Fun Christmas Ideas

A girl I went to school with at BYU has this fun blog with lots of craft ideas and recipes etc...this year she posted two ideas I love and wanted to do with my little guy but it was a little late in the game...so I want to remember these for next year!

First I love this simple idea for a fun snow globe you can make with your kids! I posted another idea from Martha Stewart but this one just seems more doable to me. :) Find instructions here.

I have been wanting to make something like this all December! I was so excited to see this posted on Vanilla Joy--just wish it had been earlier in the month! I especially love that a scripture is included with each candy. Oh well, I'll just have to remember this idea for next Christmas!

Christmas Coal

Even if that special someone on your list has been nice...this would be a cute and funny gift to find in your stocking on Christmas morning! A nice lump of coal...with something nice stuffed inside! Find the instructions from Tatertots and Jello here.

Noel

I love this simple sign, you can find the tutorial here.


The first year I sang in BYU Womens Chorus we had an AMAZING Christmas concert. We sang beautiful arrangements of well known Christmas songs and I loved every second of it. The only sad thing to me is that the songs we sang were not all recorded on the archival cds they give you at the end of the year. That year I fell in love with the song "The First Noel" when we sang an additional verse I had never heard before. I loved it so much I wrote the words in my personal hymn book...which unfortunately I lost. I found these words online but I really think the words we sang the third line was different.

Now let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our Heavenly Lord,
The which hath made Heaven and Earth of nought,
And by his blood Mankind hath bought

This version by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is equally as beautiful and moving and includes the verse I love. I love to sing this beautiful arrangement someday. Here is my gift to you: I hope you find some time to listen to this beautiful music!

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Um...don't these look amazing, festive, and so delicious? I want to try these, but with so many recipes I want to try...they might have to wait until next year. :) Find the recipe here from the Recipe Girl.

Christmas Reads

I love reading to my son, especially when there is a holiday coming up! When I was little my dad would read "A Story a Day Until Christmas" every night in December until Christmas Day and we all loved it! I've tried to do the same thing with my son, but with all meaningful stories rather than fun ones. I'm not opposed to fun Christmas stories though--we still read them! In my search to find more Christmas books, I have found a couple of book lists that have some fun looking books on them! Check out the lists here and here. Also here is a great collection of stories you can print off to do your own "A Story a Day Till Christmas!"

What are your favorite Christmas time books and stories?

Christmas Galore

I came across this post from Simply Modern Mom today and LOVE all of her Christmas decor ideas! It definitely is an inspiration to me--I wish I had a staircase in my house like she does!

I have found some other great ideas I would love to try sometime in my Christmas decorating, I guess this post is a showcase of those!

First these simple candycanes look so easy and inexpensive to make! You could make a garland of them or hang them from a garland...all sorts of things! Find instructions in this post.


I love this jingle bell wreath! It is tiny--like ornament size, or gift tag size...or maybe you could group more than one together and hang then from your door so when it opens and closes it makes that lovely jingle bell sound...again lots of possibilities! Find the instructions here.

I love this paper star wreath! But I think even more I would love to make the cute little stars and hang them from the garland over our doorway so it would look something like this:

I love these little stars! One year my roommates and I made tons and tons of snowflakes and taped them all over our ceiling. We loved it! So I might even hang a few from the ceiling to make our big empty room look more festive. Find the instructions for these here.
I think these snowflakes just look like a fun kids craft! Find the instructions for these here.


Finally...to get you even more in the Christmas spirit is this recipe for these Thick and Chewy Gingerbread cookies that looks really good to me! I can't wait to try it and have that wonderful gingerbread smell in our house...
*update, I tried this recipe and thought it was gross. So I changed the picture and suggest you try this recipe instead! It might be the ones I made last year that were amazing--I can't remember which recipe I used!

What are some of your favorite holiday decor ideas?

Snow Globes

I love snow globes! This looks like so much fun--make your own!! Find instructions from Martha Stewart here.

Mistletoe

I totally love this! Ever since we've been married I have wanted mistletoe to grace our halls...however it has yet to happen. This looks easy to do however, and I'm excited to try it out!
Find instructions here!

Creche Exhibit

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

I miss watching the news in Utah, and the familiar news anchors or whatever they are called. :) I was happy to watch this, it looks like a great tradition! If you are in Utah this weekend, you should go check it out! One more awesome thing to add to my list of awesome Christmas functions in Utah!