Hi, I'm Dina, and this site is dedicated to my favorite time of year - Christmas! I've compiled years of family traditions - my own and those of my friends from around the world. Even Santa could use a helping hand now and then.
So sit back, grab a cup of warm cocoa, and get ready to celebrate the season. It's never too early to start preparing for Christmas!
Dina loves her animals. What’s not to love, right? Well I’ve found the perfect gift for the animal lover in YOUR life. With this lovely pet keepsake kit, you can immortalize your little furry friends. This clever kit comes with everything you need to capture their paw print. Place it next to your favorite photo and you’ve got the perfect Christmas gift for Fido or Snowball’s best friend.
This is a recipe for those of you that plan on having a white Christmas. Because the main ingredient is… snow! Living in the north east my whole life, I’ve enjoyed this winter favorite since I was a little girl. Now my kids love it too.
INGREDIENTS
16 cups of fresh snow – 1 cup of white sugar – 1 tblspn vanilla – 2 cups milk or cream (you can also use condensed milk)
Place a large bowl outside when snow is in the forecast. When your bowl is filled with about 16 cups of fresh snow, mix in the rest of the ingredients, stir, and eat. It’s really that easy.
Of course you can try mixing other of your favorite ingredients such as cocoa powder, cinnamon, or chocolate chips. It’s actually very tasty, and the kids will have a blast making it.
What a wonderful gift for the imaginative child in your life! What fun they’ll have running around in this very official looking NASA astronaut suit. The talking helmet is sold separately, but it does come with the embroidered cap. A really fun way to teach your child about space and the great beyond!
Another favorite Christmas cookie recipe is this one for Snowball Cookies. They’re super easy to make, very delicious, and they stay fresh for several weeks. A great recipe if you plan on mailing some of your cookies to family or friends. A Christmas favorite at my house!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup powdered sugar – 1/2 tspn salt – 1 cup butter, softened – 1 tspn vanilla – 2 1/4 cups flour – 1/2 cup chopped pecans – additional powdered sugar
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until fully mixed. Add flour with salt to creamed mixture, blend thoroughly. Add nuts and mix well. Chill dough for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400F. Shape into 1-inch balls and bake 8-10 minutes. Do not brown. Cool, then roll in additional powdered sugar.
These look great on a holiday cookie tray, and taste even better!
This is a very interesting little gift that I stumbled across. It’s a solar powered charger for all your electronic gadgets. Anything from your iPod to your cell phone. It’s totally powered by the sun, so you don’t need to worry about plugging anything in. Great for camping or traveling.
During the winter months kids can sometimes get a case of Cabin Fever (not to mention what this can do to mom and dad!). Well here is a fun game they can play outdoors. It’s called ICE CUBE HUNT! It’s just like an Easter Egg Hunt, but played with colorful ice cubes instead of eggs.
Take an ice cube tray and fill it with water. Then put a couple drops of food coloring in each cube. Freeze. And it’s simple as that. Once you have made ice cubes, distribute into search area. The kid that finds the most colored ice cubes is the winner.
And once they’re done, there’s NO cleanup! How easy is that?!
This might not seem like such a unique idea, but I’m always surprised each year to see how many of my friends and family STILL don’t do it. Each year it seems like there are more and more gifts to wrap. And that also means more name tags. Not only is finding a tag that compliments your wrap a pain, it’s also expensive.
A little trick that I use every year is I cut a strip of the wrapping paper I just used to wrap the gift (about 2 inches by 4 inches), fold it over like a small card, and write the TO and FROM on the inside! Usually there is a big enough scrap piece from when I was wrapping the gift to use. It’s easy, free, and green!
I also like it because it blends in with the wrap, and you don’t have that white square on the top of your gift.
This is a very clever and cute decorating idea that a friend of mine uses every Christmas to top off her tree. It’s a whimsical touch that won’t go unnoticed by your family and friends.
She takes a dove (I also think a Cardinal would be just as lovely) and hangs it from the ceiling with fishing line. She then hot glues the end of a strand of pearls or beads to either its beak or feet, and then does the same thing with the other end of the strand with another dove. This make it look like the doves are flying in with the final decorating touches. If you don’t use beads on your tree, you could do the same with garland or a light Christmas ornament.
It’s a very simple and inexpensive way to add a little something special to your Christmas tree. And the kids really get a kick out of it.
What a lovely and elegant gift for the diamond lover in your life. And who doesn’t love diamonds? This sterling silver and pave-set diamond necklace is in the shape of a delicate angel’s wing. You really can’t go wrong with this gift, everyone loves finding diamonds under the Christmas tree.
Not everyone is lucky enough to have a wood burning fireplace (shhhh… don’t tell the kids!). Well here is something equally warm and inviting! This makes a beautiful addition to the front of a bricked in fireplace, or it would make a lovely statement on a snowy porch. And not only is this a festive decoration, it would make a very nice gift!