If it was up to me, I would cancel Halloween just to make more space for Christmas. I personally need a good three solid months to do everything I want to. Everything about Christmas feels so comforting.
I like making my Christmas itinerary just to ensure all my holiday dreams come true. Here are a few ways to make the most of the holiday season this year.
Ceramic Painting
A few weeks ago I found myself at Michaels. While casually perusing the freshly stocked christmas aisles, I came across a bunch of plain ceramics. They were available in Christmas trees, wreaths and cute holiday themed trucks.
As an adult, I find painting both enjoyable and therapeutic. The idea of lining my living room floor with newspaper, putting on a fire with Miracle on 34th Street in the background while painting ceramics gives me absolute bliss. These double as a fun activity and a homemade decoration!
You can find plain ceramics at any local craft store, amazons and even dollar stores.
Visit a Local Christmas Town
As a Torontonian, besides decorations, the city doesn’t change much. It will always look like a city during the holidays, and that has its own beauty, but sometimes I want a real Hallmark-espue experience.
In Ontario there are multiple “Christmas” towns. By this I mean small towns that give the traditional Christmas vibe — older architecture, traditional holiday decorations and small town shops.
St. Jacobs is a town in Waterloo, about 1.5 hours from Toronto. This quaint area transforms during the holiday season and looks like a scene straight out of a Christmas movie. The village has a schedule of their upcoming holiday events. With its locality and activities, it makes for the perfect day trip or weekend getaway.
Light Shows
The last couple of years during the pandemic, my family had the opportunity to go to two drive-thru holiday light shows and they were fun every time.
My dear grandmother is 93 years old and she was absolutely smitten with the experience. At her ripe age, Christmas activities are out of the question if they are out of the confines of our home. To be able to get out in an elderly-proof way absolutely completed her Christmas experience.
These shows involve a drive-thru or walk through of meters and meters of beautiful Christmas lights and decor.
Creating Festive Drinks
Instagram recipes have a chokehold on me and this generation. There’s something about that that seems to stimulate everyone’s culinary creative juices. In the last couple of years I’ve been experimenting with coffee beverages and cocktails (or mocktails if alcohol isn’t your thing).
DIY cocktails or fun coffee drinks would be a fun activity for friends-mas. Using candy canes, peppermint flavoured syrups, cranberry juice, eggnog and apple cider are Christmas themed mixables. You could also incorporate edible decorations like green and red sprinkles, festive straws, dyed whipped cream and dried fruit.
Whether you chose to be a festive bartender, barista or both, holidays drinks would make for a fun night in with your company of choice.
Get Outside
I have a core memory of last winter in the thick of quarantine. All of Canada was in lockdown for an extended period of time and everyone was going a little stir crazy. On a December evening, the snow was picturesque. It floated down in heavy chunks — the perfect snow for building. I relived my childhood and made a snowman. It was equally refreshing as it was merry.
If you are blessed enough to live in Canada, we have very white winters. The winter is notoriously cold, dark and snowy. Although this is a point of complaint for many Canadians, it can be the perfect opportunity to get ready for Christmas.
One of the most distinctive parts of the holidays for me is the cold weather. I never got the idea of vacationing to a hot place for Christmas. I love the chilliness, how it weaves into impromptu hot chocolates and fuzzy socks. All these things scream Christmas to me.
There are so many winter activities, like snow games, snowboarding, skiing, winter trails and skating.
As the song goes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Here’s to making the most out of the Christmas season this year!