in my mom's handwriting might be a nice addition to this family tree gift!  I'll have to mull this over!  In the meantime, I hope there is someone that you know that would love an awesome family tree.  It is a heartfelt gift that doesn't break the budget! 
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​Other Family Themed Gifts:

Love Grows Free Printable
Heritage Recipes
A Special Gift for Grandkids
Grandparent Adventure Books and/or Poster

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    This has been a very hectic couple of years for our family and as you may have noticed, the blog posts have been going up a little farther apart than normal.  But, one of my favorite blog posts to write around this time of the year is when I find advent calendars that are awesome! 
     When my kids were little, they usually had about 2 or 3 advent calendars to count down until Christmas with.  From the felt tree advent that they took turns adding the ornaments to, to the chocolate calendars that were necessary or it wouldn't have been Christmas without them, we have loved our advent calendars!  I have found 4 calendars this year that I want to share with you.  I hope you get a kick out of them! 
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The 2022 Advent Calendar FAMILY GAMES by The Purple Cow. 24 OF THE BEST EVER FAMILY GAMES IN ONE BOX .  What a great way to have fun with your family all month long.  Our family loves to play games together during the holidays and this calendar is a great way to get started with a game to play everyday! ​

The  2022 Advent Calendar SHOCKING SCIENCE by The Purple Cow.  I picked this calendar for Alicia who loves science!  No reason why you can't get some S.T.E.M. activity in as you count down to Christmas! 

Timoo Nativity Advent Calendar 2022 .  Because I am striving hard to keep Christ in Christmas this year more than ever, I am choosing this nativity advent.  It is accompanied by a story to teach children about the birth of the Savior.  The kids will love moving the pieces around throughout the season. 

​LEGO Harry Potter 2022 Advent Calendar.  I don't know why Harry Potter seems Christmassy.  I mean there are Christmas scenes in most of the books, plus snow and the book is "magical."  So, for all of you Potter Heads out there who can't get enough Potter, this is for you! Lego also puts out Star Wars and Marvel Advent calendars as well! 

Here is a list of the past Advent Calendars we have shared! 

• Our 2021 Advent Calendar Suggestions
• Our Favorite Free Printable Advent Calendars or 2019
• The Best Printable Advent Calendars of 2017
• DIY Advent Calendar
  

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      Many families have a Christmas tradition of reading a different Christmas Book to their children every night until Christmas Eve.  I love that and I know that one year I actually wrapped up 24 Christmas books, many of the loved ones that we already owned, and let the kids open one each night for us to read aloud.  Even if the book was one they had read many times before, it was always fun to see which book would be the surprise story each night.  Of course, after we read it, that book would be available for the kids to reread on their own throughout the rest of the season.  It was surprising how many Christmas books we actually owned!  

      While I love Santa and the tree and all of the fun trappings of Christmas as much as the next person, I have always felt that it is important to make sure that  the Savior is the focus of Christmas and I made sure that many of the books we read were about the Birth of Jesus.  He is the Reason for the Season after all! 
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      So, I've put together a list of some great books that center on the Nativity.  They would all be a great way to round out your Christmas Advent Reading this coming December.       

     We have recommended other Christmas books in the past if you are still searching for a few more: 

• 24 Christmas Books to Read With Your Kids
• 13 Christmas Books to Love This Year
• Literature and Cookies