Combining Traditions

There are so many fun Christmas traditions! This is my husband and my second Christmas being married and we haven't yet figured out which traditions will become "ours".

I think no matter what you do though, doing the things you "always" do is what makes it really feel like Christmas.


We're going to spotlight a few of the 5 Sisters' traditions next week that we had growing up, but I wanted to mention a few things that I enjoy at Christmas time.

First,
Graham Cracker Houses

This is what we usually made (usually for Sizzle's birthday party activity) and perfect for kids. I think they taste better too. And having them sitting on your counter top for weeks definently adds to the festivities.

Secondly, Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread. Our grandma usually sent us a candy-cane shaped braided bread that we ate Christmas morning. Complete with gumdrop flowers. I always enjoyed that. Jeremy's family always has sticky buns that morning, but frequently have this yummy pull-apart bread handy during the holidays, so I'm featuring that today. The recipe linked is really easy and super-delicious!

Lastly, I wanted to mention some ornaments. Sizzle mentioned that we've started and ornament exchange and I've enjoyed looking at all the fun ornaments. I really enjoy seeing my handy work hanging on the tree.

I found this tasty (but don't eat them...) recipe for Cinnamon Ornaments that looks fun.

I'm pretty sure we made these as kids at one time...but mostly I want them so my house smells like cinnamon...
and they're pretty cute.





















That's all I'm going to feature today, but check back next week for a more in-depth guide to some of the traditions we've enjoyed as the 5 Sisters.

Thanks for reading!

Wax Paper Ornaments

Sizzle here and today I am sharing a fun way to recycle those little bits of crayons, make ornaments and get the young ones in your life involved.

We made these when we were really little and my mom didn't even remember until I reminded her so I kind of had to figure out how to do it again. It is like making your own stained glass ornaments and it is SO easy.

You need:
wax paper
scissors
crayons
pencil sharpener
brown paper bag
ribbon/twine/string for hanger
an iron
construction paper

Don't ever throw away those broken crayons - I have in my time but I never will again - you can do SO many things with them.

Get those nubs and sharpen them, save all the shavings in little containers - use a different container for each color combination.

Cut your wax paper into sections - you want a big square (you will cut it down later).

Put a small pile of crayon shavings in between two piece of wax paper

Put the paper bag on top and iron (NO STEAM) - they will melt quickly!

It will looking something like this.

You'll want to cut a shape (2 - front and back) - my son wanted to make a heart to represent our new baby. Back story: We exchange ornaments in our family for Christmas and try to base them on something that happened or memorable about that year so he wanted to make a heart for the baby girl.

Cut a window out

Cut wax paper to shape with the part you want showing and staple/tape/glue to the front piece. Make a hook out of ribbon or string and adhere that behind the wax paper and then adhere the back shape.

I let my son do most of this so it isn't perfect looking, but its pretty cute for a 4 year old to make. He ended up drawing a face on it later with big eyelashes but that's another story

You could also do these for window decorations - they'd look cool with the sun shining through them