DIY Felt Town Car Play Set

I’m back for a special pre-Christmas post! Last year I wanted to make something special for a little guy in my life. This guy was 3 years old and loved to play with his cars more than anything. I decided to look online to see what I could find in the way of roll-up felt play sets for cars. I found several cute ideas, but this little guy is super creative and imaginative, so I knew I wanted something that would help him expand his creativity.

For this mat, I simply got a large piece of green felt and edged it with some binding (is that what it’s called? I don’t know).

Incidentally, I do not sew. I did make a little bit of an exception for this project, however, just because I wanted it to have a more polished, finished look.

Anyway, I did my mat and then I started having some fun with my scissors and began cutting out all the pieces to go with it.

I did not attach any of these to the mat, and I left the roofs and signs separate from the buildings (except for one). That way the little guy could mix and match and make his town however he wanted it to be. These are the pieces I made:

- 7 buildings- just used felt, black Sharpie, and fabric paint for these

- 7 roofs- detailed with black Sharpie

- 10 signs- black Sharpie on white felt

- several road pieces, including some intersections, long straight pieces, short straight pieces, curved pieces, 3 parking lots, and a bridge- the lines were all created using white puff fabric paint (and a ruler).

- several bushes & trees

- a garden- made from brown felt with green “veggies” sewn on with a simple ‘x’ in the center of each.

- a pond and some river pieces made from blue felt

Then I made a little carrying sleeve for all the parts, including a “parking garage” for the little guy’s cars. The top folds down over the openings so nothing falls out.

I made the set so that it was its own carrying case- you just lay the “accessories sleeve” across the open mat...

...fold the mat into thirds over top of it...

....fold each end into the center so they meet...

...then fold it in half again (so the crease is on the place where the two ends meet in the middle...

...and fasten with the attached tab (also handle) and wooden button. Now it’s its own little case that’s about the size of a laptop computer. 

When I was setting this up to take the photos I had so much fun building my little town. I decided that the library should be a tall, happy-looking building, the hospital a nice gray two-story, the museum was a tiny brown building with a red door...I put the garden behind the barn and the lake behind that, with a little stone cottage by the creek. The felt makes it so everything sticks and the cars can drive smoothly on the roads. Honestly, I probably had more fun than I should have. 

Ahem.

Anyway, this is a project that certainly takes some time and effort, but it is fun to make and even more fun to play with! You can also include some extra felt scraps in with your gift to allow the recipient to create his own unique touches for his town.

Things are busy around here with 4 kiddos, but I’ll try to get back and post every now and then! Have a beautiful and thrifty Christmas, friends!

Click here for more great DIY Christmas gift ideas!

Get outta town! Look what I made!!!

You know that feeling you get when you see an idea for something you can make and it just looks so simple and doable that your heart starts racing and you run to find your supplies and get started??

Oh, well maybe it's just me.

Anyway, that's what happened when I saw this tutorial for making Christmas bows! And since I've been all Twilight-y this week, I decided to use book pages from Twilight!!

Is it not just so adorable?

And in case you were wondering what I meant by Twilight-y, here are the newest additions to my etsy shop, just in time for the release of Breaking Dawn and the upcoming Christmas season!

I'll admit it, I am a Twilight fan. Not the screaming and crying and woooo-hoooing at the movie theater kind, just the kind who loved the books and is really enjoying the movies. I thought I'd combine my Twilight love with my crafting and make some pretty things that other fans would also enjoy!

Stay tuned to see what else I can do with a $0.25 paperback copy of Twilight... ;-)

Linking up to:

Good Clean Fun

I was inspired by yet another fabulous idea from Martha Stewart when I saw her make these Fruit & Herb Soaps. She has a fabulous video tutorial on her blog (and step-by-step instructions) so I won't go into a ton of detail here, but I'll give you a basic idea of how it's done! I thought these would be a perfect gift for Mothers Day for my many moms (3!) and alllll of my many sisters-in-law (10!).

I started out with a giganto tub of glycerine soap, which I purchased at Michael's using one of my 40% off coupons. So it was only $24 instead of $40. I popped the whole block out of the tub and started chopping it up. I found that the easiest way to do this was to use a loooong knife and hold the handle in one hand, and then cover the end of the blade with a pot holder, so as not to stab myself, and then just gently rock the blade back and forth until it made it all the way through. I then cut it into cubes for easy melting.

As per Martha's instructions, I used a heat-resistant glass measuring cup to melt my glycerine in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between.

Meanwhile, I gathered my fruits and herbs:

Some fresh lavender from my very own garden (feeling very Martha Stewart-y about that).

An orange and a lemon and my Ultimate Chopper. It is SO ULTIMATE! And it needs to be cleaned on the outside. Yick.

I peeled the orange and lemon and tossed the peels into the chopper, pulverizing them into teeny little bits. Then I added them to my melted glycerine.

I stirred it around for a little while, letting it cool some before pouring it into the greased molds so that the citrus bits would be evenly distributed.

I used applesauce cups as my soap molds.

Then I did the same thing with my lavender, only I had to add water to get the leaves to chop up correctly. Then I just placed a paper towel over a cup and poured the lavender-water out onto it, using the paper towel as a filter. I carefully removed the paper towel, squeezed out the excess water, and left it out to dry some so that the lavender wouldn't stick to it too much. I was then able to sprinkle it into the glycerine. Here I'm using yogurt cups as molds. I also decided to do some strawberry soaps at the last minute.

I let the soap sit in the molds for about 20 minutes before sending them to the freezer (freezing helps release them from the molds).

After 2 hours in the freezer I popped them out and they looked great! One warning though- allow the soap to sit out at room temperature before you try packaging it. Because they've been frozen, they'll develop a layer of condensation. The moisture along with the thin layer of oil (I used olive oil to grease my containers) gives the soaps a slippery coating. Once they were at room temperature (and all done sweating) I just wiped them off with a paper towel and they were fine.

I thought the soaps were so pretty, I didn't really want to hide them with wrapping paper so I wrapped them in cellophane instead. I took a jar that was about the same size around as my soaps and wrapped the cellophane around it, taping it at the seams, then slid the jar out so that I was left with a bag that was just the right size for my soaps. I added the soap and tied it up with a ribbon and tag, and I think they turned out nicely! I love how colorful they are without any food coloring or dyes.

Happy Mothers Day, ladies!!

This week I am linking up to...

Elegant (and easy!) Chocolate Truffles

I discovered this recipe in a magazine a few years ago, and it is so easy and so elegant and so SO delicious that these truffles have become a Christmas tradition for me. In years past we have made them for friends and family (in lieu of cookies or fudge) and this year I made them for all of the Primary teachers at church as a gift from the Primary Presidency of which I am a member.

Here is the recipe:

- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

- 3 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar

- 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar until blended. Mix in melted chocolate and vanilla until mixture is uniform in color. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Form into 1" balls, then roll balls in coatings to cover. Coatings can include colored sprinkles (red and green sugar sprinkles are really pretty), powdered sugar (that's my favorite!), nuts, crushed peppermint (I crushed up some candy canes using a rolling pin), or another layer of chocolate (allow to cool until hardened). Makes about 60 truffles.

Pictured below is the packaging I made for my truffles: each roll contains 4 different truffles wrapped in wax paper and wrapping paper with a note on the outside; then I tied the ends with ribbon.

As you can see from the platter pictured at the top of this post, these can also make a very festive treat for any holiday gathering. I have also tried variations in white chocolate, which were delicious as well.

For more homemade Christmas gift ideas, click here.

To see what others are talking about this Tuesday, check out the Lazy Organizer's Talk About Tuesday blog carnival!

Have a beautiful thrifty day! (And a very Merry Christmas!)

Spiritual Sundays: Inviting Him Back In

Notice, there is no handle on the outside of the door...

Over the last few weeks I have written about how we seem to have lost Christ in our Christmas celebrations, and about how He has given us the greatest gift of all. Today I wanted to address a few ideas for how we can bring Christ back to Christmas, and celebrate Him especially during the Christmas season- but not only during the Christmas season. Here are a few of our Christmas traditions, as well as some traditions I have heard about from other families, and things I hope to incorporate into my family as well.

- A new kind of advent calendar- I love the idea of a Jesse Tree, and recently I found a different version of this in the December issue of the Friend Magazine. With this sort of advent calendar, each day leading up to Christmas you look up a different scripture having to do with Jesus Christ. This is something that I have done a little bit of (though not consistently) with my kids this month for our morning devotionals. They get excited to get further along, and it's a great way to tie in the excitement with Jesus.

- Make your own decorations- Last year for a Family Home Evening activity, I printed up some scenes from the nativity story for our family to color- angels, shepherds, baby Jesus, etc. I took the pictures and hung them up as part of our Christmas decorations. I think it would be neat to do this every year and save the pictures so you can see how your family has grown as the children's coloring skills improve.

- Give a gift to Christ- As a family, have each person think of something they would like to work on during the coming year and write it down as their gift to Jesus. Ideas could include being nicer to siblings, reading scriptures, saying daily prayers, giving more service to others, etc. Place each note in a box and wrap it. The following year, open the gifts and see how you've done, then write new notes for the next year.

- Have a candlelight walk- On Christmas Eve, we like to turn out all the lights in the house except for one down by the nativity scene. After the kids have their pajamas on, we start in their rooms and light candles, then walk quietly downstairs to visit the Christ child in the manger. There we read the nativity story from the Book of Luke, and we sing Silent Night. It's a great way to peacefully bring the focus back to our Savior.

- Limit the gifts- I read about one family who decided that if Jesus received 3 gifts at His birth, then that was enough for their children on Christmas as well. They limited each child to 3 thoughtfully chosen gifts, reminding them that the Savior is first above all.

- Give gifts of the heart- Celebrate the love you have for family and friends by writing heartfelt notes to them. Rather than spending time and money on finding the perfect gift, instead spend the time to write them a letter about how much they mean to you. Notes and letters with genuine words can mean so much more than an expensive gift and a quickly scribbled card. These also make great stocking stuffers.

- Give gifts of time- This time of year can get pretty crazy, so set aside some time each week for a family activity. Have each family member write down something that they would like to do together as a family, whether it's watching a movie and having popcorn or driving around to look at the festive lights, then each week choose something to do. There's no better way to celebrate the Christmas season than spending quality time with your family.

- (And the Grand Finale) A different sort of gift exchange- I have a growing extended family, and buying gifts for everyone is getting increasingly overwhelming, both timewise and moneywise. This year we put a budget limit on gifts, but it still seems sort of crazy to me, especially when we all already seem to be so blessed- we all have roofs over our heads, food to eat, clothes to wear, jobs, and transportation. So my suggestion for my family for next year was this: let's take all the money we would have spent on Christmas gifts for each other and use it to help others who are less fortunate throughout the year. We will keep our good deeds a secret until Christmas, and at our annual get-together, rather than exchange gifts we will share our experiences helping others. We can even focus our efforts on a particular family member; for example, my mother absolutely loves horses (hers and everyone else's!) so I could donate bags of feed and maybe a few hours of my time to an equestrian rescue facility in her honor. My sister-in-law is very eco-friendly, so I could maybe plant some trees in her name. It would be like doing a family "Big Give" (like Oprah's Big Give), and it would be fun to see how creative we could be, and how far we could make our money go, not to mention the joy we would get from serving others. I am very excited about this idea, and I can't wait to see how it progresses over the years.

My favorite thing about this last idea is that it celebrates the true reason we exchange gifts- if Christ was on the earth, we would give Him gifts for Christmas. But He is not, yet He has said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." We give to others because by bringing joy to our brothers and sisters, we bring joy to our Savior. What better way to celebrate His birth in a meaningful way than by giving to those who need it the most?

Dear Friends, I sincerely hope and pray that this Christmas you resolve to invite Christ back in. How sad it would be to have a celebration of His birth where He was not invited as the honored guest! These are just a few suggestions that can get us started on the right path, that He may know how much we treasure Him and the ultimate gift He has given us through the example of His life and His death. 

Does your family have any special Christmas traditions that are focused on Christ? Please leave a comment and share!

Need a Last-Minute Gift?

80% off Savings on Dinner of the Month Club Purchase. Code SANTA. 12/16/08 thru 12/21/08.

If you've never purchased a gift certificate from restaurant.com, now is the time to do it! $25 restaurant gift certificates are on sale for $2. To read about the $15 date my husband and I had using our restaurant.com gift certificate, click here. 

Because these gift certificates are more like coupons (you usually have to spend at least $35 to use a $25- but that still means that a really nice dinner will only cost you $10!), I think they're great for hostess gifts, holiday tips for babysitters, hairdressers, or anyone else you'd like to show your appreciation for without purchasing a big-ticket item. 

Just click below- only $2!!!

80% off Savings on Dinner of the Month Club Purchase. Code SANTA. 12/16/08 thru 12/21/08.

 Happy Holidays, everyone...

Makeover Monday (A Day Late): Wrap it Up!

I apologize that this Makeover Monday turned into a "Makeover Tuesday", but my sweet husband needed the camera yesterday so I was unable to snap these beautiful photos. :-) And since it's Tuesday, I thought I'd add this to the Talk About Tuesday blog carnival from the Lazy Organizer. Welcome!

I am pleased to say that all of my Christmas shopping is done, with the exception of a few stocking stuffers. Thanks to amazon.com, all of the gifts I have purchased have been arriving with regularity in boxes on my doorstep, and I have not had to set one foot inside a mall or crazy department store. (By the way, you can still get Free Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25 at amazon.com, and if you order by tomorrow you can still get your items in time for Christmas!)

So now I am facing quite a few gifts in need of wrapping- luckily, not as many as last year since I did such a good job sticking to my Declaration of Independence and carefully selecting only a few quality gifts for each of my children. :-) However, the presents do add up, and they must be wrapped. Upon assembling all of my various wrapping supplies, minus ribbons and bows, this is what I had to face:

Well, rather than going out and spending $10 or more on a fancy wrapping organizer, I decided that a garment bag would do the trick:

It holds all the rolls of wrapping and some folded-up gift boxes, and with a hanger in the top it hangs neatly in the closet. Just add on a plastic shopping bag with all of the tools and accssories- scissors, tape, tissue paper, tags, etc.- and I have a portable wrapping center that cost about $1.50. :-)

Here is the bag hanging up:

No more running around searching for tape and scissors; no more wondering where that one roll of Santa paper went- it's all nice and neat and can be hung up and tucked away in a closet until I need it. 

Okay, I gotta go now. I have gifts to wrap, people!

Check back later this week for some nifty gift wrapping ideas...

Spiritual Sundays: The Ultimate Christmas Gift

Photo from Reflections of Christ by Mark Mabry

Over two thousand years ago, a child was born in a humble stable in Bethlehem, born to live a perfect life and to die a perfect death out of love for all mankind. Today I would like to consider the perfect gift that He has given to each of us through His Atonement.

The Atonement had always been something of a mystery to me. Growing up, in church I would hear all about how Jesus saved us from our sins, and that because He died for us, we can all return to live with our Father in Heaven again. But I never understood how. I couldn't make the connection between His suffering and death giving us eternal life. Fortunately, earlier this year I read a book called, "The Peacegiver" by James Ferrell. 

In this book, the author uses a story from the Bible to metaphorically illustrate the Atonement. One day as I was reading it while eating my lunch, I paused for a moment to go get something from the pantry and I remember stopping dead in my tracks, as the words I had been reading seemed to suddenly fall into perfect order, like pieces of a puzzle, and I could finally see the whole picture. I was so stunned, I immediately called my mother to share my insight with her.

What I learned that day in the kitchen is that as spiritual beings we live within a spectrum. On one end of the spectrum is total sin, or spiritual death, where Satan resides. On the other end is perfection and exaltation where Heavenly Father resides. The area in between these two extremes is like an obstacle course, with various temptations designed to test our spiritual strength, causing us to either fall back toward spiritual death or overcome and move closer to perfection. When Christ suffered for all mankind, He took a journey from the presence of the Father all the way through every obstacle (temptation) to the very edge of spiritual death and then turned around and passed back through every obstacle to return to exaltation. And throughout it all, He remained spotless and perfect. He never faltered on any temptation; He passed through each test with flying colors.

We are not perfect. We approach these temptations, these obstables, and we struggle. We falter and we fall, as we often try to manage them on our own. But because Christ has been through every possible obstacle we may face on our journey, He is a perfect Guide. He is standing right with us, and His hand is extended. He knows the best way to ford the river, to climb the walls, and to pick through the minefields of sin and temptation, yet we think we can do it on our own. What we don't understand is that we can't possibly climb that wall or ford that river on our own- these obstacles are designed to require two people to overcome them. We were never meant to take the journey alone, and we can only reach our Father in Heaven by taking Christ's hand that He offers us through His loving Atonement and letting Him pull us up and carry us over.

A few weeks ago I was asked to give a talk in church about Salvation and Exaltation, and as I was writing the talk, I was blessed with another deeper understanding of the love Jesus has for each of us. We often hear of Christ "suffering for our sins", and I think that many of us view His suffering much like suffering that we endure. But I realized, His suffering had nothing to do with the pain our sins caused Him- His pain was purely out of His sorrow for the pains our sins would cause us. It's like a mother whose child is about to fall from a great height. She reaches out her hand to catch him, and in doing so she cuts a deep gash in her arm. At that moment, she could care less about the pain in her arm- she cares only for the danger her child was in, and for the fear he was feeling. Her pain is not her own, much like the Savior's pain was not His own. 

The most beautiful part of this gift our Savior has given us is that He doesn't care how weak we are. He doesn't care if spiritually, we can barely put one foot in front of the other. He loves us so much that all we have to do is ask and He will gladly carry us over every obstacle. To Him we are precious and amazing and beautiful, and He wants desperately to help us, to take us in His arms and bring us safely home, yet so many of us push Him away. But no matter how many times He is pushed away, He loves us still, with a fierce and unwavering love that is without end. We may pridefully go our own way, but the second we humble ourselves and ask for Him, He will be by our side in a heartbeat, with nothing but love and guidance. What an incredible blessing and gift that is.

So this Christmas, I would like to celebrate this gift- the Ultimate Gift- that Christ has given us. It is His love, His love that has made it possible to return to our Father in Heaven despite all of our shortcomings and weaknesses. His love that reminds us that there is nothing in this life that we cannot overcome with Him by our side, if only we invite Him in. His love that sacrificed all that He had and ached for all we would have to suffer if not for Him. 

There is no way that I can ever give enough to Him to repay His gift to me, and so all I can offer is my heart, and my outstretched hand to accept His eternal gift of love. I will vow to forgive others, for I know that His gift was for them as well. And no matter how many times I may feel that I have been offended by another, my anger and hurt are unfounded because I know that whatever anyone else may take away from me, my Savior is there to give it back, for He has paid for the offender's sins as well. I will strive to share His love with those around me, that they too might be willing and able to accept His gift. I will try to live as He would have me live, that His gift to me might not be in vain.

May we all remember the Ultimate Christmas Gift, and celebrate this Christmas with an attitude of deep gratitude for all that He has given us.

To learn more about my beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please visit www.mormon.org.

Easy Deals of the Week: Stocking Stuffers!

Be prepared for a potential wrapping-papercut on Christmas morning...

Welcome to another edition of Easy Deals of the Week, where I help you snag some great deals using only coupons from last Sunday's paper or coupons you can print from your computer! As always, thanks to Money Saving Mom for help with these deals.

The deals are somewhat sparse this week, but there are a few items that might make for some great stocking stuffers!

Walgreens:

Excedrin Express Gels- on sale $5, Buy 3 and get $8 in Register Rewards (use like cash on your next Walgreens purchase)

Use 3 $2 off 1 printable coupons

$0.99 for 3 after coupons and Register Rewards!

Wal-Mart:

Johnsons Mini First Aid kits- $0.99 each

Use $3 off 2 printable coupon

FREE plus overage ($1.02 will go toward any other items you may be purchasing!)

K-Mart:

Gillette Men's Body Wash- on sale $3.99

Use $2 off 1 coupon from last Sunday's paper which will be doubled to $4 with K-Mart's Super Double Coupons promotion this week

FREE after coupon!

Have you snagged some good deals this week? I have- and I'll post about them tomorrow...

Two Tools to Save You $$ This Christmas: Inbox Dollars and Entertainment Book

Black Friday is over and done with, but that doesn't mean there aren't still ways to save a bundle this holiday season! I thought I'd share two of my favorite money saving/money making tools with you. I would like to add that I never endorse anything on this blog that I have not tried or would not be willing to try, and if I say I've tried it- I'm telling the truth! And if I'm endorsing it, I really believe in it and I enthusiastically recommend it to my friends (like you!) whether you sign up for/buy it through my blog or not (though it's awfully nice when you do sign up through my blog ;-)).

The first thing I want to recommend is Inbox Dollars:

 This is a company that I really like because there are so many ways to both earn money and save money. I signed up for Inbox Dollars earlier this year, and I have gotten one check from them. Basically, the way it works is that once you sign up, they start sending you e-mails with advertising in them. All you have to do is to click the link in the e-mail that says, "Click here to confirm reading this paid e-mail", and you receive a few cents for each e-mail you read. I'm always checking my e-mail throughout the day anyway, and it only takes a few seconds for each one, so I don't mind doing it and getting paid.

Every now and then you'll get an e-mail that will contain a special offer by a company, and if you take advantage of the offer and sign up with the company or purchase the product, Inbox Dollars will reward you with more cash. For example, I purchased some business cards through one of the e-mails I got, and only paid a few dollars for a few hundred business cards and got $4 through Inbox Dollars for doing it. So really, with the promotion, the cards cost me very little (I wish I could remember the exact numbers, but I can't). Right now there is a deal for Snapfish that is a good example of the type of thing I'm talking about- sign up and get $4 from Inbox Dollars plus 50 free prints. Not bad!

Another cool thing about Inbox Dollars is that if you do your online shopping through their site you can earn a percentage back on everything you spend. You can shop at all your usual spots- for me it's eBay, Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart- but you get back anywhere from 1% to 15%, depending on the store. 

The other two ways to save with Inbox Dollars are cash surveys ($0.50-$1 apiece) and cash games (I have never done those). I like the surveys because sometimes I have a few minutes to kill (on hold, watching tv, etc.) and you might as well make a little money while you're not otherwise occupied. 

Like I said, I signed up earlier this year, and I reached the point where I could request a check- I think it was $30- and I had to pay a "processing fee" of $5, which wasn't a big deal because I was still getting $25. But it's just a nice way to "unconsciously" make a few extra bucks without a lot of work and hassle. And, as with most of these kinds of companies, you can increase your earnings by getting your friends to sign up.

If it sounds like something you'd be interested in, you can sign up here. It's free to sign up, and you can start making money and shopping right away. It works for me!

My second recommendation would have to be the Entertainment Book (this is a great deal they're offering now, by the way):

 It's a coupon book, and the name of it is somewhat misleading because it has coupons for everything from restaurants to movies to all the major retail stores. This year is the second year in a row I've purchased one (last year was when I discovered it- through Inbox Dollars, actually!) and it has already paid for itself and I've only had it for a month.

Just for fun, I decided to make a brief list of some of the great places other than restaurants (because I think they have nearly every restaurant in here- from McDonald's to a Japanese Steakhouse) included in my Entertainment Book this year:

- Linens-n-Things

- Dick's Sporting Goods

- Shoe Carnival

- Wet Seal

- S&K

- Sharper Image

- Brookstone

- Radio Shack

- Barnes & Noble

- Florists of every kind

- Car & Truck rental

- Automotive services

- Zoo

- Symphony

- Movie Theater

- Bowling

- Theme Parks

- Hotels

- Lawn Care

And the list goes on and on! I don't know about you, but chances are I'll be going to at least two restaurants this year, and if the restaurant coupons are Buy One Entree, Get One Free (most of them are) then I've just paid for my book.

Another great feature of the Entertainment Book is that you get an online membership as well, which allows you to access additional savings through the website. 

You can order the book today (order today and get Free Shipping!) and have it in time for some last-minute Christmas shopping, not to mention that they also make great gifts for your money-saving family and friends. Why pay full price for anything ever again?? ;-)

And of course, this post would not be complete without a brief reminder about Swag Bucks (I just love Swag Bucks!). To read more about my budding Swag Bucks success, click here. :-)

I wish you all the best bargain hunting this Christmas, and I encourage you to expand your money-saving minds and try something new. You never know- you might just hit a gold mine!

Temporary Christmas Insanity Syndrome (TCIS)

Alas, the Christmas shopping season is now upon us, so I thought it would be prudent to address a serious problem plaguing Christmas shoppers everywhere: Temporary Christmas Insanity Syndrome (TCIS).

I recently read an article in a magazine (I get a lot of magazines for free, so I get all kinds of great stuff from them) describing one woman's struggle with that sort of temporary insanity that comes when we start our Christmas shopping. She was perilously close to spending $200 for a dollhouse that her daughter wanted, despite the fact that she wasn't even planning on buying it for her in the first place and it was WAY out of her budget. But her daughter just had to have it- it was her dream, her one and only Christmas wish! How could a mother deprive her? Well, luckily this woman came to her senses, and her daughter survived Christmas without the coveted gift. And actually, she not only survived, she had a very happy Christmas.

The article really made me reflect on times when I have been in similar situations- after all, it's relatively easy to deprive yourself of something you want, but your children? And there's something about Christmas- you want it to be magical for them, and you want them to feel nothing but joy. But is buying a truckload of gifts the way to accomplish that? And will one gift really make or break the holiday?

So after much thought and stern talking-tos with myself, I present the following as an antidote to TCIS:

My Declaration of Independence From Temporary Christmas Insanity

1. I will set a strict budget of $50 for each child, and the price of their gifts shall not exceed $50.

2. I will understand and remember that my children are too young to care about how much money I spend on them. The Dollar Store is my friend.

3. I will make Christmas more pleasant for them by NOT inundating them with tons of gifts. I will thoughtfully select a few quality toys that I know they will enjoy and appreciate.

4. I will recognize that my self-worth and my value as a friend is not based on the monetary value of the gifts I give to others, but on the way I serve them throughout the year.

4. I will emphasize the true meaning of Christmas, and both encourage and demonstrate acts of kindness for others.

5. I will set an example for my children by showing my love to them and others in ways that don't cost money- acts of service, heartfelt notes, and loving words.

6. Whenever I feel the need to spend an exorbitant amount of money, I will take a breath, step away from the situation, and re-read this Declaration.

I encourage all of you to write your own Declaration in preparation for Black Friday. If I knew how to do a Mr. Linky, I would put one in, but as I do not, I will instead invite you to leave a comment with a link to your Declaration.

Don't let TCIS claim another victim. Together, we can make a stand. ;-)

Swag Bucks Update!

So if anyone is curious about my venture into "Swag Bucks" that I talked about last week, I just wanted to share that it has been 1 week and I now have 25 Swag Bucks! Once I reach 45 I can get a $5 gift card to Amazon.com! Or I can wait for 115 and get a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card. Or I could wait even longer and get even better gift cards... :-) If you want to see how one mom financed nearly her entire Christmas with Swagbucks, click here. But be sure to come back here and use my link if you want to sign up! ;-)

And just so you know, I don't spend hours online searching just to win Swag Bucks- I do probably an average of 20-30 searches a day. I also don't have a bunch of people who signed up under me- only 3, and only 1 of them has been using the search engine and winning Swag Bucks (she got me 5 of my 25), so really and truly this is an EASY way to get free gift cards! Not to mention it's kind of fun- you'll just be doing your random searching when suddenly a Swag Buck pops up! So exciting!

Anyway, if it can work for me, it can totally work for you. And if you sign up under me, I get more bucks even faster...hee hee hee...So if you think it's something you'd like to try, click here. Signing up is super easy- all you need is a name and an e-mail address. Start today and have your friends sign up under you and by Christmas you (and I!) could have some pretty sweet gift cards...

Have a beautiful thrifty day!

Giveaway: Handmade Scarf for a Princess!

Many thanks to my little girl for choosing the yarn and modeling this scarf for me!

It's time for another bloggy giveaway! I thought that since the weather is turning colder, it would be fun to do something warm and cozy, so I made this scarf for one lucky little princess out there. It is sized for a toddler or preschooler, and the colors are various shades of pink, orange, and green. It is very fluffy and warm!

If you have a princess that would just look adorable in this scarf, here's how to enter to win- leave me a comment and tell me which of my posts from the last month was your favorite and why. Be sure to leave an e-mail address or blog where I can contact you if you are the winner. I will randomly choose the winner at 9am on Thursday 11/20. 

 I love getting feedback- that's how I improve my blog! I get useful comments, and you get a free scarf! Everyone's a winner! Best of luck to you all...have a beautiful thrifty day!

$2 Gift Certificates are Baaack!

Just call me your personal Restaurant.com hookup, because I just love to share these deals with you! Once again, they're doing their best deal yet-

80% off Savings on $25 Gift Certificates. $2 when you use code SURPRISE.Valid only 11/18/08 thru 11/20/08.

That's right- a $25 gift certificate to a great restaurant for a mere $2! And again, yes, you do have to spend at least $35 to use one of these, but still- $12 for a $35 meal is not half bad! And that means that anytime you have $10 to spare, you can go on a great date or take your family out for a nice meal. To read about my great date using one of these, read this post.

Great stocking stuffers, people...

Gift Cards- Just in Time for the Holidays!

Hey guys, I was just on MoneySavingMom and I saw this post about SwagBucks- this is a search engine site that actually gives you points to do a search. What do you do with the points? Redeem them for merchandise and gift cards! Apparently it's pretty profitable!

I didn't waste any time and I signed up- you can too, just go here to sign up. It's free and you start earning points immediately. I love it when I can do something I always do anyway and it earns me money! 

Once you sign up, you can invite your friends to sign up and increase your earnings (that's what I'm doing right now- can you tell?). Let me give you one more link in case you missed it- sign up for SwagBucks and get free stuff and gift cards!!

Again, it works just like a regular search engine (like Google) and it's free to sign up. Check it out!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...Knit Scarves!

My mom taught me to knit when I was a teenager, and after I had knit half a scarf I promptly went off to college and forgot how to knit completely! 

Fast forward to my first pregnancy...with no children at home, and no job (we had just moved) I decided I needed to take up some kind of maternal hobby, and knitting fit the bill. Since my memories of the skill were rusty to the point of being nearly nonexistent (I knew it involved yarn of some kind...?), I went out and bought myself a kit which consisted of a how-to book, a set of needles, and some other useful little knitting tools, which I still don't know the name of. 

To shorten this long story, it took only a few sessions of scrutinizing the detailed drawings to crank out my first scarf, which ended up being a Hokie-colored creation for my Virginia Tech student brother for Christmas. After that I went on to create scarves for friends, more family members, and even my kids and my friends' kids! 

The point is, even if you don't know how to knit, all it takes are some needles and some yarn (a skein is $2.50-$6.00 at Wal-Mart or craft stores- cheaper if you can find it on sale) and a little patience with a good book, which you can check out from the library for free. If I can do it, anyone can! I have also read, by the way, that studies have shown that knitting can have the same physiological benefits as yoga. It's quite relaxing- just the cure for the stress of the holiday season!

The other point is that everyone loves scarves- I made one for my husband which he likes to wear to stay warm when he goes hunting (and sometimes I steal it out of the closet to wear because it is SO soft and warm...shh, don't tell...) and another one for my friend's 2-year-old, which she didn't take off for quite awhile. I also figured out how to make little matching miniature hat and scarf sets that I give as winter baby gifts, which are not only quite practical, but also ridiculously cute and very fast to make, as they are about one-third the width and half the length of an adult-sized scarf. 

My third point (I'm awfully pointy today, aren't I?) is the reason I decided to save this gift for last- I know that many people don't know how to knit, and this holiday season I want to encourage all you beautiful thrifty people to learn something new. It doesn't even have to be knitting- find a craft that you have always wanted to try, or just improve upon a skill you already have and use it in a new way. Just be brave and find a way to celebrate your creativity and bless someone else with a gift from the heart.

All right, I'm done with my preaching- if you like the scarf pictured above and have a little girl on your gift list who you think would just look adorable wearing it, then check back on Tuesday for a special giveaway! I will be giving away a scarf just like this one, handmade by yours truly. And you never know, in the coming weeks I may host a few more giveaways of some of the other "Twelve Days of Christmas" items you've seen...

By the way, now that the Twelve Days of Christmas have come to an end, I will resume Makeover Mondays and continue to throw out more beautiful thrifty holiday ideas. Be sure to check back often for shopping tips, decorating tips, recipes, and fun wrapping ideas! I will also be introducing a new weekly feature (I just love weekly features!), so don't miss it!

Did the Twelve Days of Christmas help you with your Christmas list? Leave a comment and share your gifting plans!