The Art of Christmas

Here’s our family recipe for a fun Christmas:

Be Creative

Rob cut out Christmas photos and pasted them on old cards.

Oscar made a Christmas tree for the front porch.

Andrew took candid portraits with his Canon.

More Creative Ideas

Oscar, Sam and I played around with the special effects on my iPhone.

Create you own family traditions

A toy bear for a newborn is a tradition in our family that started when Hana was born. Luke and Oscar played with Hana’s Brown Bear when they were little. This Christmas Juni had everyone smiling with her Australian made Koala Bear.

Unwrapping – Juni’s onto it

Op Shop gifts

A few years ago Rob started the tradition of buying all her presents for Christmas at Opportunity Shops. If you don’t like your present (although we invariably do), there’s no guilt about popping it back in an Op Shop.

Now all the grown-ups do it because it’s so much fun and goes against the tide of consumerism.

Cool dude Andrew sporting Op Shop sunnies

Mindful gift giving

…Except for Col and me. We bought holiday gifts for everyone, but waited until Christmas to give them. Wherever possible we support local artisans, galleries or businesses that are embedded in their local communities. Our preference is for items that are hand made that will last.

Here are some other ideas: Make your own gifts. Gift an experience rather than an item. Give smiles, texts and phonecalls.

The boys’ new camp chairs are grown-up size, designed to go the distance

Oscar made a story book for Hana for Christmas

Be kind to the planet

Luke and Anna tread lightly on the planet. Instead of buying an outfit for her work Christmas party, Anna hired this gorgeous dress. It did double duty on Christmas Day.