Dollar Bill Game for New Years

The Dollar Bill game- To play, pin a dollar bill to everyone's shirt and decide on something that is not 'allowed' such as saying a certain word, scratching your face, playing with hair, etc. Throughout the night, if anyone catches someone doing something that is not allowed, they get the dollar bill and pin it to their shirt. At midnight, whatever money you have on you, you get to keep!

New Year's Traditions

In honor of New Years Eve coming up, this week's posts will be dedicated to New Year's traditions.

Banging pots and pansWe love to grab any and all pots, pans, and spoons from the cupboards to bang at midnight! This may seem a little weird, but it is one of our favorite traditions that we do every year. We run up and down the streets yelling, "Happy New Year" and our neighbors even look forward to this now. :) If you don't want your nice stuff to get ruined, consider buying some cheap wooden spoons from the dollar store or use metal ones that won't break.

For a long list of New Year's ideas, check out a post I wrote as a guest blogger on Or So She Says here.

December 23

Tonight we'll be sleeping out by the tree.

Will you??

Burn Christmas Eve Letter for Santa [tradition]

It's tradition to write letters to Santa well before Christmas, but in our family, we also write a letter to Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. This was a tradition my mom did when she was a little girl and we still do it to this day.

After we have put on our new pajamas that we get Christmas Eve, we sit in the family room and write a letter to Santa. When we were younger, we would ask for toys and things, but now that we are older, writing this letter has become hilarious! We will ask for boyfriends or a diamond ring or fun things like that to make it interesting. Sometimes we even video it for fun memories later on.

Everyone gets a turn to say what they want to Santa and then we always end with saying that we would be happy with anything and we love Surprises!

Then, we put the letter in a pie tin. We burn it and sprinkle the ashes over the deck onto the snow. When Santa comes, he magically puts the letter together and reads what we want before leaving our gifts.

I know when I have told this tradition to some people, they think it is the weirdest thing ever! But, it has been a tradition in our family that we love so much we have even carried it on when each of us was living abroad.

Twas the Night Before Christmas [tradition]

Among other Christmas Eve activities we did, we would do a 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' present exchange. My mom would buy $1 or less gifts and all of the kids would sit in a circle holding one of the wrapped gifts. She would read "The Night Before Christmas" to us, but as she did, every time we heard the word the we would pass the present to the right. Whichever gift we had at the end of the story was what we got to keep. This would also be fun for a White Elephant gift exchange at a Christmas party.

Christmas is coming!

Only 5 days until Christmas!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I haven't done many projects this Christmas season because I've been busy doing the "12 Dates of Christmas" for my husband as part of his present.
To see what we've done, visit my other blog.

I'll be posting some of our traditions throughout the week...

Whopper Reindeer Poop [gift idea]

This may not be the perfect gift for your adult friends, but children will kick out of it.

All you need is:

• Small clear bags
• Whoppers (candy)
• Ribbon
• Printed poem or tag (below) or PDF here

You can use this simple poem:

I hear you've been naughty
So here is the scoop
All you are getting for Christmas
Is a bag of Reindeer poop!

Or this longer one:

I woke with such a fright when I heard Santa call...
"Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!"
I ran to the lawn and in the snowy white drifts,
those nasty reindeer had left "little gifts."

I got an old shovel and started to scoop
neat little piles of reindeer poop!
But to throw them away seemed such a waste,
so I saved them, thinking-you might like a taste!

As I finished my task, which took quite awhile,
Old Santa passed by and he sheepishly smiled.
And I heard him exclaim as he sped off in the sky...
"Well they're not potty trained, but at least they can fly!"

We Wisk You a Merry Kissmas [gift idea]

I have to say that my friend Marcelle always gives the best Christmas gifts. Now, I'm not saying that we don't appreciate Christmas gifts from other people. I'm just saying that its nice to get something besides cookies and treats that will only last on your hips.

This year she gave us a mini wire whisk and some kisses with a note that said, "We whisk you a Merry Kissmas." I say cute. And practical. Something we will actually use. Thanks Marcelle!

Christmas Mantle

Since it has unofficially become a tradition to share my holiday mantles with you, here is your sneak peek of mine this holiday season:

I kept it fairly simple and used mostly things I already had. I'm loving the new advent calendar. We find a little surprise in it each day! (another German tradition. sensing a theme here?)

Your very own Christmas Book

In my collection of Christmas books that I pull out each year, one of my favorites is titled, “The Christmas Past of the Sunday Family”. It contains Christmas memories for all of the Christmases that we have been a family. We love looking through it. It’s so fun to reminisce on past Christmases and remember things we normally would not. Even though we keep a journal and a blog, it’s nice to have all of our Christmas memories recorded in one place.

If you want a book for your own family, you're in luck! I've put it together so all you have to do is add in your memories. And I'm betting you have a lot of them. There are 2 ways to get it:

For $25: Printed. Bound. Shipped. Your Christmas Past Book will come to your doorstep ready to use. No effort on your part.

For $5: PDF Print Yourself. Your book will be emailed to you as PDF. This option allows you to bind and print it however you like.

Both options include:

• Cover with your family name printed
• 60 pages marked for each year through Christmas 2019
  
• Room to record festive gatherings, holiday highlights, traditions, gift giving and a place to keep all of your holiday cards (because let's be honest, what would we do with them otherwise?)

I’ll take orders until December 17^th, so they will be sure to get to you in time for Christmas. If after the holidays you change your mind and want to order one, I’ll take orders again after the 27^th.

I've made some updates to your book that will make it better than mine. For a sneak peek of what your So Festive Christmas Past book will look like, click here.

Email sofestive@gmail.com if you have any questions. These would also make a great gift!!

To order, use the paypal button at the top of the sidebar -->

Christmas Jar [tradition]

I read this book for the first time a few years ago and loved it! I have re-read it every Christmas since because it is just such an inspiring story. (And trust me, I am not a big reader). I don't want to give the story line away, but if you are in the mood for a quick, heartwarming read, give this a try. It will bring the true Christmas spirit into your holidays.

And, if you want to carry on your own Christmas Jar tradition, start collecting your spare change in a glass jar. If you want to get really festive, you can glass etch your jar like I did.

We save all of our spare change from the year and then at Christmas we choose an individual or family to give the money to. Or, we will use the money to put together a 12 days of Christmas package. This is one of our favorite traditions because it helps us think outside of ourselves.

St. Nicholas Day [tradition]

Today is St. Nicholas Day. This was yet another tradition I became familiar with in Europe. It is always celebrated on December 6th. The tradition is to put out your shoe on December 5th and then St. Nicholas will leave a SMALL gift or treat in your shoe.

There are many similarities between St. Nicholas and Santa. St. Nicholas brings gifts in the night, but unlike Santa who travels with reindeer, St. Nicholas travels on horse so the children may want to leave a carrot or apple in their shoe for his horse. He was also known for his secret gift giving and did many things for children. For more info about St. Nicholas click here

This is meant to be a simple celebration just to add some extra cheer during the season.

We left our shoes out on December 5th and woke up to this:

Hay in a Manger [tradition]

Although I don't have children yet, I am excited to do this tradition when I do. We had a wooden manger in our living room by the nativity set that looked similar to the one pictured above. There was also a can all cutesied-up that had pieces of hay/straw in it. When one of us 7 children did something kind for someone else, we got to place a piece of hay in the manger.

The goal was to have the manger nice and comfy by the time Christmas morning would come so that baby Jesus would have a nice place to sleep when he was born :) If we were mean or did something unkind, one of our siblings would enforce that we remove a piece of hay. I am sure my Mom loved this tradition to not only keep up in line, but also to help us remember why we celebrate Christmas. On Christmas morning before opening gifts and seeing what Santa brought, we would place Jesus in his hopefully comfortable bed.

Does anyone know where I can get a manger like this??

Scripture Advent: Keep Christ in Christmas [tradition]

With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, we enjoy taking time each day to read scriptures from the Bible to help us remember why we celebrate Christmas. I have a friend who burns an advent candle to a certain line each night as they read these scriptures. You can buy advent candles or like my friend, you could mark 24 dots on the candle with a marker. Thanks Heather for the idea!

I should have posted this a few days ago, but better late than never, right?

Click here for the complete list to print or save.

12 Days of Christmas [gift idea]

Here is a fun 12 Days of Christmas idea. All of the gifts are common things you would able to find easily like hot cocoa, popcorn, rice krispy treats, chips and dip, etc. Click here for the complete, printable list. There is even a cute little poem to go with each day.

50 Christmas Activities

I always have good intentions of doing one Christmas activity a day during the month of December, but without a little planning, it just doesn't happen. So this year, I decided to make a list of all the possible Christmas activities we could do. Each day we'll pick one depending on how much time we have. My goal was to come up with at least 25, but as you'll see, this list is a bit longer... You'll find the descriptions for lots of these in the Archives.

What are some of your favorite Christmas/holiday activities?

1. Decorate sugar cookies and take them to a neighbor
2. Decorate the Christmas tree
3. Put up Christmas lights
4. Drive to see the Christmas lights
5. Make gingerbread houses
6. Visit Temple Square
7. Make a countdown to Christmas candy chain
8. Go Christmas shopping
9. Get a picture taken with Santa
10. Go caroling at the hospital
11. Read Christmas stories
12. Sleep out by the Christmas tree
13. Celebrate St. Nicholas Day
14. Watch a Christmas movie
15. Go to a nativity display
16. Make Christmas candy
17. Dip pretzels
18. Do a Sub-4-Santa
19. Drink hot cocoa on the front porch
20. Celebrate Advent
21. Host a Christmas open house
22. Read the nativity story
23. Try a new Christmas recipe
24. Start a Christmas Jar
25. Wrap presents

26. Watch Elf
27. Watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional
28. Build a snowman
29. Drink hot chocolate on the porch with Grasshopper cookies
30. Carol around the neighborhood
31. Write letters to Santa
32. Start a new Christmas tradition
33. Host a Holiday Open House for neighbors and friends
34. Watch Home Alone

35. Go to an outdoor ice skating rink

36. Dance to Christmas music

37. Make a homemade gift

38. Watch Miracle on 34th Street

39. Write and mail Christmas cards

40. Cut down your own Christmas tree

41. Have a Christmas-around-the world night

42. Make a Christmas craft

43. Go to a light parade

44. Go to a free Christmas concert

45. Attend the city's tree lighting ceremony

46. Read the Christmas Carol
47. Read the Scripture Advent each night
48. Do a Christmas card or ornament exchange
49. Volunteer at a soup kitchen
50. String popcorn for the tree

Fall Place Settings

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! I decided to make some simple place settings for Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to use only things I had around the house. This is what I came up with:


What I used:

• small clear bags (from Michael's)
• Fabric leaves from a dollar store
• Rafia
• Harvest color kisses
• Brown crinkly paper from a gift

Thank you Notes

We started a new tradition this year. Its great being thankful, but its even more important to show gratitude in one way or another.

So...we decided to write thank-you notes to a few people who we are especially grateful for this year.

Holiday Movie Schedule

If there is something about the holiday season that I LOVE, its cuddling up to watch a good Christmas movie. Yes, I'm talking about any kind...the classic cartoons like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph, or the magical ones like Miracle on 34th Street.

If you're still trying to build up your Christmas movie collection like we are, you may not have them all at your fingertips. But never fear, ABC is playing many of them on TV this season.

So grab some popcorn, a blanket, and enjoy!! We will be.

For a PDF-printable list of all the shows, click here

Thanksgiving Decor

This is the first year I've had different decor for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Its been fun changing from bright orange for Halloween to more earthy tones for Thanksgiving. Most of my fall decor came from a Big Lots 90% off clearance sale a few years ago. My motto--decorating can be cheap and still classy.

My mantle.

-Pedestal-thrifted $1
-Vine pumpkin- thrifted $1
-Leaf garland- Big Lots $1
-Pumpkins- fresh from a pumpkin patch- 50 cents each
-Cream turkey- made from foam board and painted
-Branches in vase- branches from a nearby park, acorns in bottom, and vase I had

Our sofa table is sporting a craft I made last year.

My friend and I used old 2x4s, cut, sanded, and painted them. Then we used various papers and mod podged it all on!

Cookie Contest Recipe 2 & 3

The Cookie Contest continues...

It's taken me a while to get through all of the recipes because I've also been trying out other festive recipes. But don't worry, my husband loves chocolate chip cookies and can't go THAT long without some.

Recipe 2... 6 1/2 out of 10



Recipe 3... 7 1/2-8--Best so far!

If you want to be happy...

Every year before Thanksgiving, my mom would pull out the Thanksgiving file folder to read us a story called, "If you want to be happy..." I'm not sure where she got it. It wasn't a published book. She had cut pictures out of magazines, glued them on to construction paper, and had the text correlating with the picture on the back of each sheet of paper.

Year after year, we would read this story. And the older we got, we loved it even more. Last year, I decided to make a copy for my own family. I didn't have a collection of magazines to get pictures from, but thanks to Google images, I was able to get just what I needed.

This story has such a great message that will help you get into the true holiday spirit and the secret to being happy. Click on the link to read it for yourself. Enjoy!

If You Want To Be Happy

{Feel free to print it for your own family.}

Thankful Turkeys

All to often Thanksgiving gets overlooked by Halloween and Christmas, so our family decided to start a little tradition to try and keep our focus on our blessings for the entire month of November. At the beginning of the month we put together what we call our "Thankful Turkeys". We each make a picture of a turkey and list things we're grateful for on the turkey's feathers. It doesn't have to be fancy. Just have fun with it! We hang them up somewhere in the house where we will see them every day to remind us of the things we wrote down. Then every day for the rest of the month we add a fall leaf with one thing written on it that we're grateful for. This has been such a great tradition for us and has kept our thoughts on our many blessings as we go through the Thanksgiving season. Here's some examples from the last couple years...

(Landon's 6 months old so he had a little help from us, ok a LOT of help from us!)

And here's a link for a PDF of the leaves and this year's Turkeys in case you want to use them for your families...
Turkey (print 2 copies of the feathers)
Leaves

Craisin Bacon Salad Recipe

My best friend made this salad for me for my bridal shower and I have been in love with it ever since! It is SO yummy and perfect for a get-together. It was a hit at the Fall Baby Open House.

Craisin Salad

3-4 Heads of lettuce or various greens

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, shredded

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup almonds, slivered and toasted

1- 6 ox package of Craisins

3 apples, diced

4 teriyaki chicken breasts, cooked and sliced

Dressing:

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup red wine vienegar

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

1 cup oil

Mix salad ingredients. Blend dressing ingredients in blender and chill. Pour over salad.

Chicken Corn Chowder Recipe

This is one of the recipes from the Fall Baby Open House you asked for. It is from a close neighbor of ours.

Chicken Corn Chowder

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can corn
2 cups cooked cubed chicken
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. rosemary
1 tsp. dried or real onion

Mix all ingredients in a large pot. Bring it almost to a boil and then remove from the stove. Stir 1 cup of cheese in right before you serve it.

Quick Halloween treat

I needed a simple and quick treat to give away to a family with little kids. I loved rice krispy treats as a child (oh wait, I still do). But as I was melting the marshmallows and butter, I had an inspiration on how I could make these just a bit more festive. And that's why I share it on here. Because as you know, this blog is all about those festive things in life.

Right before that creamy marshmallowy mixture was all melted, I added in some orange food coloring.

I used a pumpkin cookie cutter to form the shape and then sprinkled green sprinkles on the stem.

Considering this was a spontaneous experiment, I think they turned out pretty good. And what cute little Halloween pumpkins they make.

Hot Spudnuts Anyone?

It's time for our traditional Spudnut Sunday. Feel free to drop by if you are in the Salt Lake area. It will be worth your time, I promise. :)

And if you can't and you are feeling ambitious, here is the recipe so you can make your own.

Halloween Spudnuts

1 quart scalded milk, cooled
1 Tbsp. yeast dissolved in 1 cup hot water + 1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup sugar
8 Tbsp. Crisco or shortening
4 eggs beaten
2 cups mashed potatoes (can use instant)
12-13 cups flour

2 Tbsp. salt

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, potatoes, yeast mixture and milk. Then add flour and salt. Rise for at least one hour (3 hours is perfect!). Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a cup and water bottle lid or use a donut cutter. Rise on lightly floured surface for at least 30 minutes. Cook in hot oil.

Glaze
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 c. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla

This recipe will make over 100 spudnuts! It's the perfect way to spread some Halloween cheer. But as a warning, it will take you about 6-7 hours to make them start to finish.

Fall Baby Open House

Pumpkin Bars

I made this simple and fast, yet SO delicious fall treat. It's no fail, so you should try it out.

Pumpkin Bars
4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 can (15 oz.) solid pack pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Icing:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 Tbsp. milk

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin together. Add all the dry ingredients. Mix well and then bake in a 9x13 or 10x15 pan for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely before adding icing. Makes about 2 dozen.

Black and Orange Food

If I ever host a Halloween party, I think it would be so fun to have a buffet table with only black and orange foods. This are the potential ideas so far.

Black foods
Oreos
Chocolate covered anything
Brownies
Chocolate/ice cream cake roll
Mud pie
Olives
Black licorice


Orange Foods
Oranges
Candy corn
Orange jello-popcorn
Cheez-Its/Cheese Nips
Carrots
Orange slices
Orange chicken
Pumpkin bread

Homemade rootbeer=witches brew

Do I look scary or what? Well too bad because it's Halloween time so I can look scary. This is my husband and I whipping up some witches brew before our Halloween party last year. If you don't feel like making your own, just use bottled root beer and add dry ice. You'll get the same effect and it will save you time and effort.

Homemade Rootbeer (for 24 servings)

2 1/4 cups white sugar
20 cups cold water
3/8 bottle of root beer extract (2 ounce size)
4 pounds dry ice

In a large container, mix together the sugar and water. Make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Then add the root beer extract. Add in the dry ice carefully and put a loose lid over the container. (Don't store tight or pressure will build up).

Let the mixture brew for about an hour before serving.

Halloween Advent Calendars

I love when you send me new ideas. Sometimes I wonder if you get sick of hearing all of my ideas all the time! My good friend Courtney who just had an adorable little baby girl just sent me these links to some cute ideas for

Halloween Advent Calendars

Check them out! I think I'll definitely want to have one ready for next year!

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Crockpot Applesauce Recipe

My mother-in-law is such a good cook! I continue to get recipes from her! This is one I got from her when I was dating my husband. It is the perfect fall treat and reminds me of the fun times we spent at their cabin in the Fall.

The best part about this recipe is it will make your house smell like Fall!

Crockpot Applesauce
12 c. chopped apples (you can use non-perfect apples from the tree or any kind)
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. water
1 tsp. lemon juice
touch of nutmeg

Put everything in the crockpot. Cook on low overnight if you want to eat it for breakfast or high for 3 hours.

$6 Halloween craft of the day

My friend Marcelle and I whipped up this cute Halloween banner today. Our inspiration came from a shop at Gardner Village that we visited last week.


The hardest part was finding fabric we liked. We had to go to 3 different stores, but it was worth it. We then cut 7x9 triangles and sewed them on to a piece of double fold hem tape. I'm not a sewer, so if I can do this, so can you!


I think it gives the mantle a nice, finished touch! I'd love to hear (or see pictures) of any Halloween/Fall crafts you've been working on.

Halloween decor on the cheap

Here's my mantle and really the only place I've decorated for Halloween. I'm still working on my collection, but this will do.


I am all about cheap, but classy looking decor. I'll give you the rundown on how I pulled this off and cheap at that.

• Candle pillars (Thrifted for $1). Pumpkins work great this time of year!
  
• Pumpkin stitchery (gift)
• BOO tea light holders (Thrifted for $1)
• Happy Halloween sign ($1 at Roberts sale)
• Cobwebs ($1 at Dollar Tree)
• Halloween framed art (printed off the web, used empty black frames I had)
• Cauldron (Thrifted for $2)-I'm using it as a book holder until we whip out the dry ice!
  

Total: $6. Whoever said decorating can't be cheap is wrong.

I'm hoping to make one more thing for the mantle...stay tuned.

Favorite Halloween Movies

Pumpkin patches and Winner

image here

Visit a pumpkin patch! We'll be visiting one tonight.

For a list of pumpkin patches in Utah, click here

For all other states, I'm sure you could google "Pumpkin patches" and you'd get some good ideas.

And the winner is...

Congrats to Luke and Jessi for winning the Halloween giveaway!! Please send your address to
sofestive@gmail.com so I can send you the prize.

Thanks to all who entered and for your great ideas!

Last chance to enter giveaway!

Today is your last chance to enter the Halloween giveaway.

2 steps to enter:

1. Become a follower and
2. Leave a comment with your favorite fall/Halloween activity

I'll be posting the winner tonight so don't wait!!

Halloween Ghosts

This might be the oldest Halloween craft/treat in the book, but I like it. All you need is suckers (I used Tootsie pops), tissues, and string/yarn.

Simply place the middle of the sucker in the tissue. Tie the string or yarn around the bottom of the sucker tightly to

Halloween Phantom

to enter the Halloween Giveaway, click here

If you only do one Halloween activity this year, do this one! It's fast, it's easy and it's service so you'll feel happy after doing it.

The Phantom How-To

1. Prepare a simple treat. Since the family you'll be giving it to won't know it's from you, you may want to do something that isn't homemade. Examples-root beer and ice cream, packaged cookies, apples and caramel, etc. I chose to do a cake mix and baking papers so they can make their own Halloween cupcakes.


2. Print off a copy of the Phantom Poem and a copy of the Phantom Ghost. Attach it somewhere to your treat.

3. Pick a family (or two if you're generous) to deliver the Phantom to. Doorbell ditch the treat and notes. Make sure you don't get caught! :)

If all goes according to plan, the family will devour the treat, hang the Phantom Ghost on to door, and choose another family to "Phantom". Half the fun is seeing it spread around the neighborhood. If you're lucky, it might even come back to you.

Happy "Phantoming!"

Festive Followers Fall Giveaway

I told you a giveaway was coming. And since it might be a while until I get around to making all the cookie recipes, I didn't want Fall to pass by without doing a Giveaway. So I put together a little package that ONE lucky winner will receive.

Entering is EASY.

1. Become a Festive Follower -->
and 2. Leave a comment telling us your favorite fall activity or tradition.


On Monday, October 4th, I will do a random drawing from all the comments and the winner will receive this:

all the fixings for your own Halloween party! (basket not included)

Can't wait to hear your favorite Fall activities. And don't forget to tell your friends. I'll do another giveaway as soon as we reach 100 Festive Followers!

Did you know? Fun Pumpkin facts

I came across these fun pumpkin facts here. Thought I would share!

• The Irish brought the tradition of pumpkin carving to America. Originally, they carved turnips to celebrate All Hallows Eve - but pumpkins were plentiful in the states, and easier to handle.
• The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.
• Pumpkins were once used to cure freckles and snake bites.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new site! Let me know what you think. I'm always open to new suggestions to make it easier and better for you. I've kept all the old posts on here, so you can still access any of the archived ideas.

Also, if you were a follower on the old site, don't forget to become a new follower here. I'll be doing a contest soon that will only be open to followers, so you'll definitely want to be one!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cookie Contest Recipe #1

I made one of the cookie recipes over the weekend. The dough was amazing! And the cookies were really good too. I just wish I knew why my cookies turn out flat. Maybe its the oven?

My husband rated them a 7 1/2-8.