Christmas belongs to everyone especially the children.  Most of the memories that we treasure for a lifetime are created during childhood.  Help your kids to make memorable moments with edible ornaments.

Edible ornaments are fun to make and even better to eat.  One advantage of these ornaments is that there is less to pack away in containers once the holidays are over.  These ornaments are biodegradable if the kids don’t get to them.

Start with the garland.  Usually we string tinsel and other items that can be harmful to pets and children if they are eaten.  In the early days of Christmas among the settlers, foods like popcorn and nuts were used for garland.  Little treats could be placed on the tree that the kids could eat later. 

Go back to the old ways and have the kids string a few strands of popcorn garland.  Use their favorite popcorn flavors.  You run the risk of more popcorn being eaten than strung but it is a chance you will have to take.  Actually, stale popcorn is easier to string than freshly popped.  Leave a bag or two of microwave popcorn sitting for a day or two and then begin decorating.  Read more...

Every family has its favorite dishes for the holidays, traditions that have been passed down year after year.  Maybe it is time to spice things up and introduce some new recipes or at least make some variations to some favorites.

It’s a good idea to incorporate family favorites from your spouse’s family (if you can get them to share the recipes), especially if you can’t get together with that side of the family. Here are a few different ideas to help you find your own groove this holiday season.

Appetizers – Why not have a few appetizers set out, so people can snack while dinner is finishing up?  Set out some healthy things to munch on, like fruit and veggies or cheese and crackers.  It’s easy to set up a nice tray; even just a foil lined pizza pan covered in clear plastic with Christmas designs on it can dress up the table.  Read more...

When most people think about the holidays, they associate them with joy, cheer, and togetherness.  However, for some people, the holidays may be draining and even depressing.  This is even harder when everything around you is focused on happiness.  The good news is, you don’t have to just accept the holiday blues.  Here are some great ways to overcome them and bring back your holiday cheer.

If your family is far away or no longer with you, loneliness can be a big cause of your feelings.  If you can’t be with the ones you love on the holidays, that doesn’t mean you need to be alone.  You can find people from work or school who are far away from home and invite them to enjoy a holiday meal.  You could also volunteer at a nursing home, homeless shelter, or hospital.  Not only will you find people to be around, you also get the joy of helping others feel better on the holidays.  Read more...

Everyone loves getting gifts that come from the heart.  What shows this better than gifts made by hand?  While this may make some people panic at the thought of trying to make something arts and crafts, it really isn’t that hard to make a nice gift for someone.

An excellent gift for a new bride in the family would be a cookbook of all the family favorites.  Add some stories and maybe old photos of family gatherings to go along with the recipes.  Put together some dry mixes of some of the recipes to get her started.  Wrap it in a nice apron, maybe even one that belonged to a relative.

For kids, a great gift that can be added to is a Dress Up Kit. Get an old suitcase or two and fill it with old clothes that you don’t wear anymore.  Include hats and shoes. Now and then, add more items to the box. Ask other relatives to contribute to it as well. If you have pictures of family members wearing the clothes, print them out and decoupage them on the outside of the suitcase and then coat with a clear finish.  Read more...

Holidays are a great way to bring your family together. Memories will be made for your children. Start planning your family get together now with these tips.

1. Plan your meal – Don’t wait until the week before Thanksgiving to decide what your Thanksgiving dinner will include. Start planning today.

What kind of meats will you prepare? Will everyone eat the same meat, or should you cook a couple of different kinds of meat? What sides and desserts will you fix? Planning a family dinner can be taxing if you’re not careful. Be sure to plan for everyone so that nobody will go without something they love to eat.

2. Share the cooking – Don’t try to cook the entire dinner by yourself. Ask different family members to bring something with them. Good cooks love to share their food and recipes. They’ll love cooking and bringing their favorite dishes for the family meal.  Read more...

When people think of Thanksgiving, most remember the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians at Plymouth Rock.  The Pilgrims first arrived in America on December 11, 1620, not prepared for the winter they were to face.  Out of the 102 who arrived on the Mayflower, forty-six of the people died during the first few months.  Despite the devastation, they had a good harvest, partly in thanks to the Indians who lived nearby. 

They had a traditional British Harvest Feast in thanks to God for surviving and the blessings of provisions that would see them through the winter.  In contrast to our modern Thanksgiving menu, they actually had more meat than vegetables, including venison, fish and wild foul, which may or may not have actually been turkey.  They probably didn’t have much in the way of desserts, as they didn’t have a lot of flour or sugar on hand.  They probably had some fruits and corn.  Instead of pumpkin pie, they probably had boiled pumpkin.  The first Thanksgiving feast lasted for three days.  Read more...

There is nothing more special than to hang a Thanksgiving wreath on your front door.  It is inviting as well as pleasing to the eye.  For this Thanksgiving, why not involve your entire family in the craft of making a Thanksgiving wreath?  Here are some suggestions.

Having ventured out to various stores, Thanksgiving items are already being displayed.  One store had a beautiful wreath made of grapevine with fall-colored leaves attached.  Although the leaves were plastic, it was a simple, yet elegant wreath.  The more one looked at it, the more it seemed it could be spruced up by adding additional items such as berries, nuts, or perhaps a small pumpkin in the center.

Another wreath was quite impressive.  This one used the basic grapevine, but the leaves were freshly picked and dried, then glued to the vine.  In addition, there were feathers and beautiful red and green checked fabric which was used to tie berry branches to the vine as well.   Read more...