5 Tips to Save Christmas Cash

It's not even really beginning to look like Christmas around here, but judging by the amount of holiday catalogs stuffed into our mailbox on any given day, the Christmas season is nearly upon us. Indeed, the merriest day of the year is a mere 45 days off. (Gasp, shock, HORROR!!) With Thanksgiving being so late this year, I have a sneaking suspicion that Christmas shopping might get a little hectic this year, so I thought I'd give you a heads up and share some of my favorite ways to make the holiday season easy on you and your wallet.   

1) Ebates. I just discovered Ebates this spring and am wondering where it's been all my life. Basically, it's a cash back online shopping site. Companies contract with Ebates to promote themselves. When you access those companies' online stores through Ebates, you get cash back on your purchase. Every quarter, Ebates pays out the cash back you've earn. We're talking real dollars which are deposited into Paypal, or you can have an old-fashioned check sent to you if that's how you roll. I don't do very much online shopping outside of the holidays, and I've already earned nearly $20.00 using Ebates. My only gripe is that Cabela's is not associated with Ebates, because if they were, Ebates would owe me about a gazillion dollars right about now.  It seriously takes seconds to sign up for Ebates, so what are you waiting for? Sign up!

2) Swagbucks. Swagbucks is another kind of gimmicky website that allows you to earn gift cards buy earning points (aka Swagbucks) on their site. You earn Swagbucks through searching the internet, interacting with the website (participating in polls, viewing advertiser offers, finding codes, etc.), and making online purchases through Swagbucks. If you're the sort of person who is pretty impervious to advertising, it's worth your while to check it out. I haven't spent a dime through Swagbucks, yet have earned more $50 in Amazon gift cards. And who couldn't use some Amazon cash, immaright? Go earn yourself for some Swagbucks.

3) Christmas fund. It's no secret that I'm a little obsessive when it comes to making sure I have enough cash on hand for the holidays. Here's the thing: last year, I started setting aside just $10.00 a week towards a "Christmas fund" to spend on presents and other holiday expenses. And do you know how much money I had on-hand for Christmas stuff last year? Over $500! Now, just imagine if you were setting $15 or $25 a week - whew! Setting up a Christmas fund is a really painless way to make holiday finances go a little smoother and although it's a little late to fully utilize this tip for Christmas '13, it's worth keeping in mind come New Year.

4) Don't buy presents. Not to sound all Scrooge like, but I don't really buy my friends Christmas presents anymore. Unless you're immediate family, fugetaboutit. Over the years, it's just become clear that none of us need another Yankee candle or Bath and Body Works body wash. Our income levels vary significantly, so although it is fun to give and receive presents, we find it much more satisfying (and less stressful!) to enjoy a game night or a nice dinner out together in lieu of a gift exchange. This Christmas, consider spending time with your friends, not money.

5) Shop Cyber Monday sales. It sure is nice that there's a whole day devoted to online holiday discounts, especially if you're like me and think that Black Friday sounds like hell on earth. While I don't do my holiday shopping exclusively on Cyber Monday, I do think it's worth checking out the sales to see if anything you were already (key word here) planning to buy will be on sale. Why pay more for something than you have to, eh? 

6) Bonus: Check up on your credit card. If you earn rewards on your credit card, November is a great time to log in and see where you're sitting with those points. If you can get cash back, you can pocket a little spending change. If the points are redeemable for merchandise or gift cards, see if any of the items might be appropriate for people of your gift list. It's a great, free way to give your Christmas budget a little stretch. 

What are your money saving tips for the holidays?

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Etsy Shop Update: The Wearing of the Green

Happy President's Day! I hope some of you are enjoying a fabulous long weekend. For the rest of us schmucks, it's just another day without mail delivery. C'est le vie.

Truth be told, I'm already looking forward to next month's big holiday: St. Patrick's Day! As must of you know, I have a major soft spot when it comes to shamrocks, cables, green, and anything else Irish. My Etsy shop logo is from a picture I snapped of sheep in the field on one of my many rambling walks through the Irish countryside while I studied abroad in rural Co. Mayo, Ireland in spring 2005. Although I won't be heading across the pond for a visit to Ireland this spring as I'd hoped (when Subarus get sick, they get sick big time. *sigh*), at least my heart traveled to Ireland while I crafted these Irish inspired designs for Yes Sir, Yes Sir!

Irish Flag Coffee Cup Cozy - $7.95

Shamrock Applique Coffee Cup Cozy - $7.95

Green Heather Irish Knot Fingerless Gloves - $29.95

Green Heather Irish Knot Fingerless Gloves - $29.95

I'm thisclose to making my 50th sale in the shop and as a thank you to whoever helps me reach that milestone, I'll throw in a free owl cozy (your choice of color) with that 50th sale. No need for a promo code, just need to be the lucky 50th customer to scoop up this sweet deal.

Erin Go Braugh!

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The Holi-daze

I think we can all agree that Christmases that fall in the middle of the week should be banned. I mean, what's the big idea here? All party, party, party on Monday and Tuesday and then back to work on Wednesday? I think not!

Both today and yesterday I've half-heartedly attempted to get actual paying work accomplished, but I haven't made much (any?) progress on my projects. Mostly I've just been sitting in the glow of the Christmas tree, gunking up the screen of my new iPad (thank you Andy for introducing technological sophistication into my life) and counting getting iTunes to update on my ancient workhorse of a laptop an accomplishment. I've also been hoping that this pile of afghan edging will knit itself up and attach itself to the actual afghan. (Is it too much to ask for a Christmas miracle?!)

Side note: when/if I get married I am requesting many much hand knitted afghans. This is the fifth wedding afghan I've worked on to date (three of which I knit in their entirety . . . queue smallest violin in the world) and this chick has had it. My apologies to any couples getting engaged this holiday season . . . I'm totally giving you a salad spinner.

Also, it should be noted that I'm trying out the Blogger iPad app for the first time with this post. I have absolutely no idea where the photos I selected for this post are actually being placed.

iPad app suggestions and . . . go! I don't play games (I seem to find *plenty* of other things to vie for my procrastination energy), but would love suggestions for apps related to knitting, cooking, finance, etc. etc. The most obvious apps (Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Etsy) were already installed during a very fun Christmas Day. At least it was fun for Andy and me. My parents, who spent most of the day watching us poke away at said iPad, might have a different take on the day, although we did manage to tear ourselves from the glowing bluescreen long enough for some Trivial Pursuit and dinner.

Hope you've all had a very merry holiday season so far. I'm gearing up for the great annual New Year's Eve crafting "weekend" which starts . . . tomorrow! Excitement!

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When I say "Happy Holidays," I Mean It

There's one seasonal conflict that I've never understood: when people get all up in other people's grill because they wished them a "Happy Holidays" instead of a "Merry Christmas."

"Well, excuse me," I want to say to these little Ebenezer Scrooges. "Apologies for wishing you well during this season of glad tidings."

Bah humbug.

 
To me, thinking we ought to wish people a Merry Christmas any more than we should wish people a happy anything else of the season smacks slightly of a superiority complex. You know, the one where you think your religion is superior to everyone else's.

FYI: thinking your religion is the best of all historically has not treated our world very well. *cough, Crusades.* *cough, cough, suicide bombers*

I have no issue wishing you a Merry Christmas, especially when we're within a week of the actual December 25th date. I really do hope you have a merry one. I fully acknowledge that the majority of us who engage in the December holiday season are Christmas celebrators. But I don't think that gives us a free pass to ignore everything else that's part of the holidays.


It just seems downright hypocritical to demand "Merry Christmas" greetings this time of year when one the main reasons why we celebrate Christmas on December 25 is because early Christians couldn't tear our pagan fingers away from our solstice celebrations, no matter how hard they tried.

How to solve that tricky problem?

Just declare December 25th as nine months after the immaculate conception so that we can all celebrate the birth of the son (erm . . . or sun?) four days after the winter solstice. The ancient Roman feast of Saturnalia, held annually from December 17 - 23 long before anyone heard of this J.C. guy, involved feasting and gift giving, which one could argue is really what our modern holiday season rotates around, rather than the birth of Christ. (Sorry good Christian men - consumerism was winning even before you had your savior.)   

The Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum

We all love feasting. We all love gift giving. We all love the return of the sun. So it's really no surprise that other religions (namely Judaism) also have major celebrations this time of year.  

When I say "Happy Holidays," I'm not doing it out of a desire to be politically correct. I'm doing it because I'm lazy. Because in those two little words, I just wished you a Merry Christmas, as well as a Happy Hanukkah, Solstice, Saturnalia, Kwanzaa, St. Lucia Day, Epiphany, Yule, and another other holiday that falls between December 6 - January 6.

Happy Holidays guys! May they all be wonderful and filled with love, warmth and happiness.

 

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Do You Want Cheese with That Wine? Shop Update

I'd hoped to get a few more wine cozies designed and knit up before I wrote this post, but with the holidays just around the corner (actually, Happy Hanukkah!), a big batch of deadline knitting in my lap (not Christmas present related, thankfully, but courtesy of this blasted truly lovely afghan), actually get any more holiday-themed wine cozies knit between now and December 23 started to seem like a laugh. I have big hopes for a line of Valentine's Day wine cozies though. ;) 

With my annual holiday whine and cheese gathering with college friends scheduled for this weekend, it seemed as good a time as any to debut the two wine cozies I did manage to create for Holiday Season 2013 in my Etsy shop - Yes Sir, Yes Sir!

Christmas Gold with Holly Decoration Wine Cozy

Scandinavian Snowflake Wine Cozy

Cozies are designed to fit a standard 750 mL wine bottle. Pull a wine cozy over your favorite bottle of wine and not only do you have gift wrap taken care of, you also have a lovely hostess gift that will decorate your host's mantle for many holiday seasons to come.

As we move into the "holiday crunch", it's time to get serious about those stranglers on the bottom of your shopping list. Consider any owl cozy for co-workers or your Secret Santa. Knit headbands make great stocking stuffers.

I do my best to ship your order out as quickly as possible. Domestic shipping within the contiguous United States usually takes 3 business days, but please place your holiday orders very soon to allow for any USPS delays during this busy shipping season. Use coupon code: SNOWFLAKE to receive 10% off your entire order.  

 

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Still, Still, Still

Oh, I have a blog? After a good solid month+ of blogging, I kind of dropped the ball this past week. Whoops.

I hate to use the same ol' tired excuse over and over again, but things have been busy around here. Like mindblowing-ly busy. I've been working steadily away at freelance projects, trying to stay on top of things with the 9-5 ish  job, and sorting out the holiday season. Throw in the fact that we're still a one-car household (which is making some holiday travel plans tres complicated) and I'm feeling a bit like not enough butter across too much toast.

Andy mentioned this past week that we run to town the most during the months of November and December. (I'd argue that we also do a fair amount of running around in late April and early May.) These are the times when I'm not working full time and the roads are often in decent conditions. Depending on the season, we spend these trips gathering supplies for venison processing or gardening, spending time with family and friends, appointments that have been pushed off during the summer (oh hey there dentist) and doing extensive work on projects that are left simmering over the summer season. Summers are historically hectic in a rather predictable way. Come the shoulder seasons and all bets are off for what any given week (or day) will contain.

It's funny that just when a sense of stillness is descending on the woods, we're really ramping things up. Over the last week, the lake froze over. With steady snowfall at the moment, we won't be ice skating this winter - the snow reacts with the ice and puts a quick end to any "smooth as glass" ice conditions.  

I don't know that I'm doing a very good job of preparing my heart for Advent this year. I've been spending the days since Thanksgiving caught up in the minituia of my weekly to-do lists and the details of travel plans. This week I need to step back and look at the big picture.

Over the last week, most of the snow we received over Thanksgiving melted away in a warm snap. This morning, the snow falls quietly and steadily outside my window, obscuring the far shore with a veil of white. I've been busy sorting out little details that have been niggling at the back of my mind over the last month of so.My TracFone is reactivated, my bus ticket to this coming weekend's festivities booked, the majority of holiday presents bought.

In less than a week I will be spending time with friends I hardly ever see, my brother will be home for a long weekend, I get to enjoy another Broadway show with a very close friend, and many friends and family members are helping these holiday reunions happen. As always, blessings are many when you stop to count them.

It seems oh so appropriate that "Still, Still, Still" is the holiday song that keeps running through my mind this season:  

Still, still, still,
One can hear the falling snow.
For all is hushed,
The world is sleeping,
Holy Star its vigil keeping.
Still, still, still,
One can hear the falling snow.

It's difficult for all of us to find stillness during the holiday season, but if we are to survive the holidays with any shred of good humor left on New Year's Day, then we must learn to take a moment each day to create a stillness in our hearts. I hope the start of the holiday season has been treating you well and that you're all finding moments to catch your breath!

 

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Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

Okay, so I don't really know about the geese getting fat, since Andy has yet to let me follow my lifelong fairly new minted dream of being a poultry farmer, but I do know that Christmas really is coming. I don't mean to be an alarmist, but you guys, the most consumer-ist holiday of all is a mere 16 weeks away. That boils down to just four months. How did that happen?!

I know, I know, you're probably going "Whoa there, four months is still kind of a lot of time." And you know, you're right. But the thing about the holidays is that they have a tricky little way of sneaking up on us and this year, I'm not going to let that happen. 

I'm not sure what got holidays on my brain. Maybe it's the fact that there's been a little autumn nip in the air the last week or so (although yesterday, the temp rose to 88 degrees, which I felt was highly unnecessary), the shortening days, the holiday gift guide planning I see going on at some indie blog/businesses, or maybe it's just that I bumped into an acquaintance last week who, when she heard about my temporary second job, said "well, Christmas is coming."

Considering that procrastination has always been my BFF, the holidays pose some issues for me. My freelance/contract workstyle also means that my income fluctuates drastically from month to month, from week to week. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it pours, sometimes it dries right up into a drought. And December, inevitably, seems to be an income drought period.

But you know what? I'm tired of hyperventilating every time I think about buying Christmas presents. I'm tired of looking at my gift giving budget and determining that I have enough money to get everyone a sock. Not a pair of socks, mind you. Just one. You may remember that back in January, I resolved to start up a Christmas fund.  Even on January 1 of this year, I knew I wanted 2012 to be the year I get my act together for the holidays. Here's how I'm going to do it:

#1 Save and Budget

Since January of this year, I've been contributing $10 a week to my Christmas fund. It's been a very painless way to slowly save up for the impending holidays and by the time Christmas rolls around, I'll have $500 in the bank specifically designated for presents and other related expenses. For me, the hardest part of Christmas is figuring out nice, meaningful gifts on a shoestring budget. By being an intentional saver all year long, I've managed to make my shoestring a little fatter this year without feeling any pinch.
 
"But Ada," I hear you say. "I haven't been saving for the holidays since the start of the year like you . . . how is this tip applicable to me?"

Here's the thing, Christmas is still 16 weeks away. If you saved $25 every week up until Christmas, you'd have $400. If you could manage $100 a week, you'd have $1600. Wow!

#2 Making A List, Checking It Twice

You know how they say about life, it's hard to get anywhere if you don't know where you're going? You could say something similar about your Christmas shopping list.  If you don't know who you're shopping for, it's hard to set a budget. By drawing up a preliminary game plan for your Christmas shopping (yes, now) you'll be able to scope out the best deals on items and start actually buying presents months in advance.

#3 Do It, Do It Now

There are plenty of people (mostly Andy's relatives) who aren't on my official gift buying list, but who we'll end up exchanging gifts with. That's partly why I can a shit-ton quite a bit of jams, sauces, and other food products during the summer months. Plaster a bow onto ones of those jars and you've got yourself a lovely homemade present. And will all the hard work of chopping, stirring and canning months behind me, it feels like a very easy, but still nice gift to give.

I'm a big fan of homemade presents as a way to save a penny or too. But if you decide you're going to knit everyone on your list scarves for Christmas on, say, Pearl Harbor Day, you're going to spend the next 18 days knitting like a mad person, stressed out, and wishing you had more time. So if you're planning to go the handmade route for your presents this year, now is the time to start assembling supplies and making the items. Trust me. Or at the very least, start putting some thought into the gifts you might like to make and/or give. It's not too early to start scouring Pinterest and Ravelry for cute ideas!

Anyone else planning for the holidays yet, or am I the only nut job out there planning this far in advance? Any other tips for making the holiday gift giving season full of win this year?

 

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Heat, Holidays, and The Week That Was

I've been feeling stretched thin lately and as a result, not only are blog posts far and few between - I also haven't been taking much for pictures. When I plugged in my camera this morning to see what I had at my disposal if I were to actually write a post, I was a little surprised by the lack of pictures at my disposal to illustrate my points.

Let's see. . . . There's this picture of a tadpole which is totally unrelated to anything I'd planned to write about . . . .

I have a 12-year-old volunteer at work. He's volunteering through a community program which will award him with some sort of cultural/learning prize (a ski pass, art classes, or music lessons, etc.) if he volunteers so many hours at a non-profit organization in the community this summer. One thing he loves to do is take pictures on the museum grounds (which we can then use for promotion purposes) and he's a little obsessed with the tadpoles in the ditch beside the driveway. It's hard to tell in the above picture, but those guys are huge. I think they just might be bullfrog tadpoles because I always hear a bullfrog twanging away on his banjo whenever I walk up the driveway.

On Tuesday, Andy and I headed out a little canoeing adventure. Some friends were spending a couple nights in the Boundary Waters, so we paddled out to spend the day with them. Despite the picture below, we did not catch a single fish and instead spent most of the day lounging around the campsite as the temperature climbed higher and higher. It's been consistently in the upper 80s and even in the 90s these last few days. Not nearly as hot as elsewhere in the country, but enough to make these northern Minnesotans feel like death warmed over.

Did everyone have a good Fourth of July? We had a less than celebratory day since we both worked and honestly, the Fourth of July celebration in town just isn't worth the two-hour round trip drive. The parade is so small it goes around the block (yes, block is singular) twice to make it last nearly 10 minutes. The fireworks are usually also a rather pithy affair. So instead we stayed home and watched Mother Nature's own fireworks - we had quite the doozy of thunderstorm roll in in the late afternoon.

Remember Slug watch(!)? We've been having problems with some of our potato plants being cut off at the base. Last night, Andy and I headed out with flashlights to see if we could find the nocturnal pest that's been after our potatoes. I knew slugs were a risk when we planted the potatoes in straw, but I naively hoped  we'd dodge that bullet. Ah well, hopefully we've caught it soon enough to save at least a few of the plants.

What's new in your neck of the woods?

 

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A Visit from the Easter Bunny

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter/Passover holiday this weekend. I spent all weekend worrying about meringue and as a result, I'm having some difficulty adjusting to the real-world projects, concerns, and tasks that come with Mondays. (Sadly, I have yet to make a living wage worrying about if the relative humidity will be too high for meringue to set properly.) 

For the record, the lemon meringue pie was a success and didn't warrant all the worry I threw at it. My meringue had a teensy bit of shrinkage and just a touch of weeping on the top. If you're ever wanting to tackle a lemon meringue pie, there's a fantastic tutorial over at the Not So Humble Pie blog that's definitely worth checking out.

Other than (literally) whipping up the pie, I spent the Easter holiday going for a long walk with my parents at the nearby nature center, then sitting down to a delicious Easter feast prepared by my mom, Andy's mom and yours truly. Because I'm a bad blogger, I didn't take any pictures and since everything was devoured with great enthusiasm, there weren't even leftovers to photograph. (Well, there were, but I ate them.) It was a lovely day. 

The Easter bunny made a surprise visit at the cabin.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but my Easter "basket" is made out of recycled candy wrappers. Not sure if it's an Ecoist, Nahui Ollin or what, kind of bag - the Easter bunny snipped off its tag -- but I'm pretty pumped about it since my current tote bag's handles are turning into a frayed mess.

The bag was filled with all sorts of good stuff: a spring-y scarf, lovely soap, chocolate, and this little lady to join my springtime decorations:

The Easter bunny also brought a TracPhone which will be put to good use during my upcoming travels since I've been without a cell phone contract for nearly a year now.  Don't worry friends, I'm back in the 21st century now . . . sort of.

I woke up to find a dusting of snow on the ground. I thought for sure it would be gone by this afternoon, but it's still coming down. I'm so . . . enthused.

These guys don't seem to be minding the snowfall.I have peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and an assortment of flowers all poking up now. I'll do a second planting at the end of the week.

I'm trying to focus this week and get some extra work done, since the traditional "end of the winter" travels are nigh. I had a mini freak-out this morning when I realized I'm just over a month away from going back to work full time again. On the bright side, that means the Ireland trip is just a year away.  Time to get a fare alert set up on Kayak. . . .

Hope you're having a happy Easter Monday. How did you celebrate this weekend? Who has spring travel plans?

 

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Saturday Outtakes (Easter edition)

Yes, a Beanie Baby. From a Happy Meal. (No, not my Happy Meal.)

 

Happy Easter everyone! Despite having a bucket load of St. Paddy's Day decorations, I realized last week that I have a total of three (count 'em) Easter decorations. There's the two in the picture above, and then there's this gal:

Yes, she does totally lay bubble gum eggs. Apparently this plastic wind-up hen is as close as I'm going to come to real actual chicken ownerships, although I do have some plans to domesticate the neighborhood grouse this summer . . . . Just kidding. . . . Kind of . . . .

The bubble gum eggs will also be the closest we get to dyed eggs this year. Every year I think I'll dye some eggs (of course using some of those cool techniques that have been popping up on Pinterest lately), but then I remember that I'm not actually the biggest fan of dying eggs. It can be tedious and I'm just not artistic enough to create spectacular colored eggs. I'm sure we'd dye eggs if there were some littles around, but since there aren't, any eggs that will be consumed tomorrow will be fried.

I'm amused by this picture. I think I'll sell it to the MN tourism agency . . .

Andy's mom is up for the weekend to celebrate the holiday and last night we went over to the nearby campground for a picnic to soak up the beautiful spring weather we've been experiencing this week.

Today, I'm keeping busy in the kitchen, getting set for tomorrow's Easter dinner. So far, I have my pie shell baked and there's bread dough raising in a warm corner. This evening I'll mix up a batch of hot cross buns.  My parents are coming up tomorrow for dinner, so we're having a big ol' holiday celebration at the cabin this year.

2011's hot cross buns

Here's our Easter menu:

• Hot Cross Buns 
• Greek Salad
• Lamb and Green Beans (Arni me fasolakia)
• Yet-to-be-determined rice dish
• Lemon Meringue Pie 

Currently, Andy and his mom are out fixing up our two new raised bed gardens. There's something about Easter weekend that makes me want to shove my hands in the dirt in get gardening. Must be all the talk about renewal and rebirth associated with Easter.

However you celebrate the weekend, I hope you have a lovely one filled with the promise of spring. 
 

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Gettin' Crafty for St. Paddy's

Maybe it's all this talk of an upcoming trip to Ireland. (And yes, by upcoming, I mean 2013). Maybe I'm just ready for spring. Whatever the reason, I'm feeling it's high time to swap out my felted hearts for some St. Paddy's Day appropriate decorations.

Over the years, I've amassed quite a few St. Paddy's Day decorations, thanks to friends, family and having spent a semester living in Ireland. I have a beautiful tablecloth embroidered with shamrocks, a figurine of Irish snowmen, and a collection of St. Paddy's Day kitsch, which includes a set of super classy plastic shot glasses. But that's not enough for this Irish gal and so I have a few plans for adding to the collection this year.

Source: youaremyfave.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Despite having an ever growing collection of houseplants, one houseplant I don't have is a shamrock. I know, right! Actually, back in college, a friend gave me a shamrock for my birthday. Cleverly referred to as "Sam the Sham," the poor little shamrock had a lifespan of about four months before dying of neglect. Hey, it was college and I was easily distracted. It's a sad story, but I'm ready to do better by Sam the Sham II. Time for a live shamrock to be a permanent Irish inspired decoration in the cabin. 

Source: Uploaded by user via Ada on Pinterest

I found these little knit shamrocks on Ravelry last spring. They're made using little bits of sock yarn and I have all sorts of green sock yarn I'm looking to use up. I probably won't "bejewel" my shamrock, but I might knit up enough so that I can make a St. Paddy's Day garland with them.

Source: blog.craftzine.com via Ada on Pinterest

I found this adorable embroidered Irish gal when I was wasting time on browsing on Pinterest the other day. I think she is just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen and she definitely needs a place in the cabin this St. Paddy's Day. I've been doing a lot of embroidery this winter, finishing up a tablecloth I started last winter, so my embroidery chops are all warmed up this project. I just need some supplies - a hoop, muslin, and transfer pencil - and I'm totally making this sweet little Irish lass. 

By the way, if you're looking for some simple and effortless St. Paddy's Day decorations, Katherine over at Irish Italian Blessings has some super cute (and free!) St. Patrick's Day printables. Remember, everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day. ;)

Are you preparing for the wearing o' the green yet?

 

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Holidays Done Right

Happy Solstice everyone! Not sure we're going to get any sunlight today on this shortest day of the year, but it does look like a very blue sky is trying to peep out from behind some dramatic grey, purple, and pink clouds. Today we have just over 8 hours of daylight; about 9.5 hours of visible light. Although we will start gaining daylight by just seconds starting tomorrow, it's always nice to make it over the hump.

After I get a few more hours of work in today, I'll be hitting the hot and dusty (or should I say, the curvy and icy) and heading into town for the night. Tomorrow, I'll accompany my parents to Chicagoland, where we'll be spending a week with my paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We'll be meeting up with my brother and his girlfriend while we're down there as well. On the return trip, I'll be dropped off for another crafting extravaganza. I won't be back to the cabin until the new year!

Andy is understandable somewhat miffed by all of this, but someone's got to stay home to watch the cabin and make some money. ;) And before you feel too bad for Andy, keep in mind that his mom'll be up to spend the holiday with him and he has family gatherings to attend. He will be fine. I think.. . . There is plenty of food in the freezer, so hopefully he won't spend too many nights eating his bachelor standby: cold refried beans smeared on an unheated tortilla.

There have been lots of posts on the blogsphere lately about trying to find Christmas tree, so I thought I'd focus this post on some of the positive aspects of the holidays. Here are a few things I'm glad I've done so far this holiday season:

Bought local gifts. I always have good intentions of buying my presents locally. Then when push comes to shove, I inevitably end up buying all my presents from Amazon. (It's so easy!) But this past Friday, I spent some time downtown and finished up my Christmas shopping in town. Not all my presents were bought locally, mind you, but it did feel good to know that some of my Christmas dollars were going to cycle right back through my community.  

Made holiday cookies in limited quantities. Everyone loves a treat. But ubiquitous Christmas cookies just tend to make people ill, and eventually, after all that sugar's worn off, downright grumpy. This year's Christmas cookie baking has been limited to the cookie baking extravaganza with my mom's family (and the majority of those cookies were donated to a community cookie sale) and one batch of Danish puff. My waistline thanks me.

Stayed focused.  This holiday season, I kept my head down and kept working. I banked hours, I got things done ahead of time. It really wasn't fun. But it means that I can leave for the next week and a half and not worry about not working. I've earned my holiday this year and won't experience a dip in income over the holidays. *whew!*

Family time. I have not spent a Christmas with my father's family since 2005. My grandparents are in their 80s. That means Christmases to come are probably finite. Since I am able to, it feels like the right thing to spend the holidays with them. 

Come what may. Earlier in the month, I just wasn't feeling the Christmas cheer.But rather than let the calendar dictate my feelings, I waited to go through the Christmas decorations until I was actually interested in rooting through the box and decorating the cabin. We got the tree later than usual, but we were both ready to have a tree by the time it did go up. The holidays have unfolded naturally which made it all a little less stressful. Now I'm ready (I think!) to be full of cheer and goodwill to men.

What things are you glad you did this holiday season?

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O' Christmas Tree

We finally got our Christmas tree this weekend. I'd like to tell you how we tramped out into the woods on Saturday morning through the freshly fallen snow in search of the perfect tree. How we paused to make snow angels. How we hemmed and hawed over which tree to bring home. How a spontaneous snowball fight broke out.

In truth, we looked at exactly one tree - which from a distance looked pretty but ended up being a spruce tree and spruce trees, in my honest opinion, smell like cat piss - before settling on the balsam fir that's currently in the living room. The entire process of getting out of the truck, selecting the tree, chopping down the tree, and throwing it into the pick up bed took approximately 4 minutes.

I explained to Andy that our Christmas tree reconnaissance was going to look kind of half-assed on the blog. "Hey, we got an awesome tree," he said.

It's true.

This year we opted for a vertical, slim tree, rather than a short and squat tree. The slender tree takes up no more space than the chair that was sitting in its place. It's nice to have the twinkly lights and sparkle of the tree without having the tree take over the room. We aren't constantly bumping into tree branches and that seems to be keeping the ubiquitous balsam needles at bay as well, at least for now.

I have no desire to having a "matchy" or "elegant" Christmas tree. My mismatch of ornaments and Christmas decorations come from all sorts of stages in my life. We don't have a whole lot of homemade ornaments, which I suppose is indicative of the fact that we have no children (our own or nieces or nephews) in our lives. We have just a handful of homemade decorations:

My aunt made this little bell out of a teeny flower pot back in 1994. I know that, because "Ada '94" is written on the top of it. For a while, my aunt painted flower pots of all sizes to sell for supplemental income. The small business never really took off. I wonder where she'd go with an Etsy account . . .

Here's a "Tantalizer" circa 1970 via 2011 New Year's Crafting weekend. It is hideous. Therefore, I chose to display it as prominently as possible.

The vast majority of ornaments on the tree are mine. But Andy made this painted globe back in the day. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it really is quite pretty.

The most ornaments on the tree are Hallmark ornaments. That's because my grandmother is a Hallmark fanatic - we're talking like Hallmark Club card holding fanatic. It just isn't Christmas until you've gotten this year's ornament from Gramma.

As you might guess, through the last 25 Christmases, I've amassed quite a collection. These are some of my favorites:

Madame Alexander Irish Dancer. I got this either the Christmas before or the Christmas after I spent a semester in western Ireland.

I'm not sure when I got this little angel, but she reminds me so much of all the Sunday school Christmas pageants I was in. In fact, when you press her halo, she recites a Bible verse my mother said I once read during a pageant. I don't remember.

I got this little suitcase the Christmas during my six months living and working in London. My real life suitcase is almost identical to this ornament, right down to all the bulges!

This isn't a Hallmark ornament - it came from Harrod's Christmas World display. I picked it up during my time in London. Harrod's is well known for its teddy bears so a Christmas tree ornament that featured a teddy bear and the Harrod's green doorman outfit was just too much to resist.

Andy's declared this year's tree the prettiest Christmas tree that's ever been in the cabin. I've only seen two Christmas trees in the cabin - this year's and last year's- but if those are indeed the only two trees that have graced the cabin's living space then yes, I totally agree. Prettiest Christmas tree ever.

Is your Christmas tree up? What are some of your favorite ornaments? 

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