Christmas in July: The Reason

Wow, Christmas in July has been fun! I've enjoyed reading the posts of the other CIJ bloggers out there. I feel inspired and creative as we head toward the Christmas season. I can't let this series end without sharing the story of the origin of Christmas - the birth of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for visiting - see you soon!

Christmas in July: Family

I enjoy time with my family. Anytime. Anywhere. It doesn't matter to me if our family time occurs on a holiday. It can be on any day.This was a good thing when my kids entered adulthood. As they found girlfriends and boyfriends, and then as they married, we had to make room in our holiday plans for them to spend time with their "new" families. This was easy for me. To accommodate the other Mom, I moved my holiday celebrations to the weekend before. Or the day before in the case of Easter.

I am amazed at my friends who insist that their kids spend the actual holiDAY with them. It cam make for a stressful, disappointing celebration. Would it be fun to wake up every Christmas morning and know that all 14 of us will be together. You bet! Is it realistic? Uh, no.

And what about that whole "every other year" deal? It wouldn't work in our family. JD's wife, Janel has two sisters. Jessica's husband, Adam has five siblings, Katie's husband, Gabe has four brothers. There's no such thing as every other year when you have to accommodate that many people.

I did not want Christmas at my house to be an obligation. I wanted it to be fun. Something that they all look forward to. As stress free as possible.

Plus, I want to give my kids the space they need to create traditions within their own families. When my kids were little, we had as many as four Christmases some years. It was horrible. The kids were fussy and cranky because they didn't get to play with their new toys. They were tired and cranky because they stayed up way too late on Christmas Eve at a family celebration. They were off the wall cranky when they missed their naps on Christmas Day because we were at yet another family celebration. And I was cranky because we had no traditions of our own. So, one year, we told the Grandmas at Halloween that things were going to change. We would not be spending Christmas Day at their houses. They were welcome to come to ours.

It was hard for us to make that declaration. There were hurt feelings and plenty of guilt was served up. But it was so worth it in the long run. Having gone through that made it easy for me when it was my turn to be the "grandma".

As you contemplate the upcoming Christmas season, think about your family celebrations. Be honest. Do you participate in a blur of family gatherings? Are you so busy thinking about the next place you have to be that you can hardly enjoy the one you're at? Are your kids constantly whiny, cranky, and exhausted? Is your family missing out on starting your own traditions? If your answer is yes, maybe it's time to make a change. Dream about your fantasy family Christmas and then set about making it a reality.

It's the time we spend together, not the day we spend it on. It's the memories that we're making, not the frantic blur of fulfilling expectations. It's opening our arms to receive new family members and embracing the traditions they bring, not standing with our arms crossed issuing invitations that are commands. It's celebrating the birth of Christ, not dreading the celebrations.

Christmas in July: Nativities

I collect Nativity sets. Each year I add one or two to my collection. I have already spotted one at Hobby Lobby that I want to add to my collection. Rather than show my collection again, look at these great display ideas I found:

What a gorgeous Nativity, and a clever way to display it.

I really like the simplicity of this display.

I actually own a set like this, great idea for display.

Another great display idea!

This is an outdoor display. I've never seen one like it - unique!

Christmas in July: Light Displays

One of our most enjoyable traditions at the holidays is to drive the area looking at all of the terrific exterior light displays. Let's see what's out there as we take a spin around the Internet:

I grew up in the Kansas City area.

Every year we would drive down to see the Plaza Lights.

It's one of the best memories of my childhood.

Wow, this is awesome!

Another good one!

Love this classic look

Beautiful!

Christmas in July: Decor

Do you ever feel you're stuck in a rut when it comes to decorating your home for Christmas? I know I do. It's the same old decor displayed in the same old way in the same old place I put it last year. I'm ready for a change.

This is our second Christmas in this house, but last year I barely decorated since I was short on time because of the move. This year I plan to go all out. I'm trying to look at each room and dream about how I would like to have it decorated. I'm trying to think outside of the box. This is very difficult for me because I am a very black and white kind of person.

One room I have never had much success in decorating is the kitchen. I searched Pinterest and came up with some inspiration. What do you think?

This is a clever idea which would work on the front of the fridge, the cabinets or a wall.

I have all of these materials on hand - this is cute!

I have tons of ribbon, and could totally do this

Love the aprons!

Dollar Store, here I come! This would look great on my pantry door.

Christmas in July: Books

I collect Christmas books and will buy almost any one that I see. The exception being stories that are set in the past. Even though I have a major interest in History, for some reason I don't really care for Historical Fiction.

My hands-down favorite author for Christmas stories is Debbie Macomber. She releases a new Christmas novel each year and I always buy it the first day out in the store!

Each year beginning in August, I start hunting for the newly released Christmas books. I generally buy six to ten books each year. I love to read authors that are new to me. Here are my top five favorites (other than all of the Debbie Macombers!) that I read over each year:

Christmas in July:Only 153 days to go!

I love Christmas countdowns. I have two on my phone, and I always have them on my blogs. I write a weekly countdown on my calendar each year. They are fun and festive!

I searched countdowns on Pinterest looking for some fresh ideas and I found plenty:

Glue cotton balls on Santa's beard to countdown to Christmas!

Christmas in July: Letters

Each year I write a letter to go with the Christmas cards I send. As last year approached, I wanted to find a new and creative way of approaching the annual Christmas letter. I found tons of good ideas on Pinterest and ended up writing a "by the numbers" letter. With our move, I didn't really have a lot of time to design it, so although it was a change, I wasn't really pleased with it.

As soon as Christmas was over, I started laying out the letter for this year. I've been writing on it occasionally, and will be ready to work on it's completion in October. 

Here are some very creative Christmas letters I found on Pinterest. They look like fun!

Christmas in July: Hallelujah Chorus

One of the most beautiful sounds at Christmas is the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. You may have seen this video before, it's been all over the Internet the past several years. It's one of my favorites! So sit back and enjoy the Hallelujah Chorus performed in November 2010 at a shopping mall.

Christmas in July: Stitching

I thought I would share some of my Christmas cross-stitch projects with you. I love to cross-stitch, it's productive, as well as therapeutic for me! I have shared the stockings I've stitched in other posts, now here are some of my other projects.

2004

2003

2003


2008 (sorry for the flash!)


2006


2013

Christmas in July: Twelve Days of Christmas

I know that the Twelve Days of Christmas traditionally begin on Christmas Day. For practical purposes, when I give TDofC gifts, I begin them on December 13, ending on December 24. Giving TDofC is so much fun. I love the reaction from the recipient. They truly enjoy having a small gift to open every day through Christmas Eve.

I have written about the TDofC gifts I've created in several posts, including here and here. This year I don't have any plans for TDofC gifts, so I thought I'd look on Pinterest to see what I could find:

This is such a cute idea!

12 Days of Christmas gift tree - very clever

Great ideas for giving

Evidently you can turn ANYTHING into a Math lesson!

Aren't these gift tags lovely?!

Christmas in July: Snowmen

Needless to say, we don't have snowmen in the Phoenix area. We don't have snow. Well, that's not entirely true. We did have some snow in December 1998. It didn't stick. But I have a picture of my kids standing out in it in their windbreakers, arms spread wide, tongues stuck out. And that's about it. All of my kids were in their late teens before they even saw snow! I don't know if any of them have ever made a snowman.

I grew up in the snow. I lived in Kansas near the Missouri state line in the Kansas City area. We had snow every year of my childhood. I liked to play in the snow back then. Now, I could care less if I never saw snow again in my life. I know, I know. People wonder how we can live in the heat out here in the Phoenix area. As the saying goes, "you don't have to shovel heat".

Anyway, I do like snowmen. This is as close to snow as I hope to get. Enjoy!

Christmas in July: Cards

It truly saddens me that people rarely send Christmas cards today. I love sending them and I love receiving them. No matter if they're homemade or store bought, they provide a bright spot in my day when I trek to the mail box and discover I've received some. I think we should start a movement to bring back the Christmas card!

Here are some cool cards I found on Pinterest: