7th Annual Christmas Thread

[gracie1]

I just taped up the last box to send up North for Christmas While DH is working tomorrow I may do applesauce ornaments just to keep myself busy. To get into the mood... listening to Christmas music, burning holiday scented candles, watching holiday shows and spending tons of time on site. Visiting the resorts, eating the holiday special foods... Good luck to all in finishing up on time

What are applesauce ornaments?

 

[4 Ears]

They are simply applesauce and cinnamon. There are several different recipes. I use the (1) cup of cinnamon and 3/4 cup of applesauce.
Yup, that's it! Some people use glue (don't need to) and some put nutmeg and/or glitter in.
If you look on pintrest you will find many options.
Mix it up (fold it in together), roll it out, take cookie cutters to it then you can air dry or bake. Bake at 225 for a couple of hours. Let cool.. Oh oops, use a straw or something to make a hole for the ribbon before cooking and wahlah.
They smell wonderful!! I put in zip lock bags and as long as you or the receiver stores ornaments in the baggie the smell will last for YEARS!
I would also advise to NOT use store brand applesauce, too watery...
Oh and I just use the $ store cinnamon. I would say buy 2 or 3 because 1 will make 1 batch. Depending on size of cookie cutters 10, 12, 14.
***DO NOT EAT***

 

[tiff211]

I've traveled every Christmas to my parents since I adopted DD14 13 years ago. Here's how I handled it once DD was past her very early years and could stand a bit of delayed gratification: I setup all the Santa gifts under the tree one evening ahead of our trip after she was asleep, and took a picture of it all. I then put it away again, staged somewhere nearby but where she wouldn't find them. Then, on the day we left, I would put DD out in the car, get her all buckled up and settled in, then say "Oh wait! I forgot to do <fill in the blank> - stay here one sec and watch everything while I take care of that!". I'd then run back in the house, QUICKLY pull everything out and put it back under the tree, arranged the same way as in the picture - it amazing how fast you can do this when you have to . I'd then print out a copy of the picture, and have Santa leave it on the tree at my parents along with a note saying "Didn't want your Mom to have to struggle to get these home - so this is what is waiting for you there!" (I would leave some gifts unwrapped, so she could possibly spy some of what she got; others were wrapped.) Santa would leave just a stocking filled with some great stuff there at my parents, and sometimes one or two smaller gifts under the tree (all of which could safely fit in a carry on suitcase - I've had the airlines lose my luggage at Christmas too many times, so I don't risk checking her gifts - clothes are fine, we can be dressed in whatever, but not gifts! Shipping ahead can be problematic too, as I learned one year when our flight and all flights for the next two days were cancelled because of a major storm, leaving us 2000 miles away from the gifts - so carry on only!).

This method actually helped our Christmas some, because we exchange presents with my family on Christmas Eve plus we exchange gifts with family friends at a large gathering on Christmas day. DD gets tons of gifts between those two events, so when she received Santa gifts on Christmas morning too, it was a recipe for extreme overload and that would usually lead to a meltdown on Christmas Day sometime. By delaying the Santa gifts, things were more spread out so there wasn't so much overload, plus she had a reason to look forward to going home!

To this day, she has no clue how I pulled it all off She loved it all, and never felt cheated.

Now that she's in on the Santa secret, we just do Santa under-the-tree gifts the weekend before we leave. She likes being able to brag to her friends at school that she got her stuff early Santa still brings a stocking to my mother's on Christmas (dad died a few years ago ), filled with lots of great stuff - I do an AMAZING stocking, if I do say so myself! - she really looks forward to that, and it seems to give her (and me) the sense of tradition for Christmas morning that we all want!

Responding very late but I love this idea! I am a last minute wrapper so I better get on the ball.

 

[gracie1]

They are simply applesauce and cinnamon. There are several different recipes. I use the (1) cup of cinnamon and 3/4 cup of applesauce. Yup, that's it! Some people use glue (don't need to) and some put nutmeg and/or glitter in. If you look on pintrest you will find many options. Mix it up (fold it in together), roll it out, take cookie cutters to it then you can air dry or bake. Bake at 225 for a couple of hours. Let cool.. Oh oops, use a straw or something to make a hole for the ribbon before cooking and wahlah. They smell wonderful!! I put in zip lock bags and as long as you or the receiver stores ornaments in the baggie the smell will last for YEARS! I would also advise to NOT use store brand applesauce, too watery... Oh and I just use the $ store cinnamon. I would say buy 2 or 3 because 1 will make 1 batch. Depending on size of cookie cutters 10, 12, 14. ***DO NOT EAT***

Thanks! I think I might try this! If not this year definitely next year!!

 

[kkmcan]

Almost done shopping! Just need to pick up a set of those Dancing water speakers (anyone know of a deal?), an external hard drive for sons Xbox, a $25 gc for each of my kids, maybe one for the hubs and that's it! Oh and some scratcher tickets for the stockings.

Now I've got a mountain of stuff to wrap. Ugh! I mostly do all the wrapping. Kids can help with dads, grandparents and cousins gifts and the dogs gifts. The rest I do. I need to set up on the kitchen counter since its high enough I won't hurt my back leaning over.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I am dreading the mountains of gifts to wrap!!!! Also, I am not even 100% sure of all of the locations we have hidden stuff at this point, lol!!!

Gotta get cracking!!!

 

[gracie1]

Almost done shopping! Just need to pick up a set of those Dancing water speakers (anyone know of a deal?), an external hard drive for sons Xbox, a $25 gc for each of my kids, maybe one for the hubs and that's it! Oh and some scratcher tickets for the stockings.

Now I've got a mountain of stuff to wrap. Ugh! I mostly do all the wrapping. Kids can help with dads, grandparents and cousins gifts and the dogs gifts. The rest I do. I need to set up on the kitchen counter since its high enough I won't hurt my back leaning over.

That's the worst part about gift wrapping! I normally wrap mine on the floor, so either my back is killing me or my knees where I lean on them

 

[bas71873]

Now I've got a mountain of stuff to wrap. Ugh! I mostly do all the wrapping. Kids can help with dads, grandparents and cousins gifts and the dogs gifts. The rest I do. I need to set up on the kitchen counter since its high enough I won't hurt my back leaning over.

That's the worst part about gift wrapping! I normally wrap mine on the floor, so either my back is killing me or my knees where I lean on them

I'm usually in the sore back (and butt) club too when it comes to wrapping. This year, I set up a table in my bedroom and wrapped there. SOOO much easier and I wasn't sore at all!

 

[RainSW6]

My mom had five kids and always smartly didn't wrap any of the 'Santa' gifts. Those were just placed directly under the tree after we were in bed on Christmas Eve, and only the gifts from 'Mom and Dad' were wrapped. So that's what I do with my boys now, and it's definitely a time saver! I actually enjoy wrapping presents, but it just takes too long when there's already so much else to do.

Plus it saves on wrapping paper, lol.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Our attic is finished, and I set up a table there with all my supplies right next to it. Then I leave the wrapped gifts in the attic (we have kittles that would destroy all wrapping if we left them under the tree). Christmas Eve I move the covered bins filled with gifts to the living room, and Christmas morning I make a display before ds is allowed in. It's more for me than him at this point but it worked well when he was small, too. I also have never wrapped the gifts from Santa. Of course I wanted all the credit -- so Santa brings big, unwieldy gifts that are pre-assembled, like a castle or a bike. Expensive electronics are from mom & dad

I am really in the home stretch. Just a few more gifts to wrap, letters to write to go into cards for the few older relatives who don't do FB, and baking and candymaking. I just make fudge, but it's my specialty so it takes a few days to get all the batches done. It's what we take everywhere.

My out of town company arrives Thursday and will be here until January 14th. We are so lucky, my dad and his wife stay with our ds while we go do WDW races. So it's a long visit, but they are retired and so it works out great.

Hard to believe it will be Christmas in 10 days!!

Maria

 

[AZMermaid]

I am jealous of your wrapping station! My gifts and presents are in the closet in the playroom (my kids are young and don't know enough to peek- probably last year for that!). I pull a few out every time I get the whim to wrap and do it in front of the TV after they go to bed. I set them out under the tree as I go, but I make sure I set the equal number for each kid at a time. I am pretty sure they have they same number of gifts, but this is my way of making sure! I have 1-2 more nights of wrapping to go. I am waiting for one last box from American Girl that should arrive today or tomorrow and then I can finish.

 

[lyncecelia]

So I stayed up until 2:30 this morning finishing up our baking last night, and wrapped about 40 presents today to be shipped out with the cookies. We shipped 10 boxes in all! That was insane lol. I just want to lay down, watch a Christmas movie, and try to actually feel in the Christmas spirit...our tree isn't decorated yet, and I just feel blah

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

I can't believe Christmas is next week! I am NOT ready!

 

[gracie1]

I cannot believe Christmas is next week either! I am just getting in the Christmas spirit!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

So I stayed up until 2:30 this morning finishing up our baking last night, and wrapped about 40 presents today to be shipped out with the cookies. We shipped 10 boxes in all! That was insane lol. I just want to lay down, watch a Christmas movie, and try to actually feel in the Christmas spirit...our tree isn't decorated yet, and I just feel blah

You earned a day to relax and get your Christmas spirit back! That was a Herculean effort -- now enjoy a nice movie, have a hot cocoa, and feel the sense of accomplishment because you killed it!

Maria

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

1 week!

 

[gracie1]

1 week!

Finished shopping today! Yay!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Are any of you not getting notifications from this thread? It keeps happening to me!! Not sure why! Have to shop for my nephew tomorrow...had been waiting on his mom to answer some gift questions and can finally get him checked off the list! Need to get stocking candy and I will be finished tomorrow! Well, am shopping for one last thing while I will be out for my mom, but other than that I am saying I am finished!! Cant believe we are ONE week out!!

 

[bas71873]

Are any of you not getting notifications from this thread? It keeps happening to me!! Not sure why! Have to shop for my nephew tomorrow...had been waiting on his mom to answer some gift questions and can finally get him checked off the list! Need to get stocking candy and I will be finished tomorrow! Well, am shopping for one last thing while I will be out for my mom, but other than that I am saying I am finished!
! Cant believe we are ONE week out!!

I don't get notifications anymore from ANY threads. I have to manually go into my CP and click "list subscriptions" and just see any updates from there. For me it's been that way for a while and I've reported it on the "technical" board, but I'm convinced no one monitors that!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I don't get them from any other ones either...but right now this is the only one I am checking... I have to go to it the same way you do! Not sure what's going on...