The holiday season is my favorite time of year. I love everything about that first magical snowfall, baking holiday treats, and counting down the days until Santa arrives. One of our favorite family traditions is to snuggle together under a warm blanket, sipping hot chocolate and watching a Christmas movie. This year, we kicked off the holiday season with the November 15th premier of Bravo’s Northpole, an adventure-themed Christmas movie where the premise is that people around the world are questioning the existence of Santa. My daughter gasped at all the right moments, and even went so far as to tug at my sleeve and proclaim, “How could anyone not believe in Santa?!” Don’t worry, though – the ending was uplifting, and the spirit of Christmas was kept alive.
When the movie was over, my daughter couldn’t stop talking about how much she loved it, and proceeded to beg and plead to partake in some holiday activities. I felt it was only fitting that we take this opportunity to utilize the fantastic Northpole products by Hallmark that we have been fortunate enough to sample, created specifically to coincide with the Northpole movie and spark the magic of Christmas. Needless to say, we had a wonderful afternoon with these brilliant products, and I know they’ll be a prominent part of our household for years to come.
As I previously mentioned, baking holiday treats is one of our favorite family activities, especially around Christmas. We love to deliver our famous sugar cookies to our neighbors, friends, and teachers, and it’s something that has become a strong tradition in our household. We were thrilled that many of the Hallmark Northpole products coincided perfectly with our love of all things sugar!
I started off our holiday baking session by sipping coffee from my gorgeously detailed Comfy Cozy mug. This holiday themed mug appears to be wrapped in the epitome of a comfortable sweater, complete with a beautiful button. Hallmark really thought of every detail. My neighbor stopped by for a minute to drop off a birthday invitation, and she couldn’t stop gushing over it. It would make a great gift for a special someone in your life – especially if that special someone has young children and is as desperately in need of caffeination as I am.
Once I had a few cups of coffee in me, we began the baking process by wearing the adorably festive Northpole Elf apron. Ya’ll – even if you don’t frequent the kitchen as often as I do, this really couldn’t be any cuter and is definitely a worthwhile purchase. It is very high quality and comes complete with dotted oven mitts as pockets. I hope that we could have a kids one so that my kids can match their mom. 🙂
It was time to get to work. The Hallmark Northpole Bake Like an Elf kit with recipe cards was exactly what my six year old needed to really delve into the baking process. They consist of adorable measuring tools shaped like an elf slipper, jingle bell, and mitten. My daughter had a blast measuring out the ingredients for our sugar cookies with these tools, and the recipe cards were perfect for her. Since she’s been learning to read, we encourage her to practice as often as possible. The recipe cards were a great way to encourage her newfound skill while spending time together as a family.
Once our dough had been chilled and rolled, we used Hallmark’s Northpole Cookie Wonder Wheel to make shaping our dough a fun and easy process. In past years, we used traditional cookie cutters, which made helping more difficult for my children. This wheel is more fun, less mess, and was simple enough for my two-year-old to work with. Once our cookies were baked, we used our beautiful and practical Northpole cookie flipper to transfer them onto the cooling rack. There is even a Northpole spatula to help with all your holiday baking needs. We decided to frost some of the cookies, while others we used the Northpole Sprinkle Bell to dust on the ever so perfect amount of powdered sugar for a classic look. We then filled our beautiful Northpole Cozy Nesting bowls with some cookies and Christmas candy, placing them strategically around the house to give a boost of festive décor that our guests will enjoy.
Once our baking was complete, my sugar-crazed children wanted to expend some energy. It was only fitting that we kept with our holiday theme, so we began with the Northpole Rooftop Drop game, which my son in particular had a blast with. It is similar to a traditional beanbag toss, and he just couldn’t stop laughing each time a present went down the chimney!
We then experimented with the very fun and unique Northpole Communicator Interactive Microphone. This easy to use toy allows you to have a conversation with someone from the North Pole with just a simple turn of a knob. It was truly amazing to see my children’s eyes light up when they used this device. This has become a fast favorite in our household that I know my children will enjoy year-round.
No afternoon is complete without the Northpole Dance Like An Elf dance machine, which plays adorable songs such as “Ski Down the Mountain,” “Stir the Hot Chocolate,” and “Build A Snowman.” These songs are truly fun for the whole family, and they quickly turned our afternoon into a dance party. My son loved how easy it was to transport the machine from one room to the next, and even requested it be played during dinnertime.
When it was time for bed, my kids said goodnight to our beautiful Northpole Snowby polar bear, which is now a part of our upstairs holiday decor. He is adorned in a detailed knit hat and is clutching a beautiful glass ball, complete with a snowflake. The Snowby bear would make a fantastic gift for all ages, including teachers.
We had a fun filled day of wonder and holiday spirit, thanks to the Hallmark Northpole products. It is quite obvious that these products will be used year-round to keep the magic of the holidays alive in our household, and I can’t recommend them enough as unique and thoughtful gifts for loved ones of all ages. Purchase these fantastic products – and more! – by going to the Northpole website at shop.northpole1820.com.
**Disclosure: I received a sample of the product to facilitate this post. No other compensation was provided and all views and opinions stated on this post are 100% my own.