More Traditions and My Cute Snowflakes!

Christmas this year has been so much fun because we got new decorations. Our home is almost two years old and deserved new decorations that matched it's style and colors. We had the tree up the day before Thanksgiving and the lights and decorations up the day after.

A couple days ago a Christmas package arrived from Germany filled with all the cute and tasty treats of Christmas time. We got more stollen too (see my last post)! One of our favorite traditions with the kids that comes from Germany is something we do on Christmas Eve. I can't wait to share it with you.

One tradition my kids enjoy is getting a personalized ornament from me every year to hang on their tree. When they decorate their tree, they have a blast pulling out all the ornaments from the years before - looking for the ones with their names on them and then the year. It brings back memories of past Christmas's. This year I gave them shiny candy ornaments!

Both the girls are in clogging and every year their class has a Christmas party. They play the white elephant game where they pass the presents and then when the music stops they open the present they are holding. We have our white elephant gifts all wrapped and ready to go. Each day Cambrey asks me if she can open the drinks on top and drink them.

Manuel and I have been married 13 years now and he has never put lights on the house outside. We hang large, colorful light ornaments in the kid's windows and then we wrap the railing and the porch with lights. I have a tree in the front and back windows of the house for that extra glow. As a little girl I enjoyed coming home to a lit up house at night - it was so magical. Here's hoping that next year Manuel will hang lights on the roof!

Though he wouldn't hang lights this year, I have ti give him props for helping me make my twig snowflake ornaments. He cut the branches and hot glued them for me (not a fun task). It was actually very attractive watching him sit at the table like Martha Stewart and glue all those tedious snowflakes. I painted and glittered them and now they are enjoying their home on our tree. These snowflakes are about $6.95 a piece at Thai Pan Trading but ours were free because we made them!

Oh I love this month! So many traditions and so many fun things to make and enjoy. Stay turned because we are not done yet!

DAILY QUESTION: Do you hang lights on your roof?  Is it worth it or overrated?

The ornaments I gave the kids this year

The kids hanging their ornaments on their tree White elephant gifts for the girls' clogging Christmas party.

The marzipan filling stollen (from Oma)

The poppy seed filling stollen

We always have clementines and nuts on the table at Christmas time.

Manuel's light job

My porcelain nativity scene

Our new tree and new decorations

The kids' tree in the office

The lights on the house.

Our very first Christmas tree we actually got for a wedding present

Our cute little Christmas house

The new stockings@

Manuel cut these branches for me off our dead tree and then he glued these for me!

Add paint and glitter!

Spray paint white, allow both sides to dry and then spray a clear coat. Dust with white glitter and spray another clear coat to seal the glitter.

The tree is complete!

Gabe's advent calendar

Paisley's advent calendar