Raising Memories: Making & Documenting Family Memories

Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts

100 Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids

Struggling to fill stockings without cheap clutter toys? Here are 100 kid-approved stocking stuffers kids and parents actually love!

My girls & I put together this list of 100 Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids because it can be tricky to come up with some stocking stuffer ideas for kids that are new and exciting. We like for our stocking stuffers to have good reason to stick around past the new year whenever possible, and to actually bring some fun and joy to the receiver.

This year I did some brainstorming with my kids and we came up with the ultimate list of 100 kid-approved stocking stuffer ideas... let's get to the list!

Homemade Candy Cane Marshmallows

I first published this post about how to make candy cane marshmallows years ago, but I wanted to share it this month because it's SUCH a delicious recipe! It makes some mess and takes some effort because making marshmallows is kind of an unusual thing for most of us, but you can totally do it and they are SO soft and delicious and your kids will never forget making these with you! :)

So, if you've got the time to devote to the making & the clean-up, this just might be the perfect thing to put on your Christmastime bucket list!

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This post was sponsored by Wayfair

Whether they've been working hard outside shoveling the driveway, building a snow fort, making snow angels or just hiking home from the school bus stop, my kids love to come inside and warm up with a nice cup of hot chocolate. We decided to make it more fun during their winter holidays last week and make our own marshmallows! I have always loved adding candy cane to hot chocolate (there's just something so good about that hint of mint mixed in!), so we tried coating our freshly made marshmallows in a mix of icing sugar and crushed candy cane and the result was fabulous!

I'm going to share the recipe with you because I made some alterations to the original marshmallow recipe I shared on the blog 4 years ago. That recipe was great but it made a TON of marshmallows. Today's recipe makes a smaller batch so it's just right if you're making them just for your own family.

Easy Christmas Holly Wreath Treats

This Corn Flakes version of Rice Krispies Wreaths is my go-to treat to add to a Christmas cookie plate for neighbours or for a holiday party food display.

These Holly Wreaths are one of my favourite holiday treats to make because they remind me of when I was little. :) They're only slightly more work than Rice Krispie Squares which is a great bonus- and they're fun for kids to help with, too!

The Ultimate List of 100 Non-Toy Gift Ideas

Stop filling your home with too many toys! End toy overwhelm today with this huge list of specific, FUN non-toy gift ideas!

Is this how you feel when you survey the growing collection of toys in your home?

I was recently interviewed on several radio shows across Canada about the idea of a Toyless Christmas, so I thought I would share a list on the blog of Non-Toy Gift Ideas that can serve as a reference for birthdays and Christmas when you're feeling overwhelmed with toys!

Soft Sour Cream Cookies

Soft Sour Cream Cookies... yep, the secret to those soft sugar cookies you can get in store bakeries is sour cream! Did you know this?

Well I'm about to share the recipe, so you can give it a try yourself! ;) Aren't these snowflake cookies adorable?

I originally shared this post on the blog a few years ago, but I thought it was time to bring these sour cream sugar cookies to the forefront again. Just yesterday, the girls were requesting that we make some for Christmas. :)

Soft Sour Cream Cookies

I'm using Gay Lea's Premium Sour Cream (which is their thickest, richest sour cream made with 3 simple ingredients. It's amazing with chips (if you're like me ;) or to use to make a flavoured dip, and it's awesome in baking! This sour cream is only available in Ontario and only in the 425ml size.

Now, let me share this recipe with you!

Family Experience Gift Ideas & Giveaway

This year I wanted to share some family experience gift ideas with you. I've always loved memory making gift ideas but sometimes it can be challenging to come up with those! It can be especially tricky to come up with fun things to do as a family with teenagers but the ideas I'm sharing today are great gift ideas for families with teens, tweens, and kids alike!

I have an "under the tree" idea (with variations) and some stocking stuffer ideas. Stay tuned to the end of the post for some giveaways!

Christmas Experience Gifts

Each year I try to include some sort of experience Christmas gifts under the tree that the whole family can experience together. This year I'm excited to give the gift of an epic family Nerf battle!

Each member of the family will find their own Nerf blaster under the tree.

Michael McLean Forgotten Carols DVD

We were so excited to get to see Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols DVD, new this year!

In this post I'll share our thoughts about the new theatrical version and where you can get your hands on a copy of the DVD, the music, and the ornaments.

What is The Forgotten Carols?

Rolling Stamp Wrapping Paper

When I saw these little foam shapes in a package at the store, I had the idea to use my rolling pin to create this rolling stamp wrapping paper. It turned out to be a really fun project with really cute results!
If you know us, you'll recognize that these are photos from an old project- we did this TEN years ago!

Here are the supplies needed and my tips for how to do this project:

2020 Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway for Parents & Families!

I'm excited to announce my 4th annual Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway! This year's gift guide is split into two posts. Today I'll be featuring gift ideas for parents & families. Soon I'll share gift ideas for kids & stocking stuffers.

I'll share a bit about each gift idea and at the end of the post you'll have the chance to enter a giveaway for ALL the gift ideas in that day's post! Between the 2 gift guide giveaways, I've partnered with each of the brands and will be giving away over $1800 CAD in prizes and I can't wait to see who the winners are!

Thoughts on Christmas, Love, and Stress

This post about Christmastime, expectations, boundaries, love, and service was written in 2017 but I'm feeling and thinking about many of the same topics lately and wanted to re-post it this week as we are now less than 10 days away from Christmas!

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You know that magical feeling that seems to be in the air around Christmastime? We often talk about the excitement around Christmas with gift giving and Santa coming and the extra kindness and generosity that comes with the season. I think that magic that we're feeling this time of year all comes from love.

Blog Post on Handling Christmas Stress for Moms

We want to create and participate in that magical experience of Christmas (that tangible sense of being surrounded by love) and that's what motivates us to do all that we do this time of year: we shop for gifts, bake cookies, plan special meals, fill our calendars with parties and gatherings with the people we love, sing in choirs, attend performances, go to church, do service for others, and the list goes on and on! Some of you even coordinate the antics of an elf on the shelf in the midst of it all!

A Secret 12 Days of Christmas Gifts Surprise

Here's a fun set of 12 days of Christmas gifts that can be left on a doorstep secretly for a new surprise on each of the twelve days!

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Near the end of the year a couple of years ago, I was struggling with feelings of frustration with the uncertainty that came with Ken's PhD. He had been in school far longer than we planned or expected and there was no end date in sight. Those last few years of Ken's degree were difficult for both of us. As I was dealing with some of those feelings and trying to focus on the positive and on all of our blessings and all of the good in our lives, something pretty awesome happened to us!

12 Days of Christmas Gifts

I wanted to share this experience with you because I've been thinking a lot about how we can serve others this month and I thought sharing this might inspire some of you with some ideas of how to show love and support to the people in your life. Whether you feel you can set aside the time, effort, and money to do something as involved as this, or there's a cute idea in the mix that sparks an idea for you, I hope it inspires you to do something kind for someone else.

12 Days of Christmas Gifts

The Forgotten Carols

We finally got to see The Forgotten Carols as a family! I wrote about the tickets and how I was looking forward to it last month, but today I wanted to share a little about the show & what we all thought of it.

The Forgotten Carols is a play about a man who claims to have known several people from the time of Jesus, who were involved with the Christmas story. Each character has his or her own carol (a song written by Michael McLean), and each character is someone "forgotten" (someone we don't hear too much about when we re-tell the Christmas story). The music is SO good!

A Savior Is Born! 12 Days of Christmas Advent

While we are still more than 12 days away from Christmas I want to re-share this post so that you can plan ahead if you'd like to try this advent! It's all focused on Christ and includes activities and printables to make it easy for you to put into action!

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Christmas time can get SO busy! Some years it's hard to keep Christ as the center of the celebration, with parties and shopping and planning to fill your family's time! Here is a fun 12-day advent that you can do with your family to help them to keep the Savior as their focus. These ideas were put together with busy families in mind, so this will be a good way to remember Jesus and focus on the reason for this season without having to spend too much time planning how to do it!

Each day includes:
- a scripture to read
- a topic to discuss
- a 15 minute activity to do together

You can download a pennant flag bunting (which you can print here) that has all of the scriptures on it, if you'd like a cute decoration/reminder. :) Hang it all at once or add a flag each day!

You can start now or wait until the last 12 days before Christmas or pick and choose which activities you want to do. Here's what you'll need & the links to download the free printables:

Day 6: Personalized Jewelry & Ornaments Giveaway

Today we're giving away a gift card for The Vintage Pearl!

If you missed the announcement, it's Gift Guide Giveaway time and today is Day 6!

You can keep track of all Gift Guide posts from the announcement page.

Gingerbread Cookie Recipe Printable with Tags & Gingerbread House Box

I have another beautiful printable for you today as part of the #LightTheWorld Service Initiative (encouraging people to find 25 ways to serve in 25 days). This free downloadable kit was created by Maria from www.designedbymaria.com. The kit comes with everything you need for a fun Gingerbread-themed family activity at Christmas time!

You can use the Activity Outline (included in the kit) for a family-friendly discussion and service activity. It doesn't take a lot of time, just pick one evening in the month of December to spend time together serving.

This Kit Includes:

- Activity Outline

- Printable Recipe

- Holiday Tags

- Gingerbread House Box

- Gingerbread Man Garland (blank)

- Gingerbread Man Garland (decorated)

The outline encourages you to discuss how Jesus served his loved ones. Each family member can share ideas of how they can serve. As they share, they can choose a gingerbread person to represent them or create their own. You can make a cute gingerbread garland by attaching the gingerbread people's hands together.

Behind-the-Scenes of a Family Photoshoot

Yesterday evening, we did a little photoshoot at our house. I wanted to get some photos of our family in our new matching Christmas pajamas from Lazy One for my Family Gift Guide. It ended up being such a fun night and I really liked some of the photos we came away with so I wanted to share them here.

I should've taken some photos of what was going on behind-the-scenes too! I may have to do that next time we do something like this because some of these photos almost look like something out of a catalogue, but what's behind the camera might be a little comical at times!

11 Creative Ways to Re-Purpose Mason Jars

I saw several great re-purposed jar ideas in the Sharing Time Link Party this month and I thought this would be a good time of year to do a roundup because many of these would make great gift ideas!

Here are 11 creative ways to re-purpose a mason jar!

2017 Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway for Families and Kids!

Surprise! It's another Gift Guide & Giveaway! I've gathered a collection of our favourite gift ideas for kids and families to create today's guide. Some of these ideas are simply focused on kids and others are all about spending time together as a family.

Note: I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

2017 Holiday Gift Guide for Families & Kids

I have teamed up with many of these companies in order to be able to offer another Huge Giveaway worth over $1200! I can't wait to tell you about these gift ideas and some of the fabulous prizes you have the opportunity to win!

2017 Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway for Moms!

I'm excited to share with you my very first holiday gift guide giveaway! I've put together a collection of some of my favourite things that I think would make great gift ideas. Every year my family asks me what's on my wishlist and I'm often caught off guard and can't think of anything that I'd be excited to unwrap on Christmas morning! I hope this list will help get the ideas flowing whether you're looking for ideas for yourself or for someone else! I had moms in mind when I put these together but they would really be great for any woman.

Note: I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

2017 Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway for Women

I have teamed up with many of these companies in order to be able to offer a Huge Giveaway worth over $1200! I can't wait to tell you about these gift ideas and some of the fabulous prizes you have the opportunity to win!

Eye Found It! Free Printable Christmas Game

Today I have a cute free printable Christmas game for you called "Eye Found It". This is another fabulous printable that was created for the #LightTheWorld Service Initiative (encouraging people to find 25 ways to serve in 25 days). This one was created by Sam from thekiwiintheclouds.com.

This would be a great gift for a child to give to another child, or for anyone to give to a person who they would like to spend some quality time with. It's so simple to make- just print and cut out!