Thinking of Christmas

Seconded. I'm probably going to make my daughters a pile of homemade playdough for Christmas (probably with washable, non-toxic tempera paints for the dye, but maybe food coloring), and I know I'm going to need the jars already.



Cash is a fantastic gift.



TBH, those are my favorite kinds of Christmases, and - thanks to the economy - those are the only kinds of Christmases I've had with my daughters. We make a lot of nice things for our loved ones, mostly consumable, and the focus is on making origami ornaments for our potted tree (which has so far survived since last year!!), we do the carols around the piano at least once, and all that sort of thing. I'm not sure yet if there will be any money for my husband and I to have gifts for each other that are in any way material, but we'll have something. I agree that we have our health and we have each other, and after the long Christmas fast (kind of like Lent in winter and, for me, so much harder), anything special is good enough.

I agree with you 100% that those are the best memories of Christmas!! Making cookies, candy, tea and candy canes as gifts is great fun!! Growing up my family was stable, but had 'enough', just not much extra. I was blessed the past 20 years to be in a career field that has made many things possible.

I am thankful for that and know that we are ok. It's just that I like to be more than ok. Guess it goes back to my childhood and some of the experiences our family had. I have been able to pick up an extra shift here or there, and that has helped!! Thank you for your kind word!!:goodvibes

Best ever homemade playdough:

1 Cup Water
1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Salt
1T Oil
1 Pkg Unsweetened Kool Aid

Bring water to a boil, add flour, salt, oil and kool aid. Stir until thickens. Turn out on floured surface and knead until smooth! Cheap, colorful, non-toxic and smells good too. :yay:

(I taught Kindergarten and have made 100's of batches of this over the years!)

Woo hoo!! Long ago I taught pre school and we used to make this! It's great and easier for small hands to mold than regular play doh!! Thank you! You can also get some awesome colors with koolaid!!

I'm sure it will be a nice Christmas. Now that we dont go overboard dd actually apprciate what she gets. and we try getting her one main item she really wants and several smaller items she wants. When she was lil we would go overboard and she would play with toys once or not at all and she never touched it again.

Have experienced that!! I agree and cutting down will not be all bad!;)

You sound very sweet! Just so you know, Target also has a toy markdown clearance usually in July. I went today to get an idea of what they will have Started marking down and some is decent. I've hit the KMart one, too, but Target usually has different stuff. Also, if your grandkids like Hexbugs, you can buy a $5 gift card at Target right now with one attached--just use the gift card on your own shopping and enjoy a free toy. They do this with Legos closer to Christmas as well.

Our Target never marks things down much. Their clearance consists of 30% off, which is good, but not as good as K Marts 50% off clearance prices. I love the tip about the HEX bugs, as my young grandson LOVES them!! I will check that out tomorrow!! Thank you so much!


I must say that you were all so wonderful to cheer me up!! I have been talking to my daughter and she said, "Mom, you always go way over the top overboard and the kids don't need that. They should only get one nice gift and stocking stuffers.....

Well, I am picking up overtime at work..... and if it continues, instead of large gifts, we may be able to take a budget trip to WDW for Christmas!! The boys have been having a very hard time missing Daddy and every other day or so, my grandson says, "Gramma, when can we go to WDW again?" He then tells me that, "I think it would help me miss my Daddy less."

Is he good at pulling Grandma's heart strings, or what!? So, we may be able to pull it off, but if not, we are scaling Christmas WAY down anyway!! We will look at all the fun ways to celebrate, that don't require money, or at least not much of it!!

Thank you for the wonderful suggestions! I appreciate you all!!:love:
 
I love the tip about the HEX bugs, as my young grandson LOVES them!! I will check that out tomorrow!! Thank you so much!

You may want to call your Target and see if they have one that they can hold for you. Our Target ran out of them pretty quickly. I hope you get one. :) Target has the best gift cards!
 
I love all the holiday but i have started christmas shopping the sales already lol


hobby lobby already has christmas decorations up !!!!!

I saw that and couldn't believe it! Yep, I've started cataloging what I have for Christmas already as I buy ahead when I see good deals. Of course, sometimes that bites me -- DD was into Calico Critters and has dropped it. So much for my calico critters stash!
 
One of the local radio stations is playing Christmas music ALL DAY today! :santa: Certainly has me thinking about Christmas now....:goodvibes


diznee25
 


I went to Walmart with my 8yo today and I was right about his new interest in Legos. He pointed out quite a few that he would like to put on his list to Santa, he said that he doesn't want only Legos though (he knows he only gets 5 gifts) so it's going to be a challenge choosing the one he would like best. He also wants a new basketball which I know would get tons of use so he's going to be pretty easy this year.

My 14yo wants a new ipod, his headphone jack quit working, he's had it for years so it's a reasonable request.

So at least I have a start, it seems like deciding what to buy is half the battle for me.
 
You may want to call your Target and see if they have one that they can hold for you. Our Target ran out of them pretty quickly. I hope you get one. :) Target has the best gift cards!

Darn and double darn! Our local target is out of them, however, we are going to a larger town on Wednesday, so I will check there on the way!! I loved their lego gift cards last year!! Thank you again for the tip OP, and the idea to call to check if they were available. You all rock!!!!:wizard::cool1:
 
Yesterday I figured out what I am getting my Mom, now just got to pick it up. :santa:
 


For me Chirstmas is the worst, and best time of the year. It can be bad if you have to do shopping on the last day, which my husband always seems to want to do. But when you see the look on your kids face's when they open their presents. PRICELESS!

Don't know how you can be thinking about it already though. Its 6 months away
 
For me Chirstmas is the worst, and best time of the year. It can be bad if you have to do shopping on the last day, which my husband always seems to want to do. But when you see the look on your kids face's when they open their presents. PRICELESS!

Don't know how you can be thinking about it already though. Its 6 months away

I was thinking about it because someone was planning a Christmas time trip and I had just "fed" the 2012 Christmas cake with its next dose of rum.

If you live near a town with a main street, doing the Christmas shopping the day before is actually pretty pleasant. Aside from the things we're making, I usually visit the local toy store right before Christmas. It's strangely empty, but decorated, and the people seem less hurried and stressed.
 
Well I'm having a great time.
I am so in the Christmas in June/July spirit.
Yesterday I picked up six beautiful pillowcases which having darling cute little penguins all over them. I am going to make Santa sacks for my crew this year.I got them on sale at Zellers for 2 for $2.97 a bargain as I couldn't buy material for that price and they are already made for me.
here's what a Santa sack looks like.




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I should mention my goal is to cut my Christmas spending by 2/3 this year.
And I'd like to have everything but my grand daughter's presents bought buy the end of July.(she is 7 and changes her mind right up until the day before Christmas).
 
I am going to make Santa sacks for my crew this year.I got them on sale at Zellers for 2 for $2.97 a bargain as I couldn't buy material for that price and they are already made for me.
here's what a Santa sack looks like.

I'm curious, is the Santa sack in lieu of wrapping the gifts? My family never did any sort of sack and I'm wondering if there is a tradition behind this.

I was thinking of doing the bags this year with my daughters because they tend to get into each others gifts if given the chance.
 
May not be for everyone, but I am getting my Mom a walking stick. I know you are prob thinking that's the best I can come up with?! I think she will love it. She enjoys walking in all kinds of weather but her knees are bothering her. Saw an eagle one at Legoland the other day. She loves watching/taking pictures of the ones near her house. The stick is not heavy at all. Or maybe one from Epcot. Then maybe a rain jacket, gloves and a hat. (She lives in Maine) What do you have for ideas to go along with a walking stick?
 
I'm curious, is the Santa sack in lieu of wrapping the gifts? My family never did any sort of sack and I'm wondering if there is a tradition behind this.

I was thinking of doing the bags this year with my daughters because they tend to get into each others gifts if given the chance.


Hi Hon

A friend at my work says that they put the Santa Sack at the end of their kids beds --it's kinda to let Santa know where to put their gifts.
She is from Australia,and has been doing this from the time she was a child and has continued the tradition with her kids.
I usually do stockings but the stocking is never big enough.
This year I am going to do the Santa Sacks in lieu of stockings and also put their gifts in the the sack.
I will still wrap the gifts in the sack as my guys like to open stuff.
Hugs Mel:santa:

P.S. My guys are all in their 20 and still tend to get into each others gifts,
lol
 
I saw this on Pinterest and had to share it. These are candy sleighs....perfect as a stocking stuffer! You take a glue gun and put a dollop of glue on the back side of candy and adhere it to the candy canes. (They did that with the Kit Kat bar.) Stack the rest of the candy, (and/or small gifts) and then tie with ribbon. Too cute!


candysleighs.jpg


ETA: I'm going to do candy and maybe gift cards for the sleigh. I will write the recipient's name on a Christmas tag and slip it over one of the legs of the sleigh.

diznee25
 
I saw this on Pinterest and had to share it. These are candy sleighs....perfect as a stocking stuffer! You take a glue gun and put a dollop of glue on the back side of candy and adhere it to the candy canes. (They did that with the Kit Kat bar.) Stack the rest of the candy, (and/or small gifts) and then tie with ribbon. Too cute!


candysleighs.jpg


ETA: I'm going to do candy and maybe gift cards for the sleigh. I will write the recipient's name on a Christmas tag and slip it over one of the legs of the sleigh.

diznee25

Cute idea!:santa:
 
What do you have for ideas to go along with a walking stick?

Good socks. You can never have enough socks, and with walking/hiking, the quality can make a difference.

Also if she is not already part of it, you could get her some volksmarching stuff (www.ava.org). It's sort of an international walking club thing. They have pre-planned trails all over the world and most of them you can participate for free, or you can get a "stamp" in your book for a couple bucks. They sell "starter kits" of two books (one for events and one for distance) and a few "free walk credit" coupons for $5, but that's only for new folks, if she's already into it, she'd already have the books and not be able to use new ones. But again, most of the walks are totally free, and you can search for them for free on the website, print out the information, etc. The fee is only if you want to stamp your book and get the awards when you complete certain milestones. So you can find a walk in say, Bangor Historic District, follow it all around (the walks usually target historic and cultural highlights on the route, including little blurbs and factoids), and have a great day, for free! Even if you think she won't want to do the for-fee part, you can print out a number of events listings for her, which will include the "start point" information. We see lots of retirees at these, so Mom might meet a whole new crew of friends.

If you have a sibling who wants to "go in" with you, or if Mom has a really good smart phone, you might see if she'd be interested in geocaching, since those usually involve walking (and sometimes HIKING). A lot of volksmarchers will hunt geocaches along the way, since both sports are really about the adventure and the discovery of some place new. Geocaching can be expensive to start because you need a fairly sensitive GPS... my handheld cost $100 a few years ago, but more and more phone apps are becoming available. A car GPS is NOT going to be sensitive enough, but can help you get to the general vicinity.

Just some ideas. :)
 
I put this on the main budget board, too, Rite Aid has their summer toys BOGO free right now. I picked up some yoyos and batons for stocking stuffers.
 
I saw this on Pinterest and had to share it. These are candy sleighs....perfect as a stocking stuffer! You take a glue gun and put a dollop of glue on the back side of candy and adhere it to the candy canes. (They did that with the Kit Kat bar.) Stack the rest of the candy, (and/or small gifts) and then tie with ribbon. Too cute!


candysleighs.jpg


ETA: I'm going to do candy and maybe gift cards for the sleigh. I will write the recipient's name on a Christmas tag and slip it over one of the legs of the sleigh.

diznee25

Used to make those with my momma as a little girl. Haven't seen them in years! Thanks for the reminder, might be good to make again this year
 

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