Season of Exhaustion

Where do you find yourself today, with two weeks to go before Christmas?   I had hoped this would be the year my shopping would all be finished the first week of December... yet I'm still lacking three gifts.  This year we got the Jesse Tree book, made the ornaments.... and have yet to fully assemble and do the nightly readings.   I'm finding myself really drawn to writings on Ignation Spirituality (Jesuits) lately, and keep thinking that Advent is the perfect time of year to deepen my spiritual time.... but the only quiet time I seem to find lately is right before bed, when I'm usually too exhausted to do more than stare at the news before I fall asleep.  I have a million blog posts floating around in my head, but no time/energy to write them.

I have a lot to be thankful for, too-- DD's seizure from a few weeks ago didn't have any lasting effects; DH's health seems to be improving; things at work (part-time) have settled down.  

I'm just.... exhausted.   Exhausted translates to forgetful and highly irritable, which is NOT how I want to spend my Christmas season.   So, today, I vow to get back into the Christmas spirit.  Here I go...

What are your tricks for getting/keeping the Christmas spirit?

$.25 gift wrap

During my grocery shopping trip to Kroger today I noticed that they still had two tables of Christmas stuff, marked 75% off.  I wasn't too excited until I noticed the wrapping paper... they still had three large boxes full of colorful rolls marked at $.25 each! I grabbed about ten rolls.  Even better, some of them are patterns I can use for other occasions: gold stripes, white with blue foil presents (perfect for winter birthdays), and a red/gold flourish pattern.    If, like me, you think you've missed out on clearance wrapping paper for the year- keep your eyes open... you might find a good deal yet! 

I am attempting to post daily in January for NaBloPoMo's theme of "Best".

Frugal Stocking Stuffers

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is fill the family's stockings with small gifts. This could quickly become very expensive if I let it... but I don't. Instead, I pick up little trinkets and free samples throughout the year and put those back for stockings.  My rule of thumb for stockings is that items have to cost less than $1, and they can't be junk that will just wind up in the bottom of the toy box.

Here are some of the frugal stocking fillers I'll be using this year:

• a free GeoTrax DVD for my son 
• two children's books that I received free for review (Ok, technically these may not fit into their stockings, but they were still free!)
• animal shaped measuring tapes for each child-- $.39 on clearance in Target's party aisle over the summer
• Jonas Brothers pencils- $.10 for four from WalMart's clearance aisle after school started
• fun socks for each child to coordinate with the clearance sweaters they will receive
• gum, bought on sale/ with coupon
• a $1 photo album/ brag book for each child, using favorite photos from the year (if I had planned ahead a little more I would have had them printed for FREE when I signed up for SeeHere)

Frugal stocking stuffers work for me-- what inexpensive items will you be putting in your stockings this Christmas?  I'd love to hear more ideas! 

WFMW: Gifts for Nursing Home Residents

After 15 years as Chief Elf at work (AKA: Activity Coordinator in a nursing home), I am frequently asked for ideas on what to give to residents as Christmas gifts. With limited storage space and limited abilities, it can sometimes be hard to come up with ideas for loved ones. Here are a few of the best tried and true ideas that I have seen and given myself over the years:

• magazine subscriptions Nearly every resident enjoys receiving mail. Amazon has some GREAT deals on subscriptions for $5 or less this week!
• favorite bath & body products Many facilities provide soap and shampoo, but it's much like the stuff you get in a hospital. Many residents appreciate having old favorites that they used at home (Ivory? Camay?) just as much as they appreciate the fancy stuff. Shower gels are usually easier to use in the special tubs and they often come in the same brands as favorite bar soaps.
• favorite snacks Think outside of Christmas cookies, and think back to the resident's favorite snack at home. Put it in a resealable container (those disposable containers are perfect) with their name on it. It's a good idea to check with the staff ahead of time if you are uncertain of the resident's current diet order- there's nothing worse than giving a tin full of nuts to someone without teeth!
• a birdfeeder and seed (if they have a good window view) Even better, offer to fill it whenever you visit.
• a small photo album, filled with family photos Write captions about the photos and include names/dates to avoid any awkward moments.
• seasonal decorations for their door Check with the facililty first, but most allow a wreath hanger over the door or a hook with a small wreath or other decoration to be hung. Having a new wreath for each season makes a room feel more like home... assuming that's what they did at home, that is!
• walker/ wheelchair bags These are very handy for toting tissues, phones, etc. any time the resident leaves their room.
• And the #1 requested gift in nursing homes: visitors. Seems simple enough, right? If it's not possible for you to visit in person, a phone call or handwritten letter is always welcome.

Remembering loved ones in nursing facilities always works for me!

Check out more great WFMW tips at We Are THAT Family!


P.S. Something else that works for me is helping a friend win a contest. My friend Sarah is a finalist in a Christmas tree contest. I'd love it if you'd go Vote for "Growing For Christ: decorated by little hands"-- thanks! :)

Sunday Scrappin' 12/28: The Cards!

Ta Da's: The cards. The cards. What can I say, except that right now I think I'll have photo cards printed at the drugstore next year? :) I actually love how these turned out, though, and I've received several nice compliments on them. On some I added glitter on Love, Hope, and Peace and some of the berries... and then later I decided that I liked them just as well without the glitter, so I didn't glitter the second half. (I wish I'd decided that before the first batch, LOL, to save myself some time!) I made about 45 of these. Some had dark red layering, some had dark green, but otherwise they were all pretty much the same.

Stamp set is "Holiday Wishes" (retired) by Stampin' Up.

To-Do's: Make some thank you notes and clean off my craft table. Right now everything you can think of is piled on it and in front of it- Christmas decorations, mail, etc. I am anxious to get it cleaned off today!

This week's question: what crafty gifts did you give, and what craft-related gifts did you receive? I gave this to my mother-in-law, made all of our cards, created a coffee gift basket for my parents (with chocolate peppermint spoons), and one other little thing that I can't talk about here yet. ;) I received a big basket of scrapping goodies from a friend at work, and a Xyron Create-A-Sticker from my mother-in-law. I'm anxious to play with both of those!

If you do any sort of paper crafts,

I hope you'll join us at Sunday Scrappin'!

A quick blanket gift

I whipped this up in about forty-five minutes last weekend for my mother-in-law for Christmas. My local JoAnn's is going out of business, and had the pre-cut fleece kits marked down to $10. I couldn't pass that deal up! I've made the fleece blankets several times before, so it was quick and easy for me to cut the fringe and tie this one off. She loved it! And yes, she's a 2x Breast Cancer survivor, so the design was perfect for her.

Post-Christmas Relaxing

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas- we did! My husband had the entire day and night off for the first time in many years, so that itself was a great gift.

Today I'm feeling both tired and relieved. This year I mostly felt stressed regarding Christmas... I never really hit that joy-filled point that I usually reach. This week we had various family gatherings to attend on five of the seven days (one more tomorrow)- it's fun, but stressful to get all of us, food, and gifts ready for each party. Every year I plan to make things less stressful, and every year it doesn't happen. Maybe I need to start now with planning for next year?

I'm planning to do nothing but relax for the rest of the evening- and I hope you're getting a chance to do the same! :)

It's Saturday night, and all is... well.. chocolate.

Tonight I'm making various kinds of candy (see my dipped oreos on my cooking blog) and working on a gift that I can't talk about here yet... what about you? Are you done with all your Christmas preparations yet?

Christmas cards in progress

I was hoping to get these completely finished in time for Sunday Scrappin' yesterday, but that didn't happen. So... I thought I'd show you that I am, in fact, making progress on my 50+ Christmas cards! :) I did these several nights ago:

All the images (from Stampin' Up's Holiday Wishes set) are stamped and half have been glittered. I'm using Glitter Glue, which is a cheaper version of Stickles. Hopefully tonight I'll get the rest glittered and then start cutting out the matting pieces.

If you do any sort of paper crafts, I hope you'll join my Sunday Scrappin' meme... even if, like me, you sometimes post on Mondays! ;)

Christmas Progress

Today I bought two gifts and I addressed the envelopes for all my Christmas cards. Two days ago I created and printed all the return address labels. I've settled on a layout for the cards- now I just need the time/energy to actually make them! ;)

How are your Christmas plans coming along?

WFMW: recording Christmas ornaments

In my family, it's tradition for each child to pick out a new Christmas ornament each year. My parents started this tradition because when they were newlyweds, they had no ornaments for their first tree, and no money to buy any, so they had to make their own. (Which I think is a neat story anyways, but that's not the point here.) Their thinking was that if the kids collected a new ornament every year, when they were out on their own, they'd have a good start to filling their own trees with ornaments. And as an adult, it's been fun for me to look back over my childhood ornaments- I have everything from a Wonder Woman ornament to a couple of Victorian ones. The phases of my life are represented in ornaments. :)

We've carried on the ornament-a-year tradition with our kids. Last year, I had a dose of inspiration as to how I wanted to record who got what each year. I bought two small Christmas photo albums- the ones that are just the size of 4x6" photos. Each year, I'm taking a picture of my children holding their ornament, and on the back of the photo, I'm jotting notes about why they chose that ornament, where we found it, etc.

Works for me! Check out more WFMW ideas over at Rocks in my Dryer!

P.S. If you've come to this post through a direct link, and you are so inclined, I'd appreciate it if you'd check out the prayer request I just posted. Thanks!

My first altered frap carton

This was the first time I'd tried doing an altered frap carton... and I had very little time, so I didn't embellish it much. (Carolyn has a great tutorial on the bottom of the page HERE... mine pales in comparison to her lovely creations!) I still think it came out pretty cute. I like the combination of this particular paper with the cute gingerbread man & candy images (stamps by Stampin' Up). "Santa" left this hidden under my parents' tree for them to find Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and I'm feeling pretty relaxed today- sitting at home and sipping on my favorite coffee. I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed Christmas!

Christmas in the Barn

This is one of my very favorite Christmas stories. It's set to music and played on a local radio station, and really, hearing that dramatized version is even better... but I can't find it online to share. So, instead, I bring you the words on a lovely Christmas website -- this version of the story is close to the version I've heard set to music: http://www.our.homewithgod.com/mkcathy/MerryChristmas/geese.html

Merry Christmas!

An open letter to those who donate gifts to nursing homes

Dear Anonymous Donors,

We here at the nursing home appreciate the fact that you have thought of our residents and wish to share some holiday spirit with them. It's most kind of you, and we truly appreciate your time and effort.

However, as a quick note of business, I must request that in the future you refrain from bringing a few particular "gifts". The hotel soaps with the dirty wrappers that obviously have been in your cupboards for several years? No, we don't want those, either- go ahead and toss them. And the USED make-up compact that you wrapped up? No, thank you... would you have gifted that to a family member if you had to sign your name on the tag? Nope, I didn't think so!

As for the rest of you... wow, your generosity overwhelms me. The clothing, books, candy, bath products... it's all SO nice. We actually had a couple of residents who got teary-eyed when opening their gifts. And a few of them were just absolutely perfect- one lady opened a beautiful sweater that was exactly her style (delicate pastel flowers)-- it's amazing to me how an anonymous gift sometimes fits someone so perfectly.

It's so much fun for us to play elves and deliver your thoughtful gifts to them! I really wish I had taken a picture of my office yesterday-- that many gifts in one small space would make any Grinch smile. :)

Please know that on behalf of nursing home residents and staff everywhere, I want to say a big thank you to the angels who show up every year at this time. Many of my residents wouldn't have any Christmas gifts without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. For those of you who don't know, I work two days a week as the Activity Director at a nursing home. This was my full-time job before I had kids.

WFMW: Christmas edition

Well, my best tried and true tip for Christmas time is to NOT be finishing your handmade Christmas cards at 1am six days before Christmas. ::ahem::

But, since I assume that most of you are smart enough to know better, I'll share another tip that I swiped from Organized Christmas. Cynthia Townley Ewer suggests preparing a Christmas morning box, containing all the things you'll need when unwrapping gifts. She suggests including trash bags, box cutter, scissors, and a notepad & pen for recording gifts.

My plan is to assemble a basket over the next few days with some of these items that we always need... like wire cutters for the umpteen wires that hold toys captive in their boxes. I think I'll also put the camera and extra batteries there, so there's no last-minute searching when I want to capture the Christmas morning smiles. It will also be nice to just grab the scissors or wire cutters and start freeing up the toys, rather than spending ten minutes saying "hold on, Daddy will get it open soon". :)

Check out more Works For Me Wednesday tips over at Rocks in my Dryer, and have a Merry Christmas!
P.S. If you need a quick icing recipe for decorating your Christmas cookies, I posted my favorite one over at my cooking blog this morning. It dries hard and shiny, which makes for very pretty cookies! That recipe definitely works for me!

My cards are FINALLY done!

It's just after 1am and I FINALLY have my Christmas cards finished! WHOO HOO! :) I feel like a huge weight is off my shoulders now. I don't think I've ever been this late to send out cards before. I did cut down the mailing list a bit, sticking with only close family and friends, and that helped. There are a few more people I'd like to send to, and I might crank out a few more cards tommorow, but all the "have to sends" are signed, sealed, stamped, and ready to go to the post office in the morning.

Now if only this caffeine will wear off so I can get a few hours of sleep...

Speedy Stamping Sunday

OK, I'm officially out of time (my goal, that is) and the Christmas cards still aren't done. So, I'm spending today finishing all the cards-- I'll be back on sometime tonight (hopefully not too late, LOL) to post my Sunday Scrappin' entry and show you my finished cards!

Sunday Scrappin' #5

My Ta-Da's this week: I redid my plan for the front panel of the cards, incorporating a tag shaped vellum piece. I found a great source for free templates and patterns. I spent waaaay too much time looking at other people's cards online and not enough time working on my own... oh, wait.. I guess that doesn't really belong under my accomplishments, does it? LOL!!

My To-Do's this week:

1. Get myself moving! I want to have all the cards DONE by the 12th, which is when we'll pick up our family pictures. If things go according to plan, I will come home, cut the pictures apart, label them, stick them in envelopes, and mail all the cards the next morning. That's the goal, anyway!
2. Take pictures! I thought I was going to post some last week, but it didn't happen. I WILL post some pics of my works in progress over the next few days- promise!
3. Stamp all the images and finish cutting the vellum for the front panels. (Also a goal last week... oops!) I'd also like to have at least half of the cards assembled by next weekend.

This week's bonus question: Where do you do your crafts? Well, anywhere I can! Currently, my kitchen table. Sometimes on the floor in the basement. I actually have a craft table upstairs in the spare bedroom-- it was my craft room back before DS was born. Now it's a storage room, or the "dump anything you don't know what to do with" room. Someday I will reclaim that space as my own!

If you do any stamping/ scrapbooking/ paper crafts, I hope you'll join us over at Sunday Scrappin'! Post your accomplishments and goals for the week, and then visit other Sunday Scrappers to cheer them on and enjoy their projects!

Sunday Scrappin' #4: 11/25/07

I have photos this week- but right now, I have a one year-old climbing in and out of my lap. So, I'll add the photos later on when he's napping and I have two free hands! EDITED TO ADD: Ok, so the photos still haven't made it online- soon, I promise! :)

TA-DA's: In the past week I've addressed all of my cards, stamped and signed the backs ("handstamped by Amy"), and figured out a solution to my vellum problem. I bought the eyelets and brads I'll need to attach the vellum- they were 50% off, so I was pretty happy!

TO-DO's: My goal for today is to get all of the vellum squares for the front panels of the cards cut out and ready to stamp. (Two squares per card, total of 75 cards.) My goal for the week is to get the vellum squares stamped and mounted on the card fronts.

THIS WEEK'S BONUS QUESTION: SHARE A FAVORITE TIP OR TECHNIQUE YOU'VE LEARNED RECENTLY. Hmmm.. that's a hard one. I think the best tip I've learned recently came in the form of online research for my vellum problem- I learned that you can't use any sort of adhesive with vellum. I've worked with vellum before, but it was always layered underneath other papers, so bleed-thru wasn't a problem. If you're going to have vellum as your top layer, you have to figure out how to use it without having yucky glue or adhesive marks showing through. In my case, I'll be attaching the squares with brads and eyelets.

If you do any kind of paper crafts, I hope you'll join us over at Sunday Scrappin'! Post your accomplishments and goals for the week, and then visit other Sunday Scrappers to cheer them on and enjoy their projects!