Santa’s Christmas Blog

Ever wonder how to display all of those Christmas cards that you get each year. This is one of the elves’ favorites.
Supplies:
Wooden embroidery hoop
12 or more Christmas cards
glue gun
Simply get a wooden embroidery hoop from the craft store. (Don’t take your mother’s unless you are absolutely sure that she gave you permission to use it.) Lay out your Christmas cards around the hoop and rearrange until you like the design. Once you have decided on a design you can ask your parents to help you with the hot glue gun and carefully glue the backs of the cards to the embroidery hoop. You can leave the wreath as it is or put a large bow at the top for a finishing touch. Hang and enjoy!

Have you ever wondered why I leave gifts unwrapped at one house and wrapped at another? Or maybe, one family leaves out carrots for the reindeer and another family leaves magic reindeer food? Well, Christmas traditions vary from house to house and country to country. I love to see the joy and excitement that each family gets from passing on their own traditions as well as making new ones. It is this joy and excitement that fuels my Christmas magic and allows me to know which traditions to follow where. When I visit one house I may leave gifts in a stocking, but at another house across the world I may leave small presents in shoes left in the hall. One of my favorite traditions of all is when children leave me a plate of cookies and a big glass of milk!

Sometimes children are worried that I won’t be able to visit because they don’t have a fireplace or chimney for me to come down. There is no need to worry though because I alway have a little Christmas magic for just such an instance. Just a sprinkle of magic dust that I carry in my coat on Christmas Eve can make a chimney appear for me so that I can deliver my presents. Sometime I like to do things a little differently though, and go under a door or through a keyhole. Sometimes children even leave out a key for me to use, and of course I always have my own spare magical Christmas key just in case!

So why does Santa deliver presents to all the boys and girls at nighttime? Everyone knows that Santa prefers to visit while the house is sound asleep, but have you ever wondered why? Well, of course I love getting to know each and every child. When children write me letters and come to see me to let me know just what they would like to have for Christmas each year I have time to chat or tell a story, or even reflect on what each child deserves for Christmas, but Christmas Eve is a very busy time. There are so many homes to visit that I must move as quickly as possible. That is why I wait until everyone is fast asleep. That way I make sure that I can visit all the little children in the world in time for Christmas morning!

Do you enjoy counting down the days to Christmas as much as I do? Things get really busy here at the North Pole around Christmas time. One of the fun things The elves and I like to do each year is to make our own Advent calendar. This one is oh-so-easy to do and fun too!

25 mini felt stockings (or even some colorful leftover socks!)
25 mini clothespins
6 foot length of ribbon or garland
Puff fabric paint
Stocking Stuffers

Directions
1. Use your puff fabric paint to number your stockings 1 through 25.

2. Hang your length of ribbon or string from the mantle, garland, or other festive area.

3. Use the clothespins to attach the numbered stockings along the ribbon in numerical order.

4. Fill with stocking stuffer suprises! (Small tree ornaments, candies, or other small gifts are great for this)

Each day remove one stocking to see the suprise inside!

Aren’t chocolate covered cherries just irresistible? I love them and Mrs. Claus has fine-tuned this recipe over many years. These can be very messy to make and you should let them sit and ripen in your refrigerator for two weeks before you taste. Trust me. . . it’s worth the wait!

Ingredients
40 maraschino cherries
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons corn syrup
2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 lb. semi-sweet or dark chocolate
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Directions

1. Drain cherries and set on paper towels to dry.
2. In a medium bowl, combine butter and corn syrup until smooth. Stir in confectioners’ sugar and knead to form a dough. Chill dough for about 20 minutes to stiffen. Wrap each cherry in about 1 teaspoon of dough. Chill until firm.
3. Melt chocolate and vegetable shortening in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Dip each cherry with a toothpick or by its stem, and place on waxed paper lined sheets. Make sure that chocolate coats the whole cherry to prevent it from leaking as it ripens. You may need to re-dip the bottom after the first coat dries.
4. Chill until completely set. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or cool place. Remember these taste best after 1-2 weeks!

Hello again everyone! I wanted to answer a question that I sometimes get. Why do we not always get everything that we ask Santa for? Well, this is a very good question. Have you ever heard of having too much of a good thing? For instance let’s say that your Mother fixed you your favorite dessert and said that you could have as much as you wanted. If you ate way to much of this wonderful dessert you would start to feel uncomfortable and you might even get a bad stomachache. Whereas, if you ate just a bit now and saved a bit for later you would not only feel better, but be able to enjoy the wonderful dessert even longer.

It is the same with Christmas time. If you already know that you are going to get everything on your Christmas list every year that takes some of the surprise and excitement out of it! Sometimes it is better to save something to look forward to. This is why Santa only comes once a year. If we got every present we wanted whenever we chose, well, it just wouldn’t be exciting anymore! I know I enjoy waiting to see what Mrs. Claus has planned each year.
So be patient and trust that I will carefully review your Christmas list and choose the right gifts at the right time - and leave some room for surprise too!

It is always interesting to learn how our holiday traditions came about. The Christmas tree that you know as a brightly lit centerpiece actually originated hundreds of years ago.

In Europe evergreen trees such as pine, fir, or spruce trees were preferred since they were green even during the long cold winter. They began to cut down evergreen trees and bring the beautiful green trees indoors to celebrate the season. Often they hung fruits, nuts, and other edible ornaments from the tree. It is said that the first lighting of the Christmas tree was to symbolize how pretty the stars look when twinkling trough tree branches. The tree was lighted with candles instead of the strings of Christmas lights that are used today.

The Christmas tree is a wonderful tradition that I enjoy every year. Each home has a different tradition. Some families hang popcorn strands, homemade ornaments, or even presents!

This is a wonderful warm drink that I love on those cold snowy days. Perfect for kids (and parents too). After mixing, simply store in an airtight container and add a scoop or two to a mug of hot water whenever you need to warm up on a frosty day!

1 cup Tang
1/2 cup instant tea
2 cups sugar
1/4teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon..

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Use two or more teaspoons in a cup of hot water. Mix thoroughly and enjoy!

This fabulous book, Gaston, the Green Nosed Alligator, was written about the year that my reindeer all came down with a cold and I had to find another way to get presents to all of the good boys and girls on Christmas Eve. Wow, that was quite a year for me! If you would like to know all of the details about how Gaston and some of his alligator friends helped to save Christmas you should check out this book!