Christmas in July 2021

Living in Arizona, the summer seems to drag on forever and we get antsy for change. Especially during a year where we haven’t traveled and the heat came early, we wanted to bring a bit of fun and cool-vibes to our home. Coincidentally, the date we selected for our Christmas in July celebration was marked by non-stop rain and thunderstorms, so be careful what you ask for!

Our boys are obsessed with all holidays. They love the decorations and fun activities, so planning a Christmas in July day was a no brainer. It’s also a pretty low investment event when you consider food, decorations, etc.

To decorate, we simply brought out our old 4-foot-tall fake Christmas tree from our old apartment. I wrapped it in one strand of outdoor lights (why not?!) and the boys helped me put on the garland and white ornaments (yelling “ball” over and over.) Once we plugged in the tree, Cameron very adamantly declared that the tree needed a star.

We pulled out our bucket of kid craft supplies and made a popsicle star with glitter glue, stickers, and confetti. I got this craft kit a few months ago to ensure I have a variety of supplies and it has been super handy!

Look at how great this star turned out! After the popsicle sticks dried, I glued them to a wood piece I had that looks like a button. Then I used a red ribbon to tie the finished star to the top of the tree. I’m so in love with it, I may have to find a permanent home for it so I can marvel at the boys’ craftiness year round.

We bought the boys two gifts – both under $20. We’ve had our eye on these VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels and decided to give them a try. The boys are obsessed. They are loving how easy it is to take apart the tracks and build their own paths. I think it’s important to note given the name “Go! Go!” that the vehicles don’t move on their own (just the train does) but each vehicle has its own education sound bites that are activated by certain parts of the tracks. (Parent Win: You can turn the sounds off if you need some quiet play time.)

A big part of any celebration is food and we brought all the goodness for our Christmas in July.

Breakfast: It’s our family tradition to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast so we warmed up a few delicious rolls and some donuts. Complete with hot chocolate and chocolate milk.

Lunch: My husband makes a mean grilled cheese so we had those with tomato soup. Perfect for our rainy day and it really made it feel like the holidays.

Dinner: Instead of doing a turkey dinner, we did a roast chicken. I made a delicious Maple-Glazed Chicken with apples, cranberries, and rosemary. I modified this recipe to suit a full chicken and it was life-changing! We also served up sides of roasted potatoes, corn, and rolls.

We filled the day with Christmas movies and cartoons. Digging deep into our movie collection and Disney+ we watched cartoons that don’t usually get brought up throughout the year like Prep & Landing, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, and Disney Junior holiday specials. And of course, we made our way through the Bob’s Burgers Christmas episodes.

As the boys get older, we envision adding to the day with more activities like cookie baking, crafts, and games.