Christmas Tips

Rhonda Neighbourly Lead from Hastings Central

Hi Everyone,

Thought with Christmas Day approaching we might like to share some of our 'Christmas Tips' that we have found to be helpful.

Here is mine,
1. A few years ago I was at the Strawberry Place on Te Aute Road and the lady serving me told me to not line up with the crowds the day before Christmas but to simply buy the strawberries 4-7 days ahead. Put a few paper towels in the bottom of an airtight container and pop the strawberries in the container. They should be good as when you put them in up to a week later! It works really well. Pop them in the fridge!!

2. If there are children around, find an easy to read version of the Christmas story and get them to read it out loud to everyone - find the words and sing Away in a Manger or Silent Night. I was blown away one year with a house filled with people and the children led this story. There was something quite marvellous about it. And there is something pretty cool about passing on the songs we grew up with.

3. Get some plain baubles things (not sure of their real name, but those round balls you hang on the tree) and with a marker pen or glitter pens if you feel really creative, write on each one a name of each family member (they could then hang their own on the tree or somewhere else if you don't have a tree) and my favourite is we have named ones for my parents who are no longer with us, so we are including them and their memory with this special tradition. This way you can certainly still include other special people who might be not able to be with you for Christmas too. This came about because when we lived in Cairns, as a baby gift, some friends gave us the Christmas Baubles, each one with our names on them and then when we left Cairns by husband's workplace had more made for us and they had an extra large one made with the name of the workplace so that gets hung every year as well. I so enjoyed them, we got on and made others for other people in our family.
4. Some years back, one of our kids' was set the task of making one or two of the Christmas desserts. He did such a good job, he is now on Christmas Deserts and does all of them. Clever Mummy!!

So, what have you found helpful or what do think works well for you over Christmas?
You might even like to tell us how you discovered the tip or how it came to be in your house.

Looking forward to hearing your cool ideas or traditions that make it work well for you.
Happy Days.
Rhonda