Once again, 2 days coming right up!

Day 6: Gingerbread Houses

My family has a big tradition when it comes to gingerbread houses (like we have a big tradition for almost anything Christmas related). Every year, my 2 cousins come over to my house and we make mini gingerbread houses using frosting, candy, and graham crackers. So technically, they’re not gingerbread but they’re our version of them. They’re also much easier to work with than making a large gingerbread house.

There are 4 of us who make them. My sister Lea, my cousins Haley and Lindsay, and myself. We each have our own personalities that don’t really change from year to year. My sister usually tries to make the biggest and most extravagant house she possibly can. My cousin Haley is usually more interested in eating the frosting and crackers than making a detailed house. Lindsay, the youngest and craziest, picks a celebrity and tries to recreate their face as her “house.” (It gets pretty creative! One year she tried to make Miley Cyrus and the next she tried to make Kim Kardashian!) Myself, I’m a very literal person, I usually try to make the most traditional gingerbread house I can. We started this tradition when I was in 5th or 6th grade and here I am now, 23, planning our 2018 date to get together to build our next set of houses.

Day 7: Homemade Christmas Presents

I am a HUGE fan of homemade presents. Being a teacher, I’ve had plenty of experience coming up with homemade gift ideas for parents. I’ve also created my own over the years in school. When I was in college, like most, I had no money. My go to present for my family was usually a framed picture. I guess that isn’t totally homemade but it was cheap and easy and very much personalized to each person in my family.

I’m also a fan of giving away boxes of cookies as gifts to neighbors and coworkers. I used to put together tins of cookies in high school for my friends so I didn’t have to buy a whole bunch of gifts for different groups of people. My family is big on making Christmas cookies so we would be able to make tins and tins full of them to share. It’s also a gift for me making them because I get to spend the time with my family (like the pictures below.) It’s a win win.

Best gift ever: My Norwegian a grandma teaching me how to make traditional Norwegian cookies to share.

Finally, the last homemade gift I’m a huge fan of is making ornaments. I used to make an ornament every year in school to give to my parents and they still have them on our Christmas tree today. It’s very personalized and comes from the heart. I was also a gymnast in high school and every year a friend of mine would make the whole team an ornament to keep. I still have each and every one of mine on my own tree. It’s very cheap and easy to make and, again, comes from the heart!