Christmas Cards for the Elderly

Let me start by saying: I AM SO PROUD OF MY BOYS! They made 70+ cards in about a month, on top of regular and holiday crafts and activities.  These 70+ cards are for the residents of one of our local nursing homes.

I feel awful for posting this so late. It's 10 days until Christmas.  But I would like to encourage any person to do some goodwill, and to make and deliver at least one card to a local nursing home.

There's a piece of my heart that goes out to those who suffer from anxiety, depression, and/or mental illnesses.  I suffer from a mixture of the three, so I will pretty much do anything I can do to help someone for just a second.  Did you know that there is a serious increase in depression rates among senior home residents during the holiday season?  There's a name for it: Seasonal Affective Disorder.  The holidays can make some seniors feel alone and long for "home".  There are some who don't get many visitors, and they are reminded of that when Christmas comes around.  And there are others who just don't feel the cheer they once had.  Not all residents feel this way, but you'll possibly be bringing a smile to the sad while sending cheer to the cheery if you send out cards.

This day last year, I worked at a day care.  My class alone (of 7 students) sent out over 100 cards to the nursing homes! Although, I never saw their faces, I just know that some of our cards can made an impact.

Even just signing or drawing pictures on store bought cards can make a difference. (Dollar Tree has packs of 20 or 40 for $1!)  So you don't have to be creative, and it doesn't have to be super time consuming.  Any kid or adult can do this.

You never know what one small gesture means to someone.  So I really want to encourage however many people I can, to spread some holiday cheer.  Let some of the local nursing home residents know that they are important, and they have not been forgotten about!

'Tis the season, right?! We'll be hand-delivering our "jolly" tomorrow morning.  

Wrapping Paper Silhouettes

I don't know if it's the same for yall, but Christmas means lots and lots and LOTS of wrapping paper. And wrapping paper, because I'm no pro, means plenty of scraps.
So I made a craft with my boys using my many scraps. 

I gave them a red and green sheet of construction paper and let them glue on all the scraps they wanted to. Finding Dory came on, so they didn't really try. But they enjoyed the five minutes they (somewhat) dedicated to the craft. I even got a blurry picture of them trying to show off their finished products.
After they were finished gluing, I outlined a Christmas shape on the back. You can do a star, sleigh, tree (I didn't do a tree because of our ToiletTree  that we still have up), gift boxes, snowflakes, a bell, Christmas hats, holly, snowmen, gingerbread men, a wreath, any silhouette you can think of!  Trace any silhoutte and cut it out. I tried to free hand my bell and star silhouette, and it was not my finest artistic moment.
Because I already had the trees on a toilet paper roll, and we've already made ornaments I didn't make an ornament or stand out of them (but you can!). I also thought about framing them and hanging them up, but didnt feel like finding a frame. Ultimately, I decided to decorate our fridge with them, our kitchen was lacking Christmas cheer anyhow. 

The wrapping paper silhouttes came out cute and they were so easy that I plan on making a few extras. But instead of Christmas silhouttes, I'm going to cut out into their little handprints and we're going to mail them off as bookmarks with our Christmas cards this year. 
Like the ToiletTrees, you don't have to use wrapping paper. You can use glitter, stickers, other construction paper, tissue paper, crayons, anything Christmas-y you have lying around. Flexible crafts are the best crafts!

9 Ways to Do Christmas Year Round

I've found myself in the Christmas spirit, doing a lot of extra stuff. And spending more time doing things with the kids. I feel guilty, to be honest. Christmas shouldn't be an excuse for more kid time, everyday should be. So I out together a list of things I can do even when its not the holidays. This is mostly for me to use as a point of reference, because I'm so lame I go back and read my blogs. But maybe someone else out there could use a reminder too! 

1. Bake cookies, cakes, pies, and brownies. They are available year 'round, we can bake them year 'round! And it'll be just as delicious in May as it is in December.
2. Christmas Movie Night. We have movie night often. But why not randomly have a Christmas movie night on a rainy day in August?! Some of these movies are too good to enjoy only once a year. I vote to set an entire day aside to  completely binge on the Christmas classics in June!
3. Hot Chocolate. We can drink that anytime its cold, and just switch it to chocolate milk when it gets warm. Where has my common sense been?
4. Keepsake Arts and Crafts. Sure ornaments are out the picture, but that doesn't mean we can't make keepsake foot and hand print dough just for kicks. (And for mommy to cry over when their hands grow a little .)
5. Gifts. We can make and mail gifts year 'round. We may as well let our aunt in Iowa and their grandparents in California know we think about them all year long, and not just when it's "time" to! Besides, nothing brightens a day like a surprise package in the mail. And you'll have a valid excuse for getting rid of the crafts you aren't so fond of!
6. Concerts and Games. The schools and communities have concerts and games for things other than Christmas. There's no need for me to wait until December to go searching for them. You may not find a parade, but it'll still be some pretty good stuff going on.
7. Play Dates/Visits. This can be done whenever two adults are free and have the means and the energy. It doesn't have to just be done when you're making your Christmas rounds. Come on, Kayla, do better! Show love to those you love all year long.
8. Christmas music. Because 'Nsync's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" is an awesome song any time of the year! And if you practice all year, you will be able to sing "The 12 Days of Christmas" effortlessly come next year.
9. Do for Others. We often wait until the end of the year to consider the less fortunate. So I'm going to think of the homeless year round. I'll have the kids visit nursing homes in the Spring. And we're going to just try and give back to the community as much as we can throughout the year, instead of waiting for the holiday season.