Love From Santa

Personalised letters from Santa & Santa Sacks

Letters from Santa

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Our NEW letters from Santa!

We have a wonderful range of NEW letters from Santa this year and we are so excited to be sharing them with you! They will be personalised and created in the same loving and careful way as always, but they have a touch of something different, special and magical that we love – including a beautiful red envelope!

The new range of letters from Santa feature bespoke water colour artwork by Mrs Claus herself! Mrs Claus is also known as the clever Clare Grove. Writer and illustrator of the gorgeous “My Mummy” books, Stylist, Influencer and Mummy of three beautiful children. We are tickled pink to have had her magic touch on this collection.

Clare has created three gorgeous water colour images that are the hero’s on our new designs. The collection comprises of a “Jolly Santa” an “Easing Elf” and a “Nosy Reindeer”. Beautifully created and put together – such a clever talent. The header of the letter is a more traditional “from the Desk of Santa” mark nodding to authenticity and Santa authority. Which one needs reminding of at the precious time – we believe 😉

The new letters from Santa are printed on a high quality paper stock, with an old school texture and touch – reminiscent of the North Pole of old. Letters from this collection are sent in a beautiful heavy red envelope postmarked from the North Pole, and stamped on the front like a traditional letter! They will also feature the “Official mail from the North Pole” mark on the back of the envelope (just like last years letters)

All letters from Santa are hand signed by Santa in red pen and proofed checked by Mrs Claus before sending – of course! These designs combined with our wonderful new words for this years letters are going to create quite some magic.

Remember this line from a couple of years ago …

“It’s a busy time here – but also the best time! Everyone’s been working so hard that last night we decided to let our hair down and have a disco. You and Anna and Fleur would have loved it. We called it The Pole Dance. Let me tell you, those elves can really move”

Or this one …

“I’ve been working on my sleigh. Mrs Claus tells me it’s important to look after myself, so this year I’m adding a new seat warmer. That will keep my bottom toasty and warm while I fly around the world visiting all the wonderful little children like you and Bonnie & Freddie“

Or one of my favourites …

“I bet you’ve also been spending lots of time playing with Rose and Olive – they are such special friends. Someone asked me the other day what the best present in the whole world was. And do you know what I said? Getting to spend lots of time with my family and my friends. That, and chocolate. I do love chocolate”

We’ve got more lovely moments like those in the letters this year, so exciting!

Key things to know about the letters from Santa this year:

Choose from two delivery dates this year:

  • 1st week of December
  • OR the week before Christmas

Last order dates:

  • Outside of Australia 28th November (in the post on the 2nd December)
  • Australia 12th December (in the post on the 14th December)

* “Reindeer Post, Elfing Around and Hug from Santa” designs remain the same as previous years and continue to be available as per normal

Letters can be ordered here

Time to get our Santa hats on!

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We’ve got some Santa preparation tips for you …

It’s nearly the end of November and we think it’s best that Santa and his helpers take a moment to prep your mind for the start of the questions that are going to be coming your way SOON.

If you are asked to provide PROOF – these are my top three recommendations:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/santa-visited-me/id784700426?mt=8 – show him visiting in your home with this simple little video

One of our personalised, letter’s from Santa full of details only he could know – posted to your child

This wonderful site on Instagram – santaclaus._ photos you can share with your children!

These seem to be the most common questions that parents have to handle:

How does he deliver all the presents to everyone in ONE night?

Well luckily he is magic, because it is a big job. He prepares all year for this. Optional extra: look at one of these two great sites to track Santa (and to helpful you explain best!). https://santatracker.google.com OR http://www.noradsanta.org

How do the reindeer fly?

They are magical reindeer … of course (I have no idea how they fly!). Santa trains them all year to be in their best and fastest form for Christmas Eve.

How do you know which is the real Santa when you see so many in the shopping malls and shops?

Santa has a team of helpers who help him when he gets really busy, of course. Sometimes it will be the real Santa, and sometimes it will be one of his helpers

We don’t have a chimney so how will he get in to our house?

Don’t worry he has worked out how to get into most houses, it’s his job to deliver all the presents. He can use his magic! Optional extra: perhaps we could leave a key out of him?

For every other question you can usually try one of these approaches:

… reverse the question, and get them to give you their answer first

“what do YOU think darling?”

OR … “it’s magic darling”

“you have to believe to receive”

And if all else fails … CHANGE OF TOPIC / SNEEZE / PHONE RINGS / SEE SOMETHING OUT THE WINDOW!

There is some good advice here on Wikipedia on how to deal with the “is he real?” question – and it is worth reading before you get asked it, so you are prepared with how you want to respond. It’s a tricky one to navigate! Our advice would be to discuss this with your partner, and your wider family so you can explain with consistency, together.

We would love to hear any stories you have of your own Q&A sessions! Please do share. Read more here :https://www.mouthsofmums.com.au/getting-yourself-santa-ready/

Santa’s letters

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Who actually writes Santa’s letters?

personalised letter from santa

Santa’s letters are not written by Santa himself, as much as we would love him too, the job he has ahead of him makes him busy enough ( imagine the stress of delivering every child’s treasured present in exactly the right colour, box, shape and model in ONE night – from the North Pole!). So instead we work with special people who have a connection and empathy with Santa. And he’s OK-ed that and happily signs each letter at the end!

This year our clever write, based in New Zealand, is one of those writers that you just love reading pro’s from. She has this ability to always make you feel warm and smiley with what ever you are reading. She’s a professional writer too, so she crafted and crafted this years letters and we are so pleased with them. Last year she wrote the Babies First Christmas letter when she had a small baby – it’s the most delicious letter! Makes me want to have another baby just to be able to order it and keep in my memory box! (well nearly).

We take this job pretty seriously, so the people we choose to do this work, have to be the right fit, the right calibre and have the integrity and love for Santa that we do. And of course they have to be believers too.

Here’s a couple of recent testimonials we have received:

I have been sending ‘letters from Santa‘ since my eldest grandchild was born in 2009. I now have 6 grandchildren. They all love getting their letters. There is nothing better than that phone call from each of them telling me they have a letter from Santa with so much excitement in their little voices. The letters are very popular with their parents too as they prove to the children that Santa is watching and they better be on their best behaviour!!

Christine, Nov 2016

“I love the Love From Santa letters because of the fantastic wording they use – it’s all about making my children feel special ”

Fran, Nov 2106

personalised letter from santa australia

Tips & tricks for writing the BEST Santa letter

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How do you write a letter to Santa?

Writing to Santa is probably one of the most exciting (and important!) things that a child will do every year. Its a letter filled with many moments worth of thought, so much hope and all the anticipation in the world. When you sit down to write your letter with your child here are some tips to help you get all that most important information out in a clear and concise way for Santa. Make sure you all start off watered, feed and rested …

Tip #1

Its always a good idea to remind Santa where you are going to be sleeping on Christmas Eve – although he knows these things, it’s never too silly to double check this with him!

Tip #2

Santa loves hearing about clever children – tell him something you have achieved this year that you are really really proud of

Tip #3

Don’t forget to mention a few of the things you are hoping to be given at Christmas time in your stocking! Maybe even some of the things Mummy & Dadddy don’t know about

Tip #4

Have you been “good” I know Mummy and Daddy always say Santa wont come if you haven’t been good. But I’ll let you into a secret -Santa actually likes a little bit of good wickedness.

Tip #5

And finally don’t be afraid to sprinkle your letter with colour, sparkles and pictures. Its inspiring and makes the letter memorable for Santa!

To complete the experience order your child a RELY LETTER from Santa, from us. Just imagine the delight when it arrives in the letterbox! The most beautiful and cleverly written letters, cleverly personalised in multiple ways for your child are only $10.95.

Here’s a funny example we have found … he needed some tips and tricks I think!

Love From Santa funny Santa letter example

Make sure you check out our Pinterest account to see some  more Santa letter examples including the written to Santa letter written to JFK in 1961 when an 8 year old proclaims – “Please stop the Russians from bombing the North Pole because they will kill Santa Claus”! JFK wrote a very reassuring reply …

What is the best age to receive a letter from Santa?

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When should I send my child a letter from Santa?

This is a question that goes through a lot of parents minds – “when is the right time to send a letter from Santa?”, “is it too early?”, “will they remember?”, “is it too late?”, “have I missed the boat?” When will a letter from Santa have the most impact? When will $11.95 be the best money I have ever spent?

Well the answer from my experience the best time to get a letter from Santa … is any time, and all the time. Childhood is a very short period in life, and it’s magical at every stage, no matter how much your comprehension is.  We’ve helped Santa write letters to children aged from 1 month to 26 years, and even last year an 85 year old! Each and every one is special and magical in their own way. We smile and delight in each and every one Santa asks us to help him write.

My advice is to make the most of Santa, Christmas and magic and harness it to make it a special time for your family year after year – and receiving a special letter from Santa should be part of that year after year too. Use them to help you communicate to your child. Delight in the wonder of the message from Santa! And KEEP them so that you can reflect and read them in the many years ahead together – their magic never dies.

In terms of when I believe a child truly receives, believes and is truly mesmerised by the letter from Santa, the answer I believe is between 4 and 6 years. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful reactions and have heard wonderful stories about this moment. So if you were only to ever really send one letter from Santa to your child (really?) then hit the spot somewhere between 4 and 6 years – but make sure you don’t miss the spot (too many children have the magic snuffed out too early buy older children)!

Next up on the blog – some of the best letters Santa wrote in 2017

Using technology to bring Santa’s magic to life!

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Here are three Santa “gadgets” to explore this Christmas

Well I didn’t think I would write a post on the technology side of Santa – given my love of snail mail and the good old fashioned elements of Christmas. But here I am. I’m not really a fan of the phone calls from Santa … but I haven’t experienced these or read a good review, so perhaps that’s a judgement I shouldn’t have yet.

There are two really great “tracking” sites for Santa’s visit on Christmas Eve full of amazing facts, songs, fun and games to keep you all entertained and interested. Plus there is an app that actually lets you create a video of Santa visiting in your home. You get a few options of what Santa does in your home and it’s all done against the backdrop of a photo of your home. It actually looks pretty good and authentic to me. I’ve made a video to show you (although I think I should have made it at night time to make it most believable) … what do you think?

So is this fantastic technology helpful or just gimmicky (well clearly the latter – but to what extent?). Do we need to actually see Santa or track his travels or is the belief in him magical enough and all the discussion and wonder it brings with it? Does looking into the sky imagining his travels beat any tracking there could ever be? Technology allows us to do so much, but what really is required …?

Anyway have a look at these if you fancy – I’d love to know what you think.

Santa visiting our home …

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/santa-visited-me/id784700426?mt=8

screen-shot-2016-12-09-at-1-48-25-pm

 

 

Santa tracking sites:

This one looks like one for the more “techy” minds out there … from what we’ve seen and read it’s a pretty well put together and special site.

http://www.noradsanta.org

screen-shot-2016-12-09-at-2-23-20-pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this from Google – beautifully put together and full of the magical north pole aspects of Santa

https://santatracker.google.com/village.html

screen-shot-2016-12-09-at-1-45-03-pm

Using Christmas, and more importantly Santa to help our children with their creative thinking

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Creative thinking is the jewel in the crown for young children. It is also the fore runner of problem solving and intelligent thinking and the importance of it cannot be underestimated.

Christmas is the perfect platform from which to dive into  the magical/ mystical waters of Santa Claus and his menagerie. Creative thinking at your finger tips!!
What we have learnt about brain development is that structured formal learning really only begins at age seven, there is a very clear and marked change in the way the brain develops at this point. SO the more creativity you can encourage before this the more you will help your child’s development in the world of the new “Knowledge” 
So how can we use Christmas, and more importantly Santa to help our children with their creative thinking … a few key tips from Annie Bonifant, teacher of Gift  & Talented Children, NZ
  • Children’s own play is far more creative than anything we can design for them so resist piling in with your knowledge. The fact  finding or formal learning comes later. 
  • Encourage creative thinking using all your open ended questions such as “I wonder what, why, how…..? If we did this I wonder what would happen? For example: ...
  • Allow your child to go into a world of their own. The oldest or an only child will more often have the imaginary friends, they have more time alone to develop this and are seeking company. Leave children alone and create this space for them. Imaginary friends and places are the very best.
  • Let them make the rules for games you play there’s plenty of time later to have to learn and stick to the letter of the law. Enjoy the moment and run with them, who cares that the red card is on the yellow pile! Let yourself go too. 
Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective
During the latter half of the 20th century, international thinking about education began to shift to a new paradigm. This shift was driven by an awareness of massive and ongoing social, economic and technological changes, and the exponentially increasing amount of human knowledge being generated as a result. International thinking began to seriously examine questions about the role and purposes of education in a world with an unprecedented degree of complexity, fluidity and uncertainty.
Knowledge Age/”21st century is seen as something that does things, as being more energy-like than matter-like, more like a verb than a noun. Knowledge, in the Knowledge Age, involves creating and using new knowledge to solve problems and find solutions to challenges as they arise on a “just-in-time” basis. These ideas about knowledge have emerged in the world outside education-driven in large part by economic, social and political changes, often facilitated by new technologies.
Author(s): Rachel Bolstad and Jane Gilbert, with Sue McDowall, Ally Bull, Sally Boyd and Rosemary Hipkins, New Zealand Council for Educational Research. Report prepared for the Ministry of Education.

Santa loves a Christmas cake … and so might you!

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Crowe & Co Foods is a family business with a great tradition in baking the finest fruitcakes in New Zealand since 1972.

Santa often writes about his love of Mrs Claus’ baking in his letters, he refers to the “sweet smells” coming from her kitchen window in the North Pole. Her baking is one of Santa’s guilty pleasures we think!  

If you fancy an amazing Christmas Cake this year, look up Sherry from Crowe & Co in NZ. She uses an old family recipe to create her masterpieces. They look mouth wateringly incredible! Delivery anywhere in NZ – sadly no reindeer to fly them to Australia (yet) though. 

We bet Santa will stay for an extra second or two at this house! 

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Advent Calendars

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How special is your Advent Calendar?

I hadn’t ever thought much beyond the chocolate advent calendars you buy at the supermarket … until last year when my eyes were opened to the glory & wonder of all that Advent Calendars can be! Let’s just say I was very quickly hooked!!

So now I’ve added “Mummy’s Advent Calendar” as one of our special Christmas family traditions. Hopefully as the years go by it will become something that the family will grow to look forward too as December 1st draws nearer – “what will she do this year!?”

Like anything so many options, and knowing me and my personality I wanted to start something with a bit of “flex” in the idea so that I could change, adapt and develop my family’s advent calendar every year – but an element of it would always feel the same. So, I fell in love with a “blank canvas” sort of approach.

advent calendar

With this as my starter every year I can do something slightly different that will work into my evolving style and taste. This style of blank canvas style is a perfect size for a family to share and adaptable enough so that not every day is a chocolate or present. I want my family’s Christmas to be about giving and caring for others as well as about us. So plenty of room for a bit of everything!

My colour scheme this year is “scandi” inspired (I’m so on trend!) and simplistic with the colours of red, white and gold being the focus. I think the “opening” time for 2016 will be at 6pm … hopefully when Daddy is home and we can have a family moment together.

advent calendar

This is what my curated selection of goodies is this year:

*A sprinkling of candy canes & chocolates (of course)

*Some special Christmas crayons (in preparation for our family craft activity)

*Good Dead Cards – there are 3 of these, and in each we have to complete the task for the day as family; collect ten pieces of rubbish from a public area and throw it in the big; do something for Fred one of our lovely elderly neighbours;  choose one toy each to donate to a charity (not the one you like the least!)

*Santa letter – get our special letter/s to Santa and “post” them in our magic family envelope (and hopefully one day there will be a magical reply)

*Craft activity – each person is to write/make a Christmas card to someone special who lives far way – I’m a big believer in the magic of the written word and the hand delivered post. One big family night of colouring, pasting and writing!

*A hair clip or two –  unicorn & darth vader & gold sparkles (I have two girls and some pretty amazing hair clips in my “stocking filler gifts” on my website this year that they have been dying to get their hands on)

*Photos – I choose 5 of the best family photos from the year and printed them on a square ‘instant photo’ frame and then glued them onto red foam board and attached a cute string and wooden clip so that they could be hung on the tree. Each time we open one we will talk about the moment from the year and reflect and be thankful

*Gingerbread men – I brought some sweet little cookies from a local deli and wrapped them in 3 little bags and tied them with red bows. One in each bag for all of us including the dog!

*Game – I found some really sweet little Christmas charades cards and split them into a few cutely wrapped little bundles

*Christmas story book – there is one little parcel which has a clue to find the “new” Christmas story book for the year  (it will be hidden somewhere fun)

*O and on the 24th I have the special Christmas decoration for 2016 that my mother-in-law stitches the family every year … but equally it could be a special bought treasure for the tree

PHEW!! That is 24 done and dusted. I had a lot of fun deciding on all of these!!

This is my advent Calendar for 2016 …

advent calendar

Christmas is a special time of year and I hope our advent calendar will create family moments of “together-ness” each night that often get lost in the normal day to day routine and rhythm of life. And that these will be memories we all treasure.

I wonder where and what I will do next year?!

Some final thoughts

Where do you buy a blank canvas from?

I sold my white advent calendar on my website but, I am completely sold out … so these are my picks for other really beautiful ‘blank canvas’ style calendars:

leoandbella.com

woodandtale.com

Do I have any other ideas, or ideas for next year? Funny you should ask …

*Perhaps a large puzzle might be fun … a Christmas scene with the pieces carefully curated so that as the girls pull them out the image really forms. Perhaps I could even make one, or get one made? And a sprinkling of chocolates I think!

Do you have a dog in your family … or perhaps you know someone with a fur baby. I think these dog advent calendars are pretty amazing. I’ve sent one to my brother for his fur baby!

*I brought an advent calendar from Fluff & Bubbles plus their “set of x24 different tea bags” and sent to a friend in NZ … I really thought these were pretty sweet. They have some gorgeous, affordable calendars you can add your own things too. Perhaps there monotone print out is a good idea – so pretty and pretty easy to do (a “work” printer would print the monotone out very well …)

*And if all this really does tickle your fancy, have a look through my pinterest inspiration boards for loads more ideas!

Does Santa really write our letters?

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Who actually writes Santa’s letters?

personalised letter from santa

Well as much as we would love Santa to directly write these letters, the job he has ahead of him makes him FAR to busy to write letters himself (gosh just imagine the stress of delivering every child’s treasured present in exactly the right colour, box, shape and model in ONE night – from the North Pole!). So instead we work with special people who have a connection and empathy with Santa. And we have a new ‘special person’ to write these letters every year.

Last year our clever helper was a old colleague of mine who now lives & works as a hot shot creative copy writer in San Fran – so a real pro! She wrote the letters for us to perfection – and then, of course, Santa approved them before we sent them out.

This year another clever hot shot, based in New Zealand who is one of those writers that you just love reading pro’s from – she has this ability to always make you feel warm and smiley with what ever you are reading. She’s a professional writer too, so she crafted and crafted this years letters and we are so pleased with them. She’s a new Mummy, which is why I think the babies first Christmas letter is just so delicious and really special this year. Makes me want to have another baby just to be able to order it and keep in my memory box! (well nearly).

We take this job pretty seriously, so the people we choose to do this work, have to be the right fit, the right calibre and have the integrity and love for Santa that we do. And of course they have to be believers too.

Here’s a couple of recent testimonials we have received:

I have been sending ‘letters from Santa’ since my eldest grandchild was born in 2009. I now have 6 grandchildren. They all love getting their letters. There is nothing better than that phone call from each of them telling me they have a letter from Santa with so much excitement in their little voices. The letters are very popular with their parents too as they prove to the children that Santa is watching and they better be on their best behaviour!!

Christine, Nov 2016

“I love the Love From Santa letters because of the fantastic wording they use – it’s all about making my children feel special ”

Fran, Nov 2106

personalised letter from santa australia