Category: HOLIDAYS

Welcome to BLOGMAS 2025. I’m so happy you could join me. Like always, I want to make this fun and no fuss, so join in when and where you can. I hope you enjoy this insight into my little corner of the holidays.

I’m a list maker and pretty organized so even my BLOGMAS schedule is pretty much in order of occurrence BUT, this year I’m simplifying the list even more by combining categories and doing less daily posting to free up time.

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

This year Thanksgiving arrived late again, so late that I feel like I’m getting a really late start to the Christmas holiday.

Today as usual we will start with a trip to the Christmas Tree farm to get front door wreaths followed by a yummy lunch at a favorite local haunt. The Grange will have their annual craft sale starting today also. Tomorrow is the shop small downtown event tied into the farmer’s market and a local favorite mom and pop store, Family and Friends is having their open house to kick off the season. Sunday will be spent dealing with outside decorations and then the tree lighting ceremony at the park in the evening.

This is not going to be a traditional year for us so I’m actually keeping the schedule pretty flexible. So far the only definite dates are the local county Christmas fair on the 5th, an UGLY Christmas sweater (that I’m ready for) Christmas party on the 12th and the Christmas parade is on the 20th. 

We will be hosting Christmas here for mom and her friend, but it will be small and low key.

CHRISTMAS CARDS I usually have my cards ready to mail on this day, but last year ran so far behind that they never got out. This year though they are once again ready and I will mail them on my way back from the tree farm.

Do you still send “snail mail” Christmas cards? We usually receive our first card on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I do still send them! I know a lot of people have stopped or send virtual cards, but I’m a die hard on this one. I just love sending and getting Christmas cards in the mail. But, I fear they are becoming a thing of the past. Unfortunately I receive fewer and fewer each year it seems. Virtual cards just aren’t the same to me. AND I can’t reuse virtual cards to make the next year as gift tags.

I even painted a set of old shutters in Christmas colors to display them.

I DO try to make my own Christmas cards when I can, and I PLANNED to do homemade again this year, but years like this last year full of issues sometimes finds me sending out box cards.

A local store carries boxed cards that are really nice quality, pretty cute and super affordable. I’m bound and determined that I WILL do homemade again soon

I did try an annual letter a few times, but ended up in just doing a few paragraphs eventually hitting the highlights from throughout the year since.

ELF on the SHELF/NISSE 

I know many parents are tired of ELF on the SHELF, are you? Food Network even had a baking competition that revolved around the ELF on the SHELF a couple years ago. I’m not sure if it ever made a season 2, because I wasn’t watching.

I have always loved the actual idea of ELF on the SHELF and have made a list each year of the antics they would get into that year so I could be prepared and hopefully not repeat myself too much! But, my munchkins have grown up fast – too fast! 2 of 3 of them “KNEW”, but the youngest still believed and we tried keeping the elf/nisse tradition alive another year! BUT, her teacher told the whole class a couple years ago! Who does that? I was soooooo mad! First off it wasn’t her place to tell the kids and what kind of person, especially a teacher, steals a child’s belief of anything? These days the munchkins all tower over me in their teens and our elf/Nisse has become a sentimental fixture in the Christmas decorations.

A few years back I discovered Julenisser, a Nordic tradition, to replace our previous Elf on a Shelf. I couldn’t find that a Julenisser is actually given a name, but I’m winging it here. The NISSE is one of the most familiar creatures of Scandinavian folklore. Again this year we’ve brougth back Annabelle and her pet reindeer, Alvin. They are always a BIG hit.

In Solvang, a Danish community, they actually do a Nisse Adventure like a scavenger hunt and Danish style JuleFest celebration throughout the month of December.

In Denmark there is a serious subculture regarding the Christmas elves and gnomes known as Julenisser. They live in forests and eat fruits and berries throughout the year before they come spend the month of Christmas with your family. They have BIG hearts and ARE magical and they love to play tricks on you and your family!

Hallmark even did a Christmas movie a while back that involves a Gnome/Troll called MY NORWEIGIAN HOLIDAY.

I know many parents are dreading that darned elf every year and having to come up with at least 24 DIFFERENT scenarios that are different from the previous year! Maybe this is the year to try a NISSE?

So when do you begin? Do you have unique names for your elf? Or do you have a Julenisser? Also, do you have a favorite Christmas character? Angels, Snowmen, Nutcrackers, Bears, Gnomes, Reindeer, Peanuts (Charlie Brown, Snoopy…), Elves, Gingerbread Men, Penguins or the BIG man himself, Santa Claus.

I LOVE ALL the Christmas characters, but my favorites are Snowmen, Angels and Reindeer.

Here are a few of my favorite Elf/NISSE pictures from the past several years:

WRAPPING IDEAS

I’ve been PINTEREST surfing and there are some really cute wrapping ideas out there. This is just a few of the cuter ideas I’ve found. I have been wrapping presents as I go again this year and am able to spend a little more time decorating or just relaxing and enjoying the season by doing it that way. The Grinch one is harder to do than it looks, but I enjoyed the straw and string star one a lot. The scrap paper tree and the paper doll trees are fun too.