Legos are big at my house. Very big.  It’s hard to walk anywhere without some little piece being found. Every night my 9 year old spends 10 minutes showing me his latest creations. The neighborhood boys even have Lego swaps. So it should be no surprise when my nearly 5 year old little girl came to me crying because she didn’t have any Legos of her own.

Well, technically she does. She has Duplos. But according to her she’s too big for them. And apparently she got a hold of her brothers’ Lego catalog. Lego has new PINK legos…

LEGO® Pink Brick Box

…and the Belville series, with puppies,

Playful Puppy

and horses and stables…

Horse Jumping

….and such that appeal to her little girl dreams. 

So in the back of my mind, I was thinking I’d spring for at least one lego set for her. But today I got an email from Lego; there’s only one more day of guaranteed arrival using standard shipping. AHHH! I have to order by Dec 11 to get it shipped here on time. Or pay faster shipping. eeks. Guess I better figure out what I’m going to do quick.

This week over at Tip Junkie, the Talk to Me Tuesday theme is How to do you keep Christ in Christmas? A very good question.

Here at our house, we spend the season discussing what Christmas really is, and the most important gift that Christ has given us. We refer to Christmas as Jesus’ birthday, and when the kids were younger explained that Christ perfers that instead of giving gifts to him, the best gift we can give our love and gifts to others.

Each year we choose a ministry that helps distribute gifts to children who may not otherwise get them, and each child chooses the gifts to donate. This is an exercise in being able to think of others while in the toy department.

We emphasize thinking up and making gifts and cards for each other. If gifts are to be purchased, we go in secret to do the purchasing keeping the focus on the other person. On Christmas day, we do a birthday cake for Jesus and discuss the circumstances of Jesus’ birth and ministry on earth.

So, how do you keep Christ in Christmas?

The Chocolate Chip Cookies-in-a-Jar mix Kate gave to her Latin teacher this year.

We discovered Gifts-in-a-Jar several years ago, when Kate’s Keepers of the Faith group did them.  We had such fun with it, and it was such a thoughtful, but frugal gift idea, we decided to make them for all of our relatives. 

That year, we made up 25 jars, using three different recipes we found on the interent (just search “cookie in a jar recipe”). Since then we’ve made them for neighbors, friends, and this year Kate gave one to her Latin teacher.

The basic premise is to layer, strata style, the different dry ingredients into an appropriately sized mason/canning jar. And then topping it off with a peice of decorative fabric and a tag listing the instructions and wet ingredients needed. Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Jar is our favorite gift in a jar recipe, but there are tons more you can do.

Kate or I can put one of together in less than 10 minutes.  But we find it fun to  do them in batches of 6 and assign jobs so each child is integrally involved in the process – either measuring, pouring, or tapping down ingredients. It makes a mess, but boy it is fun to do.

For more gifts in a jar recipes, check out Living on a Dime’s Gifts in a Jar ebook. It’s full of other great inexpensive, but thoughtful gifts in a jar ideas.

The doll cradle Josh made for his 4 yr old sister

Last year for Christmas Josh (then 8 years old) made this wooden doll cradle for his 4 year old sister. For the cost of a 1x 10 and a couple dowels, he fulfilled his sister’s desire for a rocking cradle for her dolls. 

The complete materials list requires a 1×10, a 1×6, a 1 inch dowel, a 1×1 firring strip, and finishing nails, screws, and wood glue. We had everything but the 1×10 and the dowel.  The remaining wood and the paint we had, gleaned from Freecycle earlier in the year.

Josh was involved in each step with either his father or I helping him as needed. It was a fun time, when the garage was off-limits, as our own little Santa’s workshop.

Candle Decorated with Candy Canes and Ribbon

My 9 year old cub scout came home with this great little gift idea last week. It’s made with a religious candle from a dollar (or 99 cents) store, ribbon, and candy canes (also from a dollar/99 cent store). It’s a quick, and festive gift idea that kids can make easily. And it’s cheap (er…frugal) at less than $3 for all the materials. It could be less if you pick up the candles at a thrift store or in bulk.

Basically, they tied ribbon around the top, and then tied a short piece of ribbon to hook end of the candy cane and tied the other end of that ribbon to the ribbon around the top. And did this so there was candy canes hanging on all sides.