Christmas Traditions: A Christmas Chain

Two Christmases ago our granddaughter Avery (who was two at the time) and I made a paper chain for our Christmas tree. I used heavy construction papers in pastel pink, green, and white and cut them into strips about an inch-and-a-half wide by about 9" long, and Avery and I glued them together to make our chain. I wrote the date on one of the links and we hung the chain on the tree ...

Avery was so pleased with it, and I decided we would start a new tradition and add to our chain every Christmas.

Last year, we used double-sided scrapbook paper for our chain. We used Elmer's Washable School Glue which is great to use with little ones. It's purple and in stick form and is easy to wash off hands and doesn't stain clothes.

Avery loved the gluing part and did several links by herself ...

We got a little carried away and our
chain ended up being about 15 feet long!

Next, we linked the two chains
together and hung them on the tree ...

What started out as just a fun project, has become a tradition for Avery and me, and yesterday, we made our chain for this Christmas.

I wanted to use Christmas-patterned scrapbook paper, but both of the scrapbook shops close to me have closed (a sign of the state of the economy these days, I guess, which is sad). We went to Wal-Mart instead and I let Avery pick out the paper for our chain herself. Also, for some reason the glue didn't work as well this time, so we used scotch tape which worked great.

I love traditions and think they are important for children, and this is such a fun tradition for little ones (and for mommies and grandmamas, too!). I hope to continue it for as many years as we can, and perhaps one day, she will want to share it with her children.

I created a slide show as a keepsake of some pictures I took of Avery as she worked on the chain yesterday. You can click on the "play" button if you would like to see it, and be sure your sound is turned up if you'd like to hear the music.