Here are some great Christmas ideas!
Crafts, Baking, Traditions....

SUPPLY LIST:
*Pipe Cleaners
*Tri-beads
*Wire Cutters/pliers
DIRECTIONS:
Cut a pipe cleaner in half. Bend the one end so that the beads cannot slide off.
Slide the beads on the other end of the pipe cleaner. Bend the other end of the pipe cleaner so the beads cannot slide off. Bend the beaded pipe cleaner to the shape of a cane.
~sasansom
We made some candy canes using some stiff wire and some red and white beads. Just bend the ends down so the beads won't fall off and form into a candy cane shape. This is good for learning patterns and coordination.
~elemessa

Although holiday cards usually are intended for the whole family, often only the one who opens the mail sees them. Try saving the cards each day and opening them together at your family meal. Besides sharing the goodwill of the season, kids will jump at the chance to open mail and young readers will enjoy showing off their new skills.
~tipomatic.com(elkayem)

Christmas calendar chain
You will need:
writing paper, about 6" by 6"
construction paper, red and green
crayons, markers, glitter, etc.
scissors
glue or paste
pencil or pen
*In your best handwriting, copy this poem below onto a sheet of writing paper. Try to fit it neatly onto a 6-inch square sheet:

December first until Christmas
Is the longest time of the year.
It seems as though old Santa
Never will appear.
How many days until Christmas?
It's mighty hard to count.
So this little chain on links
Will tell you the exact amount.

*Now draw a bell or star on construction paper.Use what ever color you like. Make it about 8-inches by 8-inches -- or a little larger than the sheet with the poem.
*Cut out your bell or star.
*Decorate all around the edges with markers, crayons, glitter, etc. Leave the center free so that the poem can be glued there.
*When the glue from your decorating is dry, glue the poem neatly in the center.
Next make a chain. Cut red and green construction paper into 1-inch by 8-inch strips.
Form one strip into a ring and glue it closed.
Slip a second strip through the ring and glue it closed.
Continue in this way to make your chain.
You will need 24 links (rings) in your chain. One for each day until Christmas.
Make a pretty pattern -- 2 red, 2 green, 2 red, 2 green -- or you might want to alternate the colors.
*Attach the completed chain to the bottom of your bell or star.
Hang it on a wall or in a doorway.
Everyday neatly tear off one of the rings. And before you know it.... Christmas!
~http://www.night.net/christmas/f-calendar.html (elkayem)

Count down chain
Taking red and green construction paper and cutting into lengths to make the chain with 25 links and having the kids take one link off each day until christmas.
~asparacello

Cinnamon Ornaments
Need:
cinnamon
white glue
applesauce
rolling pin
cookie cutter
gold thread
straw

Mix 1 cup cinnamon and 1 cup applesauce with 1 Tablespoon of white glue. You want a consistency that can be rolled with a rolling pin but not quite as sticky or it will stick to your counter! Sprinkle counter with cinnamon and roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters.
Cut a hole in shape with the straw so you will be able to hang them. Let dry about 24 hours. They shrink as they dry. Cut lengths of gold thread, make loops and hang. they will keep their scent or a few years. Refresh scent with cinnamon fragrance oil.
~Idea of the Day (elemessa)

Dough ornaments
- 3 cups Flour
- 3/4 cup Salt
- 3/4 tsp powdered Alum (find in spice section)
- 1-1/4 cups Water

Mix all ingredients together. Dough will be very stiff. Knead until smooth, adding a little flour if dough's too sticky. Coat rolling pin with a little spray oil. Roll out on large board to 1/4" thick. Spray cookie cutters with oil. Cut into desired shapes. Use a straw to cut out a hole for hanging the ornament from. Spray glass baking dish with oil. Dry ornaments on glass baking dish in microwave according to chart.
In Microwave at 30% (5-10 minutes)
sized 2-3" . . . 4 ornaments
sized 3-4" . . . 3 ornaments
Remove from baking dish, and let ornaments set for 24hrs. to finish drying. Decorate with watercolors, tempera paints, acrylics, or markers. Write or paint on back of ornament name, date or some other small inscription. Let dry. Coat with 1-2 layers of spray varnish or other clear protective coating. Let dry.
Insert ribbon, yarn, cording or string through hole to hang on tree. Add ribbons, flowers or other decorations.
Hang on tree or give as gifts.
~elkayem

-9" paper plates (plain white)
- 5-1/2" gold or silver metallic cord
- tacky, stick or hot glue and scotch tape
- scissors

Start by cutting paper plate pieces. You'll need to fold over a plate until the edge of one side meets the inside margin of the other side of the plate. Fold plate, then open up and cut along this line. This creates pieces for the body of the angel. Take another plate and cut into 4 equal pieces. Round the outside corners of two of the pieces these will be the angel's wings. Cut out pieces for the head, hair, arms and hands according to the patterns.
Place the body pieces face down with the smaller piece on top and the flat edges aligned. Fold into a cone shape and tape or glue together. Glue the hair piece onto the head circle. Fold the metallic cord into a loop and tape or glue to back of head with cut pieces of cord hiding behind. The majority of the loop should be showing above the head and creating the angel's halo. Fold the arm pieces over a pencil (so as not to create a hard fold but a rounded one). Tape or glue edges together. Glue hands to inside back of sleeve. Glue or tape arms to back of body. Glue or tape wings to back of angel.
Decorate your angel or leave it plain. You could spray gold or silver paint over all or just touches on the wings and bottom of dress and/or glue gold, white, silver or crystal glitter on just the dress, wings and sleeves. Also, bows, beads, ribbons, etc. could be a nice touch. Do as little or as much decorating as you desire.
you can go to the following website, where there is a picture.
~elkayem

Does it seem that by the time all the shopping is done, the obligatory parties are over, and you're ready to sit back and enjoy the holidays - poof! - they're over? Not so fast! What's over is the shopping season, thankfully - the holidays are just beginning. Remember, the twelve days of Christmas START on Christmas Day!
These twelve days of Christmas can be the highlight of your holiday season. It's a good time to bake cookies with the kids, catch holiday performances, relax and enjoy your festive home. While you may not want to extend the season until January 6, plan to at least savor the holiday feeling through New Year's Day.
~tipomatic.com(elkayem)

My mother in law gave us a book she had made using a three ring binder. It had a scripture, story, and song for every day in December. It has really made Christmas time very special for us as a family and helped our children to know what Christmas is really about.
~undonestitches
Scriptures can be found:
http://members.aol.com/perudol1/hm24.htm

In an earlier tipomatic.com, it was suggested stocking up on white wrapping paper. It's appropriate for all occasions - just add a pretty ribbon or enlist young artists in your home to custom decorate the package. Here's another source of white paper that may be more economical and even more versatile: From a local paper distributor, buy a roll of white butcher paper (plain) or freezer paper (coated on one side). Invite your children to create their own rolls of wrapping paper by finger painting, sponge painting, using potato prints, you name it. This would even be a fun, albeit messy, activity for a children's holiday party.
The only catch here is that you have to buy A LOT of paper. (Think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime purchase!) To find a local paper distributor, call a meat market for the name of their paper supplier.
Butcher and freezer paper come in various widths, usually in a minimum of 1100 ft. rolls. The standard width for freezer paper is 24". To compare prices between the two, we got a quote of $22 for a 24" wide roll of butcher paper, $39 for a 30" wide roll (standard width for gift wrap). Freezer paper was $37 for the 24" width. While more expensive, freezer paper is more versatile. You can turn the coated side up for a more finished look and, of course, you can always use it to wrap foods for freezing.
~tipomatic.com(elkayem)

i was thinking about doing something like this. possibly with newspaper from our local paper
~elkayem

What you need:
1 knee high
1 wire hanger
1 red pon pom
1 google eye
bits of ribbon

Shape main part hanger into diamond leaving hook intact. Stretch panty hose (knee hi) over hanger towards the hook of the hanger stretch tight then tie with ribbon. Add red pom pon at the right corner of the diamond for the nose (Rudolph) then add the eye up and to the right, wahla instant reindeer. You can add a mouth using ribbon and add any other personal touched you like.
~mamapixie

You need:
Paper plates
Imagination

We like to take paper plates and use hole punchers or scissors making pretty designs on them, someimes adding glitter then hanging them from the ceiling. Simple and inexpensive.
~mamapixie

We often get gifts from far away and during the fret of opening presents we often forget who gave what. We now open presents and save the paper with gift tag on it. We write what the present was on the tag and save the paper to write our thank you notes on. It saves confusion and help us remember our manners.
~mamapixie

I always got a new package of thank you notes in my stocking!
~elkayem

We like to use pieces of fabric to make wreaths. You can buy small foam wreaths or stuff your fabric with filling. With the foam wreath all you need is the foam, the material and a glue gun. Cover the wreath with the fabric gluing it on tightly. Or wrap it around clockwise securing only the ends. The filling requires a bit more work. You make the shell using the fabric leaving an end open for stuffing. Either sew a seam, glue a seam or stitch witch a seam. Fill and close.
~mamapixie

Supplies needed:
Construction paper (green, red, and white)
Red marker or red crayon
Paper plate
Glue
Scissors

Directions:

Cut out the center of the paper plate. At the top of the wreath (plate), glue a paper clip for the hanger. Trace and cut out several green handprints, enough to completely encircle the wreath. Glue the handprints to the circle in all different directions, covering the entire space. Now, cut out clusters of three small red circles, scattering them around the wreath. Glue in place. Cut out a large white bow, color it with red stripes, and glue it to the bottom of the wreath. Finish by cutting out about six small, white candy canes, and color them with red stripes. Glue these around the wreath. You can also glue a few small, wrapped candies to the wreath to give it an even more festive look.
~emazing.com (elkayem)

Supplies needed:
1 Large pinecone
Sheet of newspaper
Small artificial bird nest and artificial bird (craft stores)
12-inch piece of 1/2-inch wide satin ribbon
Glitter
Small bag of cinnamon potpourri
White glue
Glue gun /glue stick or tacky glue
Several sprigs of artificial pine or small Christmas decoration picks (craft stores)

Directions:
Cover work area with newspaper. Dab the pinecone all over with white glue, then sprinkle the pinecone with glitter, shaking off the excess. Let it dry. Next, glue the nest onto the top of the pinecone and glue the bird into the center of the nest. With adult help, use the glue gun to glue the ends of the ribbon onto the sides of the top of the pinecone. Use this to hang the decoration. To complete your project, glue the sprigs of pine around the nest, and cover the area where the ribbon was attached. Finish the pinecone by dabbing glue in between the pinecone layers, then sticking the cinnamon potpourri into the wet glue. Hang the holiday-scented nest to serve as a pretty decoration as well as an air freshener. (In many areas, a bird's nest in a Christmas tree is a traditional sign of good luck!) These make nice gifts for friends, teachers, or family.
~emazing.com(elkayem)

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