Next. Make a list. These days, when just about everybody has had a financial re-awakening, to put it as genteelly as possible, giving things people really need and can use is a priority, So, be aware of who needs  what on your list. 

I know one lady who is giving  boxes of potatoes to give as gifts, because, as she says, everybody eats and it so happens in her rural area of the country, potatoes had a very good season and the price is right. A thirty pound box will go a long way, maybe help get  family through the the winter and  is currently going for about ten dollars where she lives. So, be practical and be creative.

Next up are thrift shops and consignment shops. Maybe you feel odd about this, but don’t. Think of all the teens on your list who are into vintage things and odd accessories. Maybe you don’t want to give “USED CLOTHING” as a holiday gift. That’s understandable. Think about the other things you are apt to find in thrift shops. Books, for example, Then again, maybe you know somebody who is about to move into a new living situation and likes shabby Chic. You’ll find dishes , coffee, mugs, glassware, and the list goes on. Take them home, polish them up, box them up pretty, and you have one happy friend on Christmas day. You can find old picture frames here too. Take  a couple home, make a great  photo montage of good times remembered, ,frame then up and give that as a gift. You’ll find fabric, trims, and yarn if you are a crafter or a knitter. 

 Small pieces of furniture can be brought home and painted and baskets can be found to be  filled with items found at other off- price and off price/off season stores. You know my favorites. I don’t need to name them here. Then there that wonderful store that has all the affordable things right there when you first go in, hmmmm, think it has a logo, maybe red and white. … circles? ….check that out and fill a thrift store basket with the goodies you find there.

Of course the other things are the sales that are happening now. Retailers are trying really hard to make a profit, or even stay in business. Try if you can to buy from the local independent retailer. Who knows, he might even give you a deal if you tell him you can get the item someplace else for less but you want to shop locally. Be courageous and dicker. Don’t be afraid d to ask. It’s worked for me and I encourage my friends to shop locally whenever possible. These are our neighbors and we wan them to have a happy holiday too.

Consider bartering also. You have a hobby or a craft. Make earrings maybe? Know somebody who knits? Looks like a win-win to me.

Then there’s the “service gift coupon”. It starts by saying ”This coupon , given in love, entitles the recipient to …. ” Whatever, One oven cleaning? A weeding and planting come next spring? Several wonderfu back rubs? Oh, are you thinking about getting Grannie a Pointsetta at the grocery store? Don’t. It only lasts awhile Instead, get her an Ivy plant or an African Violet. Those will last all year and are easy to care for. She’ think of you all year long,every time she water’s it.

Next up is presentation. Wrap kitchen items in dish clothes. Put a bow around them and forget the wrapping paper or the gift bag. People only throw them out anyway. If you really need to wrap, get a big roll of red or green or brown craft paper at someplace like Micheal’s, AC Moores or Staples and use that to wrap. Chances are you will be able to use it for a lot of other things too . Got kids? Let them stamp the paper with commercially bought stamps or those they can make by carving in soap or potatoes.

Remember, be creative, let your imagination and you rlove be your guide and have fun so you can enjoy the season and the spirit of giving without going broke!!

Because Winter Solstice is an event which marks the ebbing of the sun, it is often associated with the death and rebirth of sun gods. It is also symbolic of cleansing, as in allowing the past year’s problems, events and joys to fade in order to make room for such things in the new year – literally out with the old and in with the new, a mandatory refreshing of the psyche.

As the darkest day of the year, solstice rituals and ceremonies have been thought to be a source of great comfort, particularly among those with depressive tendencies or seasonal affect disorder. In ancient times, these tendencies may actually have been recognized and the need for a celebration punctuated by the natural tendency to feel down when humans receive fewer of the suns rays. This is, however, speculation based on modern interpretation and it is far more likely that the origins of such celebrations are more closely connected to the cycles of the earth, hunting and harvest seasons.

Observances of solstice in the modern day world continue – neopagans honor the Solstice itself, without having to give the astronomical event another name. In the Christian tradition, we have Christmas, but other religions and cultures have their own mid-winter holidays and celebrations as well. December 26th in Celtic tradition is Mummer’s Day, which generally entails parades of dancers and spinners dressed in elaborate tribal animal costumes. In Ancient Greece, the week of December 17th was the Saturnalia, a celebration of the god Kronos during which reversals of hierarchy were instituted; slaves could do as they pleased for that one week and disrespect their masters, gambling was allowed and colorful celebratory clothing was worn, rather than the day to day toga. The Zuni and Hopi Indians of North America celebrated Solstice in order to awaken the sun from its slumber. New Year’s celebrations, although mostly occurring on January 1, have also been linked to winter solstice.

Why not arrange a swap party? Get your friends to bring all their unwanted pressies and swap them for somebody else’s. It could be a good laugh and you could end up with something you actually want.

Use your imagination. Think up new and unusual ways of using those awful gifts. You could donate that terrible jumper to your dog, I’m sure he’d love to curl up on it in front of the fire! Or those strange shaped candle sticks could be converted into a fancy dress costume for one of the children.

 If you’re feeling generous (and who isn’t at this time of year?) give your unwanted gifts to your local charity shop. These shops are crying out for quality items to sell so they can make money for all those wonderful causes that particularly need money in the winter months.

 You could of course be more mercenary and sell you present on eBay. You may be surprised to learn that the first lot sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer and all sorts of useless junk has been sold since then for a small fortune. So that unwanted pressie could make you some extra cash to help you in the New Year.

Image via Wikipedia

Every parent hears the same thing at Christmas and Birthdays..”You can buy them a $200.00 present, and they’ll end up playing with the box instead of the toy!”  Yes, it’s a never ending race every year to buy our child(ren) the latest toy or gadget that they may play with or not.  No big deal- hopefully we can take it back and exchange it.  Well, there is one gift you can give your kids that has been around since I guess the beginning of toys- Blocks!  Blocks are safe, blocks are fun, but you can’t play with only One!  From Lego to Lincoln – foam blocks to velcro blocks- they’re out there, and we’ve had them.  The blocks that have kept my kids and their friends playing over and over again the past 10 years?  The plain old wooden ones!  I can state truly from parent to parent- the Best investment I have ever made in a toy- if you call them a toy- are pieces of wood! 

Don’t get me wrong about the Legos and other kinds of blocks.  No doubtly those are also superb gifts for any child.  I’m simply stating that through the years the plain variety of wooden blocks have prevailed.  Nintendo and Wii hold nothing over the pure creativity and imagination of a child. 

Over time, I have added more and more wooden blocks to the assortment.  The more varieties – the larger and  more elaborate their cities have become over the years.  The kids would pull them out so often to play, that I finally bought a huge basket to dump them in and now keep it under our family room table.  No batteries- No discs- just plug in to a child’s mind, and let those architects Build!

For free vintage Halloween images that you can use in crafts and home decor, visit the Vintage Holidays and Crafts blog for plenty of Halloween fun. While they request that you not bundle and sell the images digitally (and that you give credit to them through a link if you use them online), the selection is full of vintage fun perfect for Halloween decorations and decorating online blogs.

The site Vintage Clip Art offers great Halloween cards for purchase, full of classic vintage images and one-of-a-kind designs from long ago. Greeting cards, advertisements, and old Halloween invitations are available in all different styles and designs on CD-ROM.

For a whole volume of designs, Dover Publications offers bulk copyright-free images on CD-ROM for almost every holiday, including Halloween. Additional paper images for scanning are sometimes included, ranging from Halloween silhouettes and scrapbook designs to original cards recreated. Volumes are available for purchase on Dover Publication’s website and Amazon.

Find the vintage images right for your Halloween designs and enjoy spooky images from the past for your crafts and holiday projects.

Am I the only one who has noticed that August is the red-headed stepchild when it comes to holidays?  I mean every other month of the year has a special day off of one kind or another–some federally mandated so mailmen and bankers can take a Monday off to be with their families.  Lets review:

January has New Year’s Day when we usher in the new year a make a resolution not to usher out the old one with quite so many adult beverages.  In addition, there’s a Monday off to honor Dr. King’s birthday anniversary.

February has us scurrying to by chocolates, flowers and greeting cards for Valentine’s Day and there’s another Monday off for President’s Day.  Lincoln and Washington were both born in February but two federal holidays would have pushed the envelope, I fear.

April gives us Good Friday and Easter (except for those rare years when it comes early).  When that occurs you can always celebrate my birthday but I don’t think you can get the day off with pay.

May provides us with Mother’s Day, Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day, the unofficial beginning of summer.  Memorial Day falls on the 30th but the government makes us celebrate it on a Monday.

June is when we remember dad on Father’s Day.  In some areas it may be Sadie Hawkin’s Day since many weddings take place during the month of June.

July brings out the fireworks on Independence Day for Americans.

September we mark the unofficial end of summer with outdoor barbeques and politicking on Labor Day.

October we take note of the birth of Columbus and dress up to go trick or treating on Hallowe’en.  (Not everyone puts an apostrophe in Hallowe’en.  That’s how I was taught back at Crooked Springs Elementary.)

November we honor our heroes on Veteran’s Day and fill our tummies on Thanksgiving Day before the football games.  On some years, we vote.

December we remember Pearl Harbor, commemorate the birth of Christ and celebrate the end of one year and the start of another.

Poor August.  My Muslim friends get Ramadan starting on the 22nd but I’n not so sure it’s a holiday of celebration.  I’m just beginning to learn their culture but I think that’s a month of fasting.  I never celebrated when I observed Lent and I only gave up things that were out of season anyway.

August was originially the sixth month back in ancient Rome–named Sextilis.  There were no January or February on the old Roman calendar because they had no penchant for really cold weather.  When Augustus took command in 8 BC he added those months and changed the sixth to, now the eighth, to August which had only 29 days.  He, according to lore, took two days from February and gave it to his namesake.  Some historians dispute this.
 
 image via wikipedia

August is the only month that always begins on the same day of the week each year.  (February does on leap years).  It’s official flower is the gladiolus.  August is National Goat Cheese Month but I don’t think it’s widely celebrated.

Since I have the floor I make a motion that some manner of holiday be assigned to the maligned month–something like Dog Days Relief or Hot Flash Cooldown.  Do I hear a second?

A couple should not get so worked up over this holiday.  A couple should not overemphasize this day just because everyone else is.  Each couple should have their own special day or days.  My wife and I have been married over seven years.  We have stopped observing Valentine’s Day since the first year that we dated.  Our first date was on February 4.  We observed that as a special day until we got married three years later.  After we got married, February 4 was no longer a big day and then our wedding anniversary became a big day, of course.  The other two big days are my birthday and my wife’s birthday.  There are no other days, certainly not Valentine’s Day, that rank anywhere close to these days in importance on our calendar. 

I think you should be doting and loving and sweet to your spouse or significant other all year, not just on a specific day in the middle of the winter because everybody else is.  Having such a day as Valentine’s Day may make one not be as doting as one should be toward your loved one the rest of the year.  It also devalues the really important days, birthdays and anniversaries, that are special to you specifically. 

My wife and I actually will not even be together on Valentine’s Day.  I am going to run in another marathon and visit my law school buddies.  My wife will be visiting a friend who is going through a tough time.  I will call my wife that day and I will miss her.  However, I am going to have fun as will she.  Of course, absence makes the heart grow fonder.   I will be looking forward to Monday the 16th when we are both back home. 

If you have a significant other, enjoy Valentine’s Day with your loved one.  But do not feel obligated to go overboard.  Do not be overly judgmental of your loved one if he-she does not go overboard.  Just treat this just as another day. 

Lets face it, no kid is comfortable asking for cash for a gift, it is considered rude and impersonal. Money, however is the easiest gift to give, eliminating the time spent picking out and buying a gift. So in no way is this a rude gift to ask for or to give. It is a bit impersonal, but this problem could be solved by picking out a clever Christmas card to go along with it. It’s the building block of all gifts. It gives the receiver free range to purchase any gift they lay their eyes on, any gift they want, that money can buy. This guarantees that they will buy what they want the most, if not necessarily need the most.

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2: Gift Cards

Kids love to have cards in their wallets or purses, especially gift cards, it makes them feel like they have the power to walk into a store and walk out carrying something they wanted but didn’t have to pay for. Essentially you are paying for a gift they will later choose out themselves. Gift cards are also a great choice if you want to let them pick out their own gift, but would like to direct them into a general category; toy stores, massive stores like Walmart, book stores, etc. Some kids tend to just stash away money when given it, if you would like to make sure that one of these buys themselves a nice gift, a prepaid debit gift card is a great option. These cards are available in many stores, such as CVS, or online. If you would like to give them all the benefits of money, along with the ability to purchase gifts not only from stores but also from the vast collection available on the internet, prepaid debit gift cards are a great choice for a gift, and much more personal and fancy than money.

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3: Electronics

Teenagers especially, along with most other people, love playing with all the new gadgets of the modern age. Getting them a brand new piece of technology as a gift, wether it be a laptop, phone, iPod, game console, or something else, is never a bad idea. You just can’t go wrong. I know a five year old who’s older brother got a shiny new computer for college. Wen she became extremely jealous, her parents simply bought her a little calculator made of pink plastic, and now she proudly displays her brand new “computer” to anyone she happens to meet. These types of gifts are great because they can be opened and played with on Christmas morning.

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4: New Privileges

Younger kids love being allowed to do new things, it makes them feel like they are getting to be more mature and have more freedom. This is why giving them something they have always wanted but never been allowed to have before is a great idea, as long as they, and you, can handle it. These things can range from cellphones and bank accounts, to pets. For boys, anything from BB guns and lasers, to fireworks. For girls anything from simple makeup to body piercing. Maybe even a tattoo in some cases, who knows.

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Author’s Note: Only give these gifts with the permission of the child’s parents and a guarantee of supervision for the dangerous ones.

5: Popular Trends

Keep track of what is popular in the child’s peer groups. For younger kids it could be some type of collectable, maybe some type of trading card or remote controlled car. For teenagers this could be a new game console, sports equipment, or a particular style of clothes, maybe a hoodie or skateboarding shoes of some type. Maybe a skateboard itself. Teenage boys and girls alike like to wear jewelry, chrome chains or hemp bracelets for boys, shiny necklaces, bracelets, and rings for girls. Girls also like to obsess over shoes and clothing, it might be a good idea to take one shopping in a mall as a Christmas gift, and some quality bonding time. Help them start their own trend.

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6: Large Gifts

By large gifts a mean gifts which are a bigger hassle and usually much more expensive. These gifts could be trips to the Caribbean islands, cars, or things such as trampolines or playhouses. Because Christmas is cold, and filled with snow, it might not be possible to deliver this gift on Christmas morning. Because these gifts are either massive, or not material objects, it can also be hard to deliver these wrapped up under the tree. If this is the case, it is a great idea to include an image of the gift together with a description and personal message written by you. These gifts, obviously, may be given from multiple persons together, in order to make purchasing them more of a reality.

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7: Objects of Sentimental Value

Many children and young adults have some type of familiar object in their home, or belonging to a family member, which they have always loved throughout their young lives. Great-grandpa’s watch, or grandma’s old wedding ring. Objects like this are an extremely personal and caring gift that will signify a step along the road to adulthood for children and young adults, perhaps this is a family heirloom, or otherwise soon to become one. Whenever the child in question glances at this object they will remember you, so make sure it is something they will wear often.

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8: Things They’ve Asked For

Finally, you cannot go wrong by buying someone something that they have actually asked you for. However, make sure that they are not simply hesitant to ask for something that they really want because they think it is impolite. Those kids that give a straight answer really simplify the process. Also if they always talk about one thing or are clearly interested in something specific, it can be a good idea to use your instincts.

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Special FX Contact Lenses

Special FX lenses will really help make you and your costume stand out this Halloween. They can really shock your friends and are almost guaranteed to be one of the most memorable parts of your costume. Imagine having pure black eyes, or eyes with a red colour. Or even eyes that glow in the dark!

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There are a few downsides to these. First off, they can be extremely expensive, especially for good quality ones. You should also consult an eyecare specialist before purchasing any, not everyone can wear contacts safely. One final word of warning, if you’re thinking of buying certain “Dead Eye” ones, remember that if your pupil is covered, you won’t be able to see anything out of your eye!

Where to buy:

• 9mm Special Effects
• Vampfangs
• FXEyes

Teeth Caps

I don’t mean those cheap plastic vampire teeth you get at your local store, I mean good quality, custom made-to-fit caps for your teeth. These will set you back a fair amount, but they can be used as often as you want so long as you look after them. You can’t eat wearing these, but they are sure to stand out! They come in hundreds of styles, much more than just regular vampire styled teeth, so take a look and make sure you get just the right pair.

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Where to buy:

• Psykic Fangs
• Vampfangs

Makeup Gel/Latex

Want a convincing scar, or open wound. Want to have a slashed throat or mauled torso? Then this stuff is what you need. With a little work you can create frighteningly realistic wounds or scars. Depending on how much time you want to spend, you can create anything from small facial knife wounds to full on slit throats or skinned limbs.

Where to Buy:

• Vampfangs
• Theatrical Makeup Supplies

Well, that’s it from me. Hope you have a blast at Halloween, and if you use some of these tips, be sure to let me know in the comments!