3 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: Apparently slime is all the rage these days, children of all ages love to make this gooey play thing – it reminds me of the gooey toys I used to get out of the 25 cent machines at the grocery store when I was little.

Recipe Courtesy of Growing a Jeweled Rose

The cool part about slime is that kids are learning how to craft it themselves and it’s usually made out of chemical free and natural materials! The downside is it gets very messy and sticks to everything so just give make sure you keep it contained to one room or outside if you can.

For a fun and festive activity this year, you and your kids can make Christmas slime!

I recommend kids ages 6+ for this activity! But it is still safe for ages 4 and up to play with – it isn’t toxic but to be safe, keep away from the ones who are putting everything in their mouth! 

What You’ll Need:

• 2 Cups of Elmers Red Glitter Glue
• warm water
• Cinnamon extract
• 3/4 tsps borax
• 3 bowls

In one bowl, combine 2 cups of red glitter glue, cinnamon extract and 1 & 1/2 cups of water. Mix together.

In the other bowl, combine 3/4 tsps borax and 1 & 1/3 cups warm water. Mix together.

Once they are thoroughly mixed in the separate bowls. Combine them together in your 3rd bowl and mix together. It is best to mix and knead the slime with your hands which is fun for both you and your kids!

Remove the slime from the bowl and find a clean and smooth surface where you can continue kneading the slime.

If the slime is sticky – take a small amount of borax and mix it in warm water until it dissolves. Add the mixture to the slime. Start off with a small amount and continue adding until the mixture is less sticky. You don’t want to overdo it so it becomes runny. 

The slime is sparkly, smells like christmas and super fun to play with!

Tip: If you want to keep the slime contained, grab a few small containers (recycled baby food jars work great) put some slime in it and have the kids press down into the goo until they hear a “fart” noise. A lot of kids find this hilarious – this is particular good if you have rambunctious children who may want to fling the slime around the house, this keeps them entertained while keeping the slime in a safe place!

4 Days til Christmas Countdown: A very healthy and super easy snack kids can make themselves for christmas this year are Grinch Fruit Snacks – you may be thinking? ANOTHER fruit snack? But this one is made of actual real fruit, they can make it themselves and you pop on the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas as they munch on these for the full effect!

What You’ll Need:

• Banana
• Green Grapes
• Strawberries
• Mini Marshmallows
• Toothpicks
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas Movie (I prefer the animated one but you could always opt for the 2000 Ron Howard film)

If you want to show your kids how to make them, I recommend ages 5 and up, only because the toothpicks have sharp edges.

First cut the banana using a knife. Slice the banana. Place off to the side in a bowl or container. Wash the strawberries using room temperature water. Cut the tops off of the strawberries and toss in the trash. Place to the side. Wash your grapes with room temperature water. Take a toothpick, stick it through your grape, banana, strawberry then top it off with a mini marshmallow.

I thought lining the fruit up then just sticking toothpicks through would be faster but the grapes have a tendency to roll around so doing it one by one is best.

To make it easy for your kids, set up the ingredients in sort of an assembly line formation, especially if you have a multiple kids so they can work together to create their healthy Grinch Fruit Snacks!

5 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: Create your own christmas potpourri to give your home that warm and cozy aroma throughout the holiday season. You can make this whenever you are having guests, especially if you are hosting christmas eve or christmas or turn into sachets to give as gifts. Below are two ways to create a wonderful christmas potpourri.

What You’ll Need: 

• dried rose petals
• cinnamon sticks
• star anise
• whole cloves or clove essential oil
• cinnamon essential oil
• rose essential oil
• orange essential oil
• Grapeseed oil
• eucalyptus oil (optional)

If you want to make potpourri jars or sachets – Add dried rose petals, cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise in an airtight or hermetically sealed container.

Mix together a few tbsps of grapeseed oil, a few drops of rose, orange, cinnamon and clove essential oil. Clove and cinnamon essential oil is very strong so add less drops of these then the rose or orange. Mix together – try to use something wooden, not metal, a wooden chopstick would work well, just to blend them together. Pour the oil over the dry goods in the container.

Close the container and shake together. If you want to make sure the lid of the container is sealed very tightly, you can place the lid on the container and run under very hot water but isn’t imperative for the fermenting of potpourri.  Place the container on a windowsill that receives sunlight so the heat from the sun can allow the potpourri to ferment nicely. Allow to ferment for 14 days or more, you can create individual containers to give as gifts or you can add the potpourri mixture to sachets to give to others.

If you want to make your house smell like christmas potpourri for the day – double your ingredients, add all of your ingredients to a pot with enough water to just barely cover them and allow to simmer all day. I recommend adding a few drops of eucalyptus oil as this is very beneficial for stuffy noses and sore throats, just in case any of your guests may have a little cold or a case of the sniffles.

6 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: Make your own christmas centerpiece this year using plants and natural materials you can find in your own backyard!

What You’ll Need: 

• Pinecones
• cinnamon sticks
• Evergreen with needles
• Holly with berries
• sharp shears
• serving tray (preferably one you don’t want to reuse)
• 1 – 3 Candles with candle holders
• hairspray
• rubber bands

You’ll want to cut your evergreen and holly using sharp shears. Cut and bunch your evergreen together with a rubber hand tied to the ends of the bunches. Hang upside down for a week or more in a cool, dry place. To dry holly with berries, place them upright in a container like a tall glass bottle in a cool, dry place.

Once dried, spray with hairspray. Spray the pinecones and cinnamon sticks with hairspray as well. The hair spray will help preserve them. Take your tray and place your candles with their holders evenly spaced apart in the center of your tray.

Now comes the fun and creative part! Place your evergreen, holly and pinecones around the candles in whichever way you think looks nice, glue them to the tray and together using a hot glue gun filling in the gaps.

Be sure to leave a little room around the candles so you replace them if you want to reuse your centerpiece. Just like that you have a handmade, homemade beautiful and natural christmas centerpiece!

7 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: A ultra healthy and super tasty soup commonly eaten in Slavic countries such as the Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Lithuania is Borscht, made using beets and a few other ingredients – it can be eaten both cold and hot – in the Ukrainian tradition, we have our borscht cold, sometimes we eat it with a dab of sour cream and it is the first dish served for Christmas eve dinner.

What You’ll Need: 

• 3 – 4 large raw beets
• 1 medium onion (diced)
• 2 large potato
• 2 – 3 carrots
• 1 head of cabbage
• white vinegar
• coarse ground black pepper
• sea salt
• low sodium vegetable broth
• bay leaves
• dill
• vegetable or canola oil
• sour cream

Add beets and 10 cups of water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for about 1 hour, check to see if the beets are ready – you can test by taking one out (don’t burn yourself, don’t just grab with your bare hands, use a fork and take from the pot, if it cuts easily with a knife then they are tender enough and ready to use). Save the water. Allow the beets to cool, peel and slice into strips. You can use a mandoline slicer for this or simply use a cutting knife. While the beets are cooling, peel the potatoes, dice and add to the same water the beets boiled in. Peel the carrots and add to the same water. Boil for 8 minutes. Shred half of the cabbage and add to the water.

Boil the potatoes, carrots and cabbage for another 5 – 6  minutes. Remove the carrots and slice into matchstick size strips. Sautee the diced onion in a pan with the vegetable or canola oil. When the onion becomes a light golden brown color, add the carrot and 2 tbsps of white vinegar. Mix together.

Chop a bushel of dill, 1 – 1 1/2 cups is fine. Add 6 cups of vegetable broth to the pot. Next, combine beets, potatoes, shredded carrot and onion mixture, dill, bay leaves, sea salt and coarse ground black pepper to the pot. Stir together and allow the soup to simmer covered with all the ingredients for another 20 to 30 minutes.

Make sure the soup is at a very low simmer, you want the flavor and juices of the

vegetables to seep slowly and gently into the broth without the water evaporating.  Remove from the heat and allow the soup to steep and cool. Place in the fridge overnight. Soup often times tastes better the day after because the vegetables, seasoning and broth have a chance of infusing one another and blending better.

Being that this is a cold soup anyway, making it the day before and putting it in the fridge overnight makes the most sense. Once you are ready to serve, you can use a strainer lined with a cheesecloth for only the broth (a traditional way this dish is served) or you can simply add the soup with all the vegetables. Whichever way you or your guests prefer – it is a matter of taste and preference. You can add a dollop of sour cream and garnish with a sprig of dill in the center of each serving bowl.

8 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: Kissing under the mistletoe is a christmas tradition that has its origins in ancient practices specifically in places with colder climates or those that experience cold winter months.

Mistletoes are plants that grow on a variety of trees including oak, apple and willows. The mistletoe was believed to help with specific ailments and health issues such as epilepsy, arthritis and infertility. However, consumed in large quantities as with many potent plants and herbs it could be highly poisonous. Today, some herbalists and medical practitioners say it can be used as a helping aid in curing cancer.

Mistletoe is a resilient plant that keeps its rich green color and prospers all winter long, even in the some of the coldest conditions.

It’s strength and vitality made it a symbolic token of eternal life and good fortune – becoming incorporated into rituals, ceremonies and hung above doorways as a representation of prosperity and everlasting peace even when conditions were brutal – like during those harsh winter months.

The saying “sealed with a kiss” is similar to that of a pinky promise, a way of consummating the word, action or thought between two people.

When entering a friends home, know that when you walk under the mistletoe you and the host made a symbolic oath to keep peace between one another upon entering the home.

When walking under the mistletoe with another person, you can seal your friendship and eternal bond with a kiss – if you place a mistletoe over another person, let them know it is a loving and friendly gesture of peace and good tidings.