homespun holidays...

December is just around some corners (as my little one would say) and I've created a fun holiday journal for Emma's Paperie that I'd like to share with you and invite you all to participate in a Homespun Holiday Journal of your own.  I created this with the intention of dividing December into 12 days of homespun holiday memories... Inside are 12 pages embellished and ready to contain pictures, notes, lists, recipes, articles, stories, etc...the key here is to center our Christmas around memorable activities that bring us together, don't cost much, and that we will want to include as part of our Christmas tradition from here on out...some could most definitely be flops...but I want to try...I want to focus on the simple things...I want my little girl to be more interested in what we do together than on what she wants under the tree.   So....starting off, every other day starting December 1st, my little one and I...daddy too when he can, will sit down and create....things such as:

• a popcorn and cranberry garland for our tree
• jumbo gingerbread men
• a paper chain to count down the days until Christmas
• sugar cookies for the neighbors
• a Frosty to peek at through the windows...here's hoping we get enough snow for one. 
• making sweater beanie hats (here is a link to the CUTEST, easiest pattern):   http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=58&sid=8464613 
• homemade suckers
• Christmas cards for the cousins

  
  I need to collect more fun ideas for us, but I'd love to hear yours...what are some fun ways you can bring your children or grandchildren closer together for the holidays...how can we teach them the importance of giving, sharing, and of family togetherness?

 
 
 
   I love clipping envelopes in journals...always a great spot for loose odds and ends that will someday be a treasure.  

I want to create one of these each year and someday will have a beautiful stack of them to present to my little girl filled with her Grandma Boley's cinnamon roll recipe complete with pictures of us making them together, pictures of our handmade ornaments with snippets of the fabric tucked into an envelope, her letter to Santa throughout the years, and many more memories as well.

So....will  you join me?  You have all of November to create you journal, then beginning in December the fun begins and you start filling it full of memories to hold dear.

A complete supply list and instructions for this journal can be found HERE on Emma's Paperie blog.

Have a sweet Friday.

Melis
 
 

Comments

[Heather]

I love this idea. I always do special Christmas things with my son. I am going to have to make one to keep our memories. Thanks so much for the great ideas. You continue to inspire me.
Heather

[Heather]

I love this idea. I am going to have to make one of these to keep my family's special memories in. You continue to inspire me. Thanks so much!
Heather

[jean]

what a great idea. i would love to make one too! some of our traditions are taking some homemade cookies down to the nursing home in our town and sitting with the residents while they tell stories of their childhood christmas memories. some of these folks dont have any family of their own, also bringing in magazines, toiletries, and wrapped gifts(they dont have to cost much). we also get hot cocoa to go, pile in the mini van and head out to look at christmas lights. my kids look forward to these traditions, and are already getting excited about the coming holiday.

[Kris Pare]

What a wonderful idea! My little one is 2 now and this would be perfect. Mom and I have tradition to bake cookies and frosting over coffee and warm conversation about the past. I also want to pass down these very old recipes that are from my Mom's Mom! of course they have slightly changed since 'lard' is not easy to find anymore! LOL! Thank you so much, Kris

[Jennifer Schmidt]

This is such a beautiful idea! I say it every year, let's focus on the simple joys this season. Then before you know it, we've been swept right into the usual hustle and bustle. This is a wonderful way to sort of commit to making these things happen. Great job, thanks for sharing, I'll definitely be giving this a try with my little ones and hubby too ;)

[domenico]

My mum takes me to our local post office and I pick a family (I think you can choose a child if you'd like) and when I was little she would by me a gift to give. I got to pick it. Now I'm older my fabulous neighbors give me odd jobs and I'm able to buy the gift. Another tradition we have is visiting our neighborhood convalescent home with flowers and games. Your little bean may be too small, but when she's older it's always fun putting on shows for your street. You start at one house for appetizers,then mozy to the next house for the salad, then to another house for dinner, then the finale dessert and a show. I think my mum did it this way to help alleviate stage fright.

[Debbie]

I can't stand it...this is so cute...I have to do this. My 3 are coming home from college...I as their mother still see them as my 'little ones', still enjoying hugs and kisses, from 6 foot tall boys (men). What a great idea...thanks for the wonderful inspiration.
Blessings,
Debbie

[MRS P]

hi Melissa
i too have made a christmas book
not anywere as beautifull as yours
have fun doing all your christmasy things
lesley xx

[Diane H]

Wonderful idea and book! My Mom is 82, and last year my sister and I did a 12 days of Christmas for her, thing is though, we dropped it at her door step and ran like crazy, we had these little poems we got out of an old paper magazine and changed it to suit our needs...she suspected us and we kept denying it, so one day we planned on my sister being there and I was on the phone with her at the same time, and we had someone else ring the doorbell and do the drop off...that thru her for a loop...not sure who enjoyed it more...her with her little gifts or us with the fun and pleasure of doing it!

[AnnMarie Bartlett-Pszybylski]

This is beyond stunning!! What gorgeous papers and buttons. Love all the texture. I want to try.
Thanks for posting your beautiful work.
Stay well,
AnnMarie

[crystal]

All you made is very beautiful !!!
congratulations from France.
scrap kisses

[Kim fAucher]

I am gathering things this weekend to make a countdown journal too... I love the idea of capturing and preserving each little moment every day during a normally busy and distracting time... really helps me remember the reason for the season.
Bless you
Kim

[Betsy Spencer]

I love the idea of homemade books and when they are as lovely as yours, that just makes them that much more special! I am in the process of making "antique" recipe books for my daughter and sister. It is such fun to collect all the things that will go into them; the imagination begins to take flight! I have always clipped, clipped, clipped and saved; inherited a big dose of that from my mom and an aunt. My aunt covered a cigar box with cartoons cut from magazines, then filled it with lots more of the cartoons. When a child, I headed first thing for that box and lay on her living room floor going through it. I now have it and it is filled with all her 50's and 60's clippings. Making such a box is a wonderful treat for both children and adults and produces smiles and laugher, something every home should be filled with.

[Betsy Spencer]

I forgot to share in my previous posting about ways we can teach our children to be givers in this often self-centered world. I believe it is something we must do all year long for it to become a lifestyle for our children. They observe what we do throughout the year, not just at Christmas. I was blessed with a mother who LOOKED for the needs of others, didn't just wait to be told of them. She did not hesitate to give even if it meant giving something meant for our family. At times I did not like that, but now I am so grateful for her generosity for it has been one of her greatest influences on my life. Knowing that she gave many needy people the opportunity to see kindness and generosity in action, is a continuing source of joy to me and a pattern for compassionately living my life.

[Kathy W]

We collect holiday jigsaw puzzles and put them together as a family throughout December. We also snuggled close to the fire and piano and sang Christmas carols together. Most of all, we gave time to others: reading aloud to our elderly neighbors, volunteering at our animal shelter, running errands for those who could not get out during snowy weather. Although a lot of activities can be done all year round, my son learned that it seemed extra special during the holidays when so many are lonely and/or forgotten. What a beautiful holiday book; I love the idea of clipping in the envelopes.

[Kelly in Canada]

Hi Melissa,
I love your book...do the pages turn well when they are tied? Your ideas are wonderful and I may borrow one or two for my son, my husband and I. We always go to the special Christmas services (usually done in candlelight) at all of our local churches. The music is lovely and the atmosphere is perfect. We invite our friends over for an evening of singing Christmas carols. And, we, too, make a tour of the surrounding towns to wonder at all the lights and warmth radiating from the homes around us.
Kelly

[karen q]

Your book is gorgeous and the idea is wonderful. Family traditions are so important. My children are grown and I don't have grandchildren yet but what I remember the most about Christmas in my early childhood were our angel ornaments. We had 12 little, glittered angels that I put on the tree each year. Every night before I went to bed, I kissed each of the angels goodnight. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

[Big Mama]

Hello! One thing I do every December early is a cookie decorating party with all my children's friends and their siblings. Usually I save those little milk cartons from lunch at school ( I usually help out in the lunch room) and wash them out really well and let them dry. I then cut graham crackers to fit the little carton and glue gun them on before the kids get here. Then buy tons of peppermint, licorice, gumdrops etc. and make lots of powdered sugar frosting and put them in decorative bags. Each child makes one gingerbread house and the parents get a few hours to do some Christmas shopping too. Is a gift for me and my children to be blessed to have friends and a gift for the children to make fun gingerbread houses and a gift for the parents too. I always take pictures of the kids with their houses. Sometimes we make frames for them to give the photo and frame to their parents for Christmas also. Alot of fun ideas from these ladies on here! thanks for sharing!

[Holly S]

I love this idea! I am just finishing up on my daily December album-I did one last year and I am so glad I did! Your idea of journaling every other day is fab! It kinda takes the pressure off of having to do it every day...I am considering making one of these and use it strictly to document traditions and special times versus my daily d which is more about what happens everyday.
My only child is now 19 and away at college but when she was younger, every year we would buy her make your own ornaments. She would do these herself (many years, they didn't look anything like they should have) and she wrote a little note and attached it to the hook on the ornament and wrapped them herself. They were given to all her aunts, grandparents, great grandparents, etc... Those little ornaments are still cherished by all today!

[jana z]

What a wonderful idea! I think that this year it is especially important to focus on a simplier life, which often ends up being much more rewarding! I am going to do this with my children too - thank you for the wonderful inspiration!

[Kerrie Marquart]

What a wonderful post! your site is great! Linked from Dee's and so glad I did! Kerrie

[lori p]

what a great idea, love this. i too am making a december book to capture daily memories and to save cards in this year. i LOVE keeping envelopes or cards from people, great way to preserve those memories.
i love peeking into your life each day, thanks for sharing yourself and all your inprations melissa!!!

[Melisa Waldorf]

Melissa I LOVE your blog!! You are my favorite artist and I look forward to viewing your latest post in my email each time it arrives! Thank you so much for sharing your gift with the rest of us.

This book is awesome, not just because of the art involved but because of the meaning behind it. We never did "Santa Klaus" so I always tried to do different things to make our holiday season special, including baking a birthday cake for Jesus, reading the nativity story on Christmas Eve, a family Christmas play with my kids and a cousin, creating a Christmas tree outside for the birds with pinecone/peanut butter ornaments for them, gingerbread houses, etc. Now my kids are grown and I'm in this horrible space of time where I am waiting for them to get married and have children of their own. Your idea is fabulous and I will tuck this idea away and save it for the grandkids!

Have a wonderful week!

[Elise]

Hi, Melissa, thank you for this lovely post and idea of the journal! In our family we do a few things you didn't mention: the popcorn & cranberry garland goes outside along with peanut-butter & birdseed slathered gingerbread stars that we've punched holes & threaded twine through to share the holidays with our friends in nature. Also, making our homemade wrapping paper is a fun treat--we use plain butcher paper (brown or white, though I like the brown best) and we stamp or draw or paint the patterns we want, this is also a great economic solution to the cost of wrapping. For gifts, we try to make a donation in each person's name to a charity that we thinks "fits" that person, this has become a great game almost to see what people have chosen for you and to see how unique a donation we can find for each person. Finally, we have Christmas Eve worship services, Christmas morning festivities, Christmas noon family meal, and for the Christmas dinner (late afternoon into evening) we join as a family and include some friends to serve the Christmas meal at a local shelter. They provide the food, but we always bake extra cookies and take coloring sheets and a big tub of crayons for the children, someone takes his guitar or her violin and someone leads carols, and usually I take a simple craft for the moms... something for them as the shelter often has simple gifts for the children, but the mothers have not received anything on Christmas... this has been a family tradition for years now and it really makes me aware of the blessings Our Heavenly Father has given me. Look forward to hearing of other things you include this season!

[dee]

aww so adore this!! I'm trying my hand at one tonight, my Emmas Paperie package arrived TODAY, lol. Thank you so much for sharing. We do the drive around to see lights with our hot chocolate, and that. We have the annual kids show at church, both the 3 and 6 year old are in it this year sniff. But Christmas Eve we hang our secret santa key on the front door knob, to save Santa the trip down the chimney, we sprinkle reindeer dust on the front lawn and of course leave cookies for Santa before bed. Ahhh what an awesome ida to journal it all, and a reason to start some new traditions! Thanks so much.