ThriftyFun News
Volume Seven, Number 42, December 2, 2005
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Hello,
This week's issue contains Christmas Family Traditions that have been
submitted by our readers. If you have a Christmas Family Tradition that
you would like to share, please submit it on the contest form.
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We are also hoping to publishing lots of homemade crafts and gift ideas
between now and Christmas. If you have any ideas, please submit them:
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Thanks for reading,
Susan
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Tips
Teaching Kids About Christmas Giving
Because of the tough times we went through growing up, my husband and I know what it is like to grow up and not have presents at Christmas.
Every year we tell our children about some special Christmases that we have had and then we go out to our local mall that has angel trees with paper ornaments with a child's age and sex written on them. Each of my kids pick out a child their same age and sex and we go buy gifts for that child and return them to the tree. Our kids enjoy the gift of giving very much and if we had the money, they would give and give and give!
We also invite any of our single friends or friends with no family to come join us as well. Living in Alaska, not many people have family nearby and they make families of their own with their friends.
By Tawnda
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Getting Our Tree in the National Forest
My husband I have a favorite Christmas tradition that we started several years ago. Every year, we cut our own Christmas tree in our nearby National Forest. We leave work early and have a wonderful time tromping through the snow to find just the "right tree."
We find that we really cherish these trees more than a store-bought one. We're helping to thin the forest by taking small trees that are growing in crowded conditions, and it only costs $10, which is a huge savings over a store-bought tree.
By Cheryl
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Taking the Little Ones Shopping
When my niece was old enough to save money, which was about 4 or 5 years old, I took her and her cousin Christmas shopping the day school dismissed. By the time she was in first grade the number of "guests" had grown to 4. They may have had a total of $2-$3, I would give each of them $5 each.
Even with $8, it was hard to find a gift for their parents. Because of this, we visited the Dollar Stores, Dollar Trees, any where where they could get something big for very little money. When her brother was born we started taking him at about 4 years old.
We really enjoyed all the time spent together. We would go to McDonald's to eat, and then to my house to wrap gifts. What memories we have, as we lost my nephew 3 years ago. My niece has continued this tradition with her daughter, and she buys gifts for both sets of grandparents.
By Martha Pitts
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Christmas Caroling
One of the things that our family enjoys most each Christmas season is to get together with other families for a night of good old fashioned Christmas caroling! We visit nursing homes as well as homes of others we know. We especially try to visit homes of elderly people we know who might be alone and sad during the season. It really makes the day of everyone we visit. It lifts our spirits as well to see that we have been a blessing to someone.. A good way to teach our kids to be kind and to do for others, too.
By Robin
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Create a Christmas Newsletter
Use your calendar as a diary. When things come to mind that you are proud of about your family, jot it on the calendar. There's also extra space on the bottom of most calendars to write notes. Then in November, go over your calendar, and create a wonderful newsletter to send to family with everyones' accomplishments in it.
By Ardis Barnes
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Traditional Family Recipe Videos
My mom and aunts have many wonderful recipes for foods we enjoy at get togethers and Holiday's that were passed on to them from my grandmothers. The only problem is that my cousins and I have not really taken the time to learn to make these dishes.
So in order to continue tradition instead of just writing the recipe down I decided to go to my moms and Aunts homes and video tape them making their special dishes. Not only do we have a priceless momento of our family, we also have step by step cooking or baking instructions to carry on for future generations.
By Diane Rodriguez
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The New Year's Angel To The Rescue
The month of December is a stressful month for children. It leads to squabbling. My father said they opened 1 gift on Christmas and the rest on New Year's Day. The New Year's angel came to our house starting the first of December.
One of the children would receive a gift. It was given to the one who was a peace keeper along with a note telling why that child had been given a gift.
After Christmas when there was nothing to motivate them until they went back to school, the New Year's angel came to my rescue.
She left notes or pictures or anything I could think of to keep my kids trying hard to get along. It was a big deal to get her gift.
She even told them she was watching and would tell cupid what she saw and then cupid told them he would tell who would tell the "pinch man" [candy man] who would tell the easter bunny who would tell.
It trained my kids to get along throughout the year. I cannot remember many problems.
By Jill
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Painted Envelopes
Maybe this will inspire some of you painters out there for next Christmas, I always paint the envelopes of my Christmas cards, this is what I did for this last Christmas, I have been doing this for about 6 years, it is fun to come up with something new every year.
By Phyllis Powell
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An After Christmas Tradition
After I moved off to college, my family started a new tradition. Every year we'll all get together the week after Christmas in a city that's about equal distance for all of us. We'll stay in a nice hotel, watch as many movies as we can, do some shopping, go to a museum or two, and catch up. This is when we exchange our family gifts.
We all like it because it's a little vacation at a time of year when we could all use it, and it gives us a chance to do some things together that we probably wouldn't do on our own.
By Camilla
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Karen's Family Tradition - Christmas Ornaments With Stories
Every year, I buy everyone in the family a special ornament that has something to do with their past year, their interests or accomplishments. When I got divorced and had 2 young girls, we started some holiday traditions of our own.
The favorite of everyone is a Christmas eve picnic under the Christmas tree. We eat easy finger foods, spread a tablecloth on the floor and play I-Spy with the Christmas ornaments. When the specific ornament is found, there is always a story told of that particular ornament and what it means.
The kids all love hearing the "family history" and even know the stories from the ornaments I received from my Mom each year growing up. It is truly our favorite tradition.
By Karen Bates-Earnest
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