Sugar cone Christmas trees
So much more kid friendly and way less involved than baking and decorating cookies, both of which did much for my sanity this season.
Gingerbread cookies
Our neighbors are so kind to us year round, despite the commotion always coming from behind our door, so we baked gingerbread cookies and put together a plate of them for every household in our building. The boys loved handing them out, even going so far as to argue (loudly, in our echoing stairwell) over who would knock and who would do the delivering. By sharing Christmas cheer through baked goods, we started a trend -- for the next few days after we made our deliveries, we'd regularly open our door to find that cheer reciprocated. For a building full of people who tend to stick to themselves, this was especially lovely, as it pushed open the door of communication just a little bit further between all of us.
Candy cane reindeer
I made these when I was a kid, and I thought it would be fun for the boys to do as well so they could have something to gift to their friends at school and church. Matthew helped me to assemble them (since we did this while the bigger boys were at school), and the boys were so excited to hand them out to their buddies. It was really sweet to see them get so excited about giving to others instead of receiving themselves.
Flannel rice-filled hand warmers
I put these together to give to both the boys' teachers and speech and occupational therapists, as well as to my friends. They were fun and simple to make, and I think they were a hit. I made a few for the boys' stockings, which I hope will come in handy (haha!) as the weather gets colder to ease the whining when we have to be outside.
Tree ornaments
I followed this tutorial to make these simple ornaments using coasters from IKEA. I think they turned out really cute. There are 10 altogether, and as much as I love our eclectic Christmas tree, I also like having at least a few collections of ornaments to tie it all together.
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