Is there anything more magical than watching a child anticipate the arrival of Santa? Remember those days of dreaming and wishing that Santa would bring you something special? The days leading up to Christmas seem endless to a child. It’s so much fun to watch children anticipate this holiday.

This Christmas was tough for all of us – as adults, we knew we were entering a lockdown on Boxing Day. We were discouraged from having big family Christmas gatherings. Holidays are the epicenter of family gatherings worldwide, but we all understood the importance of staying safe to curb the spread of this nasty virus. Therefore, Christmas – with all it’s usual fanfare and celebration – was quiet this year.

We did our best, however, to make sure Christmas was as magical for the children/grandchildren as possible amidst a pandemic. Maintaining as many special traditions as possible, was the priority of our few days together. Each Christmas Eve, our three grandchildren magically receive “Magic Reindeer Food”, from Cocoa – their Elf on the Shelf. It has been fun watching them spread this magic reindeer food and listening to them talk about how Santa and his reindeer will see the food and come down to their home. A few years back, Owen’s teacher – Ms Jacobson – gave the children in her Kindergarden class Reindeer Whistles. Owen loves to blow this whistle on Christmas Eve, and this practice has become part of his Christmas Eve tradition. With Owen about to turn 8 in a couple of months, I wanted to be sure I captured this magic moment while I still had the opportunity!

The background to this page was created with the “HO HO HO” patterned paper from the Photoplay “Christmas Cheer” collection. I used “Walnut Cream” cardstock from Bazzill on the top portion of the layout to provide a clean backdrop for the title. I cut the tile using the “Blossom” font from an old QuicKutz collection in my scrapbook stash. I used the same red glitter paper to cut the page title and the reindeer’s nose. I wasn’t happy with the bland background under the title, so I splattered white paint for snow, and cut small snowflakes from vellum to help fill in the area. My hopes were to mimic what I saw in the patterned paper below, and I feel it pulled these two sections together nicely.

The Reindeer element was not a specific cut file, but a drawing I found on Pinterest. I simply traced and cut it in Silhouette software to my liking. The list of reindeers, on the far lower right, came from the Cardstock Ephemera package from the Christmas Cheer collection. Once the photos were added, the final touch was to add some journalling to help tell the story.

Watching Owen blow on that whistle, and look to the sky, will be a memory I’ll hold onto for years to come. I’m glad I’ve documented it to share with him in the coming years. May you all stay safe and well and never lose the magic!

Happy Scrapping!