Christmas 2011

[Patty Smyth]

random - some nutter in my neighborhood has his lights up already and ON

[Chantel]

We're "that house" that leaves our lights up year-round, so we can plug them in whenever :D

I can't wait to turn them on, it'll feel much more festive. My boyfriend and I are going to bundle up and go walk around his neighborhood one night and look at all the lights.

[Patty Smyth]

We're "that house" that leaves our lights up year-round, so we can plug them in whenever :D

I can't wait to turn them on, it'll feel much more festive. My boyfriend and I are going to bundle up and go walk around his neighborhood one night and look at all the lights.

Leaving them up all year is ok but this guy turned them on lol. At least now with LED lights they use very little power.

Anyhoo, Costco has had xmas decorations on sale since August.

Bring it on!

[MrsSunshine]

my hubby actually joked that I should put up my white christmas tree. i just got this past summer. sat in the dining room. awaiting a spot in the basement. ..anyway. he said I should put it up now and decorate it with pumpkins and orange lights.. seeing as with in a few weeks i start decorating for xmas anyway.. needless to say i put the tree downstairs myself. now im starting to wonder.. if i should have.. i know we HAD at least 5 huge rubbermaid containers of xmas decorations for around the house last year. BEFORE I went shopping at the clearance sale at WM.. eesh.. something tells me i should start NOW to be ready in time LMAO. OH and in order to do that he has put all his 'stuff' away so i can get it all down there.. *sigh* big circle of life going on here..

[Patty Smyth]

Great idea, I actually have a black xmas tree i got a few years back and I do decorate it for halloween.

[MrsSunshine]

black would be cool. never actually seen one myself.. ever. weird.. i was in love with my neighbors white tree years ago.. although it was old and kinda yellow.. so when I found a smaller one last fall i grabbed it for our room.. then found another regular size one this past summer WITH lights.. for $5.. no way was i going to pass it up.. but ya never seen a black tree. i can imagine how great it would look on a front porch at halloween.

[Patty Smyth]

Here it is when I loaned it to my son's teacher for her room

[safielstar]

For anyone doing gift baskets, here's some pictures of the baskets I made for my SIL and MIL last year (2010). I haven't taken pics of this year's baskets yet but will post pics of those and the men's baskets once I take them.

[Chantel]

Ahhhh! Thank you so much for posting! So inspiring

[Chantel]

So on topic of gift baskets.. I'm deciding what to put in the PIL's gift this year. I have a lot to choose from, tons of household items, but I'm not sure that I want to use those because I don't have a theme.

Stuff like:
Resolve
Air fresheners
Lysol hand soap dispenser
Finish detergent
etc.

Just with those things alone, the ARV is probably around $30. Just don't know how to make a theme so it all goes along...

Help?

[MrsSunshine]

I did something like that for my parents last year.. literally went snooping in their cupboards.. they dont' care. .. then went shopping in my stock.. and made baskets that were just for them.. included a few extras a scratch cards, something personal to wear ie slippers etc. they loved their gifts.

[safielstar]

So on topic of gift baskets.. I'm deciding what to put in the PIL's gift this year. I have a lot to choose from, tons of household items, but I'm not sure that I want to use those because I don't have a theme.

Stuff like:
Resolve
Air fresheners
Lysol hand soap dispenser
Finish detergent
etc.

Just with those things alone, the ARV is probably around $30. Just don't know how to make a theme so it all goes along...

Help?

I've done "household" themed gift baskets before, and what you've listed is pretty much what I tend to put in those, so it sounds good to me If you'd like, you could give the in laws two small baskets, one a household one like what you've described above, and another one with a different theme if that's what you're worried about.

[Chantel]

Doing two gifts sounds like a perfect solution! I was just worried that it'd be like "Merry Christmas, here's stuff to clean your house with!", and that would be kind of dumb.

Thanks!

Here's a picture of a gift basket I found on an american couponing fb page that I think is AMAZING, might be inspirational to somebody!

[MrsSunshine]

I did 6 of them like the ones above for our church bazaar last xmas.. they were used on an auction table, a penny table and for raffles.. they church was so grateful.. although this year im not doing this as the coupons are not like they were last year.. and someone did up a couple of baskets too for the church and they were HUGE.. even I was shocked. im sure she'll be doing it again.. but mostly as Im making baskets up for a couple of families in my neighborhood.. diapers/wipes/TP/PT and them extras. im rather excited.

[safielstar]

whoa, that is one big basket of stuff! I wish mine could look like that, but I'm lucky if I can get enough over the whole year to make the mid-sized baskets I already do ^^; Granted, I think my baskets are improving since I'm getting the hang of things, but it's true, the coupons last year were a lot better, I miss those ^^;