I love Christmas, it is absolutely the best holiday. For me, the thrill of buying gifts and then watching people open them has always been my favorite part. Add to that the decorations and lights and parties, and what is there that you could possibly not like?
The last couple of years our families have started drawing names to make home-made gifts for each other. This is a really cool thing to do - you may want to think of doing it with your family. It really takes away from the "greediness" of the season and really takes kids and adults back to basics.
This year, I went completely outside my comfort level and painted my 2 gifts. My sister is the painter in the family, not me, so this was a really big deal.
Here is the stool I made for my step-mom who has a Coke themed kitchen (it says Coca-cola - made to look like an old advertising button - if you can't tell).
Here is the little cubbard I painted for my sister-in-law, whose favorite flower is yellow roses - if you can't tell (I was really hoping her favorite flower was sunflowers, because I can trace a circle!)Because of our little confidence boost in our home-made gift making abilities, the hubs and I have decided to start making our kids home-made gifts too. This year we scrolled out the first letter of each of their names in redwood, then stained them with redwood stain too.
Hopefully they will be something each one of them will keep through the years. In a couple of years we will draw names in our family and continue the home-made gifts in house. For right now, we make really cool ornaments for the tree. ;-)
What is your favorite family tradition during Christmas time?
