Families that Craft Together

I’m going to be totally honest with you. This past Christmas break I was nervous that my family was going to experience a huge falling-out. Doors slamming, kids and parents yelling, things breaking - you name it, I envisioned it happening. Christmas is normally my favourite time of year. I love putting ornaments on the tree as a family, going through our old hand-made ones and reminiscing about the Christmases that they came from. I feared Christmas 2020 wasn't going to result in similar fond memories.

For some context - I have six kids. Yes, you read that right, there are six of them! Three by marriage and three by C-section, ranging in ages from 6 months to 15 years. Six kids, two adults, two small dogs, one big cat and a fish (to be fair, Phin doesn't cause too much trouble) all under one roof with excessive free time and nowhere to go seemed like a recipe for disaster.

Cozy Quarantine Christmas

Christmas during the pandemic meant that literally everything was closed. We normally visit grandparents and extended family, but no, not this year. What about arcades, indoor playgrounds, movie theatres, anything? Also no. Even the ski hills were closed for our cozy quarantine Christmas.

So I was left trying to plan a holiday break that was still fun, not too ‘extra’ (I’ve been accused of this) catered to a massive age range and was a true stay-cation. We did get outside tobogganing a couple of times but any mention of snowshoes was met with the most intense eye-rolling you can imagine.

The good news is that we all survived and are left with (mostly) happy memories. I did my best to stop focusing on the negative, got the kids involved in planning and we tried a few new things! Here are some highlights of our Christmas break:

Hot Chocolate Bombs

I am so trendy! But seriously, while I would never try to sell mine on Etsy, they were fun to make and even more fun to drink. The unicorn ones had pink hot chocolate inside. We also made spicy dark chocolate bombs and milk chocolate with salted caramel. So good!

Sugar Cookies

Baking and decorating cookies is one of our favourite things to do at Christmas and was the first thing the kids suggested when I asked for their ideas. Everybody helped roll the dough and use the cookie cutters (if you look closely, you'll see a Darth Vader wearing a bikini). The grocery stores were sold out of icing, I had to improvise and make my own. The green and red colours didn’t exactly turn out how I’d hoped but the cookies still tasted delicious.

New Year’s Day Movie Marathon

A tradition that my parents adopted when I was growing up was to go to the theatre on New Year's Day and try to see as many movies as possible. Our max so far has been four. Babies and movie theatres don't mix so I hadn't introduced my family to this tradition. With everyone at home, we decided this was the right year to try a slightly modified version and planned a full day of movies.

Prior to Christmas, everyone added their nominations to the master list, no suggestion was turned away. Then the week before, everyone voted for their top five. They were scored, ranked and then I made the schedule (okay, I can kind of see their point about me being 'extra'). The day was topped off with way too many movie snacks: popcorn, nachos and hot dogs! As a side note, I have no idea why my teens are obsessed with Smurfs - is this a thing?

Enter Targeted Facebook Ads

I am a firm believer in having some unstructured days in the mix, especially at Christmas break as it's the best time to enjoy your gifts. That said, I felt like I didn’t have enough activities planned and I needed something more. Cue the listening algorithms: I started seeing Facebook ads for something called Crafty Creatures - Christmas craft kits. I was intrigued and decided to click:

I was hooked when I saw the age category for 4 and under was called "you eat glue too?" $20 for six crafts, I got to choose from a huge list (not just Christmas themed!) and they’re broken out into three age categories. I needed to pick two kits to be eligible for shipping. Perfect - I ordered one for 5-9 years and one 10+, added on some finger paints and glue and we were all set! This was exactly the right activity to round out our holiday.

Crafty Creatures

An absolute bonus to this add to cart is that we supported a local business. Crafty Creatures in Cambridge, Ontario is not just another chain store. They offer workshops and DIY activities for adults on top of birthday parties and kid’s crafts. To adjust to the pandemic, they started selling ‘Keep’em Busy’ and subscription boxes in addition to the pick-a-packs.

The pick-a-pack arrived in a pizza box! So smart! The older kids may have initially been a bit skeptical, but everyone picked a craft or two to make and off we went! The baby napped and everyone else had a few hours of fun and creativity. We also ended up with new Christmas tree ornaments for next year. Tell me you don’t love that Christmas cactus!

I loved being able to break away from Amazon and the opportunity to personalize our packs was too good to pass up. It was a challenge to limit the choice to just six, they had so many brilliant crafts to pick from! If you have a smaller family, six crafts might just last you a few weekends of some fun, quality time.

Crafty Creatures updated their pick-a-packs and have Easter and Spring-themed crafts available now! They ship to anywhere in Canada. If you’re looking for something more adult focused, they also have DIY sign kits, string art and dream catchers.

It’s easy to get reeled in by advertising, but every now and then you find something that is just exactly what you need. I wouldn't have found Crafty Creatures without social media listening in.

Next year when we're putting our ornaments on the tree, I will see that Christmas cactus and remember my husband and son trying to make yarn pom poms and laughing, or the popsicle stick sled and remember how my eldest managed to get glue everywhere. When we look back on our Christmas 2020, it won't be the time we were stuck together, it will be the time we spent together.

Photo credits: All photos were taken by the author and are of our actual Christmas activities

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