Christmas is about so much more than presents and parties,
and yet, each year, that is the focus that we as a society
place on it.
Christmas has become a stress for some, and financial
hardship for others. Where there used to be a holiday, to
celebrate Family, we have some how lost touch with our
roots, and a meaningful soulful Christmas.
Following is a list of of Ideas that cost little or no money, that
you can do with your family this Christmas for a more meaningful Christmas.
Set aside some time, and let's all get back to the basics of Christmas. Take
this list, and let each family member choose one, and then set aside an
evening, for each activity. You will be surprised and amazed how much this
will change you and your family's outlook on Christmas.
1) Make a popcorn garland,
2) Make garland with construction paper,
3) Watch Christmas shows together with hot Chocolate and popcorn,
4) Make Decorating the the tree a family event, serve hot chocolate and play
Christmas music,
5) Make your own Christmas cards to send to people,
6) Go Christmas shopping at the the Dollar Store And Donate to a charity for
Christmas Gifts,
7) Donate Clothes or toys for needy children,
8) Make a Snowman,
9) Have a snowball fight,
10) Make a ginger bread house out of graham crackers and what ever you
have in the house,
11) Paint Christmas pictures on the windows with washable paint,
12) Make a game out of hunting around the house, for things to make
Christmas decorations out of,
13) Build a fire, and have a slumber party with your kids,
14) Bake and decorate cookies,
15) have a wrapping party,
16) Plan to share a plate of goodies with any elderly or young parents in the
neighborhood,
17) Go Caroling,
18) Go for a drive and see who wins for the best lights in town. Make an
award for the winner and present it to them.
19) Attend a Live Nativity.
20) Take a special drive at night to enjoy others Christmas lights!
21) Invite your children's friends over to make cards or gifts for their parents,
22) Go collect pine cones and use them to make ornaments,
23) Make bird treats with peanut butter and birdseed,
24) Sing Christmas carols,
25) Have the kids write and act out a Christmas play,
26) Go to the library and borrow Christmas videos and books,
27) Have a game night,
28) Take a walk or drive around a neighborhood that has their houses all lit
up and decorated,
29) Shovel the snow for your elderly neighbors,
30) Read one Christmas short story each night before bed,
31) Write Christmas letters to all the relatives with the kids all telling what
they have been up to in their own words,
32) Go sledding (a personal favorite) and come back to the house for hot
cider and hot chocolate (we do this and invite the kid's friends to join us),
33) Take a picture of the kids in front of the Christmas tree, and make it a
yearly tradition,
34) Visit the local nursing home and present some of the residents with
homemade Christmas cards.
35) Do a random act of kindness for a neighbor that you know is sick or
feeling down, like take them a plate of cookies or some homemade
ornaments.
36) Attend a Church service together.
37) Invite an older person/couple for a holiday meal.
38) Have a campout night, and sleep in sleeping bags.
39) Make up a Christmas scavenger hunt.
40) Watch the all the videos or home movies of Christmas. Or, look at all the
photos from Christmas.
41) Make some ornaments .
42) Color some Christmas pages together.
43) Share a favorite Christmas memory.
44) Help your local church/library/community center organize a special
holiday reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas', "A Christmas Carol',
etc. Invite seniors/families. Maybe get a local store to donate some cookies
or cocoa.
45) Have a birthday celebration, complete with cake, and birthday
decorations.
46) We make a video of ourselves decorating the tree, making cookies,
singing Christmas carols and telling the Christmas story. Then we make
copies of it for all the far off relatives (beats a humdrum letter).
47) Volunteer as a family for the local shelter or nursing home.
48) Have your kids make Christmas cards or snowflakes and take them to
the local nursing home.
49) Organize your scout troop or Sunday school or homeschool group and
go caroling at a nursing home.
50) Scout or youth groups could also offer to paint the windows of local
businesses for the holiday with washable paint.
60) Ask the local supermarket if your youth group or older kids can help
carry groceries out for senior citizens. Those turkeys are heavy to pick up
and put in the car!
61) Help sort food for a food pantry that does food baskets for the holiday.
62) Make paper snowflakes to decorate your windows.
63) Organize or volunteer to work in a Christmas wrap booth that gives the
proceeds to charity.
64) Volunteer as food servers at shelters that provide Christmas or
Thanksgiving dinners.
65) Light up your walkway/driveway with handmade luminaries.
66) Collect pine boughs and pine cones and make wreaths -
can be shared at nursing homes or with elderly ones nearby.
67) We decorate our stocking each year. I buy the ones from the Dollar Store,
and whatever we wish to decorate with. Last year we used sticky foam
shapes, this year we used glitter glue pens.
68) Get out your old records - or borrow your parents- and listen to the
Golden oldie Christmas songs from your youth, and share the memories of
Christmas past with your children.
69) Learn about different cultures celebrate Christmas....
and about what they did years ago.
70) Sing silly Christmas songs with your kiddos...
(Grandma got ran over by a reindeer).
71) Find an angel tree and have your kids help pick out a toy for the needy
child's name on the angel tree.
72) Make a manger scene out of play dough or clay or even construction
paper. Whatever is handy.
73) Create a calendar that the kids can mark off the days til Christmas.
74) Have a Christmas Past, Present and Future evening/afternoon. Get out
your photo albums/scrapbooks and talk about Christmas Past, remembering
those who are no longer here to share it with us. For Christmas Present,
discuss what one thing makes Christmas special for each person. For
Christmas Future, talk about your hopes and dreams for the coming years
ahead.
74) Make Christmas gifts for your family's pet and other relative's pets.
75) Take a little Christmas tree and decorate it with your pet's toys and set it
in the living room with your bigger tree - just for the pets! Wrap up some
treats and place them under the pet's tree, too, like a small can of some fancy
cat food or a package of doggie treats. (Hopefully the dog won't tear it apart
to get at it until Christmas day.
76) Let the kids make their own stockings out of felt and stocking
"packages" out of paper grocery sacks to put gifts for others in.
77) Gingerbread people made out of brown grocery sacks are very cute, too
and inexpensive and make great tags on presents and ornaments for a tree
or wreath. You could glue on google eyes and a small candy cane to the
gingerbread people, too and make them even more dimensional and if using
two sides. You can tape or glue them together and stuff them with cotton
balls to fill them out if you want to make them puffy.
78) Let your child decorate their bedroom door for Christmas. A wreath with
some small trinkets on it is charming on every door inside the house, too.
79) Make snowmen out of Styrofoam ball ornaments or styro balls or old
Christmas bulbs (the breakable kind) in 2 sizes
(one larger and one smaller glued together), paint white or glue on cotton
balls or fake snow and add glitter. Use google eyes or dots punched out of a
paper punch for eyes, Orange pipe cleaner twisted to a carrot shape for the
nose, little buttons or mini m & m's or small pom poms can be buttons or
even the gold top of a paper fastener clip. Also can use yarn for eyes, smile,
eyebrows or braid yarn for a scarf.. use your imagination and whatever you
have around the house, toothpicks or tree branches for arms, etc. An old
sweater and flannel shirt can provide scarves and hats, mittens for all the
snowmen and snowwomen which can be grouped together under a tree
branch from outside. Provide all the scrap materials you have and let the
kids have a great time making them.
80) Make some snow globes with old jars.
81) Create a God Can for family members. Here is how:
use a tall odd shaped can, the one I found was a solid gold color, was maybe
6 inches tall and semi squared with a rounded bubble shaped lid. (Found it
at Dollar Tree last year)
DON'T LET HOLIDAY STRESS
STEAL YOUR JOY
|
Please do not click the penguin.
It leads to a page we are
having some problems with.
Seriously, we are asking nicely.
Do not click the penguin.
|
God Can
When your worries get too heavy,
Follow this little plan.
Just write it on a little note,
And drop it in this can.
You know that any problem,
That you place in Our Lord's hands,
Will soon be taken care of,
Because we can't - but God Can!
|
We hope you are having the very best Christmas Season!
Please take a moment to click on some of our sponsors as you cruise around this site.
Their support helps keep us up and running!
Thank you very much!
|
ARE YOU HAVING A MERRY CHRISTMAS?
WE HOPE SO!
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE FUN THINGS TO SEE AND DO.
IF YOU HAVE A MOMENT, PLEASE CLICK TO VIEW ONE OF OUR SPONSORS.
THEIR SUPPORT HELPS KEEP OUR SITE UP AND RUNNING!
|
L@@KY!
You can use the handy
search engine above
to go to Amazon and buy
whatever you wish!
Thank you very much for
visiting and for supporting
this fun site for women!
|
HouseWifeMafia.com ~ The eMagazine For Women
|
SANITY MAINTENANCE ~ Don't let Holiday Stress Steal Your joy!
|
