25 Days of Christmas Ornaments - Day 18

Tonight the kids and I painted an ornament that I picked up at JoAnn fabrics. I really like the idea of having a photo ornament each year, but they can be pricey and heavy. While at JoAnn's I found a wooden star that we painted with metalic paint and embellished with gold glitter glue. It was easy, it was quick, and it will remind us of Christmas 2009. Not too bad for 99 cents! I originally went to the fabric store to purchase holiday fabric and I'm so glad I did! It's 60% off right now and there probably won't be much left by the time Christmas has come and gone. My plan is to sew gift bags in time for next year's gifts. I bought up to 1 yard of 6 different fabrics for only $1.99 a yard. The ribbon will be the most expensive part of the project, but the bags will pay for themselves in the long run. I do think about how we will miss out on the fun mess and chaos of a bunch of wrapping paper but Santa can wrap gifts if he wants and there's always the 25 days of Christmas books to unwrap.

Two years ago we painted some wooden ornaments in keeping with our homemade gifts from the kids tradition. I wrote a Sam quote on the back of the one he made for his sister because I thought it was so sweet. It says, "because we are friends too".

How do you handle sibling gifts in your family?





And while I'm thinking of it, here's the link to the fudge recipe I mentioned the other day. Now that it's cooled I can report that it is Y.U.M.M.Y!!!!!!!! 4 pounds of fudge that I will quickly dispense of before it adds 4 pounds to my hips. Some to the maintenance guys, some to MckMama's party tonight, some as Christmas gifts, and some for a Christmas party on Saturday. That should leave just enough for me to enjoy for breakfast tomorrow. How does the butter, cream, and sugar recipe compare to the ones with marshmallows or marshmallow creme? It reminds me more of the fudge you buy at the gift shops. The kind that holds it shape, but then the smooth velvety goodness melts in your mouth instantly. Mmmmmmm..... (If you decide to make it, go ahead and use the biggest pan you have - I thought it was way too thick for a 9x13 pan so I used my bigger lasagna pan and even that is a pretty thick piece of fudge in my opinion.)

Introducing....25 Days of {Christmas} Ornaments

Let's face it. No matter how early we finish our Christmas shopping there are always things that keep us hopping most of the 25 days in December. There isn't much time for blogging and personally, after the November I just {barely} survived, I don't want to spend very much time on the computer period.

I plan to spend December decorating, making gifts, wrapping gifts, addressing Christmas cards, listening to music, reading to my kids, and doing as many advent activities as we can.

Each year my little elves help decorate our tree and in true sibling fashion, they do it as fast as they can so they can be the one to put the good ornaments on.
They are 3 and 5. I wouldn't expect anything less.

They don't want to sit and listen to me explain where each ornament came from. They see an angel ornament, but I see the ornament I brought back from Hawaii when I was 18 so I could add it to my angel collection. Some day they might want to know the stories behind the ornaments we'll hand down to them.

Some day they will be decorating a tree with their children and they will be the ones sharing the significance of why we bought them the ornaments they received during their childhood.

If you are a regular visitor to BearCountry you've probably noticed that blogging has taken a back seat many times this year because I'm the breadwinner in the family right now, but I am determined that Christmas won't pass us by without recording some special memories for my family.

Isn't that why most of us blog in the first place? If you'd like to record the story behind 25 of your Christmas ornaments on your blog and share each post with others, I will be posting a Mcklinky daily starting December 1st.

Will you join me?