I am so excited about this month's Free Book Give Away. I LOVE Christmas, and I have been waiting a looong time to give away 50 Christmas Things to Make and Do for our monthly Free Book Give Away.
For those of you who love to do arts and crafts with your kids, or for those of you with kids like mine who constantly like to create and make stuff, this is a wonderful book to have. As the title states, it has 50 different Christmas arts and crafts and activities that you can do with your child or that your children can do on their own simply by following the step by step directions.
This book will provide hours upon hours of activity for your kids to do - especially once they are home for "winter" break. It will also provide tons of Christmas decorations for your house and tons of gifts that you can give instead of spending your money out at the big box stores. My kids favorite things to make or do from this book are: the foil decorations, printed snowmen, dangling trees, and mosaic snowflakes.
If you would like to win 50 Christmas Things to Make and Do simply leave a comment about your favorite childhood Christmas memory. Contest open to US residents only. Winner will be announced at 12:00 PM EST Nov. 20th. Make sure you leave your email - without it I won't be able to let you know that you are the winner.
49 comments:
I remember being very little, just turned 3 I think, and my Mom was reading us a story xmas eve when we heard a thump on the roof. My Mom said it must be Santa and hurry to bed. I found out years later that my dad was throwing oranages on the roof to sound like reindeer
Gotta love all the things parents do to make Santa appear real to kids. Well we all know Santa is REAL.
when i was little i use to think that santa realy did come untell well i seen where my mom was hideing my x-mas gifts and well that was it for me by then i had found out. but well now that i'm older i still do the same thing for my kids and well i know there realy is a stanta his real name is st.nick so well when thay get that age i tell them the story of st.nick that way that way thay know that yes at one time he did live
My favorite Christmas memory is making frosted pretzel's with my mom on Christmas eve. On Christmas eve I got to pick one present I could open early.just one , it was so special for me I had to touch all the presents a couple pf time before i settled on one.
We always attended a midnight Christmas Eve service at our church with candle-lighting, and I loved that when we got home, we could pick one gift to open since it was already technically Christmas!
Oh this would be so awesome to win! I'm a stay-at-home-mom, and my 3 year old daughter is always wanting to do crafts. I'm pretty bad about coming up with ideas that aren't totally repetative, so winning this would for sure put a big smile on my daughter's face- and mine too. =D
One of my favorite memories from the holidays when I was little is trying to create my own special little gifts for my parents and grandparents. I loved to make holiday poppers where I'd stuff some silly little treat inside a toilet paper tube and then wrap it up in pretty paper. Then every day for the week before Christmas I'd make my parents each open one up. It was silly, but for a little kid it made my world go round to be able to give something I'd created all on my own to my parents.
This is another reason I'd love to win this book cause it'd almost be like taking me back to my roots in a way. My dad died when I was 14, and I'll be 28 in a few months. Anywho... tearing up now, so going to shut up. Off on a tangent anyhow. LOL
Thanks for the entry in your draw. Love your blog. Just bookmarked you.
RebekahC
littleminx@cox.net
www.readysetreadreviews.blogspot.com
As a child, my family always gathered on Christmas Eve at my great aunts house. It was a beautiful stone house with gables and arches and most Christmas we were lucky enough to have snow. Each window in the house had small glass panes with beveled edges that sparked from the lights inside. As you approached the front door there was a old fashioned entry, at that time called vestibule, that led to the old dark wood door with a arched top, a beveled window and old brass door knocker. As the door swung open, we were greeted by the sounds of music, the laughter of family and the crackling of the fire. The fire place was old red brick with a brass screen in front of it. In the screen were circles of colored glass. Deep vivid blues, greens, reds and purples, which seemed to glow even deeper from the fire light. In the front bay window stood a beautiful fresh Christmas tree. The scent of pine filled the air. Circling the tree were strings of old fashioned bubble lights, each seemed to be alive with light and color. All the kids waited eagerly for Santa to stop by. We knew from experience that he would appear either at the front or back door, ringing his sleigh bells upon his arrival. We never seemed to question that he always knew which door we were at and dropped his gifts at the other. As Santa’s sleigh bells rang out, 15 children ran from one door to other, only to miss seeing Santa. But as we opened the door, we were overwhelmed by the bags of gifts he left (we were a very large family). One for everyone and always exactly what we had been hoping for. Snacks followed the gifts, wonderful plates of homemade goodies. Cookies, fudge, divinity - enough to give more than one of us a tummy ache after we made numerous unseen trips back! The evening always ended with midnight church services and sweet dreams of what would be under the tree in the morning. As I look back now, at what I took so for granted then, I truly appreciate the magic of those times. It was a much simpler time, when we only needed the lights and smells and sounds and family to bring the magic of Christmas.
Becky
rebecca@thechristmasemporium.com
Gee Becky, you totally described my grandparent's house! I sure do miss that house, and them, especially at Christmastime. You're right, life was so much simpler then. I just hope our kids have the warm, fuzzy memories of Christmas Past as we do. I think they will cause it is us creating the memories for them. I"m trying to give them as much of what I had as a little girl. (not material things, but memories, moments, lessons, and love)
One of my most vivid memories is during the last week before Christmas during school break, we would while away the hours (Mom would keep us busy lol) making paper chains to string all over the house. Having 4 brothers and a sister, there were miles of chain strings every where :)
I loved shutting off all the lights in the house except the tree lights and listening to Gene Autry's Christmas album.
My favorite Christmas memory was when I got a pair of rollerskates that I was SURE I wold not be getting that year. I was so thrilled!
My favorite Christmas memory comes when my family was quite poor and living in a four room house where we had to build a bathroom onto the back porch. Since it was quite cold, we had a little space heater in there and I was only about three or four years old, so I sat down on it while waiting for my mom to run the bath water. Needless to say, my hiney got scorched and I spent the next several days laying on my tummy with ointment covering my tush. We got to open presents early and my sister gave me a stuffed animal of her own that I had been coveting for a while. Even though I was "injured", I remember this as one of my favorite Christmases ever.
Deidre
deidre_durance at hotmail dot com
I remember Christmas morning being the most magical moment in my life. My 3 siblings and I would line up at the top of the stairs, eagerly anticipating the "Okay" to come down. We would enter the living room with only my father's movie camera light on, besides the Christmas tree lights. What a sight! Boxes and boxes of neatly wrapped boxes, as well as 1 present that was not wrapped, for us to pick up and enjoy right away.
I'll never forget it, and I hope to pass that same beauty of Christmas on to my own 5 children.
- Tracey
traceyfleger@yahoo.com
I loved doing things in the kitchen: making Christmas cookies, (candy cane cookies were my favorite!) making gingerbread cookies, and then eating the breakfast cinnamon rolls my mom made every Christmas morning!
rebolsen at gmail dot com
My dad coming in dressed as Santa one year and my little brother's eyes getting so big! He jumped up and down screaming HO HO came to my house!
ajcmeyer AT go DOT com
Christmas memories include finding special snacks for Santa and of course for his reindeer...lots of carrots for the reindeer was my job!
pumpkinlady430@yahoo.com
My favorite childhood memory of Christmas is going to the midnight christmas service at our church. I loved listening to the choir and I loved that my whole family went together. Thanks for the giveaway!
when i was little i remmeber going downtown to look at all the decorations and the lights. when i got home one day i asked my mom if we could plant our own light tree. they all laughed.
specialk [dot] roxygirl [at] gmail [dot] com
I loved when we would finish decorating the Christmas tree and turn out all the lights in the house and watch the tree. There is still nothing better then the smell of a freshly cut tree!
One of my favorite memories is visiting Santa at the mall. I would have my list all neatly written out and then when I finally got to sit in his lap, I would be too nervous to speak!
Thanks for the giveaway!
When I was little, we lived in a more historic part of town, and they had a community luminaria display. We would go to the neighborhood school and pick up little white paper bags, votive candles, and sand. We put the sand and the candle in the bag, then lined them up down the front sidewalk, and lit them at night. In the evening we always went to our church for Christmas Eve, and then we drove around the area to look at lights. It was breathtaking!
charlotte(dot)evard(at)comcast(dot)net
Snowball fights.
hetz-junk(at)hotmail(dot)com
I'm always looking for new crafts to make with the kids.
My favorite childhood memory would be on Christmas Eve night we would always go as a family and ride around town looking at all the lights and decorations.
My absolute favorite thing was pouring through recipes with my mom and sister and choosing new cookie and candy recipes. We have made some fantastic holiday candy over the years.
RhondaP
rhonmitch(at)comcast(dot)net
From the Hollywood movies I've seen, Santa Clause is real. You just have to believe! My friends kids love him. I love him too
I remember always opening our presents on Christmas Eve. We do that to this day.
My girls would LOVE this book!
I have so many wonderful Christmas memories that it's hard to pick my favorite. At the moment, I'm remembering the Christmas Eve when we all drove an hour to the nearest airport to meet my brother Terry, home on leave from the Air Force during the Vietnam War. His plane was delayed so we went shopping, and my mom (who ADORED snow) found this crazy "snowmaker" for the tree! It was a giant cardboard bowl that you put under the tree, with a motor and tubing that went up alongside the trunk ... there were huge bags of tiny styrofoam balls ("snow!") that you dumped in the bowl, and the vacuum motor sucked them up, shot them up the tube, and bounced them off the bottom of a special angel at the top, so you had styrofoam snow falling over your Christmas tree! It was pretty amazing for the late 60s/early 70s. We put that thing up for years and years, every Christmas, til the motor ROARED when you plugged it in! But my mama always said, "You've gotta have snow for Christmas, one way or another!"
Ahh, memories!
And even if I don't win the book (although I'd love to), thanks for giving me a reason to bring that memory back to mind!
my favorite childhood memory was all the relatives I got to spend time with and be with atthe time...those people have long since passed but I so miss them every holiday...especially my grandmother...she's bee gone almost a year but the other...well long ago and all died from cancer...I so miss those days...and those relatives!!! I wish they could meet my children
lilhottemomma@yahoo.com
My favorite memory is a tradition we have in our family to open one gift on christmas eve. We all get pajamas and we wear them to bed. We still do this now, even though we are grown up. I have continued this with my daughter too.
A Christmas memory for every year is doing the 12 Days of Christmas to a family that needed some smiles. I loved running the "day's" stuff to the door, and ditching behind the fence or car to see their faces.
We use to go to this Irish club with my parents, my aunt/uncle, cousins & grandparents. There would be games & Santa would come. It was always a lot of fun!
My favorite holiday memory is watching all the old Christmas movies on T.v. Like Charlie Brown and Rudolph. I loved those! Still do :)
My favorite memory is having all my family together on Christmas morning. It was always so special to have everyone there!
I will never forget the Christmas that I recieved my first bike. Pink, with a basket and streamers. Classics beat out all other gifts...
i just loved going to christmas eve service and lighting the candles every year w/ my family. it felt holy and magical all at the same time.
jessie12980@yahoo.com
The kids in my family are all adopted. I remember my first Christmas with my two brand new siblings, a boy (2) and a girl(5), (I was 6) just like I prayed for. Three days before Christmas I pulled my toque (like a beanie) over my eyes and was chasing the dog and I got kicked by my friend who was on a swing, right in the face. I had to huge black eyes for Christmas day, but it was still the best Christmas ever because I got to share it with my very own siblings. Plus we got a Nintendo!!! (BONUS!)
Sorry, I forgot my email. It's spaztic_cow@yahoo.com
I'd love to win this!
My favorite Christmas memory, is having another family visit, and driving around looking at all the Christmas lights!
I remember getting moon shoes which were the coolest toy and I was just so excited I immediately put them on and wore them the entire time I opened gifts:)
jil@jildesigns.com
I was reading in my old chilhood journal about the time I got an acid washed jean skirt and my sister got a crimper. I believe I said "That was so cooooool!"
kamyrensmiles@hotmail.com
My favorite memory is coming home from my great-grandmother's house on Christmas Eve. Mom and dad in the front seat and me and my sister in the back. My mom yells look up in the sky it is Santa and his reindeer. To our surprise, we saw it too. There in the sky this big red light. We just knew it was Rudolph's nose. We couldn't wait to get home and go to sleep since Santa was so close. Many years later much to my disappointment,I learned that it wasn't Rudolph in the sky but a tower with a red light on the top! We love this story and we tell it every Christmas and we laugh still when we go to Grannie's house on Christmas eve and still see "Rudolph's nose". We now point out his nose for our children.
My favorite memory is visiting relatives that were in care centers on Christmas morning. We would sing Christmas carols, eat homemade candy and laugh about funny things that happened. We would spend the morning with them and then go home and open our presents.
I loved this tradition because it made me reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
pricec88@hotmail.com
I wish I could remember a "childhood" Christmas memory that really stands out. I do remember a picture of myself as a teenager sitting in front of the Christmas tree, I don't know if I was unwrapping gifts or not, but I had a sweatshirt on that I had "stolen" from a boy-friend of mine for Christmas break. I think I wore that shirt every day of break! lol EWWW!!
My favorite memory is when I was young (3 or 4) and at my grandma's she dressed as Santa to come and visit me -- I was afraid Santa would not know I was at my Grandma's instead of my own house. So she decided to find a suit and pay a visit to me so I would know that he knew where I was!
This book looks so great. I have 2 little ladies that LOVE anything artsy, this would help me be creative for sure!
I remember decorating the tree was such a special time for my family. Even in highschool we all decorated the tree together. I had this little paper angel I got in preschool that was maybe 2 inches tall and FALLING APART, but somehow I got to put that angel on the tree every year. Even when younger siblings brought home handmade ornaments, my angel was always on top. The first year I was married and away from home, my dad put my angel on top of their Christmas tree. My mom finally gave me the angel and now I get to decorate my tree with it!
What a great book. My favorite Christmas memory was driving around my small town of 800 people and looking at the Christmas Lights. After we were done with that we got to come home and open our Christmas Eve present, which was always Pajamas of course. Thanks
What a great giveaway! I'd love to win. My favorite Christmas memory started when I was just a little girl...but it's become an ongoing tradition in our family at Christmas time. My mom started the tradition of giving everyone 3 gifts - 1. something that you needed 2. something that you wanted 3. something spiritual
I just remember getting up each Christmas morning and being so thrilled to see what everyone was going to get...now...it's fun to see my kids get excited about that same tradition.
~nicole
ncpnkr@aol.com
When I was growing up, my mom used to get all three of us kids together, plus my two cousins and we would spend the entire day in the kitchen baking all sorts of delicious Christmas treats...cookies, pies, sausage balls,trail mix, chocolate covered pretzels. At the end of the day, the kitchen would be a mess, we would be covered in flour, and be exhausted.... but always had a GREAT time...and a tabletop FULL of great treats! I am planning to pass this wonderful tradition on to my own daughter! kee_thatsme@hotmail.com
Just letting everyone know that Jessica is the winner of 50 Christmas Things to Make and Do. I will email her and get it shipped to her so she'll have lots of time to make Christmas crafts with her family.
Congrats Jessica!
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