11th Day of Christmas Giveaways with Whitney Capps
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Welcome to the 11th Day of Christmas Giveaways!!!
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Today my friend Whitney Capps is here to share a glimpse into the Capps’ household at Christmastime. (Or just after Halloween?) ;). She will be giving away a “Karen Ehman Prize Pack” which sounds a little funny for me to say, but Whitney chose 3 of her favorite books to give to one special reader! I love it!
To join in on the fun and be entered to win the various prizes, simply leave a comment on the post answering the question of the day. ALSO—one grand prize will be given to one person who comments on all 12 days.
The Grand Prize is a $50 gift certificate to Proverbs 31 Ministries store and a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com!!!
Now, here is Whitney for today’s post…
Christmas in July
We love Christmas. Like really, really love Christmas. Our family decorates the day after Halloween. For real! All you Thanksgiving purists feel free to gasp and judge. I’m so sorry. I married a man who loves our home decorated for Christmas. So on November 1st, we start pulling out the red and green tubs of decor. We turn on the Christmas tunes and Christmas comes to town. (y
like some weird switch happens in my brain, and all the decor starts to make me all claustrophobic. And once it’s packed away, I cannot bear to see it, hear it or think about it again until the next year. I won’t let my boys watch seasonal Christmas movies in the spring. I absolutely can’t listen to Christmas music in the summer. Nope. No sir. Not gonna happen.
There is one tiny exception. Our Christmas cards. I hide my “”no-Christmas crazy in this one area. We love all the cards our family receives during the holiday season. It makes my heart swell to thumb through them, smiling at the faces and names that represent sweet friends and family. So I can’t bear to throw or pack them away. So here’s what we do. We keep our cards in a basket near our kitchen. At dinner we pull a card from the basket and pray for the family represented. It’s not big. It’s not profound. It’s just a sweet little tradition that let’s us enjoy Christmas year-round.
It’s our little bit of Christmas in July. And it makes me feel festive in the best kind of way.
We do picture cards and a letter. Some years they are off by Christmas other years not so much. We hang our cards on the inside of our front door so we can see them all month. When January rolls around we take down the cards but leave up the photo cards we have gotten until cards start rolling in again the next year. I am guilty of saving them in a box every year too.
I try every year to send cards but some how it never happens. This year I decided that I would send them out even if the person doesn’t get it til after Christmas! We hang or stand out cards up throughout the house.
We proudly display them during the season but sadly pack them up to b stored again til next year. So I like Whitney’s idea to keep Christmas all year round. Clever.
I arrange the Christmas cards I receive in different ways each year. When the season is over I recycle them.
We didn’t do cards this year, but we will still enjoy the ones we received and pray fo those families regularly.
I used to scrapbook the cards I received but now we do the same.. Save them and pray for each of them thru the year.. So nice to remember them frequently!
I love sending and receiving Christmas cards, but some years I am not up for writing them due to health issues, or sometimes I just can’t afford them; like this year, which makes me kind of sad. But generally, I keep them when I receive them and look at them and smile. I couldn’t imagine not hearing Christmas music or not seeing Christmas movies or shows at different times throughout the year. They warm my heart and help me to reflect on wonderful memories. I’ve always been this way. :)
Nancy Ericsson – Massachusetts
I like to save my Christmas cards for scrapbooking!
Goodness! What a simple sweet idea! We also don’t get many cards these days. I may have to come up with a list of people/ families to pray for regularly. Either way, it is a nice reminder to pray for all our friends and family in good times and bad. God bless!
I don’t send Christmas cards yet becuase I couldn’t afford them, but I do receive a few and do keep them. I place them in a storage container.
I usually hand deliver cards to people who I see often and live nearby. I mail cards out of state. I put cards away in a box at the end of the season. I love to go back through the years and see cards from long gone relatives and friends. Reading their words brings back wonderful memories.
I hang my cards around the arch between my living room and dining room. I usually throw the cards away but I keep the ones with pictures on them until the next year. I love your idea of saving the cards and praying for the people on the cards. Thanks to proverbs 31 for this great opportunity.
Last year was the first in several years that I sent Christmas cards to people who sent to us. This year, we’re in the process of moving; not knowing where we ‘land’, I’ll send a note to those who sent cards and give them a family member’s address to send cards to next year and we can update them then! Love your idea of praying for the family.
I usually have my Christmas cards done by Thanksgiving, but this year I still haven’t done them. Yikes! I need to get on that – like now!
We have not sent Christmas cards out or a long time. The few I get I do pack away. I love the idea of keeping them out and praying for the families.
I send out cards. I wish I received more. It seems everyone send email cards now. The ones I do get, I will start putting out so we can see them and pray for them.
The photo cards stay up all year, until the next years cards start coming in. I love the idea of praying for the family.
Ours gets boxed away for “someday”. I love looking at “old” cards when we are out antiquing and flea marketing. Someday I’ll have my own beautiful batch of them!
We also keep them out year round. At dinner, when we are not rushed we read the Christmas letter, talk about how we know the family, share memories and pray for them. On good days, week,years….we also write them and let them know we are thinking of and praying for them. It is so fun to get real mail!
We do send Christmas cards, recently switching to photo cards. Although we file our cards away with the decorations, I love the idea of leaving them out as prayer prompts for the families. I think I’ll steal it from you. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
We don’t get many cards anymore, but I can hardly bear to throw them away at the end of the season. We don’t send them out either. I always like to talk about sending out New Year cards in January….maybe I’ll do it this year. :-)
I love giving and getting Christmas cards. We keep the photo ones in our prayer basket until we get a new one. This year we didn’t send any out but our son was diagnosed with Leukemia in September so we have been more busy and money is a little tighter. I have noticed we haven’t gotten nearly as many this year though and that makes me sad.
I love getting cards, and my favorites are the photo ones! I put them on my fridge and they stay there until I need the space for something else!
I don’t send them out anymore. Homeschooling 4 boys has definitely caused me to reevaluate my priorities and only include the most important and necessary ones. I love the cards we receive and will save them this year to pray for those families throughout the year.
I usually put the cards with the decorations at the end of the season. Then the following year look through them and reminisce while decorating. Then they are thrown away to make room for the new ones.