December Daily - Day #1 What Signals the Beginning of the Holiday Season?

December Daily: #1 - What is one food or tradition that kicks off your holiday season or that really makes it feel like the holidays?

Ellie says that Christmas is her favorite season; for her it begins the day after Halloween when the stores begin to set up their Christmas and Holiday displays. Thankfully Ellie loves to wrap presents and this summer she set up a wrapping station in the big room in the basement. Her brother calls it an elf work station. She lovingly and artfully arranged the bows, the ribbon and the gift wrap. When we go to the store she checks out the designs. Just last week I had her pick out some new wrapping paper and some bows. She was conservative and requested very little so when I found tiny, colorful bows at another store I picked up three packages of them. This year we also added washi tape to the mix. Now, I love to make things with paper, but I don't like to wrap presents. I think it is a glitch in my DNA. Ellie, on the other hand, loves to do it. I love watching her joy.

I, too, love to see what the stores are putting out for the holiday season. Some years I find lots of things I love and want. Other years, not so much. I am both disappointed and relieved. It is fun to find things that I love, but storage space and money require that I have a bit of self control. This year I am able to resist most of what Target has to offer, but Crate and Barrel, one of my favorite stores, has a few things I love:
Lazer Cut Village:

Cut paper garland:

I also love to look at the cards from some of my favorite suppliers. I have such fun looking at the designs over at Shutterfly. I will unveil our card later. I also love some of the designs from Paper Source:

I also begin to think about holiday projects. They often include cut paper, glitter, paint and the like.

I'd like to make something like this sign this year. I have picked the song, yet.

This meme may capture some of the joy of the season for Ellie.

The boys were not available to answer this question. I think this might be more of a girl thing. If you come over to our house you will find art projects (including lots of glitter and glue), stuff for fancy hot chocolate, such as whipped cream, chocolate shavings and curls, and sprinkles, of course.

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A side note:

For several years now I have admired the "December Daily" projects that some of my favorite scrappers have created. Ali Edwards comes to mind most readily. She is a very popular blogger who also happens to celebrate the creations of others. Her December Daily Flickr group is worth checking out. I like the ideas that she shared here, too. I will be incorporating a set of fancy numbers that have been generously provided by Traci Reed Design. I don't really have the time to do an album like those, but I want to be more conscious of the holiday season this year. Partially because I want to sort of slow myself down and notice the beauty of the season and worry less about my to-do list. I also feel like this may be the last Christmas season with all four of us under one roof. Ethan's work takes him out of town often enough and his life is leading towards adventures. Ellie is clearly thinking about the holiday traditions she cherishes and what she will incorporate or create in her adult like. it is exciting to watch both kinds of growth as it unfurls. I want to try and capture what this is like. (I wished that I had taken part in a project like this when the kids were young. However, I had not come up with the idea and no one else had either, as far as I know.)