Celebrate the 25th!

I was having a hard time thinking of ideas for a Christmas gift for my husband. What do you get a man who has everything? I then had a brainwave....what about giving him date nights? Hmmmm, maybe this is more for me than him, but I still decided it was a great idea. I wondered about a way to do it. Then the thought hit me. We were married on the 25^th and Christmas comes on the 25^th so ... tah dah! … perfect! We’ll celebrate the 25^th.

I remembered I had a couple of these plastic boxes that paper from Creative Memories had come in. I was going to throw them out, but then thought maybe I could use them for something. When we were packing to move I almost threw them out once again, saying to myself, well I haven’t used these yet so, I’d better toss the. But then the thought, ‘No, they are perfect for something’. Seriously, I am not a pack rat but in some things maybe I am. ;) Anyhow I moved the little boxes with us and I’m glad I did. All of a sudden, I thought this is the moment that these boxes have been waiting for.

I slipped some envelopes into them and they fit perfectly. :) So I decorated each one of them. I went to websites to find restaurants in town that we have either never eaten at or haven’t been to since we moved from ON in 2003. I copied and pasted their logos and printed them off, then cut the 8.5x11 sheet into business card sizes and put one in each of the envelopes and sealed them.

On Christmas Day, he unwrapped his gift of this decorated box. Now on the 25^th of every month he opens an envelope which will tell us where we are going to go for a date that night. Celebrating the 25th is a gift that keeps on giving!

Cravin' Chips

Due to food allergies, our daughter has created her own little recipe. When the craving strikes she can have a treat to nibble and chew on!

She thinly slices potatoes and lays them out a Pamered Chef clay baker. She then puts a drop of whipping cream with a syringe (washed up from a previous Amoxicillin prescription) on each chip. Then she sprinkles an assortment of spices on the chips. Baking at 350 for about 20 minutes produces an enjoyable, crunchy, healthy snack. Once again, necessity breeds creativity!

The Real Reason

My mother always did Advent for her grandchildren until they reached 13 years of age. She made little gift bags and each year they were filled with erasers, candy, hot chocolate, socks and other little gifts counting down the 24 days until Christmas.

She passed in October 2010 but had everything purchased ready for Advent for that coming Christmas. That was very special to my almost 11 and 12 year old children to be able to celebrate Christmas with Grandma even though she was spending hers in heaven, celebrating with her Saviour. This year I wanted to do something to continue on the tradition for our youngest who is coming up 12.

I saw this kit made by Kaiser Craft and decided that this would be perfect.
It came with MDF pieces that needed to be painted and assembled. Then there were little chipboard numbers that needed to be decorated. Sorry about the pic - I need a better camera!
Then the little chipboard 'drawers' needed to be folded, fastened and decorated.
Then I made a trip to BulkBarn! :) I bought candy treats for each day. I saw these 'Grandma' candies and I squealed in delight. My grandmother always had a dish of these 2 kinds of hard candy at Christmas time. She passed away in 1990 and I honestly don't know if I've had these candies since then. So two of the drawers contain these candies.

All finished!
And much to the delight of the older five children still living at home, there is candy in each drawer for them too!
No matter how old we are, it is fun to celebrate the Reason. Beyond the fun, we have great joy and gratitude for our Saviour and that is the real reason for our celebrations.