Christmas Craftalong

Crafty Shenanigans Craftalongs
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They really do. Stupid mice.

I had mapped out a yarn one to be a christmas tree wall hanging (knit or crochet) with little ornaments mixed with treats to be pulled from pockets. I might still try that image but the yarn was all tossed so it would be a buy-stuff- to- make project. I toy with the idea of sewing a simple something to use some of the otherwise unnecessary fabric stash. And the third idea is a string of little stockings that hold notes for seasonal activities and treats.

I’m a great “Ideas Gal” not always so keen on the “doing” part. Lol

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I’ve always wanted to do one of those matchbox advent calendars…I even bought a buttload of matchboxes…I get started and then get overwhelmed…if I did a few a week starting in January, I might get it done…

I saw a cute idea of using an empty candy box…just have to decorate the box and then you number the spaces where the candy goes…but, I’d have to eat all the candy first… :joy:

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My Auntie gave us a wooden box with 26 wee drawers, I glued on numbered pinback buttons to them & we’ve filled them with chocolate in the past for the kids to have each day. Now they’re older, I could put dollar coins in there. Not sure what else they’d like, the fussy monkies.

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Rackycoo had a really cool one for her grown daughters…I wish I could remember all the cool things she put in them…

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I’m trying to figure out what to put in the wooden one I made, for Ada this year. She can’t really have candy, or very small toys yet….

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I will come back to the countdown calendar convo, but I wanted to put this here while I’m obsessed with it- @LovelyMiss made these baskets and they are so cool and oerfect for this -along.
@LovelyMiss you should totally put all your holiday makes in this thread, too!

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Thank you so much, @AntBee ! I’ll totally share projects here! I have a bunch of holiday crafting planned and love this craftalong idea to stay inspired. Thanks for tagging me and all of your kindness!

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What about small gummy fruit chews? Or small fruit like grapes? Or little elastic bracelets or soft hair ties/barrettes? I’m sorry I forgot her age!

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I’ve loved this store https://www.bellalunatoys.com/collections/waldorf-toys-for-1-year-olds

You could take a set of something like stacking blocks and put the smallest pieces into the calendar boxes or something.

I can’t remember how large the boxes are, but target had adorable smaller bath toys that could be fun, too.

Party favor sized Bubbles that you hold the wand and bottle to blow them for her

Finger puppets for old mcdonald or a nursery rhyme like Goldilocks that you wear to sing the song/say the rhyme

If the boxes are large enough one of the tiny holiday board books

Does she use a pacifier? Some of those

Does she eat Puffs or cereal for snack? Some of those in a baggie or muffin cup might fit

A doggy treat to give to her bestie

She’s young enough not to be selfish. You could also divide the boxes up by 4 and do a treat for each one of you in them so you only have to come up with 6 baby friendly ones. Ada could get to be the one to discover who it is for that day and be the Very Special Delivery Person.
6 dog bones
6 daddy treats with matching stickers as address labels
6 Mommy treats with a different label
6 Ada pressies to keep

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I love the idea of a family sharing advent calendar! Almost made me cry picturing it…

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The family sharing calendar is also a great idea!

As for toys for very young kids - if she has any interest in something like Duplo already, maybe get a box of that and take it apart, so there’s a new part every day? Or a similar toy that you can divide up into many different pieces, that are playable by themselves but will be one big “thing” by the end. Not lots of little toys that may not be that useful. I don’t have kids so I’m not sure about what’s on the market these days.

I was thinking of Duplo because I recently bought this Duplo Number Train https://www.lego.com/en-nl/product/number-train-10558 for a friend’s kid who (I think) is roughly the same age as Ada. She’s of course way too young for counting, but right now she’s going through the “fiddling with wheels” stage and she likes dogs as well. Later on the colours and numbers will start to mean something to her and she’ll start to build things, but it’s already fun now because it has wheels. Something like this could easily be divided up in a few smaller gifts.

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Tegu blocks (wooden blocks with magnets embedded in them) were a big hit with my kids at that age, and with my nieces and nephews. They’re a little pricey, but well-made. A larger set could be broken up to give one at a time.

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You guys are so great. I love these ideas.

LOL. No worries! She’s just turned 18 months, and everything goes in her mouth. We can’t let her get ahold of her hair elastics, because she’ll eat them. But I’m now wondering if I can do some of her snacks in little portions…

That was actually the hope/plan when I made it. I made it when I was pregnant, but still terribly worried about losing the pregnancy. I imagined my kiddo having the memory of growing up with it every year, but also of being able to hide something for each of us in it, so she could be part of the gifting, not just the receiving.

Controversial Confession for which I’m asking to not be attacked: I’m not going to do Santa with Ada. We are so, so fortunate. Both Jim & I are very ‘I don’t need much’ kinda people. If it’s something we want, we generally just buy it, but neither of us are excessive, so it’s never been a problem. I generally buy him a couple small Christmas gifts, things like tee shirts he might like, or that new D&D Art book. We make a small Amazon wishlist for his family, because they refuse to not buy gifts for us, so if I don’t give them guidance, they go Rogue and buy crazy crap I have to throw out later. (Don’t get me started on the Yiddish Word A Day Calendar debacle.) I know her aunties and grandparents are going to buy Ada gifts at Christmas, and that’s fine. It’s fun to give gifts, especially to children.

But I want her to grow up helping me making handmade/homemade things for our friends and family, and focusing on the giving rather than the receiving. Enjoying making Christmas cookies with Mama, then dropping them off at Auntie Missa’s house. Growing up, mom had us pick out 1 or 2 names off the Angel Tree at the grocery store every year, then pick out gifts for that kids interests. I plan to do the same with her. I want Ada to know that Santa might not be a single person, but he is a spirit of giving and generosity, and that being in on the truth, means that she gets to BE that magical spirit.

Everyone who I’ve mentioned this to has either said I’m depriving her of that magic (which I don’t feel I am, I want to help her feel like part of the magic), or that I better make sure she doesn’t ruin it for everyone else. As if children live to destroy each other’s happiness. This little girl has such a loving little heart already, she’s not destroying anyone’s anything. (I guess there is a third opinion; my wonderful MIL told me that I shouldn’t apologize, and that I get to do whatever I see best for my daughter, and that she’ll support anything I tell Ada. I love my MIL.) I also want her to know that her mom will always tell her the truth, be it about Santa, or harder questions later, like about drugs or sex.

Going to look into those now!

Finally, you guys all got me thinking. I bought a fabric panel to make her some mermaid dolls at a local fabric store during the Midwest Meetup. There are 3 dolls, about 16" each, with tie-waisted mermaid tails, and each one has a little purse/bag with a pet of their own in it. Maybe I could put the pets and accessories in the drawers, so when she opens her dolls on Christmas, she has a little wardrobe for them already!

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Beautifully expressed… :heart:

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To each their own I guess but I never did santa with either kid. My pet peeve of all time is dishonesty. When young, I was outraged when I found out everybody everywhere was a great big liar about stupid santa. I never got over it, to be honest. That casual lying. It’s outrageous.
Good for you.

Also, a yearly ornament for the tree made just for her?

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We didn’t do Santa with DJ, but be forewarned…Santa is a force bigger than you. It’s a cultural phenomenon. Be prepared for strangers to ask her randomly, “What are you asking for Christmas from Santa?” I just rolled with a lot of it because I do not need to justify my parenting decisions to Earl at Dunkin Donuts. Same goes for Easter Bunny, tooth fairy, etc.

I planned to do the same with the girls, but they flat out told me I’m wrong and Santa is real. We do elf on the shelf now. HA. Jokes on me I guess.

You do have to have the discussion that other people DO believe and not to ruin it for them. Children in innocence will spill the beans. And if you have a little Hermione on your hands, she might love to tell people when they are wrong, LOL! It’s an easy discussion to have, though. Our Muslim friends are used to it!

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While I never had a problem with it, my brother did NOT handle it well. In his mind, if Santa was magic, Santa had the ability to snap his fingers and give Joe every single toy he wanted. It was very transactional. I was good, so you OWE me ALL the things. When he found out he screamed at my parents, and wouldn’t talk to them for days. He insisted THEY were lying, and that Santa was clearly real, and they just didn’t want to… compete with Santa for his love?

I definitely remember him screaming that they just wanted credit for the things Santa did. I feel like this is so much a part of his personality to this day…

No worries, part of my talk about HER getting to be part of the magic, is explaining she has to keep the secret, like a big girl, to be part of it.

Also you guys wanna know how old Ada is? Ada is ‘just stripped out of her pajamas in her crib when she was supposed to be napping’ old.

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We do both Hanukkah and Christmas. Honestly, I love Hanukkah more. It’s low key. My son loves getting the funky pair of socks or the slippers that match Dad’s or something else that he could actually use, but has a fun twist to it. Christmas has the capital OBLIGATIONS.

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I think the spirit of thinking about others is the message everyone wants to convey. I hate the capitalist parts of it and how not getting all the things made some kids ashamed, angry, hurt,etc. etc.

My parents instilled in us that there were lots of people in the world who celebrated holidays in different ways and we were to respect that and learn all we could. Finding the commonality was fun for us. My dad told us that we should keep this spirit of caring all the time as much as we could, but that during the Christmas season it was even more special and a reminder.

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Saint Nicholas of Myra was a real person. His story is worth sharing as he was truly selfless and generous, giving his family fortune to those who were in need, and devoting his life to serve others. My kids believe in Santa because he was very real and his spirit of giving was so powerful that it has survived hundreds of years and inspired millions of people to be generous. Sure, it’s become quite the embellished legend, but the spirit is very real. We also encourage our kids to act in the spirit of Saint Nicholas and give generously year round, and especially around Christmas time. Not saying you have to push the mythos, but the history is inspiring. My DS2 is, in part, named for him.

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