Christmas Recipes, Crafts, and Easy Gift Ideas
December 13, 2023
| Be sure to scroll to the bottom to enter the contest and see the freebies of the month! |
Mercy Every Minute
Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor
A Peaceful and Fruitful Christmas
Here we are just a couple weeks away from Christmas and maybe you are scrambling for food and gift ideas like I always am! We have amazing authors and staff who have shared simple craft, gift, and holiday food ideas with us over the years. And, ways to keep things simple, realistic, and heartfelt. Here are some great ideas.
Our Sales Director, Jenny Higgins, shared practical ways of Giving Gifts from the Heart.
Here are gift and craft ideas for littles in Creating Holiday Fun with the Littlest Ones.
Here’s how to Minimize Toys and Enhance Christmas for Your Active Learners.
Maybe you are looking for more of a Minimalist Christmas.
How did the families in Little House on the Prairie and Farmer Boy celebrate holidays?
Are you looking for more educational gifts? You may find something in our Resource Guide: Gifts for Christmas—Toys That Teach.
Diana Waring shares with us The Power of Gifts.
Todd Wilson reminds us that Real Men Do Christmas, too!
And here are 7 Ways for Dads to Teach Spiritual Lessons During the Holidays.
Maybe you feel the need to Get Organized for the Holidays.
Our own CEO, Angela Quigley, starts out these Twelve Days of Christmas Crafts and to go along with those twelve days, Celebrating Twelve Names of Christ.
Here’s help for when you just don’t feel like celebrating: Having a Holiday Heart: Seven Reasons to Celebrate (Even if you don’t feel like it)
The Blues and The Oranges: Celebrating the Difficult and the Beautiful of the Season
Scroll down to the end for a free Christmas eBook and a Christmas printable.
Finally, here are a couple of simple holiday recipes:
Hope’s Easy Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
Batter:
- 1 ¾ cups soft butter
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 lemon for 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest and juice for glaze
- 5 eggs
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
Icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 7 tablespoons of lemon juice
Instructions
- Mix the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until smooth.1 ¾ cups soft butter, 1 ¾ cups sugar, 1 lemon for 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- Add each egg and whisk until smooth.5 eggs
- Mix in the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup cornstarch, 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Pour/spread in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Check and bake longer until a toothpick comes out clean.
- When done, take out of oven and poke with a toothpick all over the top.
- Mix glaze ingredients2 cups powdered sugar, 7 tablespoons of lemon juice
- Pour on glaze while cake is still hot so it seeps into holes and covers the top.
- Optional: festive sprinkles
- Leave to cool. When cool, cut into slices and put in small decorative boxes or tins to share.
Andrea Newitt’s Company French Toast
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1-1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 8-12 slices of bread
- 8 eggs
- 1/8-1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups milk
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat. Mix in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with two layers of bread, packed tightly together. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, salt, vanilla, and milk. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
- Bake at 350 degrees until puffed and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving, turning each piece upside down with the brown sugar mixture on top.
In the closing entry of his devotional Strengthen My Spirit, Charles Spurgeon gives us a benediction of peace by reminding us that “our Lord’s legacy to all His disciples” is peace. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27). The angels sang at His birth, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:14).
Spurgeon wrote, “It is heaven here on earth to possess ‘the peace of God which passeth all understanding.’ Peace should be the continual portion of all believers.”
May your hearts and homes be filled with that peace, not just during this precious holiday season but every day of every year as you disciple God’s children at Home. Where They Belong.
~Deborah
A division of The Old Schoolhouse®
SchoolhouseTeachers.com Corner
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When it comes to Christmas, it is the thought that counts. Who wants a gift just for the sake of receiving a gift? Thoughtful and meaningful gifts are golden—but how do you deliver? In Episode 46 of The Hey, Mama! Homeschool Show—”Christmas Recipes, Crafts, and Easy Gift Ideas,” Stephanie shares about Christmas creations, inspiring gifts, and the free Cranberry Christmas resource that you can download today. Learn more at HomeschoolShow.com.
Last-minute gifts are here! Pick up quick and easy Christmas presents for the ones you love—board games, seeds, planners, and books. Only in the Gifts for the Whole Family Resource Guide in the Winter issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. HomeschoolApp.com.
Congratulations to our October winner, Jennifer from Prairie City, SD!
Contest Corner
for the month of December
CalcuPak 1 and CalcuPak 2
School Made Simple
http://schoolmadesimple.com/
For this review we received the CalcuPak 1 and CalcuPak 2 sets. CalcuPak 1 includes CalcuLadder 1, 2, and 3, that covers basic and advanced addition, subtraction, and multiplication drills. Basic division drills are also covered. Also included is the ReadyWriter program that teaches stylus skills and basic penmanship. CalcuPak 2 includes CalcuLadders 4, 5, and 6, plus AlphaBetter. CalcuLadders 4, 5, and 6 cover drills on long division, decimals, estimating, fractions and mixed numbers, percents, English and Metric units, and geometric concepts. AlphaBetter teaches alphabetizing and dictionary skills through multiple drills.
I have children in multiple areas of math drill competency so using both CalcuPak 1 and CalcuPak 2 was easy in our family. I can’t tell you how much I really appreciate this program! My first grader is using CalcuPak 1 working on her addition and subtraction facts, while my fourth grader is using CalcuPak 2 working on fractions. The ReadyWriter program has been great for both my first grader and my pre-school prep toddler who enjoys working on school during the day. Both girls have also been working through the AlphaBetter drills. These drills are easier for my older daughter, but my first grader is getting better and better each day with practice.
Overall, we have had great success using both of these programs in our homeschool and will continue to use it for many years to come. The ability to print drill sheets is priceless in my book. The fact that my girls are racing to get their facts down, yet having fun learning is so great to me. I definitely recommend that you check these out for your own family and see if it is a fit. You have nothing to lose but missed math facts.
This is part of a review of CalcuPak 1 and CalcuPak 2. Read the full review on our site which includes samples and more details about the program.
Go to the contest page of our site where you can ENTER TO WIN your choice of either the CalcuPak 1 or CalcuPak 2 Home Edition application software download or CD.
Freebies
A Baby Shower for Jesus
Have you ever compared yourself with another mom? Have you struggled with feelings of discontent? Disappointment? Discouragement? Do you desire true contentment?
You are not alone! Be encouraged by the WeE-book™. . .
A Baby Shower for Jesus By Deborah Wuehler
Deborah shares her struggles with feelings of discontent, disappointment, and discouragement after a “perfect” baby shower at a mansion. When she arrives back home she couldn’t see the counters for the ants, or the couch for the laundry, or anything else for the tears. She wonders, “Why can’t my house be like theirs? Why can’t I be like them?”
Join Deborah as she shares her journey through those feelings, and she ponders what His baby shower was like. Find comfort and encouragement doing exactly what God has called you to do, Mom, in the pages of this WeE-book™ . . .
- How can I handle disappointment?
- How can I stay in tune with God?
- Can I be the best homeschooling mom to my children?
- Where can I find true contentment?
You can alleviate doubt by staying in tune to what God tells you to do with your children, and don’t give in to comparisons. It’s not how we school that makes us wise or unwise. It’s comparing ourselves among ourselves that makes us unwise. −Deborah Wuehler
Take heart—you are the best homeschooling mom for your child!
What Christmas Means To Me Worksheet
Click on the image to download the full free printable pdf.
Share this newsletter with a friend, and be sure to let those CONSIDERING homeschooling know about the enormous FREE info-pack which awaits them here: www.TryHomeschooling.com.
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