The Benefits of Gratitude

Gratitude has been found to improve feelings of happiness and optimism. Gratitude increases the will to exercise and be healthier. Christmas causes a lot of tension and stress because we struggle to make the day “perfect.” Being grateful, improves our relationships with others because it reminds us of why we appreciate them. While thoughts of presents at Christmas time can cause our materialistic side to come out, gratitude helps us to remember to be grateful for what we already have (and doesn’t need to be wrapped with bows).

How can we be more grateful?

For first, you need to start taking care of yourself. Self care is not a selfish action. If you are unhappy, or unhealthy, how can you give joy to the rest of your family? I like keeping a self care kit close at hand, my self care kit includes; a bath bomb, a scented candle, and a teabag. A nice warm bath with the scented candle in the room and a nice cup of tea after, does not break the bank and neither should it create a dent in your time schedule. 

Other forms of self care is a walk in the country with your dog or even with a friend. A good read in a cosy part of the house or even outside near the sea is also another way of spending some time well spent with your self. Whatever way you do it, it is important to have a frame of mind that this time is for you and that you deserve it!

A Gratitude Activity

This activity can be done on Christmas day or even on New Year’s day. It just needs a little preparation but then it is not hard to do. This activity can be done before dinner while everyone is waiting to sit down or after dinner while everyone is chilling out a bit. 

What you will need:

• A small Christmas Tree or Some Twigs in a plant pot
• Christmas Present Tags
• Markers
• String
• Scissors
• Tape

What you need to do is give all family members a few Christmas Tags and a marker each. Then ask them to think of a reason to be grateful for every single member that is in the room. If you are doing it on New Year’s Day, you can write down things you were grateful for in the passed year. No negative comments are allowed. Eg. I am grateful for the time you spend taking me out or I am grateful for the times you woke up early to do breakfast for me, I am grateful for the year that passed because I spent more time out in the countryside, etc.

When everyone is ready writing, one by one you start reading out to each other, the other person should accept with a “Thank you”. When all is said and done these tags are hung on the tree or the twigs. Every time you pass by, you will remember the things your family are grateful for. You will realise that there are things to be grateful and not just the presents under the tree.

Gratitude is free and can be celebrated every day. If you decide to do this gratitude tree, please do take a picture of it and send your comments about it to us. Or send them via our social networks, Facebook and Instagram. We are here to help create ways to make this Christmas special. If you need help please do not hesitate to contact us.

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An Easy and Traditional craft – Vetches

Growing Vetches might not be a craft but, the way we use them definitely is. Many Maltese people decorate using Vetches (Gulbiena); a stringy, noodle-like shoots of a particular seed. I remember my Grandmother showing me how to do it and now children do it at school like in this situation at “Our Lady Immaculate School”. To get the right colour you place the seeds in a container with some water and damp newspapers or cottonwool, in a dark cupboard. Doing this the plant grows silvery white an it lasts longer.  Traditionally you would place it in the cupboard on the first of December and remains unseen till the 20th. At this time it would be ready to use as a decoration around the holy crib (il-presepju) and baby Jesus. 

Another Christmas Craft

If you are not into Maltese traditions but would still like to try making your own craft ingredient, why not dry some citrus fruit and create a wreath or chain with cinnamon sticks, pine cones and other winter wonders? Below find the method to dry your citrus fruit. At Qronfla you will find fresh leaves to craft this wonderful modern twist of a wreath but we can also find many other items for you to use in your creations.

How to dry Oranges and Lemons for your crafts:

1. Heat the oven to 180C

2. Cut the oranges and other citrus fruit up in thin sliced circles

3. Place on a grid tray for 4 – 6 hours, flipping them every hour or so (this can also be done during the night on a lower heat)

4. Leave the fruit dry and even if they are still a bit sticky they will dry out with the air.

The best time to make them into your Christmas crafts is actually a day or 2 after drying in the oven because the centres might still be a bit wet after they come out. Giving them a day or 2 to further dry out on a countertop really makes sure they’re nice and completely dry, but depending on how thinly you sliced your oranges, they might be ready to go right out of the oven and into your crafts.

If you find any difficulty please contact us and we will get back to you. For more decorating information see our previous blog. If you are short on ideas on how to decorate for Christmas come visit us at Qronfla Christmas Shop, we are open all day, every day till Christmas. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram so that you can be up to date with what we have to offer and also any giveaways that might be going on.

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We did some research and found a way for you to entertain the kid with this fun Paper roll garden Art and Craft. We love the idea and whoever came up with it is a genius! It’s Fun, Easy and you don’t even have to water the plants!

How to make Paper Roll Flowers and Plants

Awesome right? The kids can build their very own indoor garden without the mess! So Here’s how to do it

Materials You will need

• Cardboard Paper Rolls

• Paint or Markers

• Paint Brushes(If using Paints)

• Scissors

• Pencil

Note: 

Please ensure safety at all times. Children should remain supervised throughout the entire activity. We suggest that only adults make use of scissors.

Steps to Make Toilet Paper Roll Plants:

Step 1. Find a picture of your favourite flower or plant and sketch it onto the paper towel rolls.  Then, use a pair of scissors to cut around your plant sketch. Do not completely cut the tube at the bottom so that the plant can stand.

2. Place a paper on the table to avoid a big mess!  Then, paint or draw your cardboard roll plants! This is the time to get creative and draw your favourite designs! 

Step 3: Let them dry for a few hours.  And then, guess what! Avengers Assemble. Bring all your plants together and set them on a beautiful display and you’re done!

Now you have an everlasting garden of flowers and plants.. that never need to be watered.

The end result should look something like this. 

We even did our own little version to join in the fun: 

We hope you enjoyed this art and craft as much as we did and that it brought a smile to your face. Feel free to share this post with others so that they can join in the fun! Tag us on facebook with your children’s creations!

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