If restrictions persist we'll still make December lovely, ideas thread

[Walkley18]

I'm trying to think of ideas for Dec / run up to Christmas in case restrictions persist/ get worse. So thinking if no Christmas markets / shopping / usual days out / or larger family events, what else is there? I have older teen kids but still want it to be special. Anyone in? Younger kids ideas also welcome. So far I have:

Find out great streets/ houses with Christmas lights, make a night of it with hot choc etc

Make Christmas tree decorations, chocolate and non edible

Find a lovely pub after country walk, with outdoor heaters to enjoy the countryside / sprinkling of snow (reaching I know!)

December boxes including list of 12 favourite movies we watch in order, so number 1 family favourite on Christmas Eve

If possible discover houses with unusual decorations further afield and do a travel scavenger hunt altogether.

Please join and give your lovely ideas!

Decorating a gingerbread house. I usually get the ready made house from IKEA. Tastes and smells very Christmassy each time you walk in the room and you can nibble away at it over time.

islington.foodbank.org.uk/2018/11/28/islington-foodbank-reverse-advent-calendar/

Perhaps everyone could focus on a less materialistic Christmas and prepare a reverse advent calendar instead of having the chocolate version?

I think we're going to make an awful lot of food totally from scratch, am doing the mincemeat as soon as I get cooking apples.

Also a grotto in the summerhouse

@NoWordForFluffy we have Dunham booked too & theres 8 of us! I hadn’t even realised we would be illegal! Ah well. we usually do a panto so this is the only thing we have booked.

We had a 'doing' advent calendar last year and are going to make another one this year. It was lovely having an activity to do every day.
I wasn't sure how it would go down but my eldest two (12 and 8) have mentioned how much they want to do it again this year.
Lots of it was really simple, we made Christmas Tree shaped pizzas, watched Christmassy films, made bird food, made our own wrapping paper etc. It was lovely actually.

Hmm, too many lovelies in the above post.😂🙈

Choosing the tree is a whole day event - pancakes etc for breakfast, choose & decorate the tree then pizza & movie with beautiful tree in the corner.

Visit a nearby village who go crazy on decorations (& raise money for charity)

Make a gingerbread house

Go to the woods & collect pine cones, dry them out in the airing cupboard & paint/decorate them the following weekend.

Don't usually have/make Christmas cake but may do a retro chocolate log this year.

Usually so many things on with school & dd dance school so will be very different!

I love the idea of choosing the Christmas tree being an all day event!
Also spreading the cheer. And the reverse advent calendar.

We started a family tradition of painting baubles at a local pottery decorating place, so we have each years baubles on the tree.

We have a lights walk booked, accepting there will be no father Christmas visit this year.

I love the christmas themed activities idea.

I am sad we can't go iceskating and panto might be off, and the trips to see extended family aren't likely to happen. But it can still be fun and magical. (And I'm going to save a fortune!)

Mine are older(adults) but still enjoy a craft day when we make Christingles with oranges and greenery, make Christmas cookies, drink fizz, and then all watch The Grinch in the evening with snacks, followed by a Christmas quiz.
I might have shed a tiny tear last year at the sight of 3 adults (DDs in their 20s. DS late teens and about 6 foot 3) all squished onto the sofa under a cosy blanket with mugs of soup, avidly watching The Grinch!

I have three 10 year olds and last Christmas it felt like we did everything - circus, cinema, Polar Express, Panto, the list goes on. All magical experiences but looking back lots of the ‘smaller’ things we had planned got missed.

One of our annual traditions is going to see Muppets Christmas Carol at the cinema, this year we will watch it in our pjs under the tree lights. My kids want to make a homemade sweet bar and make homemade popcorn, something we didn’t get a chance to do last year.

My daughter wants to do all the Christmas baking we ran out of time to bake last year.

One of my sons wants to go for a drive in the car looking at all the lights on houses and rate our favourite. Again we ran out of time last year.

This year we want to make slow cooker hot chocolate which we didn’t do last year (and drink it in the Polar Express mugs we got on our trip last year) and watch the Polar Express.

We’re ready to embrace a quieter and calmer Christmas.

Loving these ideas. We usually go to Christingle service but never thought about making our own!

It looks like quite a few theatres are planning to go ahead with Christmas shows, but with reduced capacity it might be worth keeping an eye out and booking early.

That surprises me Disgruntled, I will keep an eye out but would depend on how things develop in next few weeks as to whether I'd want to chance it before Christmas.

I have just ordered lots of craft bits from Baker Ross for autumn and Christmas. Wreaths to decorate, lots of stickers and cards to make to send to the family we probably won't be seeing.
I want to make a ginger bread house this year as didn't get round to it last year.
I have just got some felt and want to try making decorations too.

Lots of drives around to see the lights

Oh so many lovely ideas.

I was thinking earlier I just don’t have it in me to give DC another lovely Christmas. I even managed it in 2016 when DH died on 16 Dec, but I’m all out of steam. And hope. But I’ll do it somehow

I'm so sorry Tunnock, you sound very brave. Just do what you feel you can, I'm sure the kids will just be glad to have Christmas with you.

We've ordered some fabric to make some stockings and we are going to make mincemeat soon.

@tunnocksreturns2019 so sad to read your post, which puts lots of things into perspective x

I have already started writing Christmas notes in my notebook - my husband things I'm nuts, but I don't care.

There is four of us -parents and two kids, six and year old (I have a feeling our Christmas tree is going to have an accident this year).

My parents never celebrated Christmas (imagine growing up and never getting a Christmas present) so I do everything I came to make it special for my children. But we're on a budget, so it takes planning.

1. On December the 1st comes out our advent calendar. It is made of fabric and I bought it when my son was one (his sister is getting one this year). I usually put chocolate coins and things like that, but I have days where I put an activity with chocolate and special day when I put a little hot wheels car (he is mad about them).

1. The same day I put cork board on table with 1000 piece Christmas puzzle we are going to do during holidays. It is usually 10-15 minutes a day when we have some time. This time it is this one: www.amazon.co.uk/Ravensburger-Christmas-Library-1000pc-Jigsaw/dp/B071KZSZQ3?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Cork board means that I can put it away easily during meals.

1. Writing a letter to Santa Claus - it is special day with milk, cookies, christmas music and cartoons.

1. My favorite part of Christmas day - treasure hunt for Santa's present. So in our house Santa brings just one present. On Christmas day there is always a letter from Santa under the tree, but no gift. He writes a lovely letter to my son (this year to my daughter too) where he writes about all the things that happened to him during the last year and about all the troubles with elves (thank you J.R.R. Tolkien for the idea) and goblins. He leaves the first clue in the letter and then you have to solve clues in each letter to find the present. After seven letters and seven clues there is a present. I plant to keep this until they are much older with more difficult puzzles each year. And I save all the letters and all the clues to give them when they grow up.

One thing I forgot. All year we read stories before sleeping in bed - but from December the 1st till January the 6th we read them on the floor with blankets and pillows and Christmas lights - and just Christmas stories. Every year my son wants to read Tolkien's Letters to Father Christmas, and on the Christmas Eve we read Night before Christmas. This year I plan to read him Sherlock Holmes's Blue Carbuncle for the first time. I think that one deserves ginger biscuits and hot chocolate.

@kavalkada that sounds amazing. I’m very envious that your Christmases are so rich in spirit and not smothered in stuff. I started out with similar ideas (even the letters) but lost my way.

Great thread

[quote thelegohooverer]@kavalkada that sounds amazing. I’m very envious that your Christmases are so rich in spirit and not smothered in stuff. I started out with similar ideas (even the letters) but lost my way.[/quote]
Thank you. One good thing is when you're on a budget you have to be creative.

But there is one thing I will greatly miss this Christmas season, and not just because of pandemic. We used to go to Christmas play to this one little theater that was situated in 19th century mansion. It was like coming to Dickens's house in December. Unfortunately it was devastated during earthquake and I'm not sure they will ever be able to fix it.