The holidays present us with some easy tv-free options. Our top two favorites so far have been decorationg the house and tree and driving around to see the lights.
I pulled all of the decoration boxes out of the attic last week and decided a one a day option was best for us to do things carefully, double check for the breakable factor and not overwhelm a 2 year old. I definitely have enjoyed collecting ornaments for the tree over the years. But, the fact that I had enough unbreakable ornaments for the tree and still had 2-3 more boxes of breakables that I tucked back into the attic may make me pause on collecting any more that aren’t made by Tomato’s hands. If anything, it will make it fun to rotate the ornaments each year and have a good time finding alternative ways to display them. Today, I’m sharing three of my favorite ornaments with you.
Red Marionette Hippo Ornament
This hippo ornament is from Red Marionette on Etsy. I first head “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” by Gayla Peevey when Tomato was few months old and decided that I would start a tradition of getting her a new hippo each Christmas. This was the second one that she got and I love the cute expression, great stitchwork and the fact that she can enjoy one of her ornaments without the fear of breaking it.
Terrain Ornament
This lovely bird comes from Terrain. I highly recommend getting to a Terrain location (PA or CT) and checking out how they decorate for the holidays. But, I recommend the after-Christmas sales even more. If you love the style of Terrain, take a moment to see what they already have on sale and maybe make a wish list for December 26th.
Little Sapling Toys Ornament
Finally, we have the handcrafted wooden ornament from Little Sapling Toys. I first wrote about this ornament in 2011 in my initial Little Sapling Toys review. I love the texture in it and you can have them customize the back of the ornament with a engraved message. Again, I love that it is a material with which she can interact and not break and it’s a timeless heirloom piece to be cherished and passed down in the family.
In addition to getting our house prepped for the holidays, we have had a blast driving around our area to see the lights on the houses. We have found that Tomato is a big fan of the different blow up decorations and loves shouting “Rudolph” as she sees each reindeer set up on various lawns. Over these last few weeks, it’s been worth calling for takeout and using the wait time to drive around until our dinner is ready.
So, what non-TV holiday activities have you been enjoying lately?
I am sharing this post today on Musings of a Housewife. Please click the link below to see how others are decorating this season.
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We definitely need to be finding some more non-TV activities! My kids have been watching way too much as of late. One thing we did one afternoon that kept them busy for a while was make ornaments with Kiwi Crate. I should do stuff like that more often. Thanks for linking up!
I love the ‘one a day’ idea, Becky! I might have to adopt that for next year – we’ve been running behind so Princess Nagger decorated almost the whole tree all by herself this year. 🙂 I also love that you’re getting Tomato a Hippo ornament each year – that song is just too cute! 🙂 Have a great weekend and Merry Christmas!
Reflecting on Christmas Traditions
We decorated our tree last night. DS7 and DS4 helped. I was a bit worried about breakage though we don’t have many ornaments that I would mourn the loss of. I put those towards the top of the tree.
We love driving around to see the lights, too!
My favorite ornaments are the ones the kids have made over the years. While our Christmas tree may not be as color coordinated as others but it shows my kids artistic skills and is filled with love!
I love your hippo ornament!!! We go out every year with cups full of hot chocolate & look at Christmas lights in the area 🙂
Love Little Saplings Toys, didn’t know they made ornaments. These are lovely!
Love the hippo ornament idea!! We, too, look for tv-free activities often.
Have a merry Christmas!
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