1. Go sledding with your kids (big or small). No kids ? Take your grandkids, nieces,nephews or borrow a neighbor's child. I know, I know the older we get the less appealing going out in the cold and snow seems to us but take a chance! Bundle up ! I promise you will have fun once you are out there. The fresh air is great for you and most importantly you will make a child's day(and quite possibly the neighbor's if you borrow their child)!
http://twostraightlines.typepad.com/two_straight_lines/2011/01/sledding-party.html
There is also a whole section dedicated to winter and sledding party ideas on this link
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/winter_party.html
3. Host a winter bonfire. Who says bonfires are just for fall time? Invite all your friends, family members and neighbors. Roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Drink hot cocoa or hot toddies! Serve finger foods that are easy to handle with gloves. Make sure to have plenty of comfortable seating and throw blankets available. Gaze at the stars! Have the kids build snowforts! And just think,no bugs! Revel in family and friends!
4. Throw a winter ice skating party. Since we built our pond a little over a year ago I have been wanting to host an ice skating party. I found the ultimate ice skating party held by Kate of Beautiful Days in Maine and posted by Cyd of The Sweetest Occasion. I just love everything about this , the setting, the decorations, the food.Check out the mason jar candle lamps on the birch l logs and the snowflake popcorn bags and the homemade star marshmallows. The details that went into making this skating party special were wonderful! These wonderful photographs of the party were taken by Geneve Hoffman. Check out her beautiful work at http://www.genevehoffmanphotography.com/
For complete pictures please see
Even if you can't or aren't able to skate I think it would be fun just to be there and maybe pull a child around on a tube or sled or heck you could even do some sliding. I remember being little and running full speed and sliding on the kitchen floor.
6. Play board games .
7. Shovel a driveway or walkway for a neighbor who can't.
8. Feed the birds and observe them each day.
9. Cook a turkey with all the trimmings.
10. Clean out your closets, cellar or attic and donate to charity.
11. Force bulbs. Check out this link on TipNut for all the how-tos of forcing bulbs.
http://tipnut.com/forcing-bulbs/
12. Take a walk and look for animal tracks in the snow. Bring a small child with you. Be sure to check out a book from your local library with the different tracks before your walk.
13. Lie on your back in a snowy field.
14. Take winter photos.
15. Lick an icicle!
16. Put together a jigsaw puzzle. When is the last time the whole family sat down and put together a jigsaw puzzle? Get out that old card table and buy or borrow a puzzle. I promise, once it's out the whole family will want to try their hand at it. I remember putting puzzles together when I was younger at my grandma's farm. We would get to the end and a few pieces would be missing and she'd say "Look in the vacuum bag." Sure enough, there were those two lost pieces!
17. Make a snowflake curtain. Check out this link for how-tos.
http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.com/2008/12/snowflake-curtain.html
18. Host an good old fashioned pancake breakfast. Invite friends, relatives, neighbors- whoever you want. Send invites. Have everyone bring something. Make it as fancy or simple as you would like. I love these photos I found over at Divine Party Concepts of this pancake breakfast even though it wasn't winter.
http://divinepartyconcepts.com/2010/07/19/pancake-breakfast/
19. Make a braided rug. I remember my great grandma Bonesteel making these all the time out of scraps. She did everything by hand, no machine. Her rugs were huge! I also remember her telling us to clean a braided rug her mom would take it out in the winter and scrub it with snow and then sweep it off. A lot less expensive then cleaners I'd say. Here are some simple directions to make your own rag rug. Lots of different fabric will work for this . Use what you have on hand , bedsheets, fabric scraps, t-shirts, etc.
http://www.craftpassion.com/2010/03/recycle-tutorial-braided-rag-rug.html
20. Make snow cream. A sweet lady Mary from our GLU(Girls Like Us) board posted about how she and her son made snow cream. She took fresh clean snow and mixed in vanilla, sugar, and milk. She said it really tastes like homemade without as much fat. Another sweet friend of mine, Terri, also from GLU, posted a fantabulous sounding snow ice cream recipe that you must try out. Here is the link to her blog.
Terri's Snow Ice Cream Recipe
Here is a recipe I found online.
http://emilyinthekithen.blogspot.com/2010/12/snow-cream-you-scream-i-scream-we-all.html
21. Go antiquing or flea market browsing with a friend. This is one of my favorite things to do! Dress warmly if you go in the winter though as a lot of these huge buildings have little or no heat .
22. Bake till your heart's content. Besides holidays what better time to bake then winter. Check out this great recipe for cinnamon buns from The Pioneer Woman Cooks.(Britt, my daughter, got this cookbook for Christmas and it is divine. )You can also get most if not all of her recipes online.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/
23. Sleep late and don't feel guilty.
24. Stay in your jammies all day and watch movies. I love anything Hallmark but choose your favorite movies and pop some popcorn and enjoy. Below is a link to the top 60 most romantic movies. It says 10 in the link but it is more.
http://allwomenstalk.com/10-most-romantic-movies/
25. Read!
26. Make an ice luminary or ice snowflakes. I could make a whole post about this and because this post is so long now I am going to make it separate. Stay tuned.
27. Dream of being able to hang clothes on the line!
28. And This One Is For You Rose- Dream of that first robin!
