All Things Christmas!

meatballs37

Christmas-a-holics enter here:

Show off your favorite holiday meal recipes, gift ideas, decor, and more! 

harrierwife

I'm ready for a LOT of hate for this one, but I'm knitting or sewing most of my gifts this year. I have an ungodly amount of yarn and fabric stashed that I want to get rid of. Seemed like a good way to do it. I started back in May and am making really good progress. I'm keeping my gift list small this year so this was feasible for me. 

Another thing I plan on doing for hostess gifts is making a huge batch of Mississippi Spiced Pecans (they were a huge hit last year), digging through my stash of homemade jams and pickles, and making mulling spice kits in my dehydrator. I tied the mulling spice bags to a bottle of red wine or local apple cider last year and had a great response. 

meatballs37

You are my spirit animal. I’m totally going to do the Mulling spice to red wine bottles this year. My SIL loves red wine and I know she will appreciate this. 

KissMeImScottish

@harrierwife, I’m totally feeling all those ideas. I work at an art studio that makes wooden signs and one of the job perks is that I get to make several a month for free. Which means certain people will definitely be getting those as gifts. LOVING the food ideas - mulling kits, etc. Totally getting behind that.

I know that we are giving our oldest his first bike and the twins will he getting trikes. But I’ve asked everyone to keep gifts to a minimum this year - I talked to my mom about, instead of toys, could she maybe consider doing a membership to a play museum or the aquarium or something, and she was super amped about that, so I’m excited about that.

chachacharrrmin

@harrierwife I love everything you are doing!!!! Maybe this is an UO, but I would gladly accept a hand knitted item from a friend or family. I've never actually received one, but I think it's such a thoughtful gift.

@KissMeImScottish I love the wooden signs. There's a place near my house that you can make a sign while sipping wine (kind of like the sip and paint deal). I've always wanted to try.

As much as I love the idea of handmade gifts, I'm not super creative and too much of a procrastinator. The only gift idea I've thought of so far is a WiFi Digital Picture frame for my ILs. They live far from us and I thought it would be nice so that we could upload photos that they could see on the frame.

Question for you ladies - do you have any good stocking stuffer ideas for men? We LOVE filling up our stockings with small, inexpensive and (hopefully) useful things.

ki1244

@wearyfuzzball Hold up, a WiFi picture frame?! I've never heard of such a thing but that sounds fascinating. Yeah, for sure going to have to look that up for the ILs who live halfway across the country. Thanks for the idea!!!

For the men in question...do they dress up for work? I'll pick up little lapel pins or tie tacks for DH for his suits that he has to wear for games when we go places for vacations that are kind of fun for him to wear and remember where they're from. Or games (like Bananagrams or Catch Phrase) that they could play with the family? Or small gift cards for places they go for guys' nights for a drink on you? Just a couple ideas.

runyogamom

@wearyfuzzball I got the majority of MH's stocking stuffers already from uncommongoods.com. Some things were close to $10 but some got pricer. So I only got a couple super useful ones instead of multiple things that he won't use this year. I also usually do his normal stuff like deodorant and shaving gel. And he always gets me a particular expensive shampoo and conditioner that I love. 
I got him a shower beer can holder that sticks on the wall and I'm most excited to give him that because he will be super amused by it.  

We always get a real tree and it makes the house smell fantastic. We just moved this year so depending if we have new living room furniture or not I'm not sure where we will put our tree up yet. I'm kind of anxious about it. 

We're getting DS's pictures done this weekend. It's Christmas themed and he's wearing pj's and I'm super pumped. Picture of the pj's in spolier because I love them. 

chachacharrrmin

@ki1244 I actually had no idea they existed either until my MIL mentioned her friend had one. This is the one I'm currently looking at, however I'm kind of holding off until Black Friday or Cyber Monday to see if I can get a deal on one.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078NQPCTR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_tQj5Bb4DN2H09

Unfortunately, most of the men in my life don't dress up regularly, but I still like the idea of a tie pin for DH for weddings! Also, love the little games idea too, we are such a game family. Thank you very much!

antera23

I really hope I feel up to it this year but, every year i make a crazy amount of cookies and give everyone cookie trays. One of my favorite things to do on thanksgiving weekend is to make lists of all the cookies I want to make and then create shopping lists! 

Here are are some of my favorites. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mini-linzer-cookies-recipe-1941642.amp

https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/snickerdoodles/

https://www.howsweeteats.com/2015/10/double-dark-chocolate-peanut-butter-cup-cookies/

harrierwife

@wearyfuzzball - They say they love them  I try to use nice colors and materials so it doesn't end up in a donation pile!

My MiL is the QUEEN of stocking stuffers - she usually gives MH everything from a scratch-off or two to deodorant/mints/gum, a Swiss Army knife, beef jerky, small Amazon/iTunes giftcards, a car air freshener, etc. All the little things you don't buy yourself. 

@meatballs37 - the mulling spices are so easy to do yourself (or buy and repackage  ) but people lose their minds over it. To me, there's nothing more festive than that on the stove, yannow?

canuckbaby

KissMeImScottish said:

@harrierwife, I’m totally feeling all those ideas. I work at an art studio that makes wooden signs and one of the job perks is that I get to make several a month for free. Which means certain people will definitely be getting those as gifts. LOVING the food ideas - mulling kits, etc. Totally getting behind that.

I know that we are giving our oldest his first bike and the twins will he getting trikes. But I’ve asked everyone to keep gifts to a minimum this year - I talked to my mom about, instead of toys, could she maybe consider doing a membership to a play museum or the aquarium or something, and she was super amped about that, so I’m excited about that.

I love the idea of a membership somewhere! I actually want to steal that idea for my husband and I to get some of our recreation center membership paid for lol. Wonderful idea. We dont have too much cool stuff in our city but could do a zoo membership or for our space science center. Might be a good present for our neice and nephew since we do not have any kids yet.

whitney812

@wearyfuzzball we got the NixPlay frame for my in laws who live out of state and they looove it. My SIL’s both uploaded the app too so they add their own photos to it too 👍🏻

chachacharrrmin

@whitney812 I'm going to look into that one, thank you!

bakerstreetboys

Stocking stuffers are my favourite thing to buy!

Something that I've been buying for the last few years for my parents and other people who don't want more stuff is Gifts of Hope, or something similar.  So a goat, or chickens, mosquito netting, school supplier, etc. in their names for a family in a third world country. 

chrssyms

@antera23 totally agree about the cookies! Every year I usually make so many cookies. I usually stick to our family's traditional cookies that we always make, so I make decorated sugar cookies, snowballs (aka mexican wedding cakes), these oatmeal peanut butter cookies, carmelitas, and then I make a surprise thing. Last year I made a croquembouche! I sustained some burns from the sugar, but it was so fun and everyone loved it. 

I also love decorating for Christmas. I really hope I start to feel more up to that sort of stuff, because it's usually such a fun part of the holidays for me!

luckystar28

@chrssyms So, at risk of sounding absolutely dense, I just have to ask (this being the Christmas thread and all): Is your screen name related to Christmas? 

chrssyms

Ha actually it’s not @luckystar28. It’s a combo of my name and my initials. It’s the same as my college ID name and when I was in college one of my TAs was always looking for a “Chris Sims” and I always wondered who she was talking about. Duh 

whitney812

@chrssyms as a pastry chef I just want to say good job on doing a croquembouche!!! Those babies are time consuming but I loooove them!!!! Maybe I’ll do one for my fam this year. Do you have a pic?

chrssyms

@whitney812 unfortunately I don’t because my husband started eating it basically right after it was assembled so I never got a picture of it! The year before I made a Paris-Brest. I have a pic of that but I forgot to put the almonds on 😝

KissMeImScottish

@chrssyms, oh, I may have to try this this year! That looks amazing and I’m always looking for baking challenges!

antera23

@chrssyms you are amazing!!!

ohheyitsb

I cannot wait to start making christmas cookies! My mom always did peanut butter balls, Italian cookies with icing ( but does like..loafs...so good) and kiss thumbprints so those have been my staples for holiday parties. 

@harrierwife my meme used to knit us slippers every year. She hasn't been able to do it for some time but I still wear them (: 

I actually got my mom and sister/ BIL a hello fresh gift card for 1 week and it was a big hit. They both loved having a break from groceries/ cooking. My sister lives in hawaii (coming home finally this month!) and I didnt want to get her something she would need to worry about shipping home eventually. 

whitney812

Go girl! Looks great @chrssyms

chrssyms

@whitney812 and @antera23 thanks! To be honest, it was actually a lot easier to make than I had thought. The dough is a simple pate a choux which sounds super fancy but it was really pretty simple if you are a regular baker. I recommend it though because you can make eclairs and cream puffs and all sorts of tasty treats! 

Yesterday we had a bunch of friends over for a Friends-Giving. We didn’t make turkey this year and made lasagna instead hah. I threw together a bunch of stuff for a tablescape and it made me so excited to start to think about putting it away and putting Christmas stuff out. We moved into a new house this year so I’m gonna have to plan how to decorate this house on the inside and out! 🤩

antera23

@chrssyms I was surprised at how easy pate a choux was to make! Like you said, it sounds fancy so I always thought it would be super difficult. I still think you are amazing ;-) 

rallykat14

I love all things Christmas.   I usually go over the top with multiple trees of different sizes throughout the house.  I bake at least 4 different kinds of cookies...sometimes more. But I definitely  struggle with the shopping and gift giving.  

chrssyms

So excited! I hung up my first Christmas lights. I've been listening to Xmas music while I take a shower every night for the last couple weeks! I'm excited for next weekend so we can go pick out our Christmas tree!

Erin1510

I literally have no clue what to get my husband. So far I bought him a sweater 😬

Shopping is done for the 4 year old. We do a few stocking stuffers and then the 4 gift Christmas thing to keep it simple and affordable. He also gets gifts from family so we know he’ll be more than happy. 

I also still have to buy to buy for the majority of my family. I’m so uninspired this year!

BlondePeanut

We will def be hanging Christmas lights galore, but my daughter will destroy the tree so we won't be putting one up just yet. I have a whole bunch of snowmen to put around the house and a singing Santa that she loves. We will be watching plenty of Christmas movies....The Santa Clause, Elf, Year Without Santa Clause, The Grinch, etc. They give me all the feels lol. I did most of my shopping earlier in the year during sales, but haven't bought for my daughter or husband yet. We go to family houses for the eve and and day off so I don't have to cook, but I usually bring dessert. Might bake something this year if I am up to it....but lately I have been just getting my cleaning done and foregoing any cooking/baking. Thankfully DH cooks since I work second shift so that is a great help  

ruby696

This will be our first Christmas Eve at home without extended family. Does anyone have any fun traditions that would be good for little kids? We're going to do cookies and pjs and Christmas movies. But I'm imagining an entire fun-filled day, so I need more. 

dntstpbelieveing

@ruby696 I dont remember how old your kids are but when I was a kid we used to drive around and look at other people's Christmas decorations. It was fun to see all of the lights. We actually used to be super dorky and sit in front of the Christmas tree with the house lights off and the tree on and sing Christmas caroles. 

ruby696

@dntstpbelieveing My kids are 4 and 2.5. We will definitely look at Christmas lights. Singing is a good idea too. They love singing.

eleven_

I'm trying to decide if taking my kids to breakfast with Santa at the mall is the best or worst idea I've ever had. 

ruby696

@eleven_ Eh... they will love it and you will not. 😂 But you'll *probably* be glad you did it once it's over. 

harrierwife

@ruby696 - we used to string popcorn garland until my mother thought we made too much of a mess. That tradition ended as quickly as it started and I'm still sad about it. 

I made some last year with dehydrated oranges and my dog loved it.  Just not meant to be for me, I suppose. 

We also made cookies and stayed in our pajamas all day. 

ki1244

@ruby696 My sister and I still (25+ years later) talk about the year my mom instituted Stocking Day on Christmas Eve day -- Mom had wrapped up a bunch of little things (like if it was a doll playset, each doll or accessory was wrapped up separately, along with little things like chapsticks, kazoos, candy, etc.) and filled our stockings with them. Every hour that day from when we woke up until we went to my aunt and uncle's for Christmas Eve dinner, we got to open a present. It probably cost her about $15 for each of us (plus the time to wrap everything) but that was like the most magical Christmas ever. We loooooved it. She only did it the one year, but we still talk about it every Christmas.

On Christmas morning, ever since I can remember, we've had barbecue chips, summer sausage and cheese, and elephant ear pastries. Soooo random, but that's tradition, although I have no idea how it started. About 8 years ago we started adding a bottle of sauvignon blanc to the menu, even though it's breakfast (kind of). No matter where I am, or what time of year it is, barbecue chips are Christmas to me, and a really citrusy sauv blanc is now known in our family as "breakfast wine".

ncm1919

@harrierwife I still do popcorn and cranberries. We also have the huge ceramic old fashioned lights. I’m a purest lol

KissMeImScottish

Bumping this, because I’m starting to really get excited now that everything is starting to get decorated! Made Christmas cookies with the kids last night and started decorating this past weekend and it’s putting me in such a happy mood.

chachacharrrmin

@KissMeImScottish Your home is beautiful!!!!

KissMeImScottish

@wearyfuzzball, thank you! It’s definitely still a work in progress, but I love it. The colors on the chairs and couch bother me right now (I’ve been meaning to slip cover them for the last month or two and just haven’t gotten around to it), but they’ll all be white eventually, which will work better with the walls.

And let’s be honest, everything looks better decorated for the holidays, haha.

meatballs37

@KissMeImScottish  I’m moving in!!