Compositions & Coffee Presents: "Creative Soul Digest"
Back 2 Life Style Journey
Hey friends and welcome to Back 2 Life Thursday!
This Thursday we are giving you Holiday Spirit Vibes (because everyone is feeling it early this year). With all the holidays around the corner in the next few posts we will hit you with some fun décor ideas, traditions, and of course some fun facts you may not know. However, it wouldn’t be fun without hearing some ideas and things you also do so please feel free to engage with us in the comments. This week has been about youth culture and to keep that fun topic going we will look at fun family ideas and traditions to do and start with your young people at home.
Thanksgiving Day Fun
Thanksgiving is 1 week away and I know your mouths are watering. I know many families have different names for this holiday so whether it’s Turkey Day, Grateful Day, The Day of Thanks, it’s surely a day to share reasons we are truly thankful with others. The common tradition I know most of us do is go around the table and share something we are thankful for and why. This is always a good practice to begin with kids especially since we work so hard to instill good values such as kindness, grace, and thankfulness.
Another practice I know some families do is having the kids set the table so they can engage in the process. Other families will cook with their kids or bake. Having teenagers and young adults participate by selecting a special dish to personally cook and offer is another great way to involve everyone in the process and share in an experience.
Some families also volunteer on Thanksgiving Day by working in soup kitchens or donating food to local shelters. I love this as well because it becomes a family affair and a unique opportunity to touch the life of a stranger and demonstrate kindness and loving your neighbor first hand. Just be safe and WEAR YOUR MASK PLEASE!
I know one I’ve always wanted to start in my household is writing a letter and putting it in the “Thank you Box”. My little one is still pretty young to do this and if yours is too ,save it until they are a little older, but you can do this with other family members as well. You can keep it in there as a keepsake and open it on a special occasion like their graduation from high school or 21st birthday. A fun one to do at the table is have everyone write something silly and funny that they are also happy to have and then one person goes around the table and pulls from the box and has to guess who it belongs to. It’s a fun way to get to know each other better as well.
Speaking of games…my family LOOOVES games on holidays and it never fails that we play multiple games with me losing each one. Either way it is always so much fun and keeps everyone engaged. So don’t forget to break out the board games (yes I said it) or even fun games that you can play on your phones.
This year I know will look completely different than others but I hope despite the change we can all find at least 1 reason to be grateful and 1 life to rejoice in.
After your bellys’ are fool and that sleep coma is starting to set in we switch our gaze to the next holiday. So here are some fun things to do with your clan:
Elf on the Shelf
Elf on the shelf is a fun one to do with kids and teens and an amazing way to engage them. It actually began as a story written by a mother-daughter duo and has expanded to becoming a fun game for families. The plot of the story and ultimately the game is that the scout elf watches over the families home and reports back to Santa at the North Pole. Every night once everyone has gone to bed he flies back to the North Pole and reports if the family was being “good or bad.” He then returns to the house every morning before everyone wakes up but hides in a different spot making it an ongoing game of hide and seek. However, there’s one rule/ catch… you can’t touch the elf or his magic disappears and he can’t report to Santa. Once the elf is named it also receives it’s Christmas Magic. The game ends on Christmas day when he returns back to the north pole with Santa and is not spotted until next year. Some families may pull their Elf out as soon as Thanksgiving day or the following day but either way it’s a ton of fun for everyone.
The Music
I know we all have jams in our heads from what we know growing up like Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5, Mariah Carey, Boys 2 Men and so on. Try incorporating your youngsters music in there as well and let them pick their favorites. You can of course add to it but it’s cool to see what music they enjoy and see their taste develop.
Arts & Crafts
This is my favorite of all the things we do each year. My little one is also old enough now to engage in a larger variety of crafts. From Gingerbread houses, advent calendars, cookie making, Christmas cards, decorating Christmas ornaments, homemade Christmas decorations. I can go on and on. Trust I got you and will leave some pics and ideas below.
Movie Marathon
Okay I know I said arts and crafts is my favorite but this one! If you are like me and love you some holiday flixs I will leave you a list of some of my favorites in case you want to add some new ones to your list. I love watching holiday movies with my kid but I also love to relive oldies and snuggle up with some cocoa. A great way to bond as a family is sharing in some of your old faves along with checking out new family movies together and making those part of your new fam faves. Movies are also perfect to snuggle up with that special someone during the holidays as well.
Wrapping gifts
This year is full of first for my family because we are also engaging my little one in gift wrapping. I always felt this was a fun way for them to explore their creativity, show independence and pride. Letting them choose wrapping paper, of course, is great but another cool idea is getting plain brown paper and letting them draw on it, stamp it, add stickers etc. I’ll share some cool ideas that I’ve seen people do. With our little people being home it may give them ways to stay busy as well when you run out of ideas.
And Just for Fun....
And Last But Not Least Christmas Carols
Now I know this one is challenging this year and we all must be safe especially with numbers on the rise and the flu going around. What I’ve decided to do instead is record or do live caroling via social media. This way we can still engage with our loved ones, friends, and community. I’ve also heard some people are hosting caroling via Zoom and streaming for Senior Centers, Fire Department, and especially our nurses and doctors. I loooove this idea but not sure if I want to put my voice out there like that yet (I’m not Mariah Carey but I got bars haha).
Anyway friends I have a ton of cool resouces and idea below so please check them out and share with me in the comments some cool ideas and traditions you do. Who knows we might feature it on our next blog and give you a shout out. Until tomorrow…
--Be free
Your family at Eclectuals
"Where we mind your mental diet!"
Arts and Craft Ideas
My Movie List
Rudolph The Redness Reindeer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Home Alone 1,2,3
Daddy's Home 2
The Star
Elf
The Snowman
Last Holiday
Jack Frost
Deck the Halls
etc...
Book Recommendations
Questions Galore Party Game Book (there is also a Thanksgiving Edition)
Support Black Businesses
Five Star Pop-Ups - a luxury dining experience that can be created quickly in any space you can dream up. We provide inexpensive, but beautifully dressed al fresco tables and posh picnic baskets that enhance any outdoor engagement.
Melanin on 6th - for Holiday and all year home decor installations, plus event space offering for a cozy intimate vibe.
Coffee Recommendation
A secret blend and region, a dark roast formulated to hold up with milk and steam for espressos, lattes, and mochas. This high brow blend of intense dark cocoa and dark brown sugar will certainly impress Lady Catherine de Bourgh of Rosings!
We Are Someone You Should Know
--We are purveyors of literature, gourmet coffee, fashion, style and art." We believe in cooperative economics in the black community locally and nationally thereby promoting and/highlighting other black artisans and black owned businesses through our book subscription Eclectic Crates and our Artisan Market of goods and services.
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