Any time I visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina a trip to The Christmas Mouse is always on my to do list! I love stocking up on new ornaments and buying a few gifts in advance of the holiday season. 

During my visit in 2016, I was shopping in the same area as two women with a piece of paper. After some total eavesdropping I discovered that the women were buying ornaments with different meanings for a shower or wedding gift. I would hear them say “we need an owl” or “we need a pinecone” - very specific and somewhat random ornaments! 

I immediately searched the internet for what could have been on their paper and I found that it’s a German tradition to give a newlywed couple 12 ornaments to insure “blessing and happiness” for their life together and bring good fortune. 

I LOVE this idea! It’s a useful way to go rogue on a couple’s registry. 

You can buy the ornaments together for a couple OR do it yourself by hand picking the items. 

The images here are from the box of ornaments available at The Christmas Shop. They don’t have a shopable website, but you can find a six-ornament box on Amazon or the wedding set of 12. 

If you are going the DIY route, I searched the internets for some suggested ornaments suggestions with their special meaning. I’ve read that most traditional sets have 12 ornaments, but you’ll see more listed below. The traditional list of 12 tends to change among websites. 

• Flower Basket - Good Wishes & Beauty

• Teapot - Hospitality

• Animal - Peace With Nature

• Angel - God's Guidance 

• Bell - Merriment & Joy 

• Bird - Happiness & Joy

• Boat - Smooth Sailing In Marriage 

• Carrot - Good Fortune in the Kitchen 

• Church - God In Your Life 

• Fish - Christ's Blessing

• Fruit Basket - Generosity

• Grapes - Friendship (& Wine!) 

• Heart - True Love

• House - Shelter, Protection & Security

• Pine Cone - Motherhood, Fruitfulness & Eternity

• Rabbit - Hope, Faith & Love of Family

• Rose - Beauty & Affection

• Santa - Unselfishness and Goodwill

• Star - Guidance 

I’d recommend tying little notes to each ornament to explain what they stand for OR including a list like the box! 

TBD

Further proof that my child is really my child, she loves holidays. For Valentine’s Day, she selected an adorable unicorn card from Minted. She now attends a school that doesn’t allow food-related treats for holidays, so while brainstorming treat ideas, I stumbled upon the idea of making our own crayons. I’ve always wanted to try this and we have an abundance of less-than-perfect crayons laying around the house (and in my purses).

When the molds arrived from Amazon, I was so excited to get started. However, my 4-year-old had a breakdown. It took a few minutes to understand what happened, but she thought we were making unicorn CROWNS vs. CRAYONS. Perhaps a little Pittsburgh-ese misunderstanding.

To compromise, she handed out two treats - CRAYONS & CROWNS.

Back to the crayon making.

This was so easy and I can’t wait to try it again. First, you need some old crayons. Peel off the wrapper. Or, like i found out too late, use a knife or scissors to help get the wrapper off. I don’t suggest allowing the kids to use the sharp object to do that!

Then, break the crayons down into the mold. I tried to match some colors together and towards the end I got fancy with our molds and put some yellow or gold near the horn of the unicorn!

Once you have the molds full - but not overly full - bake at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes - or until the wax has meltedWe had one batch that had some non-Crayola crayons that just wouldn’t melt as easy. Just a warning if you are using some of those unwanted restaurant crayons!

After the crayons were done “cooking,” I let them cool off a little and then put them into the freezer for another 10-ish minutes.

Once they cooled off, we popped the crayons out of the mold. We did have some break, put jsut popped them back into the next batch.

Overall, it was a super easy craft that we could do together! Lennon was very proud that she helped make a gift for her friends!