We love living in Southeast Asia. However, in the tropics where people don’t celebrate Christmas, it can be a little difficult to create the atmosphere we crave. This was our first time celebrating a major holiday overseas within the comfort of our own home, so I got to enjoy the cooking and crafting that I love.
The Decorations
These were the decorations I made to feel at home for Christmas. You can follow the links to see more details.
- Paper Hanging Wreath
- Paper, clay, styrofoam Advent Wreath
- String Tree Cones
- Air Dry Clay Ornaments
- Clay Tree Topper
- Clay gingerbread house
- Batik Christmas Cards
- Gift Jars: Spice Islands Apple Cider
The Traditions
- For advent, we followed the Biola Advent Project. For each day, they have a selected piece of music, art, poem, devotional, scripture reading, and prayer. For special days we read through them together.
- Lighting the advent wreath candles
- Watching The Nutcracker on youtube while cooking
- Watching the original The Grinch cartoon on Christmas Eve
- I played with pie crust even though we had a custard-type pie
- Cooking, cooking, and more cooking
- And then on the 27th we got on a 24-hour bus ride accross the country for a memorable adventure, followed by a 24 hour bus ride back!
The Menu
This menu may not seem very special. However, where we live the ingredients are hard to find and everything has to be made from scratch. Plus, we usually cook healthy food at home so that we can be free to enjoy unhealthier food out with our local friends. So this Christmas I really went for it.
What I mean by “Made from Scratch”
- No mixer for any of the desserts
- Hashbrowns from scratch- shredded, strained, and pre-baked
- Pumpkin puree from scratch
- All the citrus was hand-squeezed
- Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix made from scratch
- Homemade Italian Sausage Seasoning
- Hand-minced beef (ground beef is not available)
- Homemade tomato paste
- I had to break down the chicken for the meat
- Popcorn over the stove top
- Crusts and doughs were all homemade
- Almond milk (and pulp) made from scratch (hubby)
- Coffee home-sorted, roasted, ground, and made in a mocka pot (husband again)
- Thanksfully, I did NOT have to make the pasta noodles, bread, peanut butter, or puff pastry from scratch 🙂
So, needless to say, we had a special few days of feasting and celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Expat Crafts and Kitchen 
