I love getting together with friends at Christmastime. This past weekend we visited a family friend. She hosted a delicious dinner followed by games for the kids. One of the games they played was Build a TP Snowman Game. Next year we will add this game to our Christmas box.


Build a TP Snowman Game

Materials: one roll of toilet paper per team, paper carrots, paper eyes (just cut out of paper- one set per team)

This is a relay game. Divide your players into two teams. One person from each team is chosen to be "the snowman." Players "build" a snowman by wrapping a teammate in toilet paper. They have to use the entire roll of toilet paper before taping on the carrot nose and eyes. The first team to complete their snowman wins! You can add a hat, buttons, etc.

The kids had a great time. Even the losing team was cracking jokes.


"Here. I'm covering your face so you can't see how badly we're losing." HAHA!

Last week we did include a game for our kids to open in our Christmas Traditions gift box. We included the instructions and materials for the game. It's an easy game to play so everyone can participate, the setup is a cinch, and the materials are cheap. It's my kind of family game.

Candy Cane Drop Game:

Tie some ribbon or twine between the backs of two chairs about 3-4 feet apart. Players can either kneel or stand on the chairs as they drop a candy cane (real or fake) and try to get it to stay on the ribbon. The first player to get a candy cane to stay on the ribbon wins. Or you can take turns and whomever gets the most candy canes to stay on the ribbon wins.

Dollar Tree has fake candy cane ornaments that work great for this game. So many candy canes bounced off the ribbon and onto the floor so fake candy canes were ideal. If you use real candy canes, I would suggest playing the game on carpet to minimize broken candy canes.

Our family loved this game. Even grandma joined in on the fun to see if she could beat us out.

When we lived in California we dreamed of a typical white Christmas. But the only white Christmas we got was sand. I didn't complain and we still got some type of "snow" when we made our own snowballs for an indoor snowball fight. They were a "hit" if you know what I mean.

I posted the instructions on how to make these snowballs years ago. I am posting them again for you now.




This is a great game for preschool, play dates, Christmas parties, birthday parties, office parties, or at home with your own family.

Each year we assemble a gingerbread house. We started with buying the gingerbread house kits at the store. A couple of years ago we wanted a house that reflected our family history. We came across a cute Swedish style gingerbread house template on the Martha Stewart website. So we made the gingerbread from scratch.


Click HERE for an awesome recipe for gingerbread houses and a royal icing for assembling your house.



Icing suggestions:

* To fill your piping bag: place your piping bag or your gallon freezer bag in a tall glass or cup. Open the bag and fold the open edges over the rim of the glass. Spoon your icing into the open bag without the mess.

* When the icing is not being used, place the piping bag in a tall glass with a wet paper towel at the bottom. It will keep your icing tip from hardening.

Candy suggestions:

* Shop your local grocery store, Sprouts, or Winco to find candy in the bulk barrels. You can control how much candy you will need/use for your gingerbread house. There is often a greater selection for candy that you can't find prepackaged.


 Dating at Home: Get creative! Pick out a template online or create your own house. Build your dream house with your spouse. Don't forget the Christmas music. :)

What's Christmas without cookies and treats? We do a lot of holiday baking. My kids love to decorate sugar cookies. It is a two-day process for us. I make the dough on one day and let it chill overnight. The next day we actually bake and decorate the cookies.


I love this recipe for sugar cookies because they are soft and remind me of the Lofthouse sugar cookies. My kids will eat any frosting but I prefer to use butter over shortening. This recipe originally called for shortening in the frosting but I changed it to butter for personal preference.


This year my daughter is on a gluten-free diet. We made 2 batches- one with gluten-free flour and another with regular all-purpose flour. Both batches turned out great. Our candy selection was scarce (and gluten-free) but we still had fun. Can't go wrong with cookies, right?

Click HERE to download and print our Christmas Sugar Cookie and Frosting recipes.

Many European countries celebrate Saint Nicholas on December 6th. For our family, we read Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend on December 5th and then on the morning of the 6th our kids are in for a surprise.


In this story St. Nicholas, who was the pastor of a town, found a little boy crying. St. Nicholas asked why he was crying. The boy explained that his sisters couldn't marry because they couldn't afford a dowry. St. Nicholas encouraged the boy to have faith and reassured him that everything would work out.

That night St. Nicholas went to the home of the boy, quietly opened the shutter of the window and dropped little bags filled with gold onto the floor. In the morning the girls found the gold and were able to be married.


The story explains how St. Nicholas was known as Father Christmas and how his love was shared with those around him. It also talks about how God is even more generous and gave us the best gift of all- the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our kids leave their shoes out in front of their bedroom door on the night of the 5th. In the morning their shoes are filled with gold chocolate coins for them to enjoy. There is also a bag filled with "gold" $1 coins. They are instructed to use these coins on someone else outside the family whom they can help or cheer up. They are to do this act in secret without being seen or heard like Saint Nicholas. This helps them to be thoughtful and get outside themselves without being praised by the world.

We talk about how we have received many blessings like the girls in the story. But we can also bless other people's lives like Saint Nicholas did. We also talk about the best gift of all- Jesus Christ- and how we can be more like him. He is our perfect example of love, kindness, and service. It gets us into the Christmas spirit.

I love Christmastime! I love the activities and traditions we do as a family. And the time we spend together to play is my favorite. In the next few blog posts, I will share some of our activities and traditions we do this time of year.

This year I started to present our activities in a gift box. Each day or two in December my kids get to open the box and see what activity we will do that day. It has been fun for them to open their surprise and anticipate some family time.

On December 1st we filled "the box" twice. In the morning the kids opened the box to find chocolate advent calendars to countdown the days until Christmas.

We refilled the box in the afternoon for the kids to open after school to reveal our evening family activity- Polar Express Movie Night.


In the box we included:

Polar Express DVD
Recipe for Creamy Hot Chocolate (found at the end of this post)
Marshmallows, candy canes for hot chocolate mix-ins
Popcorn
Bells (Dollar Tree had some really cute bells this year in silver and gold.)

I didn't print any cute tickets but there are plenty on the internet you can download.

Each year our family opens up Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. However, my sister changed this tradition and has her kids open up their pajamas on December 1st so her kids can wear them all through December. I think that we may have to switch up our tradition as well. Next year pajamas may be included in our box.

We loved watching the Polar Express together and loved our hot chocolate. Mmm. Here's a recipe we found and changed up a bit to our liking.

Click HERE to download and print the recipe.

If you are looking to expand your instrument choices for Primary (or at home), consider some Pipe Chimes. You can find them here: Musical Pipes



This page will send you to an Etsy shop where you can build your own set to fit your own budget and needs.

I purchased my own set last year after spending an arm and a leg on 2 sets of hand bells. I decided that I love the Pipe Chimes more than my hand bells. Here are some reasons why I think Pipe Chimes are better:

1) Price. Pipe Chimes cost way less than a set of handbells. You can also build your own set. A basic set includes 23 chimes for $30.00. Add $5 for 14 metal strikers. A 13-note hand bell set goes for $67.00 on Amazon.

2) Durability. These chimes are basically indestructible. I always worried about the kids touching the ringer or pulling the spring on the hand bells. I don't worry about them destroying the chimes. They are nice and sturdy.

3) Easy to play. Pipe Chimes are easy to play. Hand bells are tricky. You have to ring them "just right". Pipe Chimes are easy for little hands and it doesn't take a lot of coordination to make them sound good. Even the little kids in nursery can play them. (I don't organize a song for them to play, but they just love banging them.)

4) Range of notes. The Pipe Chime set includes 23 notes. It allows for a lot more participation and a better selection of songs to play. Hand bells are tricky if you don't have the right bells or enough bells or the song isn't written in a certain key.

5) Songbooks. The Pipe Chime website offers songbooks for $10 each if you prefer a printed copy, or for $3 for a digital copy. I find the digital copy very helpful in Primary for displaying through a projector. This allows for the children to see well and follow along easily. The songbooks are your own little "bell charts" without the work to create one. They are already done for you.



6) Made for LDS use! There are different songbooks available for purchase including LDS Primary Songs, LDS Hymns, and Christmas songs. There are also 2 other books available of other songs. There are also a few "other" songs available for download on their website for free like, "I Know That My Savior Loves Me".

7) One-Man-Band option. If you would like only one person to play multiple chimes, Pipe Chimes offers the option of purchasing "holders" for the chimes that allows you to lay the whole set out on a table. I love this option for a descant in songs like "Christmas Bells Are Ringing".

8) Easy to transport. Throw them in a bag and off you go. Hand bells need to be stored carefully in a bulky box to keep them from getting ruined. Pipe Chimes don't take up a lot of space and kids can help put them away.

9) Not just for Primary. My family has started a new tradition the past 2 Thanksgivings. After Thanksgiving dinner, we sit together, pass out Pipe Chimes, and sing and play Christmas songs out of the Christmas songbook. We have so much fun together. My mom has purchased 2 sets to accommodate our large crowds of family (close to 50 people). This has been my favorite part of Thanksgiving the past 2 years.

I hope this helps and I hope you check them out. They would be a great addition to any Primary and/or home.

Every year I have to think of something to give to my neighbors and co-workers for Christmas. I always look for something that is cheap, easy to make, doesn't take a lot of time, makes a large amount, and tastes good.

This year we are making English Toffee. It meets ALL my criteria.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Ingredients:

4 cubes butter
2 cups white sugar
1- 1 1/2 bag milk chocolate chips
3-4 handfuls of chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Directions:

In a medium-sized saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add two cups sugar. Stir constantly for about 12 minutes over medium to medium high heat (about a 7 out of 10 on the heat setting, if you have something like that) or until mixture turns a medium brown (like a nice caramel color). It should be at a low boil most of the time.

Pour hot mixture into a lightly greased jelly roll pan (12 1/2" x 17 1/2"). Spread evenly. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of hot mixture and let it sit for a minute or two. Lightly spread the melted chocolate, covering the mixture. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and chill in refrigerator until cool.

Once cool, crack into pieces for serving.

July is the time to think about Christmas gifts IF you are planning on making them. This year I am!


I decided to make some cute wooden peg people for my siblings and their cute families. I may just turn them into ornaments to hang on the tree, or display them on a wooden plaque with the family name. We'll see. 


Grab some tiny paint brushes and some acrylic paints and transform these unfinished wood pieces into masterpieces! They do take a while to paint but they are WAY cute.


A friend of mine is a pro crafter. She taught me a few tips.


TIPS:


*Paint the head FIRST! Paint the whole head the skin color you want. Let it dry. You will be holding onto the head while you paint the body so do this part first. Don't add any features quite yet.




*Paint the body. These are really cute when you can add detail. Take your time, and go slowly. 


*Paint the arms. Make little sausage-like shapes for the arms. Try to move your arms a little closer together than on complete opposite sides of the peg. If you move the arms a little closer, you don't have to turn the peg to see both arms. It won't look funny, I promise.


*Paint the hair and face. Once the body is dry, paint the hair first. Add the eyes, and mouth last.


*Spray with a finishing gloss. This will prevent the paint from chipping or scratching and will add a nice professional-looking shine. 


WOOD SOURCE:


Casey's Wood Products has the cheapest wooden peg people I have seen. They have a great selection and are extremely helpful and nice. They ship on the same day for most orders.