Creating Memorable Holiday Moments

Every time you gather with friends and family it’s a special treat.  You laugh, you cry, you share great stories and memories of years past but once the event or holiday is over, there’s often times a feeling of emptiness.  The emptiness is likely due to lack of ability to hold onto or capture all the wonder of your time together.  That’s why photos, family traditions, and keepsakes are so important.  Take time this holiday season to create new traditions, bring back some old ones, take lots of photos, and make a few keepsakes!

1. Create a cotton table cloth keep sake- on a solid color cotton table cloth write names and dates in fabric marker.  You can add hand prints of the kids, foot prints of babies, etc.  Each year everyone that attends can add their name and the date.
   
   

2. Make a plate together – buy an unfinished pottery plate and apply hand prints, finger prints, foot prints, names, dates, special scripture, etc.  Put the year or holiday in the center of the plate then have it finished at a pottery store.  Create one for each year!
   
   

3. Get the kids involved – the kids can make placemats out of colored construction paper.  They can even add special touches like a hand-print turkey and scripture.  They can create matching napkin rings and name banners out of the same construction paper. You can laminate them for reuse or create new ones each year.
   
   

4. Give Thanks – make it a tradition each year to go around the room and allow everyone to give Thanks to the Lord for all He has done.  They can even share struggles and prayer requests.  
   
   

5. Share a story together – read about the Pilgrims at Thanksgiving or Jesus’ birth at Christmas.  Buy an in expensive book for each of the kids to take home or print off a coloring page.  In both stories we are reminded of God’s goodness and the real meaning for the holidays!
   
   

6. Get dressed up – I remember the holidays as a time that we got to use real China and drink out of special glassware.  Get dressed up and treat the occasion as something special.  Even if it’s just the immediate family (we just had 4 of us), it’ll be memorable for all!
   
   

7. Football and Shopping – I bet this one caught your attention!  A fun tradition is for family and friends to plan on watching football on Thanksgiving Day and then early morning shopping for the Black Friday sales.  
   
   

8. Secret Santa – to save money on extended family gifts and to create a fun tradition, do a Secret Santa drawing.  Each person puts their name in a bowl and then everyone will drawl only one name. Everyone will have 1 gift to purchase and the secret will keep it exciting!
   
   

9. Make a Christmas Ornament – each Thanksgiving or Christmas make ornaments together.  You can swap with family and they will have your ornament with them as a reminder of your time together!  Research a new type of ornament to make each year.
   
   

Tell us about your family’s traditions and holiday keepsakes by posting comments on Dallas Christian Family’s facebook page!