Holiday Hoopla...the good, the bad and the ugly...share stories, ideas, recipes etc

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

I'll try the orange peels lol...but rotten apples? Ah, no kidding they don't like the smell! Neither do I!!! lol

Thanks

[Malrothien 6]

My cat climbed on the real tree once - she knocked it over and that was enough. Our other cat likes to eat anything green - I swear she's part vegetarian. I put out a glass with parsley in it and woke up the next morning to find it all over the kitchen table (was a decoration).

[Marilyn. 340]

so we finished with our tree today...

I bought some blue and white snowflake ribbon to use as garland.. hubby says that makes the tree look better then it has.. not that it looked horrible before ..lol

I also bought our annual ornaments for our two babies.. this year I bought a blue sparkly wooden snowflake for Katelyn and a colourful airplane for Noah..

next year the hubby said we will probably need to get a tree just for their ornaments...

I couldn't even put all our ornaments on the tree because I have so many.. I am going to try really hard not to buy anymore this year ..lol but I will gladly accept ornaments people want to buy for me

I also bought my first little house for my Christmas Village I want to start.. it is a lighthouse...

Edited November 29, 2009 by Marilyn.

[Marilyn. 340]

I am feeling a tad bit guilty for not going to Canada for Christmas...

but as selfish as it sounds I wanted this Christmas to be about me and what I want to do... and yes I would love to see my family I just don't like the idea of traveling all that way etc... and I just talked to my dad yesterday and he said he wants to take 3 weeks off next summer so maybe we will go up to Canada then.. my hubby has never been to Canada in the summer anyways...

my family is making me feel way guilty though for not coming for Christmas.. mainly my SIL...

the past Christmases have kind of sucked.. although the last Christmas was nice because I got to meet my nephew but everything we did was decided by my SIL

so this December is packed full of a lot of things I have always wanted to do around Christmas...

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I've just had a chance to read this thread! It's wonderful!

ScooterMac - I love the idea of Uncle Jake and Aunt Edna. In our house it was always Santa Claus who gave the desired fun gifts or the practical gifts that needed giving:-). We always put out Christmas Stockings and they were filled by Santa overnight. The routine was that you were allowed to open your stocking when you got up in the morning - and stockings usually overflowed into some gifts that were too big to be in the stocking so it was pretty cool. Mom and Dad always had to have their coffee and we had to have our breakfast before we were allowed to open any of the other gifts so when I was really young I learned how to make coffee! I would then get a bowl of cereal for my brother and myself, we would eat that and I would then take up the two cups of coffee to my parents - at 4 am! hehehehe Eventually it made it to 6 am, but I continued the tradition right up to the last Christmas before my Mom died 6 years ago. I'm glad I had the chance to spend a last Christmas with her.

Joe and I alternated between his family in Texas and mine in Ontario the first years we were married. Most of his family don't celebrate Christmas (it is against their version of Christianity, apparently) but his mother and his daughter do so we would do Christmas with them and just visit the rest of the family. The last few years we have remained in Georgia to have Christmas on our own and will do that again this year,.

We just got back from a week in Texas to spend Thanksgiving with Joe's family. We had hoped to see his daughter and her family this time but it was not to be as they were struck with car trouble and pet problems the day they were to drive down from Dallas to Houston. We spent Thanksgiving with his 86 year old Mom and his sister and her family (son and grandson and inlaws). It was a great Thanksgiving. We also had the opportunity to meet up with another VJer when we were in the Houston area - TBoneTX and his wife met up with Joe and me for coffee Wednesday afternoon. It was a great visit and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting them (super nice people!) and hope we will be able to meet again when we are next in Houston.

Poprocks, with your Christmas tree, please don't use tinsel - the metallic kind. It gets caught up on cats' fur and they can start to chew it (once a cat starts to chew a piece of string or tinsel it can't stop and needs someone's help to pull it out of their mouths). Tinsel that is swallowed can be fatal - it literally cuts the intestines into bits and the cat dies of peritonitis or else endures a very expensive surgery with a poor prognosis - so don't put up tinsel on your tree.

We always had to wire the tree to the wall during Christmas - we put two hooks into the sides of a corner wall and then literally wired the tree to the wall. That way the cats were not able to knock it over. They loved to try and climb it when it was first up and they always pretended to be presents by finding a place to snuggle up and sleep under the tree. We never had a problem with them trying to eat it, though and I doubt you will either - the taste is generally too strong.

A neat craft idea you can do with your young son, while supervised, is to make tinplate stars and moon ornaments. Take a tin plate and cut out stars and moon shapes - or any other shapes you want. Then, with a 2" nail he can punch holes into the tinplate (use a padded surface). Tie a string onto one of the holes near the edge and then you can hang them on the tree. The lights shine through the holes and they reflect very nicely. The tin plates are more durable than tinfoil.

Also, you can make gingerbread cookies in the shapes of stars and men and bells and things. He can help you with the cookie cutters and decorate them by 'painting' them with icing, sparkles, and raisins. The icing holds the sparkles and raisins in place and if you make a hole in the gingerbread at the top before you bake them you can then string them up and hang them on the tree.

Paper chains are also another good Christmas craft. You cut the strips about 3 or 4 " long, use a gluestick to put glue on one end, then attach the ends, looping the paper through another completed ring. He can also decorate the paper strips with sparkles (put glue on the strip and sprinkle sparkles over top) before he glues them together.

I've a great recipe for no bake Cherry surprises (a type of cookie) that my Mom used to help us make for Christmas. You could have him help you make those as well - they are really easy and very tasty. I'll include the recipe in the Holiday Recipe thread.

Edited November 29, 2009 by Kathryn41

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Just to let everyone know I moved Peachy's Shortbread cookies recipe to the Holiday Recipe thread. There is still a post with it copied in it in this thread too.

[Marilyn. 340]

ok so I know a lot of people don't like listening to Christmas Carols but I love them...

but I like the classics sung by Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole etc...

right now I found the perfect station for me on Pandora Radio

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I love listening to Christmas Carols in the weeks leading up to Christmas - the classics especially are great! And I love to watch all the Christmas specials, especially the cartoons, and the old movies like White Christmas and Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34th Street, the various versions and take-offs on a Christmas Carol, etc.

[Krikit 1,163]

Very entertaining thread. Thank you.

ps. I'm also looking for x-mas craft ideas for my son...if anyone has suggestions

Every year my friends and I would go up to the cottage and I would force them to make crafts whether they wanted to or not. One year we made clothespin ornaments. We made them with the loops so you could hang them on the tree. You can also glue an upside down clothespin to the back of another which is rightside up so that it appears to have legs.

My dad used to work at the Four Seasons in Toronto in the 60's and 70's as an in house hair stylist...he did people like Natalie Wood, Eva Gabor and others...he also has autographed photos...

That's so cool!

We get presents from "Aunt Edna" and "Uncle Jake".

That is AWESOME.

Well, we are just back from Thanksgiving with the inlaws. I hated it, as usual. Oh well. At least we won't be there for Christmas. bah

[Varba 0]

Well, we are just back from Thanksgiving with the inlaws. I hated it, as usual. Oh well. At least we won't be there for Christmas. bah

I'm new to this hating holidays thing, as prior to this they were always fun and festive.

I agree with you. BAH.

[Peachey 10]

But you like my family...

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

I love Christmas music! Especially the old crooner kind or carols!

We are going to get a real tree this year. I'm kinda bummed...I had bought a gorgeous 7.5ft tall pre-lit tree from Costco two years ago...paid like $200 for it...well, when I sold my house, I rented a condo prior to miving and only had a storage locker...I gave a lot of things away and had no room for the tree to store...now I regret getting rid of it...I gave it away i'm now seeing trees at Target for like $250!!! My husband is not so big on all this xmas decor stuff, so he does not feel like spending the money, and I don't blame him...He's the only one who works between the two of us, so when he makes a decision, I feel guilty just going and getting it...so real tree it is...

Katheryn...thanks for the tips on tree decor...i'm learning so much with my new kitty we've actually had a good few days, and i've given him plenty of love I actually still have all my old xmas tree decor stuff...and most of it is ribbon and glass balls etc...no tinsel....so I think we are ok....now to just make sure he doesn't eat the tree lol...we bought an organic spray, for when he does eat the tree and gets sick...we can use that to clean with...I hate harsh chemicals.

all my decorations for the tree are a creamy off white...so I need to buy why lights for the tree now...

My mom is driving down on the 24th with her boyfriend, so it made the decision easy, to stay here for xmas....my ex-husband is working through xmas, so it also made the visitation easy with my son...we'll just go up and see him right after xmas...and I guess we'll split the holidays next year.

[Marilyn. 340]

our tree...

this is the ornament I bought for Noah this year...

and this is the one I bought for Katelyn

I got a set of 4 of these from my SIL last year.. she had them up as decorations and I commented on how cute they were and she said, "here have them" ...lol

[darkchilde794 5]

This would be the first Christmas we will have as a married couple. Im really, really excited. We've decided that we will do the Christmas/New Year in rotation, spend it in Maryland this year and in Toronto next year, etc.

We originally had not planned to decorate the house for Christmas, cause we were going to stay with my in-laws. But my MIL had this great idea of getting everyone of our guest to bring a small ornament as a tiny token gift during our wedding, so now we own a lot of tree ornaments that we just have to hang

So my plan is, next weekend, we'll cut a tree up and spend the afternoon/evening getting it ready. We'll go to the local AMC before noon and watch Christmas Carol for 6 bucks each , bake some Christmas cookies, make dinner and play Christmas songs!

This year's Christmas will actually be in my MIL's house and since we've done parties together (well she's done them and Ill stay over to help out), I know its gonna be fun. I think Ill actually stay the day before and the day of the event to help her get ready and since the party will have overflowing booze, we'll prolly stay the night of as well

The only wrinkle to this wonderful, festive, holiday plan is the future WIL. Man, have I told you guys how much she hates me? Well, she hates me. Like HATES me. She never RSPV'd for my wedding and just showed up, all in black. She didnt even say, "Congratulations", just exchanged an obligatory semi-hug with me, ignored my ENTIRE family (even though my mom was being really friendly with her), and walked around like a basket case the entire event. I almost wanted to go up to her and say, "Who died?", cause man, was she one sad puppy on the happiest day of my life And on my reception, she basically was super 100% fawning over my husband's cousins and basically ignored me Biaaaatch.

So we will see what she does in the weeks coming up... it will definitely be interesting

[Sprailenes 47]

I don't know why, but Christmas just tells me to spend way more money than I should.

This year I have taken cash out and distributed it into envelopes with peoples names on it. I have an envelope for decorations, baking, and presents for different people. Last Christmas I got a shock when I looked at my statements. I tend to get carried away and I'll be the first to admit that I am terrible with money, so I am trying to be responsible this year.

I spent all my baking money last night though... so I really just want to take some money from someone elses envelope...

But I won't.