Thursday, November 5, 2009

Christmas

I love Christmas.  I tend to go way overboard with my planning, and then get very frustrated when I don't get it all done. 
So, one way to curtail the frustrations is to set limits for yourself.  I, surprisingly enough, have taken this advice and have set limits for myself for the past couple of Christmases. 
It started when I was pregnant with Declan.  He was due on December 20th, and I knew I wouldn't get anything done if I waited until the last minute.
So, I decided on the good old "12 Days of Christmas" .  I picked 12 random days in the month of December, all before Christmas, and I gave each of my children a small gift. I've done this every year since.  I try to make these gifts meaningful and homemade.  It doesn't always end up being both of those things, but that is the goal.  :)

This year, I'm making a few things that I'm really excited about, so I thought I'd share them with you. 

First, I'm making sets of little notebooks.  Each one has 32 pages (enough for 1 page per day, should they choose to use them as a monthly journal) and each is decorated differently.  One has Christmas paper on the outside, one is covered in a patterned paper that I think will suit them and their personalities, and the third will be very neutral, as we will have an evening when we will decorate them. 
I learned how to make these through a class I took this year (taught by Elsie and Rachel)



The second thing I've decided to make are magnets made from pretty patterned paper.  I've decided on a thing or symbol that reminds me of each of the kids (think cute nicknames, favourite stuffed animal etc.) and am making a paper pieced magnet in that shape for each of them, so they are each going to have a little "family" that will always remind them of our family at this stage in our lives.  

So, those will be 2 days of my 12 Days of Christmas! Can't wait to come up with the rest of them!

No comments: