{Our} Home for the Holidays: Dara's Post-Christmas Traditions

Happy New Year's Eve, Friends!

Today, I'm excited for you to meet Dara from Mum of All Trades as she shares some of her post-Christmas traditions with us.

I'm delighted to be guest posting for One Artsy Mama. Her blog is one I visit regularly and I have especially enjoyed reading everyone's Christmas traditions these past few weeks. It's lovely to see how different families have their own little rituals and also how many families the world over are so similar in the way they celebrate.


Although the main hustle and bustle of Christmas is over, we are still traditionally within the 12 days of Christmas. That is still the case in our house. Everyone here is enjoying the time off work and school as the Christmas break here in Ireland is 2 weeks.

We've spent this past week receiving guests, eating lots and playing with all the toys that Santa left. It has been funny to watch 4 boys all getting more fun out of their little sister's kitchen than they have out of their Transformers!

Today is New Years Eve. I always think it can be a mixture of emotions. Although I love to celebrate the New Year, I also am sad that its another year gone. Our children are so happy and fun at the stage they are at, I just want to freeze things. Do you ever feel like that?


Tonight we will be having freinds and family around to help us welcome in 2012. Many of them play musical instruments and will bring them along. It will be a very traditonal Irish evening with plenty of song and fun. Before all that starts I will take a few minutes to sit down to write a little 'time capsule'.
This is something my mother always did every New Year's and I have kept it going.
I write a little description of the year past and if the children are around they will add a little note to the bottom. I put it in an empty sweet tin and place it in with the Christmas decoration box. It is lovely each year to look back on these.

Tomorrow we will  finish off the festive season with a visit to the theatre to watch a pantomime. This year we are going to see Cinderella. If you have never heard of a pantomine, it is a play of a traditional fairy tale, but with lots of songs and audience participation thrown in. The costumes are very over the top and it really is a noisy enjoyble production for all the family.

I will take our decorations down the following day and do a house tidy before returning to work on Wednesday. I am happy to say that 2011 has been a wonderful year and I only hope the New Year will be every bit as good!

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Thanks, Dara!

And thank you for stopping by today!  Be sure to hop on over to this week's Shine On Fridays party for some fun projects, recipes, and craft ideas and to add your own!

Wishing you a New Year filled with love, joy, and happiness!



{Our} Home for the Holidays: Amanda's Cabbage Burgers

Hi, Friends!  Are you getting excited for 2012?  What are your New Year's plans and traditions?  Today, I'm excited to say that my friend Amanda from Joy in the Jumble is here to share one of her New Year's traditions with us; enjoy!
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I am so excited to be here Guest Posting.
I I have followed One Artsy Mama and her Little Crafter for a while now and love her blog.
Traditions are hugely involved in my life, and this post today will introduce you to one of the best:)


Growing up, New Years Day was always one of my favorite holidays.  

New Years Day meant Cabbage Burgers.  

It is the only day of the year we get them, which makes them taste extra good.  

For the first time in my 27 years of life I have broke the tradition and made Cabbage Burgers early, so that I could take a picture for you:)

The legend for New Years Day is...  however much cabbage you eat on the first day of the year, that is how much fortune/prosperity you will have in the coming year.  

We eat Cabbage Burgers, 

Homemade KFC Coleslaw, 

and yummy Oriental Cabbage Salad.  

A southern tradition is to also eat as many black eyed peas as you can for luck.  

My great grandma who originates from Louisiana, brings those every year.  

I don't need luck that bad, because those are not my favorite:)  

When most people hear about cabbage burgers they're like, "What is that?" 

 I think it comes from Germany, though my heritage is French, so who knows how it came about:)   

Cabbage Burger Recipe

A double batch of Homemade Bread Dough rolled out 1/4 inch thick and cut into 5x5 inch squares

1 large + 1 small head of Green Cabbage- shredded

approx. 2lbs Ground Beef

1 medium Onion- minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Makes approx 30 burgers

Drop the ground beef and minced onion into a large stock pot and start browning the beef and onions. 
 Do not drain.  Start adding cabbage until it reaches the top of the pot.  You probably won't be able to fit all of the cabbage in at once, so wait until it cooks down, add the rest until it all fits.

After everything has been in the pot for about an hour on medium heat you are ready to add it to the bread dough.  Roll it out 1/4 inch thick and cut it into 5x5 inch squares.  Place a spoonful of the cabbage mix in the middle of the dough square.  Pull all of the sides up and pinch it in the middle so that no filling falls out.  Flip the burger over and bake at 350 degrees until the bottoms of the burgers are browned. 
 I start checking at about seven minutes on my oven.  As soon as they are browned pull them out and butter the tops.  Let it cool for a couple of minutes then dig into the deliciousness:)

My mom and I use homemade dough, but to simplify, you could totally use Rhodes Rolls and Cole Slaw Shredded Cabbage bags.


I hope you enjoy this tradition and have much
Prosperity and Luck in 2012.

When people hear about it, they are skeptical until they try it.  

I think my mom got the recipe from my dad's side of the family and it has spread to multiple family members now.  Now I spread it to you.

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Thanks, Amanda!   Here's to a happy, healthy 2012 for all of us!

{Our} Home for the Holidays: Meagan's Pickle

Hi One Artsy Mama readers!
I couldn't be happier having the opportunity to participate in the {Our} Home for the Holiday series.
 I'm Meagan, the heart behind 2 Little Love Birds.
 The place where I share a little crafting,
a little cooking,
and a lot about my everyday life as a newlywed to my husband Nic.
The man who swept me off my feet with his gorgeous blue eyes and charming wit.

source 

Those of you who are married know that the first year is a time of transition.
A time where his friends become yours.
His happiness become your happiness.
And at this time of the year in particular, his traditions become your traditions.

Well, after unpacking all of our childhood Christmas decorations that our parents had so sweetly packaged up and gave to us,
I watched as Nic's face lit up with pure joy when he pulled this bad boy out of his box.
 

Please tell me you think it is ridiculously GIANT to you!
I couldn't even help myself but to laugh that his parents filled this whole thing every year!
Then I open my box to discover the funny little tradition from my own family that I get excited for every year.
His reason to laugh at me this time.

After setting up our Christmas tree, this pickle ornament is hid amongst the branches.
The person who finds it gets to hide it the next year!

Look who won this year - I'm convinced it was beginners luck!

If you have little ones, it is even more fun! They love it!
A big thanks to Amy for letting me be a part of this series.
I hope you will stop by 2 Little Love Birds.
I'd love to meet you!

{Our} Home for the Holidays: Amanda's PJ's

Hi, friends!
I hope you had a blessed, wonderful Christmas!
Can you believe it's over?
Amazing, isn't it...all that preparation, then the day comes and goes so quickly!  To keep the Christmas spirit going a little longer here at One Artsy Mama, my friend Amanda is here today to share one of her special traditions with us.
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I’m so excited to be a part of One Artsy Mama’s {Our} Home for the Holidays series.  My name is Amanda, I blog about all things crafty at ScrapProject365.  I love sharing my projects and getting new ideas from all the great people out in the blogging community.  I have been truly inspired by One Artsy Mama and love to see all the fun and creative things she comes up with.  With a five year old of my own, Miss Kellie, I try to do some kid friendly crafts a few times a week as well.

I grew up in a large family; I’m number three of five girls and two boys. Along with my parents and grandmother we had a full house – to say the least.  Every year for Christmas my saint of a mother would sew each of us a new set of pajamas.  On Christmas Eve we were allowed to open one gift – and surprise they were all pajamas.  I always loved having something new to sleep in while I tried to sleep that night.   As I grew up and moved out of the house when I would come home for Christmas I looked forward to being home and again getting a new set of pajamas.  They were no longer handmade – but the feeling was there.  When I started a family of my own my husband, Jon, thought it was so funny the first year when he got his new pajamas from my mom.  A few years latter she had ironed on a label on each shirt that said, “Our Family Sleepwear – Jon” (customized for each person), this was also the last year she had the energy/means to put together so many pairs of pajamas, we were all getting married and having kids by this time. 

As soon as Miss Kellie joined our family I knew I wanted to start this tradition with my family as well. Each year on Christmas Eve we open one gift and it’s always pajamas. Usually something Christmas themed for Kellie and something nice for Jon and I.  Then, being the scrapbook mama that I am, we take a picture by the Christmas tree before bed.  Christmas morning we get up and are all ready presents and lots of pictures in our new jammies!!

This is by far the best picture yet – taken Christmas Eve in 2009 – in my opinion it shows the true personalities in my little family.

A big thank you to Amy for letting me share my tradition and Happy Holidays to her wonderful readers!!!

Amanda

{Our} Home for the Holidays: An Artsy Family Christmas Eve

Can you believe it's almost Christmas?!

I seriously feel like the month of December flew by this year!  Now it's time for some of my very favorite holiday traditions, and of course PRESENTS too!  {Not gonna lie, I love me a good present!}

I figured that since we've spent the past two months reading about all kinds of fun family traditions from some of my favorite bloggy friends, I'd take today to invite you into our own home and share with you how we celebrate Christmas Eve.

First, both sides of the family get together for lunch at our house.  This photo is from last year, and includes hubby's parents, grandmother, grandfather, brother, and his brother's girlfriend, as well as my mom and dad.

I love that we have several occasions each year when all four of Noah's grandparents plus some of his great-grandparents are all together; his birthday party, Christmas Eve, Passover, and Thanksgiving.  Those are memories I know he'll cherish, and we sure enjoy getting everyone together.

We have sandwiches, potato salad, veggies, chips and salsa, and of course dessert!  Lots and lots of dessert!!  Then, my folks head home and we exchange gifts with hubby's family.  {In years past, we've done gifts first, then lunch, but there's a 1:00 Ravens game this year...enough said.}

My mother-in-law and I have a longstanding tradition of exchanging the absolute ugliest holiday pins we can find and buy for each other...I have a real doosy for her this year!

After Little Crafter's nap, we have a special family dinner just for the three of us. My friend Sabine gave us these special holiday plates we like to use for the occasion.  {Gosh, I forgot LC was still in a high chair last year!  Wow, time flies!}

After dinner, we get dressed up {except, apparently, for LC's sneakers...} and head to candlelight church service.  I've always loved singing Silent Night by candlelight...

This year, LC is going to be sporting the special snowman tie Nicole from Three's{4}Me made for him!

Pictures forthcoming!

...and one of my favorite traditions, we each get to open one gift after we get home from church.  We always give Little Crafter a new pair of pj's to wear.  This year he gets footies with rocketships all over them.  Blue, of course.  We also got him a nativity sticker book we're going to let him do before bed.

Last year, hubby and I stayed up to put together LC's big gift, a kitchen, and boy was it a pain!

Fortunately, this year, a Leapster Explorer and a Boldin jersey don't require any assembly!!

Which means we get to watch the Nativity movie.  Yay!

In the morning, we'll do our gifts, just the 3 of us, and have cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Then, my mom and dad will come to exchange gifts around noon, my grandma will come around 4:30, and my in-laws will come back, hopefully with one or both of hubby's brothers, and we'll all have dinner together.  That's a typical Christmas with the Artsy Family.

However you and your loved ones celebrate, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men."

{Our} Home for the Holidays: Janelle's Noche Buena Tradition

Thank you so much Amy for inviting me here today! I'm Janelle and I have my own little corner in blogland called Of Pinks and Fairy Tales where I share my adventures in learning how to sew and crochet, and DIY tutorials for other crafts.

I'm from the Philippines and I'm very happy to be here with you today to share my family's (and pretty much my whole country's) holiday traditions. Today I will be telling you about our Noche Buena tradition.

Noche Buena is a Spanish term we use to refer to dinner with family on Christmas eve. The Philippines was once a Spanish colony for 300 years so most of our practices are rooted in Spanish traditions. 

 I found this article on Wikipedia and you can see the similarities in celebrating Noche Buena in different countries. The description for the Philippines is pretty accurate: "In the Philippines, this usually comes after the entire family has attended the late evening Christmas Eve mass or Misa de Gallo. Often on the table are: lechon, pancit, sweet style (Filipino style) spaghetti, fruit salad, cake, fried chicken, hamon, queso de bola, arroz caldo, lumpia, rice, and adobo among others for the main course. Desserts include ube halaya, bibingka, membrillo, rice cakes, ice cream, pastries and cakes; drinks include hot chocolate, coffee, soda, wine, beer, and different kinds of fruit juices."

Noche Buena is all about family and FOOD. We celebrate not just with our immediate families but our extended families as well. People make it a point to be home for Christmas, wherever in the world you might be. Though I decorate my house for Christmas, we don't really spend Christmas here. Instead, we hop on a plane and fly south to visit my husband's family to spend Christmas with them. Most of his cousins who are based elsewhere do the same. And on Christmas eve, after attending Misa de Gallo, we all gather together for Noche Buena.

Lechon: Pig roast that's 100% cholesterol but delicious!

I wish I have a traditional Christmas recipe to share with you but that is one thing you can't find on my blog because, you see, I don't know how to cook. My grandmother is a great cook. My mother-in-law is a great cook. My husband is a great cook. And all I know is how to serve water. Yeah... scandalous I know. I know how to fry though, if that counts.   You might wonder if I mind not spending Christmas with my family. I don't, because we fly back to Manila in time to celebrate Media Noche with my family. Media Noche refers to midnight dinner we have with our families on the midnight of January 1 to celebrate the coming of the new year. But that is another story :) From my home to yours, I wish you all a merry Christmas!

{Our} Home for the Holidays: Nicole's Jammies

Hi there, all!

My name is Nicole, and I blog over HERE! I'm a wife, mama to an ALMOST two year old, {we're within days of his birthday, and I don't think we are immune to the dreaded terrible-twos}, and expecting Babe #2 ANY day now {fingers crossed for an early delivery! fingers crossed, fingers crossed, fingers crossed!}. Anyway, here we were, pre-Babe #2 bump:

{aww} Okay! On to what we really care about! TRADITIONS! I shared on my blog our slightly old-mannish Thanksgiving tradition a few weeks back, so now it's time to talk about one of my favorite favorite FAVORITE Christmas traditions! {But here's the deal} I have not one shred of photographic evidence of this tradition thus far. I know, I KNOW! I should be stoned! {The reason is because the one picture that exists of us executing said tradition was deleted in a freak SIM card accident. Sad, I know.} But that is no reason not to carry on! So, here is what we Cisneros's do every Christmas: I SCOUR THE MALLS, TARGETS AND LOCAL BOUTIQUES FOR MATCHING PAJAMAS, AND I FORCE MY HUSBAND TO WEAR THEM ON CHRISTMAS EVE! {aren't I such the dream wife?}

{That will be us yet again, except slightly less model-like. If we tried to pull off all those stripes, it would be blinding to the average soul.} Honestly, the three of us looked hot in our matching PJ's last year, and I know Chad secretly enjoyed the cuteness. This year has been a challenge, though! Where the heck are all the matching sets?? My 9-month-along bump isn't really helping my cause, but I'm NOT GIVING UP! We may even wear matching Star Wars PJ's, per our Thanksgiving tradition, but that has yet to be decided. Another thing we may do? Onesies.

All three of us. Yes, each and every square inch of my husband's 6'3" body might be covered in onesie sexiness. Anyway, it has yet to be determined, but TRUST ME, whatever we do, it will be great! So as we move closer to the Big Day {Santa Day}, I hope that everyone enjoys themselves to their fullest, and takes a moment to appreciate the little smiles, snuggles, hot cocoa, and foot massages {ahem} from their hubbies. Afterall, it's the season of giving, so you can just tell that husband of yours to give you a gosh darn massage, because you deserve it, you Christmas-shopping, DIY-er, keeper-o-the-home!  Anyway, I'm wishing you a very MERRY MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

{Our} Home for the Holidays: Lorie's Photo Ornaments

Hello!  I'm Lorie from Reading Confetti and I'm so excited to be here sharing one of our family traditions with you!  My blog is all about making reading fun by combining children's literature with simple activities and crafts, so it is nice to do an adult (not that kind of adult) tutorial for a change. One of my favorite traditions is when my sister (Mom of 4) and I get together and create personalized photo ornaments for the children in our family.  She's a great photographer and the crafty one in the family, so she always comes up with something good to make.  It's so fun to pull these ornaments out every year and see how our kids have changed. {sniff} Here is what we've created in past years.  I linked to Amazon so you could see the product but almost all of the supplies can be found at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Joann's.  (Don't forget to use your coupons!)

2010: May be Crooked, We Couldn't Let All That Vodka Go to Waste
We followed this tutorial from Photo Jo Jo.

2009: Punches, Worth Their Weight in Gold
We bought a bucket of Wilton party favor boxes (can't find them on-line, but we got them at Michaels) and a scalloped circle punch set to punch out colored cardstock. We taped 2 circles back to back with a line of ribbon sandwiched in the middle. We used the crop-a-dile to punch a hole.

2008: Buy Extra: Acrylic Cracks
We bought  acrylic frames (similar to these,) added embellishments and tags and then used a crop-a-dile again to punch a hole in the top. We never did figure out the trick to making holes and a couple cracked.

2007: Glass Balls: More Fragile Than You Think
We printed photos on fabric sheets made for ink jet printers and decorated with rub-ons.

2006: The Ornament That Started It All.
We bought unfinished chipboard ornaments and covered them with scrapbook paper and added a tag.

Here is this year's final product... 2011: The Year We Cursed Ourselves For Picking Long Names For Our Kids

These are plain wooden cubes decorated any way you like. We chose paint, scrapbook paper and glitter.

 After all sides were decorated, we glued the pictures down and then coated the whole thing with Mod Podge (don't worry, it dries clear.)

We took washers and stamped the names and year and then hot glued them to one side.

Finally, we added mini eyelets (found in the wood section of Michaels) and added ric rac. Thanks so much for letting me share this tradition with you!  I hope you'll stop by Reading Confetti and see what other things we've been up to!  Merry Christmas!

{Our} Home for the Holidays: Jaime's printables and other fun ideas

Hi Friends!!

I'm Jaime from Polkadots on Parade!

Isn't this fun??

I'm loving this time of the year for all the craftiness it brings out in people!

I think we are all a little more inspired this month!

In our house, we love to celebrate the Santa and spiritual sides of Christmas!

First we get our HO HO HO on with this fun printable!

It prints as an 8x10 and makes an instant Christmas decoration!

Christmas to me means baking sweetness, and I think some fun hotpads are in order!

Tutorial HERE

I love all the fun ways people are making Christmas art!

I made this Christmas tree from my favorite Christmas hymn, O Holy Night.

It prints as an 8x10 as well.

I am amazed at all the fun advent ideas out there!

I wanted my children to enjoy the experience of counting down

to the most magical day of the year for them...Christmas!

I also wanted them to feel the joy of service.

This garland of giving has a daily act of service and 2 pieces of candy

to sweeten the experience even more!

Tutorial HERE

Thank you Amy for letting me share our Christmas creations today!

Happy happy holidays to you all!

{Our} Home for the Holidays: Katie's Candies

Well hello there One Artsy Mama readers!  I’m Katie and I write a little blog called My Darling Days.

First off, I want to thank the wonderful Amy for having me; this is my first guest post!  I am a relatively new blogger and have a lot to learn, but I love the ‘blogging community’ thus far.  You gals are great!

Over in my neck of the woods, you will find me sharing about everyday adventures, craft and recipe tutorials, fashion, and auntiehood.  I started my blog as a scrapbook of my darling days, and I love to share what I know – hopefully helping a reader or two along the way!

When Amy asked me to participate in her fun series, I knew immediately that I wanted to share my family’s tradition of Christmas candy making {and eating!}  Cuz let’s be real… besides the gifts, the FOOD is the next best part!

Every year, my mom, sister, and I get together to make a whole crap load of goodies.  And then I eat way too many and suffer from perpetual stomach aches the rest of December, but it’s so worth it!

On the docket this year:

Rolo Pretzels.  The perfect amount of sweet + salty.

Peanut Butter Balls.  Much like a Reese Peanut Butter Cup!

Oreo Balls.  These are my absolute favorite!!

Corn Flake Balls.  Soo yummy and easy!

Peanut Clusters.  Such an easy way to use up left over chocolate. 

Peanut Butter Cookies. {with some pazazz}

Chocolate Chip Cookies.  These are a classic.

Santa Surprises.  {I don't know what these are really called, but they are just peanut butter cookie dough and mini Reece's Peanut Butter Cups made in a mini muffin pan.}

I look forward to this day every year, and can't wait to share this tradition with my little peanut of a niece, Elena.

Well I hope that I inspired you to get off your butt and bake!  If you have any questions regarding any of the recipes we used, please feel free to email me: mydarlingdays(at)gmail(dot)com. 

I'd love for you to come my digs by and say hi!  Thanks again Amy!!