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Old-Fashioned Holiday Fun

“Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money.”- Unknown Buy, buy, buy.  Spend, spend, spend.  These days it seems the holidays are more about spending money than bonding with loved ones.  I suppose you could bond over how much you’ve spent on each other, but wouldn’t you rather save your cash and share the richness of laughter and warm embraces? Instead of going into debt trying to prove how much you love your favorite family members and friends, consider spending time with each other having fun with these holiday-themed activities: … Continue reading →

Holiday Time Crunch

Do you wait until January to craft holiday-themed layouts? I used to stock up on festive Christmas-themed embellishments, papers and memorabilia throughout the month of December, and then go into hiding during the first week of January to complete a marathon scrapbooking session.  However, my pages never turned out as well as I would have liked given my time crunch.  I felt pressure to slap together holiday memory albums just so I could cross it off my to-do list.  What’s more, I was extremely bothered by the idea of working on Christmas scrapbooks when Valentine’s Day was just around the … Continue reading →

Holiday Gifts from the Heart

The holiday season is an ideal time to teach kids about the importance of giving.  This year, though, consider doing one better by giving your children the opportunity to take a hands-on approach to gift-giving. There’s no need to break the bank purchasing expensive holiday presents for loved ones when you can use your creativity and other talents to craft a slew of special treats.  Show kids that by putting their heart into making a personal present for a loved one they will be giving a giving a gift you can’t put a price tag on. Some simple ideas include: … Continue reading →

Free Holiday Gifts (and some under $5)

How many people can you knock off of your Christmas giving list without spending any more than $5 a piece? One, two, none? You might be surprised. With a little investment of a few hours, you might be able to get a gift for everyone on your list for free or for less than $5. Here are some ideas. Homemade Knitting Knitting a sweater or a scarf is an age-old way to give someone a nice personal gift, but yarn, especially that made out of wool can get expensive. Instead, buy a nice sweater or sweaters second hand and then … Continue reading →

Save Big on Your Gifts This Year

With even tighter budgets, families may have to make some tough decisions when it comes to gifts for Christmas and the winter holidays. Make it a little easier for you family when you save big dollars on your gift giving. Get Social Skills When you go on Facebook and like your favorite company or store, or follow it on Twitter, you put yourself in a position to get special coupons, secret sale days, advance notices and more. You can also take advantage of other social networking apps, such as Wrapp, that work with Facebook. Basically, you gather your friends and … Continue reading →

Have A Happy Halloween With Your Toddler

Halloween is just around the corner, and for the parents of toddlers it can be both a very fun and a very challenging holiday to navigate. Getting your little guy or girl into a costume is not likely to be much of a battle because most toddlers love to play “dress up”. If you want, you can even get into the act with a compatible costume for yourself. Your toddler is sure to love seeing Mommy, Daddy, or both “playing dress up” too. This year, Dylan has decided that he would like to be a fireman. He already has his … Continue reading →

Gearing Up for the Holiday Season

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas… and a new Cricut Mini, Xyron Magic Sticker Maker, fancy punch kits, and a stencil set. What scrapbooking items are on your holiday gift wish list? While many scrapbook fans drool over the latest and greatest memory book gadgets, there is one piece of equipment essential to the hobby–a camera. With the busy holiday season right around the corner, now is the time to upgrade your camera if need be. After all, you can’t create stunning layouts with photos that look better in the trash than on your scrapbook page. Fortunately, decent quality digital … Continue reading →

Sharing Your Tools

Reason #87 for hosting a scrapbooking party: Sharing your fancy tools with those less fortunate. I don’t own a Cricut machine. In fact, if it were not for the generosity of my neighbor, I probably wouldn’t even know what the machine did besides chirp. Okay, it doesn’t really chirp, but with a name like Cricut (pronounced “cricket”) and the amount of money you have to shell out to own one, you’d think it would chirp, dance and piece together layouts while you sipped a tropical libation on the couch. I cannot afford a Cricut machine. Rather, I just lust after … Continue reading →

Last-Minute Holiday Money Savers

This is it. With just a few hours left until Christmas morning, there is not much time left to procrastinate. If you’ve been holding out on shopping for gifts because you planned to take advantage of last-minute doorbusters, you may be in for a big surprise. Money experts warn that while some stores claim their last-minute deals are major money savers, in most cases they aren’t. In fact, financial wizards are quick to point out that retailers prey on procrastinators and the amazing deals you think you are scoring are in fact not much bigger than those advertised at any … Continue reading →

What to Do With Your Leftover Turkey

Yesterday morning I had to clean out my refrigerator. I needed to make room not only for the turkey and other items I bought, but for the food that family will bring on Thanksgiving. I also went grocery shopping for all of the things that I need (at least I hope I remembered everything). But when I shopped, I also picked up some extra ingredients for the day after Thanksgiving. What to do with those turkey leftovers? Turkey sandwiches are always yummy. But I have a favorite recipe that is perfect for the colder weather. It is Turkey Rice Soup. … Continue reading →