Common Sense Living

Are you someone who thinks that Christmas has become too commercial?

Are you tired of buying and receiving gift cards that are cold and require no real thought?

Do you appreciate it when you know that someone has gone out of their way to put together a gift that they thought You would really like?

Are you tired of feeling like you have to spend a fortune on a gift for it to be appreciated? Especially since money is really tight this year…

Here’s some more ideas to make your gifts stand out from the crowd this year.

One gift that I have cherished over the years is a set of embellished towels a friend of mine gave me. Since they are usually just decorative – you don’t really use them, you can pick up inexpensive towels. She sewed ribbon and lace across the bottom on one side. Since they are displayed on a towel bar, you only need to sew lace on one side. I’ve had that set for probably 20 years.

I have quite a few holiday decorations that people have made from kits they got at the hobby store.

If you have a baker – they can always use new cookie sheets. I swear! And they are always appreciated. One year we got a friend a bigger sheet that had a higher edge and we thought she was going to cry. And then she made us some special goodies, so that gift really paid off

I don’t know too many people that couldn’t use new kitchen utensils.

How about a new Yatzee set? I could use one!

You can pick up $25 gift certificates for $10 at Restaurant.com. I actually had a couple people hint this year that they would love to get those again. Of course, they don’t know that you only paid $10.

You could put together a stocking with some playing cards, lottery tickets, homemade candies or cookies, hot chocolate mixes, candy canes, and maybe a special ornament. Of course, the fun here is the lottery tickets. Get the scratch off kind.

Take a pretty bowl and fill it with pinecones, small glass bowl ornaments, and tiny gift-wrapped boxes for a special centerpiece. I wouldn’t suggest a candle since the pinecones and boxes are flammable.

One of those lumbar support cushions for someone who has a long daily commute. We bought one for someone one year, and I hear it’s great.

Young girls like tons of stuff on their key rings. I saw some great dog key rings at PetsMart for dog lovers. Or you can just pick up a few novel key rings and hook them together. I know, it’s not supposed to be good for the ignition, but I never had a problem, and I can’t think of anyone that did.

Get creative!

————————————————————–

Download Creative Gift Basket Ideas Here

Words to Your Favorite Christmas Carols

They aren’t serious, are they? I read this in a press release today -

“Tired of celebrating the holidays with the same old turkey dinner, but hesitant to remove this protein source from the holiday menu? Try tofu! Tofu offers the full protein that turkey dinners have traditionally provided, and is an inexpensive way to add flare to a variety of holiday favourites and some exciting new alternatives.”

What do you think? Want to have tofu for your holiday dinner?

Geez, when will they stop coming up with all this ridiculous stuff?

I’m ready for more turkey. Or maybe ham. My step mom makes prime rib when she has the dinner, but she’ll be out of town. We’ll have that dinner in January – Yum!

Thank heaven the sweet potatoes and cranberries are still OK. They’ll certainly try to find a way to make those bad too.

Real food is not bad for you. Granted, the commercial meat is full of hormones and antibiotics and we should try to eat organic meats, but it’s still 200% better than any of the packaged foods.

You already know I’m 52, and I take no meds. A good friend of mine is 58 and takes no meds now that we got her off the HRT.

Which reminds me of another friend of mine. She was on a weight loss program where you were supposed to drink their shakes, and then have pasta for dinner – like almost every night. She tells me that the pasta is what is responsible for her type II diabetes. Really?

It wasn’t the pasta. It was the jarred sauce full of corn syrup! People don’t think. For some reason, when it comes to food, people seem to have lost all common sense.

There was a quote that I read recently that said that you can get people to change anything but their diet.

But that can’t be true either since there’s one trend after another. People just blindly follow these trends, believing all kinds of nonsense.

How long will people be able to stick to carrot juice and tofu? I shudder to think what the next hot new trend will be.

If you’re as tired as I am of all the garbage healthy eating information - here’s a simple healthy eating plan for you –

- concentrate on getting 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day,
- cut out packaged foods full of chemicals,
- cut out pop full of corn syrup and more nasty chemicals,
- eat real food.

If you did just those simple things, you would have more energy, you’d feel better, and you’d lose weight. You’ll lose even more if you actually get out from in front of the TV or computer and got moving a little. Since you’ll have more energy, that won’t be that hard either.

Since most of the holiday dinners are made fresh – I don’t think you have to feel guilty at all, as long as you eat everything in moderation. You know, one piece of pie – not the whole pie…

Just use some common sense – and enjoy yourself.

—————————————————————–
Here’s a common sense healthy eating plan you can live with >>>

My daughter once asked me, “Why are always so worried about other people?”

I was surprised by the question and mumbled something about as Christians, we are supposed to help each other.

You see, if you need your dog walked, I’ll do it. If people lock themselves out of their apartment, they come here for help. Kids know that if their parents aren’t home when they get home from school, they can come here. My daughter has even told people, everyone who needs help comes here.

Oh sure, sometimes it’s inconvenient. But I would rather be a giving person than not. And that’s where the selfish part of the answer comes in. What’s selfish about giving, you ask?

Take a look around you and observe people.

You’ll see that the most miserable people are the ones who will be the first to not let you in, in heavy traffic - they are in too big a hurry, they don’t have time to help you. They won’t drop a toy in the big donation boxes, let alone take a tag and take the time to buy and wrap a gift for a kid who may not get anything this year. No, they are too busy.

Take a good look at people who are lonely, depressed, broke, or overwhelmed. Chances are, they aren’t very giving. Always too busy. Always worried that if they give, that they won’t have enough.

But happier people, rich or poor, are the ones who take the time to give. It doesn’t have to be costly.

You can walk their dogs when they’re out of town. You can offer to pick up something at them store if you are going. You can watch their kids. You can let people in - in heavy traffic. Giving and generosity doesn’t have to cost a lot.

It’s nice to take a break and give someone a hand. It gives you a good feeling. Your chores and problems will still be there in an hour.

Like most things in life, it all depends on your attitude. If you love giving, life gives more riches to you in friends, family, and general happiness that money can’t buy.

This season, don’t cheat yourself out of the joy of giving. Put some thought into the presents you buy. It’s not about the money or how expensive the present is. It’s about the thought you put into it. People will appreciate a gift that you obviously put some thought and care into. When they can plainly see that you thought about what they would really like, it brings a smile to their face that you can wear in your heart.

Making people happy is really a gift to yourself.

————————————————————–

Download Creative Gift Basket Ideas Here

Words to Your Favorite Christmas Carols

We’ve been talking about making another treat this weekend, since we totally devoured all of the potato chip cookies.

I just wanted to make a quick batch of fudge. Something chocolaty and fast – but no – she wants the peanut butter and white chocolate truffles, or she’d settle for the peanut butter and chocolate truffles. How nice of her. I know, it doesn’t take that much longer to make balls…

This is just for us mind you. We haven’t even started trying to decide on what the gift list is going to be this year. It will be busy next weekend. If we can ever agree on anything.

So, I’m going to ask for your help.

I put the whole chocolate recipe list here >>> (you’ll have to scroll down a bit)

If you were getting a gift basket – what would you like to see in it?

Leave a comment and vote for your favorites!

Thanks -

Carole

————————————————————–

Download Creative Gift Basket Ideas Here

Words to Your Favorite Christmas Carols

Emma and me were moving kind of slow last weekend. The extra cold weather seemed to have zapped most of our motivation. So, even though we did get the tree up, we skipped the red bows, and the plastic icicles. On Sunday, it seemed to look good to us scaled back a bit.

But on Monday… it just seemed to plain. A few people had been over and looked at the tree without comment. Hmmm.

So Monday night I got motivated and put the cheap plastic icicles and the little red bows on. Ah yes, that’s more like it.

When my friend came over on Wednesday, she gasped. Now that’s the kind of reaction I want!

You can get the cheap little plastic icicles at the dollar store.

The little red velvet bows you can pick up cheap all over the place. It’s usually a package of 12. I bought a couple of packages years ago.

You can use the bows outside on your shrubs too. Fast decorating!

You can find all kinds of stuff at the dollar store.

You can hang stockings around.

You can gift wrap little boxes for decorations.

You can put little holiday floral arrangements in vases.

You can put garland around your windows.

Plus, you can pick up gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbons, and stuff like that while you’re there. If you’re making cookies and other homemade goodies, look for your packaging at the dollar store.

Just don’t burn any candles that you buy at the dollar store, unless you can find soy candles. Sometimes they have those. But otherwise, the cheap candles don’t burn well, and I wouldn’t be to sure about what toxins they might give off.

I also won’t touch any food at the dollar store.

And if you don’t already know this, the dollar cleaners don’t work. It’s a waste of time and money.

But overall, the dollar store can be a treasure trove. Have fun and get creative. It doesn’t have to cost more than a few bucks to get festived out.

————————————————————–

Download Creative Gift Basket Ideas Here

Words to Your Favorite Christmas Carols