I may be 34 years old, but I still love Christmas! It makes me very nostalgic and I always wish I could go back in time and relive Christmas past. I used to obsess and watch Christmas movies months before December. My favorites were A Christmas Carol and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, I still see them every year!

Another great nostalgia from this era is glitter! Every time I see the fine and shiny things, I feel like a child again mesmerized by the beauty of it. As I got into my teens and twenties, December 24th became more about going out with my friends to bars and staying in clubs until the wee hours of the morning, but I still spend man day with my family, all sitting around of the table. have our amazing homemade lunch.

I look forward to the 25th December dinner all year round and it’s huge and consists of lentil soup and smoked ham with homemade biscuits, a lovely big turkey with little sausages wrapped in smoked bacon, brussels sprouts (yes I really love those) roasted potatoes cooked in goose fat, mashed potatoes, roasted parsnips, carrots, cauliflower with bread sauce and stuffed dumplings. I’m not sure if I missed something. For sweets we do something different every year, from profiteroles to meringues or cheesecake, but one thing I always do now is a cake, I don’t like the traditional fruitcake, so it’s a chocolate or vanilla sponge cake that I decorate a lot striking with bright red. and green glaze.

With a family that works different hours and days, we rarely see each other at the same time. Mainly only at weddings and sadly at funerals. My grandparents are already passed away, this will be my first year without my grandpa who passed away last month so I will do my best to make sure we still have a good time as family is so important.

My son is 5 and my daughter is 4, so they are at that perfect age where the holidays are completely magical for them and Santa Claus exists. Last year we made some decorations with homemade dough, a little glue and lots of glitter! We’ll be doing this again this year and I’ll try a few different shapes we only did star shapes last year which were beautiful but I’m thinking of doing some angels as well this year and maybe some movie characters if possible but these can be more beyond my childish artistic abilities! (I was thinking maybe make some Olaf, maybe just the old snowmen would do)

This is so easy to make and you can even do it using a microwave to make it quicker like I did last year, the only problem with this is that the dough will puff up a bit due to the speed of cooking. I personally like this effect, but if you want a flatter shape (this may be better for more intricate designs and names), baking in the oven or letting it air dry will be the best option, just remember that this will take a lot longer. time, so start this project a few days in advance. Here are the instructions and the recipe.

1/2 cup of salt

1/2 cup of water

1 cup of flour

paints, glue and glitter to decorate

Mix the dry ingredients together, then slowly add the water until easy to handle without sticking to your fingers, but making sure it’s not so dry that it cracks when shaped.

Lightly flour a flat surface and roll out the dough. (if you don’t have a rolling pin, use a thick glass bottle like a wine bottle) You can then use cookie cutters to make a beautiful shape or make your own shapes with a knife. If you have small children it might be an idea to invest in some of these tools, you could get a cheap plastic cutter set and roller at Walmart or even a dollar store.

Remember to poke a hole in the decoration for the ribbon or string to go through to hang it, just use a pencil or knitting needle or even a straw to pierce the dough.

To harden the decoration you can let it air dry which will take around 24 hours, place them on a microwave safe plate and microwave for 3 minutes or place on a tray and in an oven for 3-4 hours in a low temperature, about 100 degrees.

Remember that these will obviously be hot in the microwave or oven, so wait until they are cool before decorating. This is the fun part and you and the kids can go crazy with the glitter! I like to use metallic paints first and then either apply the glitter directly on top of the wet paint or put some kid-friendly glue on the decoration and then sprinkle lots of glitter all over it. After that, all that’s left to do is put some string, tape, or craft pipe cleaners in the hole and hang them.