Then use our Square Red Festive Happy Holiday Card design for the cardstock back to include a family photo (we can customize the borders, colors, fonts & wording to coordinate):

Other cute pairings include:

• Snowflake Holiday Boy Photo Announcement & Golden Snowflake Holiday Photo Card
• Black, Red & Gold Snowflake Birth Announcement & Black, Red & Gold Collage Photo Christmas Card
• Religious Christmas Photo Birth Announcement & Modern Photo Christmas Card
• Holiday Twin Boy & Girl Birth Announcement & Traditional Red & Green Three Photo Christmas Card
• Starry Blue Holiday Photo Birth Announcement & The Night Before Christmas Photo Card
• Winter Boy Birth Announcement & Sledding Snowman Christmas Card

Of course, you can combine any two of our birth announcement & holiday card designs, just make sure that you order them on cardstock & that they both can be printed at the same size (a square 5×5 design on one side would not work with a 5×7 horizontal design on the other side, for instance!). Put both designs into your free digital proof request form so that we know how you wish each side to look, we will manually discount the price accordingly for you before invoicing.

• “Wishing you a Joyous & Blessed Holiday Season…” (Chocolate Brown & Green Holiday Five Photo Card)
• “Rejoice, the Lord is King! May the Christ of Christmas bring joy to your heart and peace to your soul.” (Ivory & Gold Three Photo Christmas Card)
• “May His love shine brightly on you and yours during this Holiday season.” (Faith, Hope & Love Five Photo Christmas Card)
• “Blessed are those who see Christmas through the eyes of a child.” (Simply Blessed Christmas Photo Card)
• “May your Christmas be filled with Joy & Gratitude because of all that Christ has given you.” (Purple & Gold Christian Photo Holiday Card)
• “We wish you a Blessed Christmas and all the best in 2009!!” (Black, Red & Gold Blessings Photo Christmas Card)
• “May the peace and joy of Christmas be with you today and throughout the New Year.” (Peace & Joy Four Photo Christmas Card)
• “Wishing you the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love at Christmas and always.” (Artistic Photo Christmas Tree Card)
• “We wish you a Christmas filled with the wonder of the birth of Christ, the warmth of the Holiday spirit and the love of family and friends.” (Christian Snowflake Photo Merry Christmas Card)

We also recommend Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 2:1 and Luke 2:11, 13-14 for Scripture references on your Christian holiday cards. Have more ideas? Share them in comments below!

• “May the timeless message of Christmas fill your heart and home with joy now and throughout the coming year.” (Three Wise Men Christmas Card)
• “The light of the Christmas star to you – The warmth of home and hearth to you – The cheer and good will of friends to you – The hope of a childlike heart to you – The joy of a thousand angels to you – The love of the Son and God’s peace to you. With Christmas love and New Year’s wishes,” (Colorful Blocks Multi-Photo Christmas Card)
• “Wishing you the Love, Peace & Happiness that the true meaning of Christmas brings.” (Victorian Christmas Card)
• “May your heart be lifted in praise this Christmas for the wonderful gift of Jesus and the joy He brings to our lives. Have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year!” (Scrapbook Photo Christmas Card)
• “Glory to God in the Highest! May the blessings of God’s special gifts be yours this Christmas and in the New Year.” (Christian Tropical Photo Christmas Card)
• “We wish you a Christmas filled with the wonder of the birth of Christ.” (Silver Snowflake Christian Holiday Card)
• “Christmas… a special time of Worshiping Our King. May the blessing of knowing Christ enrich your life in the year 2010.” (Starry Blue & White Christmas Card)
• “May the miracle of Christmas fill your heart with joy and peace.” (Custom Colored Collage Photo Holiday Card)
• “From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and blessings for the New Year.” (Five Photo Vintage Family Holiday Card)
• “Joy to The World… In Christ Alone – Merry Christmas!” (Multi-Photo Christmas Greeting Card)
• “May you rejoice in the miracle, the gift and the promise of Christmas.” (Miracle of Christmas Photo Card)
• “The true joy of Christmas is in the everlasting love of Christ. Wishing you a joyous Christmas and  blessings in the coming New Year.” or another popular variation of this verse: “The true joy of Christmas is the love of Christ, shared with family and friends. May you find His peace, love and joy in the coming New Year.”(Elegant Christian Christmas Card Collage)

Also see our Religious Christmas Card Verse Wording post for more ideas, or share your own ideas in comments below!

There are a couple of ways to do the reindeer’s head. First, you can use a footprint with the toes up and the heel where the nose will be placed. Do that footprint first … then do the handprint antlers slightly overlapping it (use both hands in doing the antlers … left for left, right for right). Second, just draw on a head for the reindeer using fabric paint – a fairly simple oval shape, colored in with the fabric paint. Then paint on the eyes and a nose (red, of course)

You can then draw a simple string of Christmas lights (bulbs of various colors) winding through the antlers if you wish.

Other cute holiday shirts to do are Christmas trees made out of upside down handprints .. a row of 3 handprints on the bottom, two in the middle, one on top. You could even draw on a star and ornaments (or use fingerprints for ornaments). Also, you can use an upside down handprint in white to be Santa’s face, with the fingers being his beard … draw on his eyes, nose, mustache, hat, etc. Or you can make a simple angel figure … just do a basic triangle for the body, a circle for the head and two handprints for the wings. You can obviously add more details if you want.

Now, our Stocking Stuffer ideas:

Learning Resources Backyard Bugs – just can’t have enough bugs to play with!

i-CAT Chill Clothing Accessories – add on to this or last year’s gift.

SpiderMan Football – good for smaller hands to hold on to with the web-like surface.

Mattel – Cars! Collector set – wrap the 8 separately for added Christmas morning fun or save a few for small gifts throughout the New Year.

Leapster Kids Carry It All Backpack – given all the planning Lil’ Duck does as to which toys will be coming along for play time at G’amma and G’ampa’s house, he needs a backpack (helps to limit the number, believe it or not!).

And, of course, we have to mention toy ducks, being LilDuckDuck.com! These cute, yellow numbered ducks have bath time and learning-to-count interest to us right now – Smart Splash Ducks. Have fun looking at all the additional “Make-You-Smile” yellow ducks as you scroll down the page! Stocking stuffer toys for sure.

Check back as we get ever closer to the holiday purchasing season for more ideas which will hopefully be helpful to you and your relatives in finding gifts with value: both play, learning and money value.

See you again soon,

Grandma Duck

By now, Lil Duck has a selection of various little creatures and they are needing some new and exciting adventures as the play sets they came with have already seen multiple hours of play. Why not introduce a new “play set” for all these creatures to inspire imaginative play? Tree house play set definitely has my attention. As the customer review says, “It’s a lasting, creative, open-ended piece of childhood!” I remember our son playing for years with his small tree house and the delightful “adventures” his little creatures had – I really think this will be one of Lil Duck’s Christmas presents this year.

Thomas wooden train the works – trains continue to be a delight and we have even incorporated books about trains into the imaginative play. One book to take a peek at is Goodnight Train. For a train puzzle with a fun tin, look at Thomas the Tank Circus Train 35 Piece Puzzle in Tin.

Remote control cars have always held Lil Duck’s fascination. He has a hand-me-down from a friend which he just realized only turns to the left – “Why won’t it go this way, G’amma?” Guess it is time for a fully functional remote control car. The Tyco R/C Easy Rider is a Mom-Requested, Kid-Tested full function r/c for younger children.

Toddlers and Play-Doh – what a classic match up and for good reasons. From the smell of the Play-Doh (Lil Duck is like G’ampa Duck in liking to smell things) to the “make and swish-it” type of exploration, Lil Duck LOVES Play-Doh time. (good for 2 hours of play delight) Here is the Play-Doh Creativity Center that will help their imaginations as well as help to contain the Play-Doh and play pieces. (I have threatened to teach Lil Duck how to use scissors, the ones in this set might be good for that…(can you hear Mama Duck and Daddy Creature yelling NO!???).

“Today is Wednesday and I go to G’amma’s house today!” “Today is Tuesday. You go tomorrow when it is Wednesday.” “I said today is Wednesday and G’amma comes to get me today!” While it warms my heart to know he LOVES to come play here at my house, it is tough on the parents when a little one doesn’t understand the days of the week. Maybe it is time for Melissa & Doug Deluxe Magnetic Calendar. There are many different variations available, why this one? There are magnets for holiday and childhood activities, it is a magnetic dry-erase board and the quality. Tracking the weather is also possible and we all know how much toddlers love informing us about the weather!(“I hear thunder. When will it rain? The thunder is louder. Will it rain soon?…) Also the Deluxe version seems to be the same price as the regular version – go for the Deluxe.

Did you see the Deluxe Magnetic Responsibility Chart when you were viewing the Magnetic Calendar? When you are ready for responsibility charts, look over this book Rewards for Kids!. I can assure you from experience, the child is ready for appropriate levels of responsibility before you think they are! We underestimate their abilities so often. Also giving a young child responsible, contributing-to-the-family type activities, helps to not only teach them, but also directs their attention to constructive activities during the day and not de-structive (I said helps, not prevents!).

Shopping Tip: Don’t forget the extra colors for added fun – Play-Doh 50th Birthday Rainbow Pack

Last Christmas, Lil Duck got an i-Dog from Uncle Duck and has enjoyed singing and dancing with his special dog (which stays up on the desk for the dog’s safety). Thought you would enjoy the other variations available this year such as the i-CY and i-Cat. They also have fun clothes for dress up fun – i-DOG Chill Clothing Accessories.

Also be sure to check out Toddler Gift Ideas – Part 3 – Stocking Stuffers!

So here are some of the gift ideas, there is quite a variety, and, of course, once you click on the item, you will see a selection of similar items which are quite interesting as well. So here we go through my gift idea list for a toddler…

First you need to order the Advent Calendar now so you will be able to start the countdown on time! I have long been on a search for a nice REUSEABLE advent calendar and this one certainly is – Magnetic Advent Calendar.

Hopping and hiding, what could be more fun for a toddler? Lil Duck is always bouncing around and plays hide-n-seek every time I come over to pick him up. A great way to introduce him to games and learn memory skills with the Bunny Hop Game. Several of the suggested games might fit your toddler’s specific interests as well.

For mix and match memory games this teddy bear one has an appeal – Teddy Mix & Match game. Not the usual square cards and made by Ravensburger ( I like their quality product and art work).

Teaching numbers with a game – try 123 Domino Game, there are 9 different domino games for various ages, which is nice for a family gift.

Hmmm…only $14.99 for a MP3 made for toddler hands…looks most interesting. Singing and moving to music is so important at this age, plus burning off some of the excess energy is helpful! This looks to be an appealing Christmas gift. Playskool Dance Along MP3 (boy and girl colors available) is affordable, durable and you can choose five different play lists. Maybe this will keep the little one away from our i-Pods….

Talking about music development, given the popularity of the Blue Man Group, I thought you might have some children interested in the Blue Man Percussion Tubes.

Every child has to have a basket of play food, like the Learning Resources Picnic Play Food Basket, to concoct the strangest food combination imaginable. Not that the child himself will taste any new foods! Lil’ Duck enjoys “making” a potato chip – watermelon-on-a-bun sandwich for me and, of course, leftovers have to go into the pretend refrigerator of his kitchen set.

Which brings us to a kitchen set. There are so many different varieties available and the space you have will be a factor in the decision so here is one kitchen set that looks compact (and you can look around once in the site) Little Tikes Cookin Fun Interactive Kitchen

Don’t forget the Little Tikes Shopping Cart which is used to cart all kinds of things around (I find it most useful to encourage fun cleanup time – “Let’s race to see who can clean this the fastest and you get the cart!”).

Shopping tip: don’t forget the extra food and dish sets, makes great gift ideas for the relatives to add on to the whole theme. Here are some to look at: 101 Piece Play Food Assortment and Battat Deluxe Kitchen Play Set .

Now, on to Toddler Gift Ideas – Part 2!

1. His iDog, which he is surprisingly gentle with and really enjoys. It’s something I wouldn’t have thought to give him as I think of it as a grown-up toy, really, but he loves it and it is so cute!! He likes to make it growl and dance while he adjusts its ears accordingly.
2. Andy the Airplane who has the added draw of being able to haul things in his nose – the McQueen cars are always hiding in there while it flies around the house. He’s sturdy too, having survived the trip home in the suitcase, several smashings on the concrete lanai and other random abuse (including an accidental kicking across the room when left on the floor in the middle of the night).
3. His very first Elmo, Shout Elmo, given to him by a loving auntie who lives far away and will never have to be tortured by Elmo’s endless singing. I thought that the much-coveted TMX Elmo was rather cute, but this one really is sort of lovable…. for a toy that sings and dances and laughs. Lil’ Duck loves him, of course, especially to knock him over on purpose to hear him say “Oops, Elmo fell down, hee hee hee”. Poor thing.
4. The Geotrax sets that he received were also a big hit, especially with the motorized engine. Now if we can get him to shut it off….
5. Several Crayola Color Wonder sets were also a big hit, especially the Cars themed ones. I just like them because I don’t have to clean marker/crayon/pencil/pen off of every surface in my house…..
6. His new Race Car Twin Bed, which he actually got a week or two before Christmas, is a huge hit. Not really to sleep upon, but to hide in the hood and race the little cars over the sides and headboard area. WOW!
7. The Weebles collection was enhanced by several little villages and other spinning playsets, which are of great amusement to the little one and great noisy headaches to the mama & daddy ducks. Now we need more creatures, as ours keep getting lost and hide and await your feet in the middle of the night (perhaps it’s a sign that we shouldn’t be walking around the house at night without combat boots and a searchlight….).
8. His little Cars Doodle pad, a smaller one than this deluxe version, is quite bemusing to him (I color, then it goes away, but I can only color on this pad thing??). However, I think he likes it, since I got it at Kohls 1/2 off for something like $4, it was well worth it. The giant version looks cool but is rather pricy and looks like it is begging to be stepped upon.
9. His very first “Cars” car – “Blue McQueen” – Dinoco McQueen has been much loved and lives in Andy the Airplane most of the time. It had to come on the trip and comes out on every car trip, plane trip, or walk that we have. He also sleeps with this and his other little cars.
10. “Red McQueen” – Lightning McQueen is his counterpart, which he received for Christmas and LOVES.
11. The much-loved Mater is also often seen with the McQueen cars, causing quite a stir when he doesn’t fit into places where the other two go easily. Ah, the life of a tow truck. Daddy Duck gets to do the Mater voice quite often, as he made the mistake of doing it once and is now doomed to repeat every little thing Mater says, complete with the accent, on demand.
12. Many various little cars and other creatures with wheels, now traveling around my house. The “bus” aka car trailer, where all the cars can ride, is a big hit as well.
13. After his trip to the John Deere museum, he got a little John Deere tractor which is also a beloved creature, traveling around with us wherever we may go.

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He helped put the cookies on the cookie sheet, I baked them, then I ended up doing most of the frosting work while he watched with great interest and stuck a finger in now and then. His special sprinkles, which he picked out in the store with great delight (”want da BALL ones, colorful, wow!!”) were now ready to be added to the much-anticipated cookies. He was conservative with the sprinkles at first, looking for lots of attention for his hard work… then he went to town:

That would indeed be the entire container of sprinkles, all over the cookies. We are nothing if not festive around here now (with those tiny balls embedded in our bare feet, ouch!).

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