Do you have “small treasures” made by children and grandchildren that you’ve saved over the years?  Do these take on special significance for you?
 I’ve saved a number of these and find the memories joyful.  ONe is a pincushion my daughter made by herself and gave me as a surprise Christmas gift when she was about eight years old. Even though she’s grown with a daughter in college, I still use this and treasure it.
My daughter has Christmas ornaments her son and daughter made in art class in elementary school.  Each year she puts them out for display.
There are other items …read more

Making Christmas gifts with your children can be a fun family project and one that creates happy memories, too.
It’s not too early to start these projects so you’ll have plenty of time and won’t be rushed in December.
When my daughter was small, we were involved in many types of crafts and often made gifts for our holiday giving.  (Grandparents, especially, express appreciation for these items…whether they’re really useful or not!)
What types of items can you and your youngsters create? This all depends on the age of the children.

Woven and patchwork potholders
Collages with family events throughout the year
Shadowboxes containing momentos from trips
Placemats …read more

I got a chance to make a photo book for the price of shipping through Walgreens.com the other day for friending Walgreens on Facebook. (Is it just me or is it weird that all these companies suddenly want to be my friend? I think this is my 10th friend that is an entity instead of a person. I guess it is a cheap way to reach targeted customers.) Anyway, it ended up costing me $2 for a very nice little 20 page book. I am not saving it until Christmas, because I can’t stand to wait that long to give …read more

Alright my lovely crafty computer friends, I’ve got a question for you.
How does your crafting change through the year?  Or does it?  Are you a hard-core Christmas freak in November and December or do you work on holiday projects through the year?  Does your color palette change with the weather?

I’ve noticed that once the leaves start to turn, I definitely get thinking about making more gifts.  During the summer I tend to work outside and do more large-scale painting and dyeing projects.
When the weather starts to cool off, I like to bring things inside (the downside of living in a …read more

You would not believe the stuff I’ve picked up over the last few weeks at garage sales and thrift stores. Whenever I browse now I repeat this prayer, Thank You God for the Joneses. If other people weren’t so concerned with keeping up with the Joneses, I wouldn’t be living so well off our single-income.

Dell laptop, 7 years old, great condition, loaded with software – $66
100% Wool J. Crew Men’s overcoat, new – $1 (retail $365)
Liz Claiborne Women’s Gorgeous black suede knee-high boots- $6
22″ color television – $25
Banjo – $110 (who knew a banjo retails for $500?)
Barbie Acoustic Guitar, …read more

Now is the time to start discussions about Christmas boundaries. No one cares about Christmas in July. If I remember this factoid correctly, most Americans just finished paying for last Christmas around March. That was only a few months ago.
Time for the family vacation. Then school clothes. Then, Holy Crap, Christmas! In fact, I’ve recently had two conversation with people who are already dreading the mass extended family gifting.
We use no credit cards. Period. Since our income doesn’t increase around Christmas we must be strategic about our giving.
I’m not taking a second job to pay for Christmas and though …read more

If you’re sane you’re in a near-panic over the flipping Christmas ornaments dotting the shelves of your local haunts.
Halloween has a few more days to arrive, but the Christmas push to buy more stuff is already making the national blood pressure rise.
Maybe my Boycott Christmas in June idea didn’t seem reasonable. But, now that it’s November, I’m thinking you might be considering a part-time job or scratching some extended relatives off the list.
Might I recommend a budgeting technique that will make sure you don’t end up doing the big recover from Christmas through March?
Write down the income you expect to get through January …read more

I was speaking with someone recently who, after telling me how hard he’s been pushing his department to complete a certain project, I commented that he should get them all a small gift for the holidays.
His reply was startling…”it’s their job…a gift is not required…” Hmmm.
Well. I agree that much of what he was asking them to do is part of their job, but my feeling is that HE created this unusually difficult push to get this work done.
I don’t see the harm in giving a small token to show your appreciation. I’m not talking about giving a Chanel …read more

The 2006 Christmas season is upon us ALREADY! The pace will be frantic — between, shopping, cooking, planning decorating and traveling…it’s no wonder the Christmas stocking stuffer is often the last and least imaginative holiday detail. (Unless you’re Martha Stewart.).
Socks? Underwear? Drugstore perfume? BATTERIES? What’s that all about?
You’ve given those items and worse (admit it!) you’ve even “re-given” those items. Ever wonder what message that sends to the recipient?
I am giving the oft-forgotten Christmas stocking stuffer an elegant make-over.
Here are 10 ideas that will say, “Happy Holidays and I really Mean That”: