CHILDREN IN NEED / PUDSEY BEAR - NOVEMBER

Pudsey is on his way, to help children in need.

click here to go to the official website for fundraising pack and more ideas

This year they are raising some monies from you where virtual Pudsey ears on your profile photo's

Click here for more details on how to get your Pudsey ears.

Here's some ideas to raise money for this great cause.....

Pudsey cupcakes to sell 

Pudsey cookies cutters (from from Lakeland)

Just for fun and awareness why note draw Pudsey's all over the playground.

Pudsey face painting

Build a lego Pudsey.

Sew a Pudsey handpuppet.

Make Pudsey badge's.

Or there are many fundraising items on sale.

Do you have any fun ideas you can share for Children In Need?

LETS PUT ON A PANTO FAMILY NIGHT

This is a fabulous fully animated website for your kids to put on their own pantomime, for Christmas.

Put On A Panto

You can chose from the following:

Peter Pan

Cinderella

Aladdin

Snow White

FAMILY PRESENT SWAP NIGHT

Last year we had a dedicated Christmas present swap night....

.....instead of the last minute run around to deliver everyone's presents

and no time to enjoy each others company.

We arranged a December Sunday afternoon, way back in May, 

so everyone could mark it in their dairies and keep free. 

And then everyone could make sure the presents were bought for then also.

Then everyone came to ours laden with presents and they also bought a HOMEMADE family favourite dessert. I supplied egg nog and drinks, cream and hot custard to go with the deserts.

We sat and enjoyed each others company for the afternoon and there was no pressure on anyone (except me to get the decorations up early!!!) to cook, wash up everyone helped themselves.

COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

I have just found these great Christmas traditions to bring our families and comunnities together.

I don't know about you but we don't know at least half of our neighbours.

These ideas will bring the community together for Christmas.

Curbside Forest

Where:   Mount Prospect, Illinois

How It Happens:   Each holiday season, Rosemary Hinkemeyer's neighborhood sprouts a fantasy forest of glittering evergreens. Their appearance on front lawns up and down aptly named South Pine Street isn't the result of magic, but of the largesse of a local Christmas tree dealer, who sells 6-foot pines to the group at a discount. The evergreens are delivered to a designated location on the block, and folks haul them home and "plant" them by the sidewalk in front of their houses. To keep the trees standing in winter winds, they're tethered to 4-foot metal fence posts hammered into the ground. Then the real fun begins, as families emerge from their homes with strands of lights and other weatherproof ornaments and start trimming.

Truly Magical Moment:   When the trees are lit up together against the December darkness, the effect, Rosemary says, "is awesome." "Our block," she adds, "is the talk of the village. One year, we won the 'best block' award -- and we hadn't even entered the contest."

Spirited Street Lamps

Where:   Wolcott, Connecticut

How It Happens:   More than a decade ago, Kim Wachtelhausen's neighborhood was part of a new development, and most of the residents didn't know one another. So a handful of neighbors decided to break the ice: they planned a gathering to sing carols and hang bows and garlands on some of the old-fashioned lampposts that line the streets. Since then, the tradition has grown. Last year, says Kim, close to 40 people took part. After sharing food around a blazing backyard bonfire, they set off to decorate the streetlights. A few of the neighborhood's more intrepid souls take turns scaling a 24-foot extension ladder to wrap the lampposts with garlands and festoon them with ornaments. The decorations are donated by residents and vary from one lamppost to the next; the only rule is that they be appropriately festive.

Truly Magical Moment:   When the lampposts are given their final touches, the crowd breaks into song. For Kim and her neighbors, the posts, while beautiful, are secondary to what they represent: "We wanted to create a family tradition that went beyond individual families," she says. "When we gather to decorate the lampposts, it's really all about coming together."

Santa's Runway

Where:   Marietta, Georgia

How It Happens:   The action begins in November, when families up and down Krissy Longyear's street start hoarding gallon milk jugs to create a flickering Christmas Eve runway designed to guide Santa's sleigh to their neighborhood. The weekend before Christmas, they meet at one of the homes to form an assembly line that would put even industrious elves to shame, cutting holes into some 200 jugs and filling each of them with sand and a votive candle. Then, on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, they come together to load the homemade luminarias -- and the neighborhood kids -- onto a flatbed trailer or pickup truck. With grown-ups walking alongside and the whole crew caroling merrily, they make a circuit of the entire neighborhood, lining up the jugs at regular intervals.

Truly Magical Moment:   At dusk, the neighbors gather again to fire up the runway and share hot chocolate and holiday treats. "For the kids, the runway has become a major part of the holiday," says Krissy. "They're convinced that Santa couldn't find his way without it."

As featured on Family Fun

Does your family have any family traditions? I would love to feature them.

CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS / FREE PATTERNS

Stockings are a must for your Christmas decorations.
There are some lovely ones and some fun ones, I am hoping to show you some simple home made ones for you to make yourself and use year after year.

Liam has one we bought for his first Christmas
 and I also crossed stitched one for him through a long period when he was ill.
 It took many, many, many hours!

I will post some pics as I think the crossed stitched one is fantastic, there is so much detail.


I love this easy make felt elf boot Christmas stocking free downloadable patterns from family fun.

and this ballet slipper Christmas stocking

And for all you pet lovers out there a fur paw print stocking

Why not theme the gifts in your stockings...

All arts and craft items - pens, colouring book, paints and brushes, glue, stickers, sequins.
All car themed items - toy car, car shaped chocolates, car shaped pen, flash cars calender.
All Barbie themed items - a Barbie doll, some barbie clothes, Barbie pen and pencil.
All music themed items - a CD, a download i tunes voucher, a music magazine, favourite artist calender.

You don't even need to wrap these items as they are tucked away in their stocking.

Oooo I wish I could knit, this book looks fab

I love knitted Christmas stockings

I love thought of hanging long chunky bright socks at the end of your bed at night. 

It's as simple as that!!!

Or you could dress up some plain chunky socks, with lace, felt, beads etc

BHG

Cherry Men Love

stitchting cow

You get the idea, now let your imagination run wild!!!