Capture a Photo Of Santa In Your Home!

Repost

Thrill your kids this Christmas! Catch Santa in YOUR house! How will your kids doubt Santa when they see a picture of him in their very own home?!! This is such a cool idea and very easy to do. I uploaded images of my family room to the company's website. I spent a few minutes choosing a Santa (there are hundreds to choose from). It took about 15 minutes to create - which includes a downloadable picture I printed instantly. Wow - I have PROOF of SANTA in my very own home!  Here's Santa in front of our fireplace. I love his facial expression of being caught in the act!

Santa in front of our Christmas tree. He's probably checking his list to find out if we've been naughty or nice ; ).  What a fun tradition to do every year and then look back on the different pictures!! Your kids will be talking about Santa visiting their home for years!

Here's my before picture.

This is how easy it is to do.....

 

How fun would it be to try and show Proof of Santa's Visit in your home?!? Just before bedtime on Christmas Eve - have your kids help you set up your camera on a tripod or on a desk/counter.  Mention to your kids if Santa appears the camera will automatically take his picture. Of course, if your child still believes...this will be easy to pass off. After the kids are sleeping, take the photo you really want to use and upload it to the company's website. Make sure to delete the camera image - just in case your child looks at the camera (you don't want an image of your family room on the camera without Santa in the pic). This site has several great features on this website - you can resize Santa, brighten, contrast, etc to make it look like he is really in your home. Print out the picture and show your family the next morning...what an awesome surprise. I wish my kids were young enough to pull this off.  For $9.95 you're able to do 3 different pictures. The account set-up will expire in one year - create 1 or 2 pictures this year and another next year. Great deal!

To all of our readers...Merry Christmas!! Our regular blog posts will be back on track after Christmas.

INSTA-SNOW 1LB BAG

FREE Santa Video Message Personalized For Your Child

Oh my gosh - this is so COOL!! It's a personalized video message for your child from Santa and guess what? It's FREE. I filled out a simple check list form and made a silly version for my daughter Jamie. From that check list form, a short movie clip is made for your child with Santa personally speaking to your kid. Santa mentions he is in the North Pole.


Upload a photo of your child and when Santa opens a book to check his naughty or nice list your child's photo will appear in his book with also a few extra details.



On the form - you check what state you live in. As you can see, there is a map shown with your child's name and approximate location. It's helpful that Santa knows where you live : )


I checked a box that says my daughter is working on having less tantrums this year (she's 14 ; ) ) Here's what Santa said: "I see here that you've been trying really hard to stop *throwing tantrums* I'm very proud of you. You need to keep it up - as you know nothing gets past Santa". As I mentioned, this was a silly one I made. I'm having way too much fun with this!! Would you like to make a video for your spouse? There also is a version for adults. To make your own version - go here. This doesn't take more than 5 or 6 minutes to make - but you will have so much fun making one you'll want to make them for all your family and friends. So beware - this could take along time.

UPDATE:  This is a repost from last year. The video is still free...it is a different video from last year...it is still awesome!

Treats for Santa

(Photography by Naomi V Photography, styling by Sharnel Dollar Designs, Printables by Polkadot Prints)

As a little girl I used to get very excited about leaving out a snack and a drink for Santa and the Reindeer. We used to leave a fruit mince pie, milk, and a carrot for Rudolph.

Now that my son is old enough I have decided this year to start a family tradition of making something special and handmade with my son to teach him to be thankful and thoughtful by giving Santa something in return for delivering gifts to us.

Here are some sweet ideas I have spotted for preparing a treat for Santa and the Reindeers ...

1. These Cookie sacks - an adorable little muslin bag with an iron on transfer filled with mini cookies, would make a perfect midnight Snack !

(Image via The Finer Things)

2. Chocolate and Caramel Dipped Marshmallows would be something different for Santa to munch on, and simple and fun for the kids to make

(Ensparkle Ceramics Plate)

3. A Personalised Santa Plate for the treats to go on, the kids can write their own message on this one.

Image via Southern Living

4. Make special Reindeer food by combining oats and coloured sugar crystals / sprinkles, the kids can sprinkle a trail on the grass so Rudolph and friends can find their way to your house.

What do you leave out for Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve ?


Sarah Thompson, of Style Me Gorgeous, is a featured contributor

Homemade and Semi-Homemade Food Gifts

Caramel in a Can

This is a super easy gift. The caramel sauce is made by boiling UNOPENED sweetened condensed milk. Easy, peasy! The trick is making sure the cans are completely covered with water at all times (the cans will burst if not covered in water). I’ve made caramel in a can many times. Michelle Underwood designed these adorable caramel sauce labels. The printable labels, instructions and ideas are found here.

More food gift ideas! Check out my featured post on Tip Junkie - TOP 10 SEMI-HOMEMADE FOOD GIFTS {MADE WITH LOVE}. 

Thrill Your Kids-Capture a Photo of Santa In Your home!!

Thrill your kids this Christmas! Catch Santa in YOUR house! How will your kids doubt Santa when they see a picture of him in their very own home?!! This is such a cool idea and very easy to do. I uploaded images of my family room to the company's website. I spent a few minutes choosing a Santa (there are hundreds to choose from). It took about 15 minutes to create - which includes a downloadable picture I printed instantly. Wow - I have PROOF of SANTA in my very own home!  Here's Santa in front of our fireplace. I love his facial expression of being caught in the act!

Santa in front of our Christmas tree. He's probably checking his list to find out if we've been naughty or nice ; ).  What a fun tradition to do every year and then look back on the different pictures!! Your kids will be talking about Santa visiting their home for years!

Here's my before picture.

This is how easy it is to do.....

 

How fun would it be to try and show Proof of Santa's Visit in your home?!? Just before bedtime on Christmas Eve - have your kids help you set up your camera on a tripod or on a desk/counter.  Mention to your kids if Santa appears the camera will automatically take his picture. Of course, if your child still believes...this will be easy to pass off. After the kids are sleeping, take the photo you really want to use and upload it to the company's website. Make sure to delete the camera image - just in case your child looks at the camera (you don't want an image of your family room on the camera without Santa in the pic). This site has several great features on this website - you can resize Santa, brighten, contrast, etc to make it look like he is really in your home. Print out the picture and show your family the next morning...what an awesome surprise. I wish my kids were young enough to pull this off.  For $9.95 you're able to do 3 different pictures. The account set-up will expire in one year - create 1 or 2 pictures this year and another next year. Great deal!

Fun items for Christmas...

 

Chase Prod. 499-0506 Spray Snow 

INSTA-SNOW 1LB BAG

 

Personalized Santa Key




Santas Key

Santa Clues - Proof of Santa's Visit

Santa Sacks: Simplify Christmas With A Wonderful Family Tradition!

Santa has never left wrapped Christmas gifts in our home. Santa Sacks have been a tradition in my family for decades. What are Santa Sacks? They are reusable fabric drawstring gift sacks that are larger in size than a pillowcase. On Christmas Eve our kids leave their very own empty Santa Sack at the end of their sleeping bag (we sleep as a family next to our tree in the family room). Some families leave the sacks under the tree or beside their bed. Santa leaves gifts in the Santa Sacks (instead of under the tree) to be opened on Christmas morning. We do wrap our family and friends gifts for under the tree. By the way, we still hang stockings from the mantel.

My family is Australian (I'm half Aussie).  I've grown up with Santa Sacks and so have my children. This is a Christmas tradition in Australia and in other parts of the world. I'm not sure of the origins - but I was told that back in the day (decades ago) Christmas trees were expensive (they still are).  So for the families that didn't have a Christmas tree - the kids would leave their pillowcases at the end of their bed so Santa would know where to leave the gifts on Christmas Eve. The BRILLIANT idea behind these sacks...there's no wrapping of Santa gifts!!  Now I know every family does it different - some leave unwrapped gifts under the tree and some wrap each gift from Santa.  Maybe this will be a new tradition for your family??

Santa Sack from here.

 

Here's how I simplify Christmas...

Throughout the month of December - I place all of the gifts that will be from Santa into 3 separate  trash bags (one for each of my children). I write their name on the trash bag and hide the bags in a special spot. On Christmas Eve after the kids are asleep, I empty the contents from each child's trash bag and place it into the Santa Sack i.e. the contents of Cole's trash bag goes into Cole's Santa Sack (this way it is all organized and ready to go).  Who wants to spend extra time on Christmas Eve getting everything figured out and organized?? Not me!  Image from here.

Santa Sack image from here.

Image from here.

Why I LOVE Santa Sacks...

1. Have you ever found yourself staying up late at night on Christmas Eve wrapping gifts? Well, not with Santa Sacks - place Santa's gifts in the sack and voila all done!! It takes me all of 5 minutes. There is no wrapping of Santa gifts - none, nada, not one bit!   Santa Sacks leave a lot less mess to clean-up Christmas morning!

2. Eco friendly. We've reused our Santa Sacks for years. Such a perfect way to prevent waste of money and gift wrap.

3. Do you have odd sized gifts? Those can be so difficult to wrap! Santa Sacks make it easy : ) Our Santa Sack measures 21" x 32"

4. Each child takes turns "opening" their Santa Sack and pulling out one gift at a time.  Since it is a drawstring sack you don't see all the gifts at once.

5. My children LOVE their Santa Sacks. They talk about how they will carry on this tradition when they have kids. My mom made their Santa Sacks for them when they were little - so they are very special to them.


Ideas on how to introduce the Santa Sack to your family:
Leave a package on your doorstep (from Santa's elves) with the Santa Sacks and a note inside.  Explain on the note that these are special Santa Sacks from the North Pole and for the kids to leave them at the end of their bed (or under the tree) on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve Santa will deliver all their toys and leave them inside their very own Santa Sack.  This will make the elves job easier since they are so busy making toys - there's no time for wrapping gifts this year!  Besides Santa and his elves would like to encourage us to reduce gift wrap waste : )

Instructions to sew your own simple Santa Sack. I would definitely add a drawstring or drawstring with elastic. Here is a step by step detailed sewing tutorial of a Santa Sack. I highly encourage Mom or Grandma to make these Santa Sacks. It will be a wonderful family treasure for many, many years.
 
Make sure the S. S. are large enough for what you need.  Here are a few S.S. for those who don't want to make their own...

Personalized Santa Sack Christmas Gift

 Kids Santa Sack Christmas Gift Bags, Personalized Large Santa Sack 

 

Santa's Bag 

 

Velvet Toy Bag 

I would love to know how your family does Santa presents. Please leave a comment on what works for your family. Who knows maybe you'll want to give Santa Sacks a try...