Comfort and Joy: Making time for handmade gifts

Families live at a fast pace these days. For many of us there are sports practices and games, appointments and meetings, homework and play-dates crammed into an already overfilled schedule. Throw the holiday season into the mix and you have a recipe for stress and disappointment. While we imagine the smell of gingerbread and spending unstructured hours with our families this season, we race around the mall looking for last minute presents. We know what our priorities are — family, meaningful gifts for those we love, time to make it all happen — we just can’t seem to squeeze it all in. Or can we?

‘Be assured that you will always have time for things you put first.’ Liane Steele’s quote is taped where I see it every day. Through sick kids, a thousand obligations, and the velocity of an over-committed life, I read this as a daily reminder that relationships are my first priority. The holiday season is a particularly important time to honour this, largely because it is the time when we make memories that stick with our kids for the rest of their lives. I have a few simple steps towards making good memories of the holiday season: carve out a few afternoons with your family to make homemade gifts, invite the neighbours over for a cookie exchange, let your kids decorate the house even if it is a little lopsided or exuberant. Above all, make time for the things you put first in your life. Happy holidays!

Handmade bath salts

Shopping for the sweetest smelling essential oil is half the fun of this gift! Your local bath and soap specialty shop will carry a wide variety to choose from.

What you will need:

• 4 tablespoons baking soda
• a few drops essential oil (available in specialty bath and perfume shops)
• food colouring if desired

Measure the baking soda into a bowl, add the drops of essential oil and a few drops of food colouring. Mash together with the back of a spoon until the ingredients are completely incorporated.

Decorate envelopes to place the salts in, or place in a pretty jar with illustrated instructions tied around the lid. Double the recipe for yourself! These aromatic salts in a hot bath restore the soundness of mind and spirit on a stressful day!

Neighbourhood cookie exchange

This exchange does not take more than an hour or two and the good cheer that results is worth the effort! Keep in mind the more your child is involved, the more successful the exchange will be.

Begin by having your child make invitations asking that each household bring 2 dozen of their favourite holiday cookies. Hand-deliver the invitations to the neighbours. One of the best parts of the exchange is making the cookies together with your family. Kids who read can choose their recipes from a book, or perhaps you have a favourite family recipe. Decorate several paper plates for the partygoers to fill with cookies to take home with them. On the day of the party decorate a table with festive trimmings (a dip-dyed tablecloth will look positively celebratory!) and place the cookies on the table as people arrive. During the party have the kids and neighbors say a little something about their cookie recipe and why it is their favourite. Then start the sampling! Serve with cups of hot apple cider, coffee, or cold milk if desired. Finally, each household can choose a few of each kind of cookie to take home with them.

Let it snow!

This has to be one of the easiest, most satisfying decorations for kids to create! Even better, it is an any-age activity.

What you will need:

• white shoe polish in a plastic bottle with a sponge applicator

Have your child use the white shoe polish to make ‘snow’ on windows. She can simply dot the polish on, or swirl the sponge applicator against the glass to create snow scenes or words. You can embellish the decorations with liquid tempera paint if desired. Both the paint and the polish will wipe off with warm water and a sponge after the holiday season.

Family cookbook

Some of the best family memories and traditions have their roots in food.

Everyone has a favourite meal, a cookie recipe, or a dish that represents the good things in life. Collecting them together in a book can preserve these cherished traditions, and offer even the youngest a voice in family history (she may have the best way to make a peanut butter sandwich!).

Consider a chapter of fast meals, or favourite things to put in school lunches. If your child is particular about food, he may want a chapter entirely to himself on the kind of food he enjoys and how to prepare it. You can also ask relatives to contribute their favourite recipes with a brief account of who likes it best and how it arrived in the recipe box. Consider keeping the original for yourself and make colour copies for relatives. The cookbooks can be inexpensively spiral bound at a printing store. Add to your book as the years go by; it will make a priceless gift when grown children are ready to be launched into the world.