This might be my favorite post yet, because I love that people have come up with the most darling ways to prove Santa's existence!! ;)
Santa Caught In The Act!
This "Santa in my living room" picture is the winner for me! All you do is go (Here) and upload a picture of your living room! They have TONS of Santa's to choose from and you pick your favorite and stick him in front of your tree! How cool is this?!
(My mom wishes they had this back when we were kids!)
Mail Your Wish List To The North pole!
Did you know you can actually send your children's letters to the Jolly man himself?! The best part is he writes back! And it is postmarked from the North pole ;)
Simply mail your letters to:
Santa, North pole, Alaska
North pole christmas cancellation
postmaster
5400 Mail Trail
Fairbanks AK 99709-9998
Track Santa
Every year you can go online and track Santa's journey across the world on Christmas Eve!
It starts as soon as Santa and his crew take off from the North pole!
Check (here) starting December 1st- Thats when the countdown begins!
personal video message from santa
probably the COOLEST thing so far! Santa has a personal message for your little ones and he even says their names and tells them how good they've been. He shows how he has pictures of them and knows where they live by looking in a telescope and shows a picture of their house! Go to this website (HERE) and click on the little video example they have there. Santa shows you step by step how to upload pictures to make it personal to you!
Go (HERE) to watch one I made for one of my twinners Simon!
Leave A Thank You Note
On Christmas morning leave a thank you note where those delicious cookies once were! Be sure to write it on never before seen stationary and disguise your handwriting because kids are getting smart these days! ;)
Hide The Wrapping paper
Make sure the wrapping paper you use for Santa's gifts has never been seen by your children's eyes! It's from the North pole, silly! Or perhaps its tucked under a bed or inside a storage box! ;)
Hide The Santa Gifts
I don't know about you, but when I was a little girl I would search the house when my parents would leave for my presents! And lets just say finding one of my presents early and then getting it from "Santa" on Christmas morning was not the greatest surprise! (Thats the year I unfortunately stopped believing and Christmas Magic was lost forever!) Ha! Just kidding, but don't let your bad hiding techniques be the reason Santa isn't real! My parents began hiding presents at Grandmas house to keep this from happening again!
Elf On The Shelf
This is the most darling book and tradition and I can't wait for my little boys to be a little bit older to start this! On the first of December you read the book to your kids. It will explain that their holiday visitor returns to the north pole nightly to tell Santa if they've been naughty or nice. Each night you put the Elf in a new spot and every morning the kiddos have to find him! Go (here) to get lots of cute ideas of where to pose your elf!
Leave Evidence Of Santa's Visit
Make sure to have Santa leave a little bit of evidence behind to prove he was at your house! Footprints in the snow, a few crumbs on the cookie plate, or heaven forbid he left a mitton! ;) Anything to keep kids entertained!
Emails
Send emails to your kids from the big man himself through out the year to keep them on the nice list! Maybe in one of the emails, ask them if it wouldn't be too much- to bake his favorite cookies on Christmas eve for his arrival (Maybe by coincidence those are mamas favorite to?) ;)
In the Thank you note, thank the kids for remembering his favorite cookies!
To get some darling "Santa" gift tags, go (here) for free printables!
Check out portablenorthpole.com too! My kids light up every year when they get their personalized message :)
ReplyDeleteTHank you SO much!! I loved that idea so much I added it to it so everyone can see! :) I'll definitely be doing one this year!
DeleteWhen my daughter was small we had a Santa bag left under the tree for her.
Deletethanks for putting this list together! super cute! merry christmas!
ReplyDeletegabby @ oh boy, cato!
thenewcatos.blogspot.com
Anytime!! I had a lot of fun doing it! :) Merry Christmas to you too!
DeleteI've always done some of the ideas above and even now that my kids are 27 and 21, we continue the traditions. They've never seen the "Santa" paper, and I fill the stockings after they're asleep (or in the case of their advanced ages, first thing on Christmas morning!). Santa always brings the cool gifts and mom and dad give the sensible things like boots, socks, and pj's. My mother-in-law was just the opposite; she gave the good stuff because she didn't want Santa "to get all the credit". So sad.
ReplyDeleteHow fun!! I love hearing others traditions! :) I like the idea of all the cool gifts being from santa too! :)
DeleteWhen my daughter was little we we bought a red "Santa" bag with her name on it. Santa fills the bag(no wrapping, hooray), if possible I hide the gifts in my car in the stow-n-go.
ReplyDeleteOh I love this idea!! And even better because you don't have to wrap! :)
DeleteLove this blog. We too have red velvet "Santa" bags for each of our four children. They came with a note from Santa the first year and stated that if they put them under the tree on Christmas Eve with two old/unused toys that could be refurbished, he will bring them new ones in their bags. No wrapping paper. We even remove all of the packaging and put the batteries in or charge what needs charged. That way on Christmas Day, Mom & Dad can take pictures and enjoy the morning versus doing clean-up and listening to screaming kids who want their items opened and operating.
DeleteNORAD in Colorado also Tracks Santa every year using their "satellite technology" haha. Not sure if it airs all over the nation but normally News Channels pick it up I think.
ReplyDeleteAwesome good to know!!
DeleteAsk someone to make footprints in the snow! My parents did that for us when we were younger and we use to go crazy over it! You may want to ask a neighbor or a guest as they leave on Christmas eve.
ReplyDeleteLove that idea!! Thanks so much!!
DeleteAdding to the footprints in the snow.. taking baking soda & glitter, mix it together and put boots/shoes in the mixture and put on the floor! Santa's footprints! Brilliant!
DeleteWe've also done flour footprints on the carpet.
ReplyDeleteWe put out carrots and apples for the reindeer and always left a few pieces with reindeer chomp marks. I have friend who's daughters got three presents from Santa because that is what Baby Jesus got. These three presents were the "best" presents because that's what Jesus should get! (I wish I had thought of this!)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger my parents put gold bells around the yard and said they fell off Santa's sleigh! It was so much fun running around the yard on Christmas morning picking up "jingle bells".
ReplyDeleteOh I LOVE this idea!! Thanks for sharing! :)
DeleteGreat idea Heather! I am so stealing. We always get letters personalized for the kids from the Mercy NICU here in St. Louis. They are really great. My sisters and neighbors still want to know how they know so much. Worth every penny!
ReplyDeleteWe make reindeer food (glitter and uncooked oats) and sprinkle it on the front lawn. The oats are food for the tired and hungry reindeer and the glitter guides them to our house. We also leave carrots on the front porch for them. My husband goes out after the kids are in bed and breaks a couple of the carrots into pieces and leaves them in the grass and throws the rest away. The kids love waking up and looking to see if the reindeer ate the carrots and oats (the sprinklers usually destroy any oat evidence). Our Elf on a Shelf also leaves notes from Santa all month long about specific behaviors or accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteEvery Christmas Eve night, about a half hour after the kids go to bed, my husband sneaks outside and shakes jingle bells. Just enough to get the kids thinking they hear Santa's sleigh.
ReplyDeleteMy mom didn't wrap our Santa gifts. She color coded with bows. If it had a pink bow it was mine, blue bows for my brother and if we shared it (Santa was an optimist and usually left one thing to share) she put both bows on it.
ReplyDeletehttp://reindeercam.com/ Is also an AWESOME site to go to!! It's a 24/hr web cam of Santa's back up reindeer, Mr & Mrs Stix. Santa comes to feed them every day at 11, 6, & 9 EST.
ReplyDeleteTo this day (daughters 16 and 17) I still take glitter (white glitter of course) and sprinkle it around the Christmas tree, over the presents and pets, around the cookies and milk and even sometimes into the bathroom showing Santa's magic! Of course my two girls know now who Santa really is but they still love the glitter trails that Santa makes!!! :) Use your imagination and then make sure you do it every year! That is what memories are made of!
ReplyDeleteOh I love this!! Way cute idea!!
DeleteOne year when my best friend's kids were driving her nuts we decided to have 'Santa' call them up and talk to them about better behavior. We had my husband call the house and ask to talk with the girls and told them exactly what 'naughty' things they were doing, with details, and that if they worked hard they could still make the 'good' list. They were so convinced that the next three weeks they were perfect! They never recognized his voice but truly believed after that.
ReplyDeleteHaha thats hilarious!! I'll have to remember this for when my twinners are a little older and misbehaving around Christmas time! :)
Deletemy mom always wrapped presents from her to us. Santa would leave unwrapped gifts under the tree as if to drop them off from his bag. usually, i hide all my gifts for the kids until christmas eve when they're sleeping just so they dont try to be sneaky and shake or open them. BUt i still have santa's unwrapped like when i was a kid. Also, if your Santa wraps gifts, make sure you print out your labels. Mom or Dad's hand writing could give it away to older kids.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!! Me and my older brother would get knives out of the kitchen and use them to peel tape off the wrapping paper and peek at our gifts! And then we would just wrap them back up! If my little boys are anything like me I think i'll be hiding all of the presents until Christmas Eve as well! :)
DeleteOne year we left a torn piece of Santa's hat stuck in the fireplace, she thought it was so cool, we saved it and the following year she left it out for Santa wrote a letter saying she had saved it for him. Santa wrote back telling her she could keep it Mrs. Claus had sewed him a new one.
ReplyDeleteWe also have done the boots in the ashes.
I found this idea several years ago and it has worked great, and it's what my kids expect and have fun with.
ReplyDeleteSanta brings family gifts (Wii, etc). Kids get ... Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read!
When I was little we used to mix glitter, sugar, salt, and sand together in a bag. We then went outside and sprinkled it all over the lawn and snow. Especially with the moonlight and snow, the lawn was so pretty. We were told as kids that we needed to make our lawn sparkle so that Santa's reindeer could find out house.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! =)
ReplyDeleteIts great to keep these traditions going strong for little ones, they really enjoy it!
I have a 2 year old so we are just starting our family traditions, but this year we are starting a "santa trade" where my son will put 3-4 toys of his under the tree before Santa comes that Santa is going to take to other kids in need, in the hope he will grow up knowing it truly is better to give than receive
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!! Thanks for sharing! :)
DeleteWe hire a Santa every year to come on Christmas
ReplyDeleteEve night , and then he tells the kids to go to sleep. So it's kind of like getting tucked in by Santa. They love it, it's only about $40. This year I am letting the boys "catch santa" we are giving Santa all the presents prior to him coming and I am goin to let them catch him putting them under the tree :)
I've totally thought of doing this!! But I didn't know you could actually "hire" a Santa!! Way cool idea!! I would probably still believe in Santa if I had caught him! :)
DeleteOur daughter is 12 and still believes in Santa. It is important to us to keep the spirit alive. Two years ago she asked for a bell from Santa's sleigh which of course Santa left one for her on her stocking. However, my husband and I sewn 6 bells to an old belt that had broken. My husband climbed on the roof and put the strap of bells on the chimney. Christmas morning after all the gifts had been unwrapped; he and our daughter carried out the back of trash. On their way back to the house he asked her if she could see something on the roof. She said she saw something shimmer. So they got the ladder and safely climbed up. Once the bells were retrieved, she came running in showing everyone that a piece of the "Reindeer Reigns" had caught on the chimney and broke off. To this day she stands firm in her belief because she has "proof" now.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute story!! Totally reminds me of the polar express! That's awesome!! :)
DeleteWhen I was younger my family and I were coming back from my moms cousin christmas party and my sister and I got to "catch" Santa (which was actually our grandpa) entering our house! And since you're not allowed to catch him in the act he had to leave the presents on the front porch as he ran to his slay, my sister and I tried catching up to him but had no luck. It kept us believeing in the magic a little longer than we should have.
ReplyDeleteHaha thats awesome!! Great story! :)
DeleteGreat ideas! I've passed them on to my daughter in law.
ReplyDeleteMy father would get horse manure from the local farmer and throw
it up on the roof and leave some in the yard! It ended up staining
the roof! One year he actually left a present up on the roof to
look like it fell out of santas sleigh. It was a 'family' gift so we could't fight over it. It's so nice when the kids
believe!
I found you through Pinterest!!! I love your ideas!!! I also added your article link to my blog!!! http://ohdillpickles.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-still-believe.html
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know, when I clicked on your link for this item in Pinterest it re routes me to a dodgy advert site. You might want to check it out, as I'm sure it will stop you getting traffic to your lovely blog.
ReplyDeleteWith best wishes, Sheila
Ps thanks for all these great ideas. Will impliment them this year :0)
santas real so shut the fuck up
ReplyDeletesantas real so shut the fuck up
ReplyDeleteI love these ideas. I always leave my boyfriends work boot on the floor along with boot prints and dust and a piece of santas outfit bc he was "running away" from our two dogs. Also leave santa cookies and the traditional reindeer food and carrots .. It helps that i am always so amped up for xmas that my kids believe ... I enjoy it more than they do i believe. My kids r 7 and 5... This year i found a way to make the reindeer footprints in the kitchen with a trail of carrots i cant wait!!!
ReplyDeleteOr actual pieces of Santa suit and buttons. https://www.amazon.com/Remnants-of-Santa-Santa-Clues-Game/dp/B0025DE40C/ref=sr_1_66?m=ARO44Q8VMQT9Y&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1479238244&sr=1-66
ReplyDeleteEvery year my husband and I have tried to do something for my nieces and nephews, and now his. One year we were adked how santa was getting in the house with no fireplace. That started it. We made a fireplace out of cardboard hvac pipe, wallpaper and construction paper. Since then, we have had a runway, reindeer rest stop. Complete with chocolate poop (7-11 i thank you for that idea), north pole signs, letters and glitter and several other smaller ideas. I love the idea of jingle bells in the yard. Next year! We have several households to accommodate for now. One being our own in coming years, baby to be here shortly.
ReplyDelete