Monday, December 27, 2010

Time for Shopping for Christmas Items

American Greetings Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Gift Wrapping Paper Three RollsYes Christmas day has come and gone and now it time to go shopping! Why? Because right now you can find left over Christmas stuff cheap. Some stores are offer 90% off left over Christmas items. Buying items now can save you lots of cash next year.

Some things to look for right now is wrapping paper, bows, boxes, and tape. Items to wrap gifts can add up quickly, but buying them right after Christmas and you can find items for fraction of the price. Find that $5.00 roll of Christmas paper at 90% off and pay only $.50!! This is how I try to get those cute more expensive designs wrapping paper. At discount prices after Christmas I can afford to get what designs I really like instead of what I can afford.

Winter gear can also be purchased much cheaper as well. It is getting close to the end of the season so the stores are getting rid of their winter stock. If you have something that is starting to get too small or will need to be replaced by next year, now is the stop to shop if you can. You'll save lots of money in the long run.

Have fun shopping.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas blessing

I found myself very blessed two days before Christmas of 2010. My husband's aunt Sue sent me this video:
I almost cried remembering all the blessing that I have. Christmas is about family, love, joy, peace, and God. I find myself very blessed with all of the above. I wanted to share the above video with all my friends and blog readers so we can all be reminded of our blessing. Christmas is the perfect time to share our blessing with those who are less fortunate.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Great Gift Idea for Tea and French Vanilla Lovers

French Vanilla tea is amazing. With this article you can make that french vanilla tea into a French Vanilla tea dream. Rich creamy flavor of french vanilla will dazzle your taste buds while you sit back and relax with a nice hot cup of tea.
Turn all of this into a great gift. Put these directions to make an amazing cup of French Vanilla tea into a basket or tin along with all the ingredients. Add a little more piazza with flavored stir stick and snack that go great with tea. Place a box on the basket or tin and you have a perfect gift for people who love tea or the flavor of french vanilla. This gift will be sure to warm the hearts of those you love.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Christmas after the Children are grownup

Christmas can still be a fun and joyful time of the year even without children. It all depends on what a person does with the time they have. Forget everything and treat Christmas as just another day and Christmas will fade away. That warm and peaceful feeling of the Christmas spirit will never be felt again. Instead of loosing Christmas here are some ways to keep Christmas alive even after the children are grownup and moved away.

Read more Here

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Children gate around the Christmas tree

I have come across some article I read on Helium about Christmas safety with toddler. Click the widget at the bottom to read them as well for more safety tips. There were many great ideas, but there is one that stood out the most to me was putting up a sturdy child gate around the Christmas tree.

I like this idea of putting a child gate around the Christmas tress. It is a great way to really draw attention to the Christmas tree as well as keeping the Christmas tree, presents, and ornaments safe.

A nice clean sturdy white children gate around the Christmas will look great and it can look even better by decorating the gate as well. Ribbons, bows, lights, and/or garland are perfect for turning the children gate into a wonderful Christmas gate. Then when it is time to open the presets the gate can be open or removed. Simple place the gate back when the gifts are all passed out to keep the Christmas tree safe until it can be safely put away.

Turning a child’s gate into a Christmas gate is a great way to make a Christmas tree the main focal point of the room as well.



HeliumHow to child-proof a Christmas tree

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christmas Stress; Tips to improve the stress on Christmas

Christmas can be very stressful. There is lots of things that need to get done before Christmas day or the Christmas party. The decoration need to be put up, gifts need to be bought,  bought gifts need wrapped, cookies need baked, and much much more. With everything that needs done there is no wonder that people get stressed out. Organization and starting early are two tips for reliving the stress on Christmas but there are many more ways to reduce the stress.


The article of Christmas stress is about tips for reducing stress caused from some of the common problems that arriving getting ready for Christmas day or Christmas party. Find out more Here

Don't be shy. Share some of your tips for Christmas in the comments as well. We'd love to hear them.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Cheap Christmas Gifts: Gingerbread Cookie Recipe in a Jar

200+ GIFTS in a JAR RECIPES eBOOK CookbookA fun gift to give of the gingerbread cookies recipe in a Jar. Not only does the gift of the gingerbread recipe in a jar look beautiful but it is also a great way for sharing about making your own gingerbread Christmas ordainment.

Find out how here

Time to make Christmas Cookies

Betty Crocker's Cooky BookChristmas time is near and many of us are getting our baking done. Baking can be fun and if there are children in the home they will want to help bake as well. Here are some tips for making baking easier with children.

Allow butter to sit out at room temperature to soften. Using the microwave to soften the butter doesn't work out the same, the recipe will be much better with room temperature butter.

Clean as you go. If you use an item that you will need again, rinse it out and keep for any future use. Put in soap water or dishwasher as soon as you are completely done with item.

Allow the kids to do as much as they can. Let them add the ingredients, help stir, and even help put the cookies on the cookie sheet.

Make it clear that when the oven door is open the children stay away. There is a danger with the oven and the children thinking they are helping, but the oven is for adults only because of the possibility of being burned.

Kids want to decorate the cookies, but you're not big on frosting. Instead of using frosting try using colored sugar instead. Put the colored sugar on the cookies while they are still warm or put back in the oven to melt the sugar..be careful not to burn the cookies. Pull the cookies out a few minutes early, put the color sugar on and then finish cooking.

Don't be perfect. If you have a cookie that you want made perfect. Make two batches. One the kids can help with and one that you do by yourself. This allows the kids to have fun and you to get the perfect cookie you wanted. However family members will enjoy seeing the children made cookies as well.

Making cookies should be fun. Relax and take your time. It could also be a great time to set up a camcorder and record the children helping with baking the cookies.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Christmas Feast with Christmas Finger Foods

Festive Finger Foods (Christmas at Home (Barbour))Many people make a large feast for Christmas. A couple of years ago we had a talk with the children. What they loved most about Christmas was playing with us and their new toys. One things they disliked was the time we had to spend in the kitchen and having to help clean up the kitchen. This started our first finger food Christmas.

Instead of making a large meal we made simple foods that we mostly made the day before. Our first finger food Christmas including crackers with meat and cheese, Nachos Chips with a bean dip, cookies, vegetables, and lots of Christmas candy. May have not been the healthiest but for just one day the kids ate nothing but finger foods and loved it.

Now I work to getting a little bit of nutrition into the Christmas finger foods fest, but we still keep it easy things to make and clean up.


Top Five Christmas Foods for Kids is a great list with foods that will fit perfectly into our Christmas finger food feast. Best of all most of them can all be made ahead of time.

One of things I love the most about just having Christmas fingers food is it takes the stress of me, the mom. I get to relax and have fun instead of worry about possibly burning food or something not turning out right. Christmas finger foods is the perfect solution to ease on the stress that can happen on Christmas day. Besides the kids don't really want to eat on Christmas Day; they want to play and eat that new candy Santa gave them.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Winter Garden Wreath

This is a great wreaths made from outdoor items you can find in your own back yard. Save lots of money from those store wreaths. This wreath is even better with those store boughten wreaths. Find out How Here

Stocking Stuffers, Only 18 days till Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 is only 18 days away right now.  The biggest thing on our minds are stocking stuffers.

There are lots of great ideas for stocking stuffers from small toys to candies. The biggest problem is choosing what to get. There are traditional items like M&M's and Hershey Kisses that are a must. Then your choice of other yummy candies. Then what? Here are some idea's for stockings.

Holiday rubber ducky are perfect for little children or any age duck lover. These ducks are fun to play with even inside the bathtub. The average age for these cute little duckies is around five and under. However some of the older children, like my nine year old, are just plan duck lovers. They love these duckies regardless.

 For older duck lovers keep an eye out for the collectible wooden ducks. They will be great with as a stocking stuffer as well.



Card games can still be fun for today's kids. All we have to do is show them how to play. Starts with a little gift of the card game of your choice. There is lots to pick from like phase 10, Uno, or even new ones like Monopoly deal card game.

Then you just have to make a family time to play the game. Perfect thing to do one Christmas afternoon. Once the kids learn to play they love the games. Now you just have to set aside a family night. Making card games a great stocking stuffer that can help pull the whole family together.



Silly bands are a huge new fad with today kids. Both boys and girls. The kids love to wear and trade these silly bands. The glow in the dark ones seem to be the hottest ones. There are non-glow in the dark ones that start as low as $1.00. They are great stocking stuffer ideas for any child.

They have almost any shape of silly bandz. Drangons, tools, monster, and even licensed charters.


Stocking stuffers can be a lot of fun. They can be anything that will fit inside the stocking.

Top Christmas Websites

What are the top five Christmas websites? Here is a top five list from PajamaMommy on great Christmas websites. Check Them out here

Monday, December 6, 2010

Things you never knew about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer..

We have all heard the song about Rudolph and hopefully seen the cartoon of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  Do you know everything about about Rudolph. Here are five things we bet you don't know about Rudolph.

Learn more Here

Adopt an Elf on the Shelf

Elf on the shelf can be a fun family tradition. This elf joins the family and keeps on eye on what is going on for Santa. The children will love seeing the elf every Christmas season as they have to look where the elf has returned from the north pole each morning.

Check out the Top Five Reasons to Adopt an Elf on the Shelf Here

Snack for Santa Besides Cookies

Looking for something different this year? Santa get lots of cookies every year from many of the homes. Is there something else Santa may like? Well here are some top five alternative snacks to leave for Santa.


Find out what they are here

An Easy Gingerbread Man Recipe

Here is an easy recipe to follow to make the gingerbread man ornaments. They make a great ornament and even a great gift to send to people you love.

Not only is this recipe easy to follow but there is a lot you can do with gingerbread as well. There are gingerbread molds that can make anything.

The gingerbread man decorations can start off very simple and over the years you can watch it grow as more people join the tradition and get fancier each year. With this easy gingerbread recipe and a little imagination your gingerbread man designs will be endless.

Find out how here.

The Top Five Reasons You Should Give Your Daughter a Horse for Christmas

A horse is all your daughter has ever wanted for Christmas. She's asked
Santa for one every year, but it's never under the tree. Instead there's
always #2 on the list with an apology that a horse just wouldn't fit in
the sleigh this year. No excuses this year though. It's time to get her
a horse, and here's why.

Top Five Reasons Why

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Making Gingerbread Ornaments

This cute gingerbread ornament is very cute and fun to make. It a tradition that the kids would. The gingerbread ornament can make a great gift as well for those who live far away. Send them your gingerbread man so they can have a little bit of you hanging on their Christmas tree.


Find out how Here.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Why people love shopping for Christmas

I love shopping for Christmas. I love spending time with my husband, hopefully a lunch or dinner too. We love to play with all the new Christmas displays. Taking time to stop together to watch what each new item can do. Listening to the Christmas music that plays on the radio and in the stores seems to make everyone in a happy mood.

Shopping is fun any time of the year. We are those type of people who like to go window shopping, thrift store shopping, and even garage sale shopping. Sometime we buy and sometime we don't, all depends on the deal and the money we have on hand at the time. Christmas shopping is so much better though. It is even fun to buy gifts for everyone. They don't have to be the most expensive or the best gift of their life, there plenty of little things that will make people just as happy.

One year my son got me a neat tool for open cans of soda pop. My rheumatoid arthritis had been bad for the last few months and soda pop was one thing I couldn't open. I would have to wait for someone to help me. He only spent a few dollars (1.99 I think) but it was one of the best gifts I got that year. I was able to open my own soda pop that to that gift. He was very thoughtful and thought about me, not the price tag.

So going shopping for odd old things if fun for us and we think they make great gifts. To find these things we do lots of shopping and search the entire store. Sometimes we run across stores that found items left from many Christmases ago. They will sell the stuff very cheap and often in a large messy pile. We love nothing more then to spend time going through the pile to see what we can find.

We are not the only shoppers who enjoy Christmas shopping. There are many more as well.


HeliumWhy shopping for Christmas presents can be fun

Top Five Casserole No one wants to eat at Christmas Parties

Getting ready to make your dish to take to your Christmas party? Wonder what you should bring or do you think you have something that everyone loves? Well here are some ideas of of dishes people may not love with Top Five Casseroles no one Eats

Remember if you have to take a large portion home, you should try something else.

Teaching Cats to avoid Christmas Decorations

As we pullout our beloved Christmas decorations we are left with a concern about our pet and our Christmas decorations. Not only are we afraid that our beloved decorations may get damage, but we are worried that our pets may be hurt as well. Although we love our pets, the cats need to be trained and taught right from wrong just like children. How you ask? Check out this article.


Train cats to avoid the Christmas decorations.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Top Five Homemade Christmas Decoration

Making homemade Christmas decoration is not only fun but it will make memories that the children will remember when they are adults. Turn making these decoration into a yearly family tradition that will be memorable for years and with this top five Christmas decorations to make you'll be off on a great start.

Find our more here

Nieman Marcus with His and Her Gifts -- Fantasy Gifts

One of a kind his and her gifts for people who have an unlimited budget for Christmas. Although these turn out to be fantasy gifts for the rest of us, it is a very interesting list to read through.

Read More Here

New Years Resolutions

Get Ready through your Christmas shopping for the New Years Resolutions and actually achieving your goal next year. Planning is one key to being successful for New Years Resolutions and although it is Christmas time, it is never too early to start planning.


Find out more Here

American Girl Dolls Gifts Ideas for Girls

Have a child into the American Girl Dolls? Here is a list of ideas for girls who are into the American Girl Dolls.
Find out more here

Top Five gifts for the Golfers

Have a golfer to shop for? This list of the top five gifts for golfers will help you on way and make a smiler on your golfers face. Read the top five gifts for golfers here

Top Five Christmas Gifts for Teachers

Christmas is only 24 days away! Don't forget the teachers. They mean so much to our children. They spend most of the day with our children teaching them what they need to know. Allowing your child to get a gift for his teacher allow the child to show his teacher that he really does appreciate all the hard work that they put in. Need some ideas of what to get? Check out this list of the top five Christmas gifts for Teachers.

Top Five Christmas Carol Movies

The Christmas movie of the Christmas Carol has been made several times by many different people. Have you seen the best one yet? Here is a list of the top five Christmas Carol movies. Check them out and see if you have seen them all or not.

Find out the top Five here

Top Five things for a coffee basket

Got a coffee lover to buy for? Think about making your very own coffee basket for them. You can customize the basket anyway that you would like, adding in some personal tastes to the basket. They will love your personal touches. To get started take a look at this list for the top Five things to put in a coffee basket.

After adding this items with a few personal items like a Christmas picture of your family. The coffee basket will be ready to be wrapped. I'd like a nice fluffy soft blanket in mine please. I just love soft throws.

Find out more Here