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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!
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:
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This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support I don't know if you are like me, but after I get all of the trappings of Christmas taken down and put away, I still have a pile of Christmas cards to deal with. Many of them are so beautiful, I hate to throw them away, and in the spirit of living a little greener, I like to try to recycle them. So, today, we will share some of our favorite ways! If you have any ideas to add, please let us know, we are always looking for new ideas! Friday Faves #87-Favorite Ways to Recycle Christmas Cards! 1. For years, one of my favorite things to do with the Christmas Cards we receive is to make gift tags for next year. It is fun to cut out the cute motifs and the handmade cards are especially cute to use on packages. Just remember to put them in a place where you will find them next Christmas! 2. Of course, if we receive photo cards of family and loved ones, I like to put them in a photo album. It is fun to see how the families have grown year after year. 3. One year, on Everyday Reading, I found this really cute banner idea. Janssen used the photo cards she received to make a Valentine Banner. It was so cute. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to cut the photo cards, but there were a lot of really cute cards that I used instead. I used a thicker version of baker's twine to make the banner. I used two different sizes of heart cookie cutters to cut out the shapes. 4. A really awesome gift for young kids next Christmas, or a way to add to the Spirit of Christmas around the house, would be a book using the pictures from the cards. One year I made a Christmas ABC Book using Christmas Cards. It can be tricky coming up with a picture for every letter, but my friend had a poem that she shared with me to help me out. Unfortunately for this post, I gave that book away. But I got to thinking that it would be really cool to use the song "C is for the Christ Child" by Jim Reeves as the text for the book. If you have enough Christmas cards, you can make more than one! I put together a free printable of ideas for making this book. Here is the PDF file to make printing easier: So, hopefully you can find a way to recycle those Christmas cards and get the last vestiges of Christmas put away. And, won't it be great knowing that you have a gift for the little ones, gift tags to use when wrapping and something to decorate with for Valentine's Day! Now that is thinking ahead!
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Since Thanksgiving, I've had a glass baking dish at my house that belongs to my daughter from another mother. She was coming by last night and since I wasn't sure if I would be seeing her again before Christmas, I wanted to give her a gift. I came up with an idea that would turn her baking dish into the vessel for her gift.
Her baking dish is really cute, with a silicone edged lid, clear in the middle, similar to this one that you can pick up at Walmart for about $10.
I decided to use Christmas cardstock to make divisions in the dish to hold home baked goods and treats neatly in the dish, surrounding her wrapped gift. It came out looking like this:
I put in macarons, Hot Cocoa Bombs, gluten free brownies, chocolate chip cookies with peppermint M&Ms, and her wrapped gift. I filled in with Hershey Kisses and M&Ms. It looks so cute in person, better that the picture for sure, and when you seal it up with the lid, it is a perfect gift.
I made the sections by folding the cardstock in half and then folding it back on itself so that the crease is raised up, making a wall. For the smaller wall, I simply folded some cardstock cut to the right length in half and folded feet at the bottom and taped them in place. The wrapped gift itself makes the divider between the 2 smaller slots, of course.
I was so pleased with the result and so was the recipient. I got to thinking that a 9x13 baking dish makes a wonderful shower gift and you could fill it in a similar way, except not Christmasy! Then I started brain storming other ways this idea could work. Here are a couple of ideas:
Even when simply returning a borrowed dish, this method of filling it can be a great way to say thank you. Dividing the pan into sections keeps everything neat and lets the receiver know that you put some thought and effort into the gift. If you have some last minute gifts that you need to give or if you need something for an office party, this idea could also come in handy, even if you only use a foil pan, just to keep everything contained!
Let me know if you can think of other uses for this technique! Happy Gifting! You may also love these ideas:
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I found this old post from and gave it a little update because I still love this idea!
Once, many years ago, I made an M&M wreath by forming a wire coat hanger into a circle and then wiring little cellophane wrapped packs of M&Ms onto it. It was really pretty, but very time consuming and it took a lot of M&Ms. I have never forgotten it though and I sometimes consider making another one. Because of another project I am working on, I found myself with some extra 4" metal rings and I decided that maybe a mini-wreath would be an awesome little gift. I gathered my supplies to try it out.
Click on the pictures below to learn the steps.
I baked banana bread the other day and decided to share some with a friend. I wrapped the bread in foil, put a band of gift wrap around it, then used the wreath on top as an extra treat! I think this is will be an appreciated gift, don't you? I hope so.
This is a project that would definitely lend itself to working with a group or at least a partner. Someone could cut the plastic, someone could fill them, someone could tie them Once you have a bunch of bundles, everyone could start wrapping. It sounds like a good family project to me!
You could make a large one the same way. (Just put more candies in a bundle to make them bigger). But, I really like the small ones because the large ones start looking terribly shabby when you start cutting off the candy to eat! These little ones won't matter so much. Plus, they take less than a full 12 oz. bag to make so you can share the fun with more people. They are super easy to make, so go ahead! Give it a try.
Other Christmas Crafts You Will Love:
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
May 2024
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