Have you seen that post floating around social media about wrapping Christmas books for the month of December? The idea is that you open one each night with your kids at bed time. I really LOVED this idea from the very first time I saw it a couple years ago. Every year, the expense is what holds me back. Even if I wrapped some of the Christmas books we already have, I'd still be buying at least 20 more. I might start buying some end-of-season or at the dollar store and stashing them away to do in the future. For now though, I wanted to come up with something else.
The reason I love this idea is because it's Christmas related, hello??? and also because the emphasis is on setting aside quality time with your little ones. It really doesn't NEED to be reading-related to be a cool tradition, right?
I decided to head to the dollar store to see what I could find, giving myself a limit of $20. Guys, I found all of this for $16.80, including tax.
I bought the supplies to make several different projects and I also went around the house, looking for ideas. Here's What I came up with:
- 2 clear, plastic ornaments and styrofoam "snow". I packaged these with a black and an orange Sharpie that I already had on hand. (Snowman Ornaments)
- A 4 pack of puzzles. I wrapped these with mod-podge and paint brushes from my craft stash.
- An ornament kit that came with paint and a brush.
- Green pipe cleaners and red bows. I packaged these along with other pipe cleaners I already had, ribbon and beads. (Wreath Ornaments)
- 2 Christmas books. I wrapped these with cups I bought end-of-season last year for $0.99 and hot chocolate packets from our pantry.
- Coloring books crayons and stickers.
- Ornaments and stickers. I packaged these with ribbon.
- Foam gingerbread boys. I packaged them with black pompoms (for eyes), bells, and ribbon that I already had in my craft stash.
- Foam Christmas balls. I packaged these with sequins, ribbon, and glitter from my craft stash.
- I filled snack bags with popcorn from our pantry for our air-popper and wrote, "popcorn and a movie" on the outside.
- Christmas card kit. I wrapped cards I bought end-of-season last year with colored pencils and stickers.
- I wrapped cookie cutters. When the kids pick this, I have a huge box of plastic beads to melt and make ornaments.
- I packaged a set of Christmas stamps a friend gifted me along with the kids' ink pad and some brown-paper gift tags left over from a birthday party.
I was able to make 25 packages out of the list above so there are some duplicates. This reaffirmed to me that my craft hoard is worth having. My husband thinks some of the things I save are senseless but it all paid off. All of the craft supplies I added to my dollar store finds were left over from other projects. Save everything. Be organized and dedicate a corner of the basement. It's worth it! Right Adam??? Right???
If you were to purchase everything on this list, including the cups, a couple of cookie cutters, a stamp or two, ink, etc, I think you would be spending at least $50 total. If you do it this way, great. It should come out to $2/project, which is far less than entertaining the kids at the zoo, play-cafe, out to eat, etc. Plus you have a cute little treat to give to a loved one or to tie on a package. Awesome, right? Yes... but you might be missing my point... use what you have!
If you're not a crafter and have no "stash", here are some other ideas for you:
- Wrap names of Christmas movies you own or can DVR
- Wrap a note that says, "Trip to the park!"
- Wrap a note that says, "Get your blankets and pillows, we are building a fort!"
- Wrap hot chocolate packets
- Wrap a small treat you don't normally buy for your kids, like a candy bar.
- Wrap a package of store-bought muffins to bake together
- Wrap a container of pancake mix and have breakfast for dinner
I put all 25 of my packages in a laundry basket and will allow the kids to choose one every now and then through December. I would love to hang on to these and start Dec 1 through Christmas but I know myself. Some days I'm lucky if the bed gets made... you know what I'm getting at, right?
I hope you have just as much fun thinking up ways to make this idea your own as I did! I'll be breaking down some of these crafts, along with a couple others, in future posts.
Cheers,
Alyssa
P.S. All of the gift bags were purchased last year, end-of-season. Each December and/or January, I work a small portion of shopping money into our family budget and stock up on bags. I usually make my own tags and I buy character wrapping paper at the dollar store.
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