Homemade Gifts

Christmas this year was fab I can't think of ANY presents I didn't like!! Or like giving for that matter. For one reason or another there were a great deal of homemade gifts given.....

The two monsters above were given to my two little monsters!!! Another larger one was given to P made from an old fleece jumper he loved but no longer wore.

I made christmas cakes and orange vodka for friends. In return I got jars of apple chutney and home laid eggs.

P's mum gave us a homemade hamper full of goodies she had baked and knitted us wrist warmers, my mum knitted us scarves and bought me an oldfashioned mixing bowl ( ready to make lots of future home-made goodies)

My brother treated us to a visit to the zoo complete with behind the scenes tips and talk ( he volunteers in the butterfly and bug enclosures).

So lots of homemade goodies and experiences, as well as a camcorder from P to record them all on :)

Have you noticed???

All the christmas stuff creeping into the shops already? Well my daughter has, so its got me thinking I need some kind of plan ready to help xmas go smoothly and as I would like it! I want to get back to the christmases of my childhood, enjoying a few well chosen pressies but not hundreds of commercial nonsense, destined to be thrown on the junk pile by new year :( I want my children to remember the christmas experience and get a warm glow inside in years to come remembering it.

So yesterday I wrote down a long list of THINGS TO DO with the children this Xmas, instead of THINGS TO BUY!! I eventually came up with about 20 odd so this naturally led me on to thinking about turning this into a kind of 1 thing to do a day advent calender. Instead of sweets in the fabric calender this year will be cards with activities to do that day instead. I'll post the list nearer xmas but it ranges from making stuff to xmas walks and dickensian evenings.

Another thing I wanted to do this year was involve the children in the annual christmas charity Operation Christmas Child. It enables families and schools to send christmas pressies ( a decorated shoe box, filled with small thoughtful gifts to needy children around the world).