Holiday habits feeling a little crusty? Check out these cool alternatives
TRADITION #1: Making a wifesaver, the venerable Christmas morning casserole of cheese, bacon, ham, eggs and bread.
HOW TO MAKE IT COOLER: There’s nothing wrong with these breakfast staples, but sometimes even the mention of a casserole will sufficiently repel a child.Switch up your Christmas morning meal without sacrificing nutrition. Cookies for breakfast! (Healthy ones, of course.) After all the presents are opened and your living room is a sea of wrapping paper, get your kids to help make granola bars, which you can cut out with a gingerbread man cookie cutter and decorate like a cookie. This sweet, spicy and cinnamon-y granola bar recipe is just as tasty as a gingergread man, and it can be “iced” with yogurt. Alternately, if you want to save max time for Christmas morning fun, cut gingerbread men shapes out of toast and “decorate” with peanut butter, jam, and sliced fruit. Read more...
Cool ways to commemorate ancient rituals for the shortest day of the year
The traditions of pagan winter solstice provided the basis for many modern traditions like burning the Yule log at Christmas, lighting bonfires, and marveling at stone and sun alignments that occur in nature. We’ve cooked up three crafts to help you celebrate the traditions of the auspicious shortest day of the year.
Pine needle sun catcher
Traditionally, bonfires were lit in the fields and surrounding crops and trees were splashed with spiced cider. Children walked from house to house offering gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges in baskets of evergreen boughs and wheat stalks. Celts believed evergreens to be sacred because they didn’t die in the winter, thereby representing the eternal aspect of the divine.
You’ll need: An aluminum pie plate, twine, seasonal greens like pine needles, mistletoe and dried leaves. Read more...
Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids
If you are like me, when you dig out your box of christmas ornaments your stomach drops as you notice there are significantly less ornaments than you remembered from last year… thanks to a curious dog and a even curiouser little boy who just couldnʼt keep his hands from tree. I used this very quick and easy recipe to make some simple ornaments that SMELL just like Christmas to hang on my tree. Here is just a quick little tutorial to follow if you want to do the same.
How do you show your appreciation for the work your kids’ teachers do?
Keeping a room full of 20 – 30 kids from going off the rails, staying after school to teach extra-curriculars, and even spending their own hard earned cash on art supplies deserves a proper thanks, but rewarding your kid’s teachers heroic efforts during the holidays is not always easy. How much to spend? How personal should your present should be? What does this person do when they’re off the clock?
We asked some of our teacher friends to give us a few pointers, then we hunted down some gift ideas of our own. (If you’re still stumped, check out last December’s gift suggestions plus last summer’s round-up of Etsy treasures for end-of-the-year gifts.) Here’s what they said:
“Gift cards were always my favourite when I was a teacher. Although parents can be thoughtful with those too, so your kids teacher doesn’t end up with $120 work of Starbucks. (Not that I’m complaining).” Read more...
One of the great things about a Christmas tree is all the memories contained within its ornaments: the tissue-paper wreaths and popsicle-stick picture frames made by the kids in school, or the ballet slipper ornament someone acquired after a trip to The Nutcracker. Favourite toys also pack quite the nostalgic punch, so why tuck those old toys away in boxes when you could be admiring them on your tree every year?
What you’ll need: - old toys - embroidery floss - large sewing needle (optional) - craft wire - glue gun - spray paint (optional)
Pick your toys
Have your kids select a few toys they’d like to turn into ornaments. We picked a small plush koala, a mini-skateboard, a mini tea set and a slinky. Action figures, small dolls, toy cars and even board books would also make great ornaments.
The sinister, the savage, and the comical folklore from across the globe
Sure, we all know Jolly Old Saint Nick… but what other magic happens in and around the Christmas season?
IN BRAZIL,ANIMALS TALK ON CHRISTMAS EVE NIGHT.
From Brazil to Italy to Scandinavia, at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, animals can talk! They use their abilities to comment on the birth of Jesus, as the story goes. An ABC Christmas special was made about this in the 1970’s. The Night the Animals Talked turned the legend into an Orwellian style brouhaha in which the animals fight with each other and then turn against humans. Leaving this part out, this story makes Christmas Eve even more magical!
NORWEIGIANS HIDE BROOMS FROM VENGEFUL SPIRITS.
Norweigians believed that witches and mischievous spirits unleashed their fury on Christmas Eve, and would spend the night hunting around looking for broomsticks to steal for riding. The bravest of men ventured outside to fire a shotgun to scare them off. Read more...
