Page 98 - Parents Magazine (December 2019)

LIFEÑ Celebrate
J O LLI F Y
YO U R
H O M E
14. Spice up the air. For an
instant holiday mood booster,
brew an easy five-ingredient
stovetop simmer like this one
from blogger Jamielyn Nye,
of I Heart Naptime. Combine
cranberries, orange peels,
cinnamon sticks, whole cloves,
and nutmeg in a small pot
and fill it with a few inches of
water. Simmer on the stove,
adding more water throughout
the day when it gets low.
15. Let it snow—in color. Make
paper snowflakes and use
them to decorate the windows,
but try making them with
colored tissue paper instead of
the usual white for a festive
twist on the traditional craft.
16. Raid your pantry for this
Hanukkah project. The base
of the menorah is a spaghetti
box painted blue. Once it’s
dry, have your child glue on
wagon wheels as the bottom
of each candleholder, then
add large rigatoni or ziti pasta.
Decorate with any additional
small pasta you have on hand.
To make candles, cut paper
straws down to size and twist
small pieces of yellow tissue
paper to form flames.
Use two
wagon wheels for
the shammes
(helper candle).
P A R E N T S 96 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9
B O N D T H R O U G H
FO O D
21. Bake a signature sweet.
Pick a cookie recipe your kids
love and claim it as “your”
cookie. Give it a goofy name,
hype it like it’s a Girl Scout
cookie making its annual
return, and then bake it only at
the holidays to keep it special.
22. Enjoy a fancy lunch. Get
the kids all dressed up and
take them to eat somewhere
nicer than usual, suggests
Kate Smith, a mom of two in
Lexington, Kentucky. Not
only will they look forward to
it as a special occasion where
they’ll have a chance to
drink out of wine goblets, but
they’ll also get to practice
17
their fancy table manners for
Craft a cute surprise. the holiday meals to come!
Dress up your kids’ favorite toys with homemade 23. Use food as a tribute.
seasonal outfits like felt scarves, Honor family members who
are no longer with you by
elf hats, and reindeer antlers. Here’s how: making a favorite recipe, drink,
S C A RV E S Cut a strip of point of the hat to the side of or dessert that they used to
felt that’s sized for your toy, the hat. Decorate with strips cook or enjoy. While you’re
and snip a fringe at each end. of felt for cuffs and pom-poms. preparing the recipe with your
Cut rectangles of felt the A N T L E R S Download kids, take the time to tell them
same width of your scarf and the template from parents about the person you miss.
glue them to the scarf to .com/antlers and print,
create stripes. scaling the size to fit your
E L F H AT S Cut a 21/2- to stuffed animal. Cut out the
5-in. triangle with rounded template and trace onto
corners out of felt. Roll the scrapbook paper; cut antlers S L AY
triangle into a cone shape; out. Hot-glue them onto a TH E B I G PREVIOUS SPREAD, LEFT PAGE, CHILDREN IN WAGON: SETH SMOOT. ORNAMENTS, FROM TOP: ANTHONY MASTERSON PHOTOGRAPHY; KNAPE/GETTY; RG&B IMAGES/STOCKSY.
secure with hot glue along strip of felt, then glue strip N I G H T RIGHT PAGE: PROP STYLING BY JOJO LI FOR HELLO ARTISTS. THIS PAGE, PASTA MENORAH: PETER ARDITO (2). ANIMALS ON CHAIR: TED + CHELSEA CAVANAUGH,
the edge. Optional: Glue the ends together to form a band.
24. Whip up reindeer food. PROP STYLING BY JOJO LI FOR HELLO ARTISTS. PILLOW, WEST ELM. STUFFED BADGER, SIGIKIDS. GIRL EATING COOKIE: JONNY VALIANT.
G I V E B AC K LEGO bricks at home to build Have your kids work with
18. Adopt a family through a a holiday ornament. Display it peelers to shred carrots and
charity. Many local nonprofits in-store, or share online with the celery into a fancy salad.
run programs that let you give hashtag #BuildToGive. For every Let them shake on a little
things to a needy family like ornament built and shared, “reindeer dust” (aka sprinkles)
new clothing, toys, household LEGO will donate a LEGO set to for extra magic.
items, and food or grocery- a child in need of play. 25. Start with a surprise. Hang
store certificates. Take your 20. Create holiday cards for a mini stocking at the foot
kids along to shop and hospitalized children. of your child’s bed for Santa to
have them help you wrap too. You can send your homemade place a tiny present in. He
19. Make an ornament for greetings to the nonprofit might also leave a clue about
a cause. Visit a LEGO Store Cards for Hospitalized Kids to a bigger gift that awaits
between November 1 and distribute (full guidelines at your kid downstairs. Wake up
December 31, or use your cardsforhospitalizedkids.com). to squeals of delight!