(NOTE: This is a guest post by Julee Russo.  A big thanks goes out to her! I’ve never thought about having a costume party at Christmas . . .)

Cherished Memories: They Grow up Too Fast

by Julee Russo

Tell me this is not ADORABLE! I dare you!

One of the most important things to remember when you have grandchildren is to cherish every moment — and to make an extra effort to insure many opportunities for creating long-lasting memories for them in the future. So you know what that means, Pictures, Pictures, Pictures! One of the ways to make wonderful memories that they look back on once they are older, is to make sure they have beautiful and creative kids costumes for birthday parties, school holiday parties and public holidays. Let’s take 4 holidays as examples: All-Saints Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

All Saints Day
Whether you celebrate Halloween or choose to celebrate All Saints day, these two holidays have one thing in common; costumes are involved. If you’re going to a church party for Halloween, dressing your child as an angel is always popular. Some churches have parties that ask attendees to dress as one of God’s creations, which includes animals and other fun things like flowers or butterflies. There’s also the option to dress in clergy clothing from different time periods as well such as dressing as a friar or even a monk.

Halloween
At non-religious Halloween and school parties children typically wear costumes based on popular TV and cartoon shows that the child may like. There are always a certain number of the evergreen costume ideas such as witches, devils, angels, Princesses and Princes. A child can also dress up in a costume that reflects what they want to be when they grow up, whether it be a doctor, lawyer or firefighter. Halloween is all about a day of fantasy.

Thanksgiving
This holiday is about having a great meal and giving thanks for the great year that you’ve had. Is your grandchild going to be a Native American or a Pilgrim? There are also Pilgrim and Colonial Era costumes that let you dress to fit the same time period as when the first Thanksgiving took place. Another idea is to dress them like a turkey or food that is served during the traditional Thanksgiving feast.

Christmas
Lastly, it’s great to have a costume party for Christmas. Although, children will probably focus more on the gifts under the tree rather than Christmas dinner. Your child may also want to play a role in a presentation at Church or even at school that will require a costume. Some roles that children often play are angels, a Sheppard boy and one of the three wise men. If it’s a school holiday party, think about dressing your child as a baby Santa, a cuddly reindeer, a snow flake, an elf or a ginger bread man — or even a candy cane or sugar plum fairy.

ALWAYS focus on getting great photographs. Create these unique memories before they grow up, youth is fleeting and it is up to us, as their grandparent, to make sure they have great pictures to look back at when they are older (not to mention we will be sharing them with everyone we know!). Whether you’re celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas, each of these holidays provide great opportunities to create memorable events that you and your grandchild will treasure for the rest of your lives.

Tomorrow starts the first giveaway so make sure you come back then!

(Note: My husband and I will be in Denmark until Sept. 18th.  I’ve asked a couple of other spectacular grandmas to write a guest post for me.  They graciously accepted! To which I say, thank you, thank you, thank you!)

Family Traditions Rich in Holiday Cheer

by Shelly of Grandma’s Little Pearls

It is that time of year again. Time for me at least, to start thinking about the holidays. The family traditions that we have as a family are looked forward to by all four generations of us. While we have many different traditions throughout the year it is our winter holiday traditions that tend to be the most precious to our family.

Halloween is celebrated with a big block party on the dark rural road that my daughters and I share. Thanksgiving is a huge feast that we all work together to prepare. It has become a tradition that we all linger together playing games and visiting until we are all ready to feast again before we all head home.

It is the day after Thanksgiving that kicks off our families Ho…Ho…Holidays. It is a schedule of our family Christmas traditions. The planning begins now to choose the what’s, where’s, and when’s so that everyone’s calendars can save the dates that are important to our family unit.

It is also very helpful to make food and activity assignments ahead of time so that creative thoughts and resources can begin to be gathered.

The very first tradition on our schedule is generally the Grandkids’ Christmas Day Camp that my husband and I host for our ten grandchildren. The camp is twelve hours long and it is for all ages so that the parents can have a full kid free day to start their Christmas shopping. It is a day filled with Christmas crafts, games, snacks, activities, cooking, music, the true meaning of Christmas, and more for the children.

Other traditions include an adults night out, a progressive dinner so that we can be sure to see one another’s homes decorated for the holidays, an evening spent with great grandma and grandpa, Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and a few more.

Creating and keeping traditions alive in a family requires some effort and planning. In my experience any effort put forth is magnified by at least a hundred fold in blessing a family unit with strong family bonds, family unity, love, precious memories, and a real sense of belonging.

I always love hearing of the family traditions of others so please share. If you are interested in more of my ideas for holiday crafts, games, activities, and outings please visit my blog and click on the side links titled Christmas traditions, Christmas day camp, or Creating memories.

My family wishes you a

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

(For this Christmas carol, we used our very expensive and highly tuned musical instruments on which we have practiced, and practiced, and practiced.)

Years ago while our children were growing up, I saved old Christmas cards in a shoebox with the intention of using them in craft projects.  That was back in the day when I was still optimistic about developing crafting skills.   Sigh.

That lonely shoebox sat there day in, day out, month in, month out.  For years.  In a cleaning frenzy, I finally threw it away.

Now it’s ‘in’ to be green and to recycle and reuse.  It’s also ‘in’ to make your own gift tags. So, I think I’ll start collecting cards once again.  There are so many beautiful Christmas ones that it’s a shame to throw them away.  However, this time, I’m going to focus on using them with my grandchildren.  (Is this my crafting self resurrecting its optimism?)

I’ve since learned two tricks of the trade in making the tags.  Before, it seemed that after snipping away, I wasn’t happy with how the picture looked on the tag.  So here’s the first trick.  Cut out a rectangle (or whatever shape you desire).  Then, with an X-acto knife, cut the inside away leaving about 1/4 inch.  This makes a small ‘picture frame.’  Then before you start cutting, you can hold your template over the card to get a good idea of what the tag would look like.  (This could save lots of grief . . . at least for me anyway . . .)

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of making the template, here’s the second trick.  Simply use your cookie cutters.  Hold the cookie cutter over the card to determine what portion of the picture you want to use.  When you’re ready, trace around the cookie cutter and cut out the tag.

I think using cookie cutters for making the tags with your grandchildren is much easier than making a template — unless you make the template beforehand.

If your still looking for ideas of things to do when the grandchildren come to visit this Christmas, you could make some tags with them.  Or, you can save your cards and make the tags next year.