Create Your Own Christmas Stockings This Year

Christmas is a time to spend with your family, and perhaps reflect on the past year. Whether you have had a good year or a bad year, the Christmas season brings with it joy, happiness and excitement. A time to enjoy the company of your family - laugh, relax, and perhaps indulge a little.

One of the ways to bring the family closer together is to create your own Christmas stockings to hang on a fireplace or even on your Christmas tree. It is a fun way to spend some quality time with your kids, have a bit of fun whilst making your own unique Christmas stocking for the one you love. These stockings can eventually become a keep sake where they are used for years to come.

Christmas stockings can be bought ready made off the shelf, but they are very generic and don't really depict the personality of the intended owner. Why not try something different this year and create your own? You don't have to be one of those creative types or good at design.

Christmas stocking kits can now be bought from many online stores to help you create your very own personalized stocking. The great thing about these kits is that all the materials and patterns are supplied. This means that you do not have to buy materials from multiple stores, which could be costly, to just create one or two stockings.

Having all your materials in one package is a great way for the kids to still come up with their own unique design without the hassle of cutting material and fighting over who gets the last of the ribbon or cotton. Not having to use scissors means that even the very young can get involved.

One of the most popular stocking kits available today are made from felt. They are soft to the touch, look fantastic and are readily available. This means that no matter what design you are looking for, you will be sure to find that ultimate pattern. It is also fun to fill up the stockings with small gifts that do not cost much. Big presents are great to open up, but having small gifts in each of the stockings can be an appetizer to the big event.

There are some wonderful designs that can bring Christmas into your home to compliment your Christmas tree and decorations. Here are some ideas to help you get started:

Having Santa Clause holding a bag of presents with a fireplace in the background and surrounded by excited kids is a lovely idea for perhaps Granddad's Christmas Stocking.
Perhaps Mom is a dog lover? How about presents under a Christmas tree with puppies curled up next to the tree. Perhaps one of the puppies is trying look inside one of the presents.
Kids love snow and with that comes the snowman. Using simple materials such as cotton and beads you can make a snow landscape with a big smiley snowman. Beads can be used for the eyes and cotton can be used for the snow and the snowman.

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Keeping Your Children's Memories: Save Photos, Drawings, School Papers and Toys

If you're like most parents, you have scrapbooks full of pictures of your kids and other family members. But have you given thought to collecting memories for your children? A little planning and effort on your part will create a collection of memorabilia that will call to mind many happy times as your children approach adulthood.

With the existence of digital cameras and printers, it's easy to create multiple copies of photos. As you work on your own family scrapbooks, it makes sense to also put together scrapbook pages for each of your children, with each child as the star of his or her own scrapbook. Family barbeques, vacations, special events like recitals and graduations, and just plain lazy days will all invoke welcome memories for your children. Don't forget to include family photos and pictures of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even copies of photos of earlier generations of the family.

Once your children enter school, they will bring reams of papers home - completed drawings, homework, notices - all kinds of interesting material. You may want to create a file folder for each of your children for the current year, and save absolutely everything, especially if they may need to refer back to certain papers as they progress through the school year. Dividing papers into different subjects, like math, English, science, and so on, can actually help them in their studies. Once the year ends, go through the papers you've collected, with your child, and help them edit the collection, saving the best of the papers and drawings. Choose a couple to add to the child's scrapbook, and file the rest away in a folder, marked with the dates of the school year.

Your collection of memories can go beyond just photos and school papers. Most children own lots of toys, clothes, and books throughout their childhoods, and grow out of them as they grow up. Recycling out-grown toys and clothes to other families is a great idea, but why not save one or two items each year for a memory box? A favorite childhood book, a beloved teddy bear, a frequently worn dress or shirt can be tucked away in a sturdy acid-free box, to be saved for your grown child to share with his or her own growing family.

Stashing away valued memories for your children's future will evoke many happy recollections; more than that, these memories will create a common bond between family members and forge a family history that can be passed on for generations.

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