Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Starting Christmas traditions!


I always dreamt (pre-baby) that I would have all of these elaborate
traditions when I had kids.


Dreams of perfect pictures, adorable crafts and lots of
Christmas fun always filled my head.


And to be honest, I still have those dreams.


BUT.....Y'all, I have a confession to make...I really don't remember Christmas last year. I had a newborn baby, and I was doing well if I actually got a shower. My days were filled with hour-long nursing sessions, lots of baby coos and kisses and sweet newborn lovin'. I can't believe I actually got my Christmas tree up in the state I was in.


There's no way I could have started any traditions, let alone make a statement that made sense, last year. So, we decided to start with a clean slate this year.


Annie Louise is still a wee too young for many things,
but we have definitely have some ideas...


Like our "Aunts and SheShe" Christmas party - I for sure think that will become a tradition for years to come - my hope is that all my future nieces and nephews will come, too, and we can have a grand ole time!


We made these salt dough ornaments with AL at our party...they were so easy to make, and I am going to try my hardest to make some sort of "handprint" ornament each year.


Salt Dough Ornaments
4 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
Add water slowly until it has a dough-like consistency


Roll out flat with a rolling pin and make into the shape you want for each handprint (we did circles). Press handprint down into dough to make an impression. Use a straw to make a hole for some ribbon. Bake for an hour or so at 150 degrees or leave out to dry for 24+ hours. You can put a coat of paint on them to add a special touch.
Make sure you right the child's name and date on the back!



Another tradition starter...I purchased a pad of artist's paper to make a print for us to frame and hang up each Christmas. I just brushed a little bit of finger paint onto mine, B's and AL's thumbs and made thumbprints scattered around the page. Then I used a black paint pen to "connect" all the thumbprints and outlined each one so that they looked like Christmas bulbs.


Cute, huh?!


I plan on doing a different print each year, and then I hope to have a
whole collage of prints at Christmas!



So, no matter what your traditions - be it opening pajamas, reading the Christmas story or going caroling...make it YOURS! It's those little things that our children will always remember...and hopefully remember with a smile on their little faces!


Merry Christmas!
LeeLee


5 comments:

  1. ADORABLE!!! My son and I are going to do the salt ornament this year, too. He just turned one so I'm so excited to make it a tradition!

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  2. Omgosh, the fingerprint bulb drawing? THAT IS THE CUTEST THING IVE EVER SEEN!! And you KNOW we'll be doing our salt dough ornaments this week! I can't wait!! I remember that "newborn christmas" all too well! Ha! Love your traditions :) Thanks so much for linking up!

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  3. I am dying over that fingerprint bulb drawing!!! SO stinking adorable!!

    And I have been looking for a fun craft to start with my daughter, totally doing the salt dough ornaments!!

    My daughter was born early dec last year, so everything is a bit of a haze too!!!!!

    Hope you have a wonderful, merry Christmas, your daughter is just adorable!

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  4. Love the salt ornament idea! I will have try that with Hudson :)

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