Let's talk Christmas kits!
 

As we start prepping for Black Friday and the requisite Christmas kits needed, tell me what you are looking/hoping for in Christmas kits or smaller packs this year. It could be a specific theme, color palette, or just about anything else.

I am not sure about any of the other designers. but I feel like coming up with some new idea for Christmas is a big challenge.

Thanks in advance, because your input is always helpful in my creative process.

Christmas crafting? Most crafting kits don't work with Christmas colors.

Tree farm/getting the tree

Going to see lights/ tree lighting ceremonies in towns, etc, candlelight services

Christmas snacks & goodies--not necessarily baking, but could be

Christmas in the city!
Stockings and stocking stuffers - not big wrapped packages
I second the going to see lights/tree lighting ceremonies, too!

I am going to need an elf kit because my son is going to work at Santa's Village this year. I also need a Christmas with friends kit. This isn't Christmas, but I super need new calendar toppers. I can't keep using the same old ones over and over.

Christmas with friends is a great idea. Not everyone has family to celebrate with on the holiday.

And, a kit for Santa's Village would work for those scrapping Santa visits. I could have used another one of those earlier this year since I've reused the couple of kits I have that work for this multiple times (and I have no more photos to scrap... kids feel they are too old).

Another thought I had was a Christmas kit using non-traditional colors. I'm tired of red and green!

Someone in the forum asked about a Starbucks kit and someone else mentioned the red cup coming out for Christmas. Maybe an idea...

Ugly christmas sweaters.
Christmas diner in a restaurant ( we have diner reservations for christmas)
Disney christmas.
Blue and silver and white colors.

Elf on the shelf
Hallmark Christmas movie inspired
Decorating for Christmas
Christmas cookies

The un-Christmas or Bah Hum bug. ROFL

LOL... That would be the perfect kit for me!

I'd love a Christmas in the city kit, esp if it references New York stuff. :)

Brown, bronze, copper, gold.

One for us single folks with an adult child. Christmas is seriously just another day here until we go to my folks for dinner.

Christmas Eve as a kid we always got to open a book and a pair of pjs. My former sil is French Canadian so it was their big night as opposed to Christmas Day. Excitement for Christmas, putting toys together, staying up late.

Boxing Day-UK and Canada celebrate it more I believe. After Christmas sales, leftovers, family, lazy day,

Christmas Lights - i have hundreds of photos, but most christmas kits don't suit them

Australia is big on Boxing Day too - its our biggest sale day of the year, and also when a lot of families get together

This would be good! I just made a little invite for a wreath-making night & was looking for a crafty Christmas kit! (ended up opting for just Christmas)

I'm not sure how you could do this with all the copyrights, but I would love one somehow tying in all those old Rankin Bass Christmas specials - Rudolph, Hermie, the Heat Miser and Cold Miser, the burgermeister meisterburger, Winter Warlock, etc. I still love all those and look forward to watching them and have a bunch of themed Hallmark ornaments for the tree.
Also love the light idea - we usually go to a night parade where all the floats have to be lit up.
I know they're getting to be less and less popular but a Christmas Card theme (and maybe some premade ones!)!

I'd also like to toss in my vote for a kit about Christmas lights! Both about going to look at them - piling in the car in your PJs and driving around with mugs of hot cocoa and driving through the neighborhoods to look at the yard displays - and also about decorating the yard.

My dad has sort of a thing about Christmas. Long before he retired from the Army and let his beard grow and it came in white and he turned into Santa, he was using his woodworking skills to make ornaments for the yard. Here's a video I shot in 2012 of his Christmas ferris wheel:

https://youtu.be/rMjdzzGLaSs

Needless to say, I've got years and years and years of photos of yard displays I want to scrapbook, but I haven't found the right supplies yet.

I'd also love to see a kit about making Christmas gifts. You could include a variety of different kinds of handicrafts - sewing, cross-stitch, crochet & knitting, woodworking, painting & drawing, photography, paper crafting ...

I could also totally use a Bah Freaking Humbug kit. Something that would let me do some therapeutic art journaling about the stress and frustration and low serotonin of those final weeks of the year.

Wow Angie your dad is super talented! What an awesome display for the people in his neighborhood!

Amazing!!

A secret santa kit ��

I could also use a Christmas in the City kit. We, too, eat out on Christmas (we do sushi most years..lol) because my husband and I both work jobs that do not get holidays off.

Yes, I should have stated it's a big day for many of the Commonwealth countries :)

These are themes I'd use but haven't see many/any Christmas kits for yet:

-adult parties/get-togethers for Christmas that are not alcohol-themed and not "fancy"/black-tie e.g. cookie parties, Hallmark Christmas movie watch parties, open houses, etc.

-sarcastic/funny Christmas kits (or at least wordart/journaling card packs) but not "bah humbug" ones

-missing a loved one

-"doing good"/volunteering/service during the season kits

-children finding out the truth about Santa/growing up with a Christmas flair

-St. Nicholas (like the holiday in early December) kit

Christmas Crafting is exactly what I was thinking!

Christmas farmhouse/country/farm themed with lots of buffalo plaid.

That Ferris wheel is amazing!! Your dad is super talented!!!!

My dad is super CRAZY, but thank you. Luckily he lives in the right place for it.

Windcrest is a small city in the middle of San Antonio known as the City of Lights. 60 years ago, a couple Army Engineers got drunk in December and thought it would be hilarious to decorate the water tower to look like a giant candle. Since then, it's tradition for the residents to light up their yards with these extravagant displays, and people travel from miles around to come drive through and see the lights. The city even holds an annual contest and passes out maps at the Town Hall so people can go see the top 3 winners in each category.

I need to scrapbook this, but keep waiting for the right kit ... maybe this year!

Having a child named Nicholas who is going to work at Santa's Village this year....I would DIE for this kit. Plus I know celebrating St. Nicholas Day is big in many European countries. I always wish I would have thought to celebrate this one when my Nicholas was little.

We go to Windcrest EVERY year to see the lights. As soon as I saw your video I knew it was Windcrest. I have seen your "Santa" greeting the people. We love the themes and fun decorations. Last year was the first year we let the teenager drive while hubby navigated to the award winning houses...We hit the highlights and it still takes several hours. It is a lot of fun though and I have tons of pictures...
A Christmas light kit would be fun!

2020 Your Dad's Yard. :wub:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...69eb1af1_c.jpg

2014...This isn't your Dad but another Santa in Windcrest...I think
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d08a73ef_c.jpg

2013 Your Dad's Yard won 1st place for handcrafted
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...db513449_c.jpg

Santa greeting folks at the fire station 2013

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0464080d_c.jpg[/url]

Wow! That reminds me of the Great Christmas Light Fight on ABC. Very impressive!!!!

Kimberley it's so cool that you know of who Angie was talking about!! what a small world!

vintage Christmas!

LOVE THIS!!!

I would love a kit with earthy tones rather than the bright red and green primary colours. Not a country-themed one, just a regular themed Christmas kit but with non-traditional colours.

[QUOTE=allyanne;1063073922]Christmas crafting? Most crafting kits don't work with Christmas colors./QUOTE]

I would love to see something like this too. I have handmade my cards this year using paper quilling, and have already started working on ideas to cross stitch next year's!

Christmas parade
Christmas lights/ tree lighting ceremony
Christmas in the South (not beach, but no snow either)
Christmas band programs
Black Friday shopping (online or instore)
Christmas Eve Church service
Caroling

I just scrapped some photos last night that was a Christmas themed concert in a church. Not nativity though (that was the next night at the same church). I struggled to find a kit to use because of it being a church setting. All the kits I had that included anything music related for Christmas were too cutesy. I ended up using the same kit I used to scrap the nativity.

So I say a kit about music at Christmas time that is more subdued in nature. Or maybe just a more subdued kit about Christmas that includes a few elements for music.

Love all your suggestions!

For me I would love:
Christmas lights
Caroling
Christmas craft
Christmas Advent calendar and Advent candle
Christmas Eve Church service
Christmas table/ Dinner with beautiful decorated table
Christmas market

Wow Angie! You are so lucky, your father do amazing decorations! This is just wonderful, I would love to see that!!!!:wub:

Christmas around the world… we do a homeschooling unit study on this. Also one about advent stuff… books, elf, candy, Legos, etc… we do it all for advent.

I would love a template set to do December daily.

I would love to see a kit about the old movies; Rudolph, Heat Meiser, etc.

Our town has a big "lights on ceremony" with a lighted parade, so I would love a kit for that too.

I'm glad to see such a variety in taste.

But just so the designers know, I LOVE the traditional red, green, gold, silver, etc! And I am a Christmas kit connoisseur.

I love all the pretty, scrolly texts and fun elements about Christmas morning, opening presents, the Reason for the season, Christmas Eve, Christmas shopping (online and in stores), casual Christmas parties, Christmas music, Hallmark movies, decorating the tree, etc.

A st Nicholas ( Sinterklaas) kit would be great.
We celebrate this on dec 5 th in the Netherlands.

I love all the suggestions. Living Florida is hard at Christmas - no snow, barely cold, etc. I would love a city kit too but more of Christmas past theme so I could recall times at my grandparents

I echo a few of the suggestions….love the single adult and Boxing Day and Christmas in the city ideas.

I’d also love a “relaxed celebrations” kit. Living in New Zealand, Christmas is in the summer but at least for my family we don’t celebrate at the beach like many of the Christmas downunder kits or Christmas in July kits.

I’d also love a “shopping for gifts” kit - doesn’t necessarily need to be a Christmas kit though.

Ooh one final semi random thought, could there be an add on for kits that talk about Summer to include mentions of the opposite months (that actually applies to most seasonal kits that mention months)….ie: instead of June, July & August it would have December, January & February. It could be as simple as some word art or word strips rather than a full kit.

There is a house in this neighborhood that is going to be on the show. :thumbup:

Ahhhh! I didn’t know it was coming back this year. Thanks for the heads up!

I will 2nd or 3rd the Hallmark movie & Rankin-Bass ideas. (eta: I also faithfully watch every single holiday competition on the Food Network)

Oh and the Christmas lights. We go to Wildlights at the Zoo and Fantasy of Lights (drive through display) almost every year and I’ve only had one or two kits that worked.

Christmas Eve traditions: hanging up stockings, cookies & milk for Santa, new pjs, cocoa in front of the fire, reading Twas the Night before Christmas...

Holy crap!!! My mind is totally blown, Kimberly - talk about a small world! Yup, that's my parent's house, and yard, and my Dad's crazy Christmas display, and my Dad as Santa at the Fire Station doing the Light Up ceremony. I think I was there with them that year, and it was absolutely wild; after coming in on the fire truck, he threw the switch to light the tree, and spent the next three hours in the fire truck bay visiting with kids and posing for photos. I worked it with him and my Mom, and I was absolutely dead on my feet by the end of the night... I don't know how they do it!

My husband and I are actually here, in Windcrest, right now. We drove down from Dallas this evening to spend the weekend with my folks as an early Thanksgiving. And my husband is going to help my father (you guessed it) start setting up the yard. :)

A kit for those of us in the hot Southern Hemisphere.
Some more sunny Santas! x

Disney christmaskit with the 50 th aniversary colors ��