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We share lots of Christmas related ideas, recipes and crafts in the Love Santa blog. You are welcome to comment or submit your own Christmas stories, too.

A mother’s love at Christmas

Oct 18, 2013 |

Six years ago, my mom gave me the best Christmas surprise in my life.

I hadn’t seen my aunt and cousin for a good couple of years because they were living in another country and at this time of the year, I especially missed them as we used to visit a Chinese restaurant together at Christmas Eve.

That night, my mom drove me to the Chinese restaurant without any prior notice and I was genuinely shocked. I asked her why we were having dinner in that restaurant, out of many others on this special occasion, but she just shrugged her shoulders and replied that she missed the food so I dropped the question and didn’t suspect anything. When we arrived there, she led me to a reserved table and my jaw dropped when I saw two people already seating at the table. It’s my aunt and cousin!

I was so happy that I almost squealed.

Family celebrating Christmas together with a meal and bon bons

Sharing a meal with family is a very special Christmas tradition

I gave them a tight hug and there were tears prickled in the corner of my eyes. We talked and I realized that my mom had been planning this a month ago, arranging flight tickets and chatting with my aunt secretly on the phone at night to make sure everything is undercover and well. I was so thankful of my mom because it was the best Christmas surprise ever. My aunt and cousin stayed for two weeks and we had a really good time.

This has to be one of the most heart-warming Christmas memories that I have had in all these years because what my mom did is filled with love and care. She is the perfect manifestation of the spirit of Christmas, that is, to show affection and care to the people you love.

Cheerful cake pops to make with kids

Sep 11, 2013 |

I made my first cake pops today.

cake pops iced in green with red decorations added

Some red and green Christmas cheer via cake pops

I may be a bit behind the trends but at least I bought the trays a little while ago!

My son’s birthday is next month and I am planning some themed cake pops for his party so I figured I should have a trial run or two first. Thus, I made some cake pops today.

Of course, as a test run, I didn’t touch his birthday theme and gave them a Christmassy touch instead!

They were fun to make and easy enough with my children so this could be a fun activity to build up the Christmas excitement during December.

My cake pop tips…

So here’s what I learned today…

  1. fill the holes to about level. On the plus side, if you over fill them you simply get cute little mushroom caps that easily come off the tin to leave perfect cake balls.
  2. cake pops cook quickly which was great for my three year old helper. She wasn’t so keen on the waiting-for-them-to-cool-down phase though! Use that time to prepare any decorations. If you want lots of cake pops, the quick cooking time would be a bonus.
  3. make sure your icing is quite thick (and maybe even starting to set). Mine was pretty thick I thought and it covered the balls well but as they sat to set, much of the icing slowly dripped away…
    Cake pops iced in green - and dripping!

    Initially, the icing stayed put but after a few minutes it pooled onto the plate…

  4. think ahead of time and have a means of standing your cake pops upright as they dry. An old bit of packaging could do the trick or some firm cardboard with holes poked through. Although you can lay the cake pops on a plate or some greaseproof paper, the finished result is less even.
  5. a little icing on the stick will hold it in place better than just putting the stick into the cake ball. This is almost instantly better actually.
  6. you will probably not be able to have the stick placed to best show off each ball (ie seams will be amongst decorations at the top) if you have little people helping you insert the sticks… My four year old was very proud to help but he couldn’t care less where he shoved the sticks!

My Christmassy Cake Pops…

I made a batch of my usual easy cake mixture and had left overs from the cake pop tray. That is, a batch of cake pops needs less cake mixture than a standard sized cake.

Simply mix 1 cup self-raising flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 4 tablespoons milk, 125g butter (melted is easiest) and 2 tablespoons of cocoa.

As cake pops, cook for 15-20 minutes at 180.

Remove from oven and trays. Let cool.

Insert stick.

Coat in green icing (I used yoghurt, icing sugar and green food dye) – best results by tipping the bowl on its side and rolling the cake around.

Decorate with small pieces of red lolly snakes.

Voila!

 

Merry Christmas Maldon!

Jul 8, 2013 | ,

What a lovely surprise we had on Saturday!

We drove to a lovely country town called Maldon, up in the Macedon Ranges. A reminder of the gold rush of the 1850s, Maldon is a beautiful old town with many gift shops, cafes and antique shops.

They also have a Christmas shop which of course impresses me!

Christmas in July displays in Maldon - Mrs Claus, carollers, wombats, kangaroo pulling a kaola in a sleigh

Some of the displays in Maldon this July – a mix of traditional and Australian 🙂

Christmas in July

Unbeknownst to us, Maldon is the middle of a two week mid-winter and Christmas in July celebration!

All of the shops were invited to decorated their windows to suit the theme and Christmas decorations and tress are all over the place. My children loved eating lunch below a Christmas tree and seeing an Aussie Santa sleigh on the counter.

As you’d expect, not all shops joined in but many do have a themed window which made walking along the street fun.

Some of the highlights were…

  • a Narnia scene, complete with snow-covered ground and a huge White Witch
  • a rat camp, complete with a copy of “the Great Rastby”! This was the hardware shop’s window and I loved how the Christmas tree decorations and Christmas lights were actually nuts and washers!
  • one window had a sign “All I want…” above a shelf with lolly teeth missing the middle teeth. This one actually won first prize despite being the simplest
  • one shop had a display of Australian animals in Santa hats and the like

There are also some activities throughout the town so if you’re close enough to visit Maldon, have a Christmas outing during the school holidays!

Christmas rocky road recipe

Jun 3, 2013 |

Last Christmas, I changed a rocky road recipe a bit to make it more Christmassy – but there’s no reason you can’t eat it any other time of the year 🙂 And if you make and eat it in winter, there’s less of an issue with melting, too!

Simple enough for kids to make, too.

Christmas rocky road

160g dark chocolate
100g mini marshmallows
1/4 cup cranberries
1/4 cup nuts (I like cashews but peanuts give a stronger flavour)
1/4 cup green smarties, crushed into pieces

Melt the chocolate.

Stir in the marshmallows, nuts and cranberries.

Pour into a lined pan.

Sprinkle crushed smarties on top.

Put in fridge to set.

Cut or break into pieces and enjoy!

Note adding smarties to the melted chocolate tastes ok but the smarties melt a bit so you don’t get as good result visually.

Hand print artwork makes a beautiful Christmas gift

May 31, 2013 | ,

Four paintings made of children's hand printsLast Christmas, we made some beautiful artwork as gifts for Grandparents.

I thought of them as an extension of some handprint ideas I’ve seen before (a single handprint with a poem or a group of children’s prints randomly across a farewell card) and was really pleased with how they turned out. It’s just taken me a while to edit the photos and write about them!

Making the artwork

We bought some canvasses cheaply, along with some nice quality acrylic paints.

I painted each canvas in a colour suited to the gift recipient (eg yellow for the grandparents with a yellow feature wall in their lounge room and pink for the grandparents with a dusky pink lounge room.)

 Once the canvases were dry, the kids got involved.

Due to the paint and likelihood of mess, I controlled this artwork closely. I went from youngest to eldest as the older children were more patient and better at spreading the paint over their hands. I also held their wrists as we made the prints to minimise smudges and errors.

Again, I chose a paint colour to suit the home of the recipient plus the canvas colour (ie choosing enough contrast to be visually effective).

One by one, I painted a hand of each child and we created a row of handprints. We did a test first, without paint, to decide on a pattern that looked good and included all four prints – you will need to find a pattern to fit the number of people and canvas size.

And that was it!

We wrapped them and the paintings were well received on Christmas Day by three sets of grandparents – and a surprised Daddy who hadn’t realised we made four!

Savory Christmas treats ~ recipe

May 8, 2013 | ,

Although I am a sweet  tooth myself, it’s easy to forget that Christmas treats can be savory and yummy, too! So here is another toddler friendly Christmas recipe, and one that will be useful as we head into colder weather, too …

Christmas fritters

1/3 cup flour (plain or self-raising is ok)
1/3 cup wholemeal flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheese
2 teaspoons of parsley and/or other fresh herbs (coriander and mint are lovely)
1/8 cup squished peas (or beans sliced into small pieces)
1/8 cup grated zucchini (skin on)
1/4 cup finely chopped red capsicum (or use tomatoes without the seeds and juice)
milk (as needed, maybe 2 tablespoons)
oil or butter (for cooking)

Mix everything up to get a stiff batter – adding just enough milk to hold things together.

Heat the pan, add a little oil/butter then drop in balls of the mixture.

When the fritter is bubbling (like pikelets), flip and cook the other side.

Place on paper towel to drain before serving hot or cold.

If you’re feeling creative…

  • make shapes other than circles – a Christmas tree or star would be really cool!
  • join some balls together to form a snowman
  • try some different ingredients, like spinach/silver beet, grated celery, red cabbage, red potatoes or red kidney beans. Of course, if you move away from red and green, there are many other delicious ingredients to add (carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, beetroot, corn, sweet potato…)
  • add a dipping sauce – satay, coriander, chilli are good ones – or a salsa with it for extra flavour and moisture.

This could be a healthier alternative to leave out for Santa, too!

Making paper lanterns

Apr 8, 2013 | ,

Three child-made paper lanterns lit by candles Paper lanterns can be a beautiful decoration, indoors or out, but they’re also very easy to make.

Making lanterns with kids

For preschoolers, you will need to help with the cutting but otherwise kids can pretty much do this themselves.

  1. decorate a piece of A4 paper children decorating a red paper lantern
  2. fold the paper in half length wise
  3. cut 1cm strips across the paper – start cutting at the fold and stop about 2cm before the edge of the page  Cutting paper to create a paper lantern
  4. open the page out
  5. spread glue along one short edge  Adding glue to hold a paper lantern
  6. roll the paper to overlap the short edges, sticking them together
  7. cut a strip of paper and glue it on as a handle  Four paper lanterns made by children
  8. use your lanterns as you will – you can hang them or stand them on a table or window sill

handy lantern tips

  1. you can use other sized paper, just be sure it is rectangular, not square. A4 is a good size for little fingers to work with
  2. decorating the paper with crayons, stickers and textas is more effective than pencils!
  3. colour paper is a good basis
  4. remember they are made out of paper – you can put a tea light candle inside but the fire risk is high. Don’t leave them unattended or near kids, and be sure the paper is firm enough to stand first (cheaper printer paper isn’t!) A good compromise is to use a candle inside a glass jar or a battery operated tea light candle.

 

The Easter Bilby made it – phew!

Mar 31, 2013 |

Some very happy people in our house this morning to discover that the Easter Bilby had found our house – and hidden eggs inside to protect them from the rain 🙂

little girl with chalk & chocolate easter eggs

Chalk Easter eggs were just as exciting as the little chocolate ones!

The Bilby left the littlies a carton of egg-chalks (yes, not so much chocolate and great ongoing activities!) as well as leaving too many little eggs to find.

However, it was nice to see the kids sort the eggs into colours (and into matching coloured construction toys!) and then just eat at will – maths skills and sharing/no greed in one go.

As the Easter Bilby, the Easter Bunny and Santa are friends, we’d like to take this chance to wish you all a Happy Easter – and no belly aches from too much chocolate!

sorting colours of Easter eggs

Sorting colours is a maths foundation skill

colour sorted easter eggs in construction toys

Colour sorted into construction vehicles!

A Christmas Movie With a Message

Feb 22, 2013 |

    watching TV at Christmas time with bowls of foodWith all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, sometimes it’s hard to find a moment or two to sit down, let alone time to relax. Watching anything on tv sometimes needs to be scheduled into our holiday to do list, much less the time for a favorite holiday show or movie. Frosty, Charlie Brown, Rudolph just to name a few, all filled our children with magic, delight and reinforced that Santa would be coming to town soon. They all had their favorite and if you were lucky they would not air at the same time, because everyone wanted to see their favorite Christmas show.

As a child I also had a favourite, but I also remember one particular movie that aired time and time again. No matter the channel or time you were sure to see it airing. I remembering thinking to myself, a Christmas movie with old people, in black and white and with no Santa or reindeer in sight. How could this be a Christmas movie? Never giving it a second thought or chance, I turned the channel on to what I called a Christmas show, one with lights that flash, one with Santas and elves and one with snowmen being decorated.

Seeing the ultimate Christmas move for the first time

That all changed when I met my husband. Our first Christmas together was magic, and with one small suggestion a new Christmas memory and tradition was born.

Christmas was just a few days away, and my husband and I were out running last minute errands. We stopped at the local video store, being tired I decided to wait as he choose the latest release – or at least I thought he was. We get home put away our packages and got comfy to settle down to watch the movie.  

I was surprised by the black and white picture that panned into view; ‘maybe it’s one of those movies that start black and white and flash forward turning into color,’ I thought. Then suddenly there it was, the movie I never paid attention to, the movie with old people and the movie with no Santa , It’s A  Wonderful Life  flashed before my eyes. Complaining a little , but finally caving in, I gave it a try.
             
             What a truly wonderful movie. Life not always being fair, pulling together when times are tough, giving, loving and being a family. The message is priceless.

people helping eahc other, elves making gifts and Santa giving a present

Helping and giving are the real Christmas message

I honestly sat completely involved in every twist and turn George Bailey had to endure to find the true meaning of not only Christmas but life. As the credits rolled up on the tv screen I thanked my husband, for not only choosing this movie  but for urging me to watch it.

The Christmas message

 Since that first Christmas, every Christmas no matter what we have on our to do list, a few days before Christmas we get all comfy, settle down and snuggle up to watch It’s A Wonderful Life. Now, I’m the first person to say yes, a movie with old people, yes a black and white movie, yes a movie without Santas and reindeer is absolutely a Christmas movie, it isn’t about the images that represents Christmas , it’s all about the message.

Christmas tree cakes

Feb 19, 2013 | ,

For a bit of fun, make some cakes (or muffins) that look like Christmas trees 🙂 Sorry to share it so long after Christmas – I just got too busy, lol!

This is an easy activity to give the kids, too, and can become a gift-making exercise while you’re at it.

Christmas tree shaped cakes with candy cane trunks

Christmas tree cakes

Make a rectangular cake or brownie

Cool the cake

Cut the cake/brownie into triangles

Insert a candy cane into the cake half way along the base – to form the tree trunk

Use coloured icing to add lines of tinsel on the tree

Use dobs of icing or broken lollies to add other decorations to your tree

Let everything set then enjoy!

Really handy to give as gifts for the kinder or school class.

Of course, you could use a tree shaped cutter instead of triangles if you have that option, but the triangles are so easy and don’t waste any cake.

Christmas Anzac biscuits

Jan 17, 2013 |

I first made these for my daughter to take to a ‘bring a dish’ Christmas break up for her scout troop, and I think they’re quite effective – and very Australian!

You could of course make the Anzacs – or buy a packet as I did to save time.

Christmas Anzac biscuits on a green plate

Decorating the biscuits

 

  1. Melt some white chocolate
  2. Drizzle melted chocolate over each Anzac biscuit
  3. Add some red and green to each biscuit to represent holly
  4. Let the chocolate set (it doesn’t take long unless it’s a hot day!) and serve

Simple, effective and they travel pretty well so make a good plate to take to functions.

Red and green decorations…

To create the holly, I used red and green smarties as a very quick option (and one I’m quite partial to!) but a little more effort will get a fancier result.

Other ideas I’ve had are:

  • use a red smartie as is but half the green smarties so they are thinner and look more like leaves
  • cut up some spearmint leaves
  • get an edible cake topper with Santa or another Christmas theme to pop on top
  • glace cherries (not my preferred choice, but they’d look good!)
  • cut the top part off a lolly raspberry for a real berry look
  • sprinkle red and green 100s & 1000s over the chocolate – not so much like holly but very pretty!

Have you got any other suggestions for adding the red and green?

Thompson St Northcote for Christmas lights

Jan 2, 2013 |

Have you ever seen the Christmas lights in Thompson St?

Christmas tree and gift in lights against night sky

(Love Santa image, not from Thompson St)

While not as extensive as Ivanhoe’s Boulevard (3km of lights is pretty hard to beat!), there apparently are a lot of lights there – over 50,000 LEDS between just three houses according to one report! And residents think their display is better so it could be worth a look if you’re in Melbourne during December.

Personally I love the story of the Francis family at number 49 – they decorate the house for the Hindu Diwali festival of lights and add to it for Christmas. Mixing religions and celebrations, to me, is a great way of building peace and showing Melbourne is a multi-cultural place.

What do you think – could a small collection of lights be better than Ivanhoe’s huge display? Have you seen both and have a preference?

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