Bring on the 25 Days of Christmas

Today is December 1st - which means the 25 Days of Christmas on the ABC Family channel starts today. 25 days of wonderful Christmas specials (movies and cartoons). I'm sooo excited!!!

Tonight it all starts with The Year Without a Santa Claus at 7 pm and The Santa Clause 3 8 pm EST. I love The Year Without a Santa Claus with the Heat Miser and Cold Miser. It's one of my favorite Christmas shows.

My family all sits down when our favorites are on with some popcorn and cover up with a blanket. Getting all cozy. :)

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the 25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family channel, however, I was wondering - when Harry Potter became a Christmas show? Not just Harry Potter, but The Incredibles, Cars, and Mary Poppins just to name a few. My guess is they needed a couple shows to fill up a big bulk of time over the month and picked kid's show.

I can think of at least 25 Christmas shows they could use instead of substituting regular kids' shows. Here is a list of just a few:

1. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
2. Rudolph's Shiny New Year
3. Frosty the Snowman
4. The Year Without a Santa Claus
5. The Santa Clause Part 1, 2 & 3
6. Elf
7. The Charlie Brown Christmas
8. The Little Drummer Boy
9. Jingle All The Way
10. Miracle on 34th Street
11. Home Alone Part 1 & 2
12. The Polar Express
13. Mickey's Christmas Carol
14. How The Grinch Stole Christmas
15. Twas The Night Before Christmas
16. A Christmas Story
17. It's a Wonderful Life
18. White Christmas
19. Jack Frost
20. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
21. A Miser Brothers Christmas
22. Olive the Other Reindeer
23. Yogi's First Christmas
24. A Flintstone Christmas
25. Scrooged
26. Nutcracker Scoob - Scooby Doo Mysteries
27. Barbie in a Christmas Carol

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. There are tons of Christmas shows the networks could choose from instead of the regular shows.

*Please note: I am in no way being paid for this post to promote ABC Family Channel. I just have always like Christmas shows.

Make Your Own Play Dough

My kids love to play with play dough, but I find that it dries out pretty quick. I found this really neat recipe to make your own play dough. You can dye it any color you choose using food coloring, but this is not the edible kind so please don't eat it. So have fun and I hope you and your kids enjoy :)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp oil
2 cups water
food coloring


Mix together all ingredients except food coloring in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. After about 5 or 6 minutes it will start to stick to spoon and form dough.

Empty the contents of the pan onto wax paper and let the dough cool. Once it is cool enough to handle -- knead it until it is the consistency you want.


I always separate the dough into 4 pieces and then add food coloring. This way you can have a variety of colors. Store finished dough in plastic sandwich baggies or an airtight container. This recipe makes about 2 lb of dough.


The photo about shows what I made this batch. We were out of red dye, so all we had were green, blue, and yellow.

Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's one of my favorite treats to eat -- Chocolate Chip Cookies!

(sorry, my baking sheets are well worn from lots of use :) )

These are really easy to make and fairly inexpensive. I usually make a double or triple batch, because we always seem to give away a bunch to family, friends or co-workers. This particular recipe makes softer cookies - not crispy.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 teas. vanilla or vanilla extract
1/2 teas. water
2 eggs
2 1/4 cup flour
1 teas. baking soda
1 teas. salt
1 pkg. chocolate chips

Add all ingredients except chocolate chips to a large bowl. Mix thoroughly. Add chocolate chips and mix. Roll into a balls about 1 inch in diameter and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies start to solidify turning a golden brown.