It’s that time of year again where we bundle up, or for us desert folk throw on a light sweater, and plan fun family-friendly winter activities. As a family of three we decided long ago that we much prefer creating experiences over anything else. Some of those have become traditions for us; holiday movies by candlelight, local events, cooking, and this year we added ornament making. It was a pleasant surprise. Here’s to mixing things up, just like we did this past summer.

Our Holiday Movie List

THE HOLIDAY
THE FAMILY STONE
LOVE ACTUALLY
CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES
A CHRISTMAS STORY
WHITE CHRISTMAS
THE FAMILY MAN
DIE HARD
ELF

When we aren’t sharing a charcuterie board (these are made at least twice a week in our home) and watching a movie, we are experiencing the fun events around town. Hands down our favorite this year was Tucson Holiday Ice. It’s dream-like to be ice skating in a shirt and jeans. This is why east coasters and snowbirds decide to come west for the winter. It’s absolutely gorgeous outside. Our ninety minute skating session in 70 degree weather was beyond enjoyable. We went on a weekday, which still had a medium-sized crowd and spent the whole time with smiles on our faces. The rented skates were actually comfortable and the seal skating assistant was a hit with Nova.

“WINTER IS NOT A SEASON, IT’S A CELEBRATION.”

– Anamika Mishra

We also checked out the Enchanted Snowfall that runs through Mid-December on Friday and Saturday evenings at La Encantada. The faux snow took place in the courtyard and is blasted out of roof top machine. It lasts around 15 minutes. Pure joy radiated from each child. Little do they know it’s most likely soap bubbles. But that’s our little secret… We recommend planning ahead and doing family-friendly happy hour at either RA, Blanco, or North. The last two have patios with an incredible view of the city below. It’s quite the outing.

Lastly, what would the holidays be without some cooking and baking? This time, we baked ornaments! Yes, that’s right. After a dear friend from afar (@mariecam_) posted on Instagram about the cutest “Salt Dough Ornaments” I knew we had to try this 3 ingredient recipe. Nova and I spent the morning together in our sunny little kitchen making these and it was something she too (just like Marie’s daughter) played with for hours.

Salt Dough Ornament Recipe

2 CUPS FLOUR (WE USED BOB’S RED MILL ALL-PURPOSE)
1 CUP SALT (WE USED IODIZED SEA SALT)
3/4 CUPS WATER

Mix together the three ingredients, roll out, shape, imprint (hand ornament) or use your favorite cookie cutters, add a hole for string (we used a metal straw), and bake at 250 degrees for 2-3 hours. Let cool. Then you can either decorate as you wish or leave them the natural tone as we did. We added a few to our tree with twine and then used the rest for gifts. They make such a cute statement on top of a packaged gift. You can even add some fresh rosemary. Two batches made around 10 larger sized ornaments (the saguaro), and 20 small sized ornaments (the star).

Our beautiful wood cutting board were handcrafted by Sean of Midtown Artisans and the variety of cookie cutters are from Target.