Monday, December 23, 2013

It's What?

Christmas Eve..Eve?

I can't believe it. It's not just because it's been in the 70s here the past few days- it just seems that December has flown by.   The gifts are packed to go to my Dad's house tomorrow.  Tomorrow.

Hopefully, no one will be out and about desperately hunting that last perfect gift. I have to pick up a few holiday lottery tickets, for reasons I will not go in to. Suffice it to say, my Christmas Day plans were up in the air until mid-afternoon today.

I'm wishing you all a very wonderful Christmas, full of good times, good food and very, very little stress!

-Kristen

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Crocheting my brains out

It has been an interesting few weeks around my house.  To begin with, Tim & I temporarily switched laptops.  He had to work on ordination papers and his "B" and "N" keys randomly stop working- not really helpful for writing papers.   Now that I am back on my personal laptop (which is much larger than Tim's), it's like the height of luxury.  I'm also having trouble with my fingers hitting incorrect keys on the keyboard.  Ha, it's an adjustment.

I have been crocheting like crazy lately.  I had several orders to meet before Christmas.  Thankfully, the last one of those went out in the mail yesterday.  Now I just have one more item to finish up, hopefully by Christmas Eve, but definitely by Christmas Day.  Tim says I am going crazy.  I counter that years with him has already put me there.

I have done well this holiday season- I've managed to fight the urge to spend a lot of money on little dinky things that no one needs- even though it pained me to pass up some of the deals.

I better get back to the crocheting- Christmas is coming up SOON!

-Kristen

Sunday, December 8, 2013

All Quiet-

I've been pretty quiet for a while now and I wanted to give you some idea of what has been going on lately!

In addition to the rabbit shows, which take up my entire day, sometimes two, Thirty One business has been booming!  October and November saw a lot of parties and orders, which I am so thankful for.  I actually made in November what I would have made in a month working my old job.  So nice!

I've also been crocheting up a storm.  I have several orders to finish and want to have them delivered by Christmas- while it is a lot of fun, there is also a lot of work that goes in to each item, and the time commitment can be pretty large, even for small pieces.  Thankfully, I'm down to just one large piece to finish and two smaller pieces.  I think I might take a break for a little while after that, it's been go go go!

I am thankfully done with my Christmas shopping- I just have a few little things to finish up in regards to stocking stuffers for Tim.  It's so nice not to have to worry about all of that!  I hope you enjoyed the 12 Months of Christmas posts.  I very much enjoyed writing them.

Our house is decorated for Christmas this year! It's a major accomplishment, considering last year we pretty much did nothing.  The dogs already have their stocking stuffed, although somehow I bought more toys and treats that will go in the standard Santa-issued stocking.  I guess they get a gift under the tree too. 

Right now I am laying in bed under a very warm faux-down blanket I bought on deep discount at Kohls, dreading the thought of having to get up and get ready to leave the house.  It's 30 degrees outside and there is freezing rain.  Oh joy of joys!

-Kristen

Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Last Christmas Mile- (12 Months of Christmas Post)

Welcome to December! If you have been following the tips in this blog this year, hopefully you are mostly done with your Christmas preparations- if not completely finished!

If you haven't been following along, it's time to PANIC!!  Kidding...sort of. :)

Perhaps you still have a few people on your list, folks you just could not find the perfect gift for.   Don't worry, we've got you covered.

Look at the names left on your list.  Are all of them a situation where a gift is necessary?  Perhaps there are a few where a beautiful note written in a lovely card, hand chosen or hand made, for them may suffice.  Write of a wonderful memory the two of you made during the year and tell them how much their friendship means to you.  Perhaps attach a candy cane or two in a fun flavor, or tie it to the handle of a dollar store mug that you stuffed with hot chocolate packets.

Tim's Granny loves oreos, but she never buys them for herself, saying they are too expensive.  Every Christmas you can bet she ends up with various kinds of oreos, lovingly wrapped by different family members.  Perhaps your friend loves Godiva chocolate, gourmet cheese or a Hickory Farms summer sausage but can't bring themselves to splurge.  You could get them a small item, under $5 and give them a beautiful card to go with it. 

Tim never gets to have anchovies on his pizza because I think they are gross.  It doesn't stop me from buying him a tin or two and putting them in his stocking, to be used when we made individual pizzas.

Have you considered a coupon book?  Perhaps your friend has children but can't afford a babysitter, or can't find someone she trusts.  Make her a booklet of coupons offering one free babysitting evening per month (or even just give her six coupons to be used when she wants).  Talk about a huge value to her, but very inexpensive for you!

The sky is the limit with coupon books- dog washings, one house cleaning, one homemade meal, a garden weeding, a car wash- whatever you feel comfortable doing is a good idea to put on a coupon!

-Kristen 

Catch up on all the 12 Months of Christmas posts here.