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Thread: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

  1. #1
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    Funstuff 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    Ok. I pasted in the list and later I've got some 'splainin to do. But I'll have to get to the details tonight cause I've got some shopping to do today. You might recognize the top of the list from last year. Scroll down for the new stuff.

    * Trim the Tree
    * Black Friday Christmas Movie Marathon
    * Deck the Halls
    * Nightmare Before Christmas
    * Paper Ornaments
    * Charlie Brown & Snoopy Christmas
    * Elementary Schcool Christmas Program
    * Family Game Night
    * Birthday Party for Jesus
    * Christmas Card Games
    * Wii Family Game Night
    * Polar Express Pajama Party
    * Christmas Cash
    * Blue Christmas (Smurfs)
    * Winter Wonderland
    * A Christmas Story (OH Fudge)
    * Family Movie Night
    * Christmas Collage
    * Christmas in Candyland
    * Grinchmas roast beast dinner ( momof2ohio)
    * Silly Sock Hop
    * Holiday Hat Party
    * Christmas Cookies
    * Christmas Cartoon Classics
    * Christmas Vacation
    * Ice Skating
    * Feliz Navidad
    * HS Band Christmas Concert
    * Christmas Ham Dinner
    * Christmas Turkey Dinner
    * White Christmas
    * Marshmallow World in the Winter
    * Christmas Photo Mosaic Puzzle
    * Homemade Wreath
    * Paper Chain Advent Calendar
    * Invite (friend/family) over for dinner
    * Ugly Christmas Sweater Party
    * November Christmas
    * Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses
    * Cosmic Bowling
    * Jingle Bells...volunteer bell ringers
    * Elf: make snowflakes and paper chains
    * Christmas Around the World
    * St Nick Day December 6
    * Christmas Calendar
    * Gremlins
    * Mistletoe (Murder Mystery) Dinner Party
    * Reindeer Games
    * Mele Kalikimaka Hawaiian Christmas Party
    * Holiday Ducktivitites
    * Polish Star Ornaments
    * "Boxing" Day
    * New Years Eve/Day
    * Epiphany January 6
    Last edited by aimeebee; 09-19-2011 at 09:31:09 AM.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    Still a work in progress...

    Trim the Tree We put together tree the weekend before Thanksgiving, undecorate for fall and "fluff" the tree. We put the ornaments on for Turkey Day.

    Black Friday Christmas Movie Marathon doesn't need too much explaining. Usually I go to WM in search of $3 pajamas and DVDs. But, the biggest part of our shopping is usually done, so we watch Christmas movies and eat leftover turkey sandwiches.

    Deck the Halls Danny Devito/Matthew Broderick movie. Watch this while continuing to decorate the house.

    Nightmare Before Christmas I think we will watch this one between Halloween and Turkey Day this year. Maybe the weekend we put the tree together. Last year I made a Jack Skellington cake. Not sure what we will do this year.

    Paper Ornaments I spent Christmas in July searching for and making ornaments out of scrapbook paper. I have about a dozen, with some links, pictures and youtubes to follow later.

    Charlie Brown & Snoopy Christmas used Swagbucks to replace my VHS to DVDs this year. We have A Charlie Brown Christmas and I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown to watch along with Great Pumpkin and Thanksgiving. I picked up some Peanuts related small stocking stuffer type gifts for the kids.

    Elementary Schcool Christmas Program not planning anything else for this day other than the program, dinner, homework, and some quick pictures.

    Family Game Night I picked up the Scrabble Turbo Flash with the coupon and a refill score sheet for Yahtzee for this night.

    Birthday Party for Jesus We have birthday cake, party food and read the Christmas story from the Bible. Last year, we got Nativity ornaments to make.

    Christmas Card Games Found a bunch of the UNO type card games on clearance @ Target this year. They were $1-2. Each kid will get one on this night and another in their stocking. We will play the games.

    Wii Family Game Night planning to get Just Dance 3. We will play it and some of the action games like bowling, boxing, Wii Sports Resort erc.

    Polar Express Pajama Party watch the movie, have homemade hot cocoa and everybody gets a new pair of pajamas. We will sleep under the lights of the Christmas tree.

    Christmas Ca$h we will play the LRC game with poker chips, candy, pennies and or quarters in the pot. Last year the kids got piggy banks. This year I am thinking wallets or change purse type things.

    Blue Christmas (Smurfs) I am guessing the DVD will be out before Christmas. If so, we will get it, plus some Smurf and blue party favors for a family movie night.

    Winter Wonderland go downtown to see the lights and the BIG tree. I am thinking of a sled, igloo maker, saucer, snowman kit, etc. for gifts this year. We have done coats, scarves, hats, mittens etc. in years past.

    A Christmas Story We eat Chinese for dinner and I make fudge. We watch the movie.

    Family Movie Night Pizza, popcorn, movie theater candy, kids get DVDs for presents. We watch a movie.

    Christmas Collage using last year's holiday photos. I have a bunch of 16x20 frames from the portrait studio where I worked that closed down.

    Christmas in Candyland we make ornaments made from melted hard candy and gumdrops. This year I also have some other candy related gifts that came Block Busters when they went out of business. (Like super sized lollipops and some other things.)

    Grinchmas We will watch both the Grinch movies and have roast beast dinner. ( momof2ohio) I save back our grinch ornaments to put on the tree on this night, too.

    Silly Sock Hop we did this last year. Girls got holiday socks and guys ended up with boxers because I never found any good socks for the guys. We played Rock Band and Christmas music.

    Holiday Hat Party I would love to find those awesome holiday hats that they wear to Christmas Festivals. Like trees that light up, etc. If not, I would like to use my knifty knitter to make some Christmas hats, like a Snowman, Elf, Santa, Christmas Tree and Rudolph hat. I have seen them around online, not sure if this is in the plans for this year or another year.

    Christmas Cookies pretty simple...we make Christmas Cookies

    Christmas Cartoon Classics we watch the holiday classics from way back when...last year, we DVRd some good ones from Cartoon Network.

    Christmas Vacation We watch the movie, and the kids usually get gifts to keep them busy on our road trip to my parents. Magazines, puzzle books, snacks, etc.

    Ice Skating I like to do this between Christmas and New Year's while the kids are out of school.

    Feliz Navidad we make Mexican food, usually have a Christmas pinata, and a fiesta.

    HS Band Christmas Concert go to the kids' band concert. Again, this year we aren't planning anything else because it is busy enough trying to fit in dinner, homework, getting ready, pictures and the concert.

    Christmas Ham Dinner We will have ham and all the fixings. Cheesy potatoes, salad, appetizers, and a Christmassy dessert, listen to Christmas music.

    Christmas Turkey Dinner like the above except with turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, etc. We used to only have these meals at my parent's or inlaw's house. It is nice to have in a quieter setting without so many people and usually no drama.

    White Christmas white decorations, party favors, everybody wears white, white foods for dinner, etc.

    Marshmallow World in the Winter we will make marshmallow snowmen using a regular size marshmallow, the giant size roasters, rainbow airhead sours for a scarf, large and mini sized oreo for hat, etc. I am making rice crispy treat wreaths using cornflakes and green food coloring and red M&Ms. Hubby is making marshmallow shooter guns out of PVC pipes that shoot mini marshmallows. ( youtube video instuctions)

    Christmas Photo Mosaic Puzzle The photo mosaic puzzle I ended up buying is Snoopy/Joe cool. Snoopy's pic is made up of comic stips. I also got a Christmas themed Thomas Kincaide puzzle and a roll up mat that lets you roll up the jigsaw puzzle while you are working on it...it keeps the pieces in place.

    Homemade Wreath I think we will make a hard candy wreath on a hanger this year. (link coming)

    Paper Chain Advent Calendar red, green and white paper chains, one for each of the 25 days. You can make it so that the activity for the day is written on the back and December xx is written on the front. Each day you tear off one chain and it will tell them the day's theme, plan, or activity.

    Invite (friend/family) over for dinner this one needs little explaining. Invite someone over. Have food, fun, festivities.

    Ugly Christmas Sweater Party well, ugly is in the eye of the beholder...but the idea is to find the blingiest, craziest, over the top sweater at Goodwill or on Ebay and wear them to dinner, a party, the mall, school, etc.

    November Christmas not sure if we will be able to see it this year. But, I LOVED this Hallmark Hall of Fame movie from last year. If you didn't see it, it was about a little girl with leukemia who's parents were celebrating Halloween in the summer and Christmas in the fall because they feared she wouldn't make it until the holidays. Would love to watch it again this November. But, probably not going to pay the $30 for the DVD. I wish I wouldn't have deleted it from my DVR.

    Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses make and decorate the easier version of gingerbread houses.

    Cosmic Bowling last year after our 25 Days I asked the kids what they would like to do for one of our days. They picked going bowling.

    Jingle Bells...volunteer bell ringers. This would be our charity/giving back/ good deed thing this year. I think it would be fun to be a bell ringer for a day.

    Watch Elf: make snowflakes and paper chains like he does in the movie. Eat jelly beans and spaghetti. But. not. together. My daughter wants to try syrup on hers, though. :::blech:::

    Christmas Around the World St Nick Day December 6.. celebrate like other cultures, learn about St Nicholas, leave shoes outside our bedroom doors for a special treat, etc.

    Christmas Calendar I bought some simple frame calendars for my mom and MIL at JoAnns. I will have the kid's put the pictures in and we will decorate them.

    Gremlins I picked up this movie at the used DVD store. We will probably just watch it between Halloween and Thanksgiving. It is kind of a Halloween meets Christmas movie like Nightmare Before Christmas.

    Mistletoe (Murder Mystery)Party in my own garage sale stuff, I found a book of short stories that were Christmas murder mysteries. I am going to adapt one sort of like a Clue game where each of us gets a part to play.

    Reindeer Games carnival type games like Toss the Ring around Rudolph's ears, pin the tail on Rudolph etc.

    Mele Kalikimaka Hawaiian Luah Hawaiian shirts, leis, grass skirts, hula dancing, etc.

    Holiday Ducktivitites duct tape arts and crafts. Make ornaments, stockings or gift bags out of patterend duct tape.

    Polish Star Ornaments handmade paper ornaments. Polish Star: Christmas Ornaments | Christmas Display Ideas | FamilyFun

    Boxing Day European/Canadian holiday on December 26th. We will combine our normal tradions of returns and clearance shopping but try to incorporate some of the European and Canadian boxing day traditions.

    New Years Eve/Day just the traditional N Y eve and day celebrations and foods. Resolutions? maybe. Watch When Harry Met Sally. Try to plan something fun for the kids. Sort of a way of winding down, transitioning from all the activities back into the normal activities.

    Jan 2 or 3 before the kids go back to school. UN-Christmas. Undoing the decorations and plan something FUN for that UNdoing. Still working on this one.

    Epiphany January 6 is a traditional holiday, (Catholic/European, I believe.) Basically, it is the end of the 12 days of Christmas and it is a day of reflection on the holiday season. For me, it will be for taking a look at what went well, the activiites that were hits/flops...keepers and tossers. It is a great time to look over my Christmas planner and take notes about what happened and what could work better for next year while it is still fresh in my mind. Also a great time to weed out ornaments that need tossed and set aside any that need repaired.

    Hibernate that's the only other thing I have planned for January until Super Bowl Sunday (which is in Indy this year ) and/or Valentines.
    Last edited by aimeebee; 09-22-2011 at 11:07:09 PM.

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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    Great ideas Aimeebee! I will be using several of them. My kids can't wait! I don't think I have anything else to add but I will check my list.
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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    You know what would be AWESOME? If we could have a wiki all of us contribute to. We can add our ideas and supplies needed...just a thought.

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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    I have just a few to add after looking at my list of things we did last year:

    *Make popcorn/cranberry strings for the birds/animals outside.

    *Fudge night-last year we made peppermint fudge, chocolate fudge, chocolate peanut butter fudge and plain peanut butter fudge

    *Frosty the snowman night-we watched both cartoons of Frosty and then had ice cream for dessert. I bought cute snowman plates and napkins and I found some snowflakes to hang from the ceiling at Target. This year I am going to have the kids make snowman soup for their friends and neighbors Snowman Soup: Recipe For Warming Winter Gift | Organized Christmas We also had hot chocolate with snowman peeps.

    *Fancy dinner. I made a nice dinner complete with sparkling cider in champagne glasses for the kids and wine for DH and I.

    *See the zoo lights. Our zoo has a great Christmas light display.

    *Picnic by the tree. We sat by our tree and had a picnic with picnic type food and turned off all of the lights except for the tree lights.

    *Red and green night-everyone wore red and green. I made all red and green food.

    Thats all I can think of for now.
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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    I am so totally loving how creative everyone is. I, too, am looking at ways to incorporate this into our holiday time.

    January 6 is our eldest's birthday, so we try to combine church with her day. Grandpa joked when she was born that I should have named her Epiphany. Chose Hannah instead after my paternal grandmother and its biblical. Worked for me.....


    I really have to get to planning our time!!

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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    We celebrate Boxing Day by inviting several neighbors over for breakfast.
    We've been doing it for eight years now, and it's become a tradition. Nothing fancy -- just a breakfast casserole, fruit, muffins/coffee cake. We usually invite five or six households. Usually everyone at least drops in for coffee.
    By December few in our neighborhood venture outside, so it's really the only chance we get to see each other.
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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    momof2inohio...thanks for adding some more ideas. I like the popcorn/cranberry idea for the birds...especially because we have done it before and the mess it leaves is, well, for the birds. LOL Perfect idea taking it outside. I have also seen some frozen bird seed ornaments made with cookie cutters or jello molds, bird seed, and cranberries to decorate outside.

    We do fudge night when we watch A Christmas Story. The peppermint fudge sounds good; but I made peppermint bark last year and nobody but me would eat it. I don't need the extra calories just for me. I hate it when I go to look for a specific smilie guy and he isn't on our list anymore, lol. I wanted the nah guy who just shakes his head no. lol oh well.

    hardlckwmn Are you Catholic? Is it a mass you go to on Epiphany Day? Not Catholic, but I would actually like to go if they have one around here, just something I'd like to see. I only learned about Epiphany Day last January. It isn't really something that is done by my family or anyone I know around here and I just thought it sounded interesting. So I made up my own Epiphany Day "traditions." Oh and my birthday is January 5th, the day before your daughter's. I think it is kind of hard on kids whose birthdays are close to Christmas...they have to wait a loooooong time all year and get all their gifts at once.

    Kulis I love your Boxing Day tradition. It sounds like something fun. We are usually on vacation on Boxing Day...either in Florida at my parents or somewhere between if we met them halfway. I can make the breakfast casserole for our clan at the timeshare or my parents' house, though.

    Southernbelle5 a wiki would be really cool. But, I think they only added that feature in certain forums, like the shopping forums.

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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    I'm actually Lutheran, believe it or not. My dad is a Lutheran Pastor, so Epiphany has always been around in my house. It is the day in the church calendar when the wise men brought their gifts to the Christ child. In years past at church, this is when Pastor would have the lil kids bring the wise men to the manger, then after church services the younger kids would bust open a piņata (don't know why, but is just part of our church's traditions, we can be downright goofy at times).

    In our family, Jan 6 or that weekend is when Christmas comes down and gets packed away as it is the last day of Christmas.

    This time of year is actually a bit of a drain on us, not only does my Epiphany child get her birthday and Christmas close together, but DH is December 22. So I tend to over buy / this year over craft and then sort out what can be birthday and what is Christmas. Christmas tends to be toys/entertainment and birthdays are clothing with maybe a toy. Christmas is when DH and DD get what they "want" as opposed to need. Santa doesn't bring undies, ya know??




    hardlckwmn Are you Catholic? Is it a mass you go to on Epiphany Day? Not Catholic, but I would actually like to go if they have one around here, just something to see. I only learned about Epiphany Day last January as it isn't really something that is done by my family or anyone I know around here and I just thought it sounded interesting, so I made up my own Epiphany Day "traditions." Oh and my birthday is January 5th, day before your daughters. I think it is kind of hard on kids who's birthdays are close to Christmas...they have to wait a loooooong time all year and get all their gifts at once.

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    Default Re: 25 Days of Christmas Fun, 2011

    How are your plans coming??

    I was so happy to find marshmallow shooter guns at a local town fall festival. They were $5 each, made of PVC pipe and can be painted and decorated on our Marshmallow World in the Winter day.

    For our Polar Express PJ party, I got all of us black t-shirts that we will decorate with iron-ons or something else to go with our PJs. I am getting everybody red and black flannel PJs. I haven't gotten the PJs yet. Target has the exact kind I want in the Men's Department...but they are $12.99 and won't fit all of us. So, I am going to keep looking for a while longer.

    What are you working on???? 56 days til Christmas, ya'll.

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