Baby’s first Christmas is such a great memory for parents, as babies and Christmas both celebrate life, joy and hope that when you combine the two together is the most joyous of all!
Baby’s First Christmas, Part 1: Advent and Baby’s First Christmas Ornament
As I thought of a traditional gift guide, most of the things I thought of that I loved for both my girls first Christmas I wanted either on or before Christmas day or they were little things I wanted to do or have to remember the occasions, so we will do a little blog series on making a great Christmas season for new Mom’s and babies including gift ideas, activities and a few things to start making your own traditions and precious memories.
Advent calendars for kids and babies
Making memories for baby’s first Christmas and starting new traditions as a family is so fun for parents and extended family. One tradition is you can start is how you will celebrate advent, I always loved my chocolate calendar but if you are up for doing a little something different there are some great ideas!
I wish I could claim to be crafty, but alas, I am more of the ‘buy something crafty looking’ sort. I actually love spending time doing crafts as tinkering away feels so therapeutic but I never put the time aside to do it. So there are two streams of advent calendars to go for, make your own of buy one and fill it, each involve some work from the creator, so no getting away from that! Also, as a side noted, making an advent calendar as an early Christmas gift would be an amazing gift to receive as a new Mom, as chances are, they haven’t got round to thinking about it yet and it will be cherished for years to come. So…here are my favorite advent calendars.
For the crafty sort:
- Create a gift board with clothes pegs to hang presents on – looks easy enough!
Create a modern woodland forest with paper and glitter pens, looks beautiful and simple.
For the ‘buy something crafty looking’ sort:
- Pottery barn kids make gorgeous advent calendars with good sale on now!
- For a no work involved sort (I love these too!)
Indigo has great Crayola, Playmobil and Lego advent calendars for the older kiddos.
Filling your advent calendar
If you are making the calendar or at least filling it with little gifts for little ones, here are some ideas to get the wheels turning on what to put inside.
- Other yummy treats – mum mum crackers, fruit bars, mandarin oranges, chocolates, dried fruit
- Baby Christmas nursery rhymes and stories that you can write and read. Check out some cute Christmas poems
- Small board books, you can check out a local thrift store for great deals or try Indigo for little books like Bear Stays Up for Christmas
- Chritmas tree ornaments, see below
Baby’s first Christmas ornament 2016
Marking special occasions is part and parcel of motherhood, as the time and precious moments pass so quickly. Making baby’s first Christmas ornament is a fun little activity and goes on to give you a great memory you cherish year after year. It would also be a great activity for a friend or family member to make with baby and then give on Christmas day (note to Grandparents!), receiving Baby’s first Christmas ornament as a new Mom or Dad would be such a wonderful gift!
If you are stuck for ideas, they abound on blogs or Pinterest. Two that I liked best were the handprint glass ornament, which looks easy enough for Pinterest beginners like me and can be bought in a kit from Amazon, Indigo, etc. If you are feeling a little more crafty and have a real Christmas tree you can make a cool baby’s first Christmas ornament from the trunk of your tree.
If you want more crafty ideas on Baby’s first Christmas ornament, they abound!
If you are looking to buy a personalized Baby’s first Christmas Ornament, look no further, these are the best ones out there!
- A personalized polar bear Baby’s first Christmas ornament, fitting for those of us living in the true north strong and free (and other who like polar bears of course!)
- Gold, silver and rose gold Baby’s first Christmas ornament. Gorgeous with timeless style.
- Pottery barn, I keep mentioning as they are great for gifts. They not someplace I would usually shop for myself but for a gift or something special, they come up trumps. Their ornaments can be personalized and also start at $5.50! –
- Anthropologie’s Crown stork ornament, a little more modern but beautiful simplicity.
Hope you enjoy getting into the Christmas season! Coming up next we will look at great Christmas gifts for new Moms. Enjoy.