Reader's Digest Memories Sept 30

Everyone remembers making Christmas trees out of readers digest magazines don't they? Here's a YouTube...very boring if you're already a magazine folding pro...but if not, it's a great idea for young kids, boy scouts crafts, girl scouts crafts, or Sunday school craft time.  
 Our YouTube instructor has you limiting the number of pages, but I think you could just use the whole magazine if you want.  My added hint...glittery pom poms make great "ornaments" for your magazine paper tree.

Special Cards for Special People Sept 29

Yesterday we talked about the budget and mentioned those people that we give gratuity gifts to.  One thing that will really be remembered is if your card to those people is something special just for them.  Here are some great ideas from some artistic friends at Greeting Card Universe.

Have a Plan Sept 28

It's not too early to start thinking about your Christmas budget.  Take some time before the shopping season is in full swing to decide who is on the gift list.  And don't forget to add those gratuity gift recipients, the mailman, the doorman, the kids bus driver, your gardener, your hairdresser etc.  Also make sure to include any gifts that will be expected at the office, for the office party or gift exchange, and those that the kids will need for their parties.  Yes, they add up quickly and can really break your budget if your not careful.  

Careful planning can not only save you some money, it  can give you a more stress free holiday.  If possible once you have your list and some reasonable gift ides for everyone, start shopping now... look for sales and enjoy some savings.  But, be careful...once you have found and purchased a gift for someone on your list be sure to cross them off so you don't make the mistake of purchasing another item.  Also, remember that room you made in the closet a couple days ago?  Find a nice box to keep all of your advance purchases together in one spot so you can find them later.

Candy Canes Sept 27

Did you know that the day after Christmas is National Candy Cane Day. It's one of those wacky holidays, this one thought up the the Confectioner's industry.  Actually the month of December is loaded with these silly holidays for things that have at least some connection to Christmas.  To learn about some of them you can visit my sister blog Every Day's A Holiday.

If you'd like to learn more about candy canes, check this out...

Clean out the Closet ~ Sept 26

It's that time of year when you have to start getting ready for the colder weather. Now is a good time to go through the coat closet and bundle up all of the items in there that you aren't using. Homeless shelters, Good Will, or one of the many other organizations that collect clothing will be happy to take your winter coats, hats, gloves and scarfs. Many of the charities will even pick them up for you. Another idea, if you want to keep things a little more personal go to Yahoo.com and look for the "Freecycle" group in your area. Many people are looking for items or giving away items as a way to save money and share with the community. Kids clothes and winter coats are always in demand.  And, now that you have some extra space in that closet you can start thinking about filling it back up...

Quick Quiz Sept 25

Real quick... What's the name of that Christmas song made famous by Nat King Cole?  You know, the one about chestnuts, and Jack Frost, and tiny tots....  

Yup, it's "The Christmas Song" 

This is dedicated to my Mom and Dad.  Today would have been their wedding anniversary, and this was always one of her favorites.

The Christmas Pickle Sept 24

The first year I heard about this I was in love with the idea.  The story is that this is an Old World German tradition, but a bit of research revealed to me that most Germans don't know anything about it. So, odds are this was a more recent invention that was attributed to German tradition just to get the consumer interested and sell these glass pickle ornaments.  Anyway, the story is that on Christmas Eve, after the kids are all in bed, the parents would hang the small glass pickle shaped ornament on the tree.  In the morning, the first child to find it would receive an extra gift from St. Nicholas.  For the more frugal family the finder was blessed with a year of good fortune.  Because my eldest daughter was the pickle queen we definitly had to have one.  Being crafty I decided that I would make our pickle instead of paying the $10.00 asking price of the pickle I found in a mail order catalog.  Pickles are a simple shape and it needed to be pretty small, so I made mine out of Fimo clay with a small eye hook threaded with some very thin ribbon for hanging.  If you're crafty in any way I'm sure you can come up with your own version. The processes that come to mind are crochet, knit, sewn, whittled...you get the idea.  For a very simple and inexpensive craft for children you can get them to make one from craft foam, modeling clay, or even just a simple construction paper pickle shape.  Let them give the "pickle" a little personality by adding a face.  Christmas is about traditions, but traditions have to start somewhere, so don't be afraid to add something fun to your holiday...someday your children will tell the stories of these "traditions" to their own children.

Cookies ~ September 23

Now is a good time to start testing out some new cookie recipes.  The last thing you want is to wait until Christmas baking time to find out you really don't like a recipe.  I have some good traditional recipes that I know I'll be using and I will share them with you as we progress, but for today I'd like to give you one that I found.  I haven't made these yet either so we can experiment together.  I purposely chose this recipe because it uses sugar coated corn flakes.  Why?  Well, my Grandchildren in NJ are the NJ State Champions for the Children's Miracle Network this year.  They have already had some wonderful adventures this year, including meeting the President in Washington, DC.  But, I'm sure that story will come up again some time in the future.  For right now, Food Lion (a grocery store here in the south) is selling special boxes of Frosted Flakes that feature four other CMN Champions from around the country.  Food Lion is donating $1.00 for every 4 boxes sold...so of course I had to buy a few boxes.  The promotion runs through the 28th if you'd like to help support Children's Hospitals.  This recipe doesn't specify Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, but why not use the best!

Tiger Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sugar-frosted corn flakes, crushed
• 1 (6 oz) package semisweet chocolate morsels

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, beating well. Stir in vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture, mixing well.  Stir in crushed cereal.

Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water.  Swirl melted chocolate lightly through dough, leaving streaks of chocolate.

Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove to wire racks to cool.  Yields about 5 dozen.

It's just a nickel ~ September 22

     Last night as I left the office I looked down and there was a bright and shiny nickel. The little child in my head said "woohoo...I found 5 cents and it's mine!"  Of course after bending down to pick it up I realized the adult in me wondered if it was really worth the effort.  I'm sure whoever dropped it must have thought the same thing, it's only a nickel, not worth the time to stop and pick it up.  And so, I started to think about it.... When I was a kid there really was such thing as "penny candy" so that nickel would have bought me at least 5 little pieces of joy.  I say at least, because I do recall some candy was 2 for a penny.   Of course I could have spent the whole nickel on one piece of candy, but it was so much more fun to have a few pieces to share...yes, I did share - sometimes.  That feeling of nostalgia comes very close to the Christmas spirit I'm trying to share in this blog.  The memories of childhood, innocence, and simple pleasures always make me smile, and so did that nickel.
     Then I started to think about what that nickel means today...what could I get with that nickel?  Not too much I'm afraid...so, as I do with most questions...off to the internet to see if there was anything I could buy with my nickel.  The thing that came up most was the fact that if I used my own bag at the grocery store I could save 5 cents, so in essence every time I don't do that I'm buying a plastic bag for a nickel.
     All of this is not in vain though.  What that nickel did was get me thinking and gave me some great ideas for future blogs.  So, it was well worth the effort to bend down to pick up 5 cents.  For today I'm just going to share some vintage images I found when I was searching to see if there was still any penny candy around.  I hope they help to bring back some good memories for you, even if you're not old enough to remember these...  (I'm not old enough to remember all of them either, but they're still fun)

September 21, 2010 "oh look...a tie"

     I remember with great fondness all the years of buying my Dad a tie for Christmas. He was always very gracious and acted so excited and grateful for the lovely gift. Little did I know at the time, this was just another one of the hundreds he already had hidden in his closet with the hopes that he never really had to wear any of them. Yes, I did see him wear some of them, he had a job that required a shirt and tie, but most of them were boring to say the least. 
     A tie however is still a great gift idea for the Dad who has to wear one. What is really nice though, is to make sure that the tie suits his taste or expresses his personality. If you're even just a little bit creative you can make Dad a one of a kind tie that he'll surely cherish forever. Zazzle is a website where you can personalize a number of gift type items, ties being one of them. (Yes...I'm plugging another one of my shops here)... Here is a sampling of the ties I have available at my shop on Zazzle, but once you're there, you can start from scratch and design your own tie especially for Dad.

Design a personalized gift at Zazzle.

     While you're there be sure to check out some of the wonderful Christmas ties. However he feels about Christmas...form serious and sentimental to funny and sarcastic...they have 'em all.

September 20 ~ Day one of this new blog

Welcome Welcome everyone!!!

So, the idea that the special feeling you have a Christmas needs to be with you all year has prompted me to start this blog.  I intend to post a little something each day to keep the Christmas spirit alive.  Be it a tip or hint, a recipe, a craft idea, a gift idea, some act of kindness or charity, or just a wish for comfort and joy...hopefully each and every day I can spread just a little bit of the love an joy that is the true meaning of Christmas.

As I sit here in my living room in South Carolina, Christmas seems to be so far away.  There is a football game on TV in the background and I can feel the cool breeze coming from the air conditioner.  Yes, it is supposed to reach near record temperatures here tomorrow with the highs in the upper 90s...not very Christmas-y at all, but then again, I have seen many people doing their Christmas shopping in shorts and flip-flops down here.

For today I would like to share with you some great Christmas cards (yes, you need to start thinking about them now - especially if you want to do something custom) that you can find on Greeting Card Universe.  Whatever you could possibly want to say, whatever your profession, to whom ever you want to send them to, I'm sure you can find it here...  Here are just of few of the thousands of Christmas cards available...

Many of the artists on this site are more than happy to help you by customizing their designs just for you.  So stop by and take a look, I'm sure you'll find something perfect for your needs.