Guest blog: Baking spirits bright

_ Today’s guest blog comes from Natalie Schleyer, a talented local photographer , blogger , and mom in a house with three kids and three dogs. _

Christmas is my favourite time of year. I love everything about it.

The holiday season is filled with such wonderful memories and traditions. Ones I hope to pass on to my children.

We officially start the Christmas countdown on the weekend closest to December 1st. Christmas music fills our home as we decorate, bake, make crafts and welcome family and friends.

My children, aged 7 & 9, have a very large family and quite a few close family friends. This year as our extended family continued to grow, so did their list of people to buy for and when they came to me with a whopping list of 15 people (they still wanted to add more), it was clear to me that I had to figure something out. I appreciated that they didn’t want to leave anyone out and I loved how giving they were but their family was only going to continue to grow and so I turned to what we love to do: baking and lots of it.

Considering our large list and the fact that the kids had a PD day we decided to get an early start. This past Friday we baked and decorated gingerbread and shortbread cookies and had a fun afternoon making a delicious mess. (Here’s the recipe.) The cookies are a perfect gift for grandparents and aunts and uncles. Ours, all being parents themselves, will appreciate the love that went into making them and enjoy seeing the little pieces of edible art when they open their cookie tins.

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As the holidays are very busy for everyone, the great thing with baking is that you can start now and freeze the items until they are needed. Win win!

I hope this post helps your family spend less this season while showing children that a homemade gift is not only more thoughtful, than a store bought one, it is even better because it is filled with love.

_ Next week we’ll have a guest blog from Natalie about cookie jars, which she describes as “perfect gifts for their cousins and teachers”. _

** Related: ** Ottawa Kids Guide