Teacher Gifts

It is that time of year again when everyone is wondering what to give their children's teachers or care givers for Christmas.  

About a month ago I sat down to figure out how many gifts I needed and I about had a nervous breakdown.  This past year has brought many changes in our life, including realizing my oldest is a special needs child.  Those details are for another post but he now has several therapists, attends regular school and special ed classes, and of course we are involved in church activities.  I stopped counting when I got to 15 people I would need gifts for just for this child - I still had another child to go too!  


I started digging through my gift area and my cupboards to see what I could come up with using items I already had and then I could fill in from there.  Here are a few of the ideas I came up with:

Brownie Pie

Gift Baskets - take all of those little samples and freebies you have and make a creative gift basket.  You can always spend a few dollars to fill it out with any items you do not have.

Apple Butter

Magnets - these are adorable and very inexpensive to make.

Pumpkin Bread

White Chocolate Popcorn

Gift cards from SwagBucks - you can earn free gift cards simply by searching the internet.  I almost always have an extra Starbucks card or two on hand simply for those last minute gifts I need.

Feel free to share some of your favorite teacher gifts in the comments section.  I'm always looking for new ideas and I know my readers would enjoy them too.

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

Today kicks off the Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. Head over there to find tons of great blogs and prizes.

For those of you new to this blog, let me introduce myself. My husband and I have been married for close to five years. We have one very active 3 year old and another boy on the way - due in mid-July. I've always been frugal and my husband has somewhat led that lifestyle but not to the extent I have. In Oct. 2007 he learned that his job was being cut to part time. He has not been able to find full time work since then so I took my frugal skills to a whole new level to make ends meet. I work part time at a real job and then run a Tupperware business part time. The rest of the time, I'm a SAHM. Many of our friends asked us how we do it and so I started this blog to let others in on our frugal lifestyle. We truly are Living on Less.

I look forward to meeting more of you over the next week as we celebrate The Ultimate Blog Party 2009.

Keeping Christ in Christmas

Every since our child was born, we have talked about the importance of keeping Christmas focused on Christ. I feel we have done a pretty good job but our child is just 2 1/2 so I think it is a bit early to tell. How have we done this?

Gifts. We've taken the focus off of gifts. The first thing he hears each season is about baby Jesus, not about what does he want on his wishlist. He still receives gifts and enjoys helping mommy shop for gifts, but that isn't the main focus.

Santa. Our child barely knows who Santa is and I'm ok with that. When he sees a picture of Santa he always asks who it is. When we went to visit Santa, he was scared to death even though we had talked about it ahead of time. We've tried to associate Santa with giving gifts and making people happy, not on receiving a bunch of gifts.

Books. Our child loves books so we bought him several Christmas books from the Christian book store. They all point back to the birth of Jesus. The best time to get books is after Christmas and they are usually 50-75% off. I buy a few each year so that he has new books the next time Christmas comes around.

We eventually want to add an advent calendar too but he doesn't quite get it yet. We know that as he gets older and has more worldly influences, Santa and other things will creep in more, but we hope having the early influence will help him keep Christ in Christmas.

Let me close with a cute story of the conversation my child and I had while reading the Christmas story this week:

We open to the page with Mary and Joseph in the stable holding baby Jesus

Me: Who is that?

S: Mommy, daddy, and me

Me: I thought that was Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus

S: No, mommy, daddy, and me - and Papaw's cow

We then turn the page and there is one angel on the page - he proceeds to say that is daddy. I turn the next page and there are five angels. He informs me they are all mommy.

I think we have some work to do on setting him straight but it makes for a great story to tell him when he is older.

What are you doing to keep Christ in Christmas? Feel free to share in the comments section or leave a link to your blog post on this topic.

Saving Money on Christmas

Today starts the 12 Weeks of Christmas over at Modern Mommyhood, so today's post is about Christmas to celebrate this new carnival.

I recently talked about how to be more organized for Christmas and many of those concepts will help you save money too. I would love to hear how others save money so feel free to leave me a comment.

Budget: Make a budget and stick to it. Remember the list of gift recipients you made - go find that list and put a dollar amount next to each name. Also, make a budget for food and parties.

Intentional shopping: Have you ever gone to the mall or a store just to see what they have and come out with more than you planned on buying? I'm sure most of us have and this is where intentional shopping comes in. Do not go to a store just to browse around. Go in knowing what you intend to buy and then only buy that item(s). Since I began intentional shopping over a year ago, I've saved hundreds of dollars.

Buy ahead: Start collecting food and gift items now when you see them on sale. I save a lot of money at the grocery store by using The Grocery Game. Sign up now to begin creating a stockpile of grocery and toiletry needs for the holidays. Many of these great finds can be turned into a gift basket or donated to the needy. I've been watching the craft stores too for supplies on sale so when I get ready to make Christmas gifts, I have all my supplies for a fraction of the cost.

Homemade: Not everything needs to be homemade, nor should it be but you can save some serious dough by making a few things. Over the next few months (starting tomorrow) I will feature a few of the homemade things I am either doing or have done over the years. My problem this is year is that I have more ideas than I have people to give them to.

Have a few go to meals on hand: We all know the holidays are crazy and in my household there are many times I want to turn to fast food to save a few minutes. If I plan ahead though, dinner can be ready in no time and it will be much healthier. I'm planning on putting a few casseroles and soups in the freezer to have on hand for those crazy days. I will also be using my crockpot a lot. Nothing is better than coming home to a home cooked meal ready and waiting for you.

So, what are you doing to save money during the holidays this year?
If you signed up for The Grocery Game, I would appreciate you using me as a referral. My referral email is light52b at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Christmas Organization

Modern Mommyhood is hosting the 12 Weeks of Christmas carnival every Monday, starting October 6. Check out the link on the right hand side of this blog each week to see what others are doing to prepare for Christmas.


I know it seems early, but this is the best time to start thinking about the holidays. Life isn't near as busy and you have time, so get started now in order to enjoy the holidays this year. The easiest way is to break down the tasks. Here are a few of the tasks I plan to do before the holidays:


Make a gift list: I make a list of everyone I want to give a gift to and then brainstorm ideas for them. This is simply a jumping point for gifts but it helps to brainstorm before jumping right in. Remember, not everyone you know needs a gift.


Surf the internet for ideas: Surf for fun crafts and yummy food in order to plan what you will make and what you will buy.



Begin making homemade items: If you are making crafts, start making things now - it is much more likely to actually be done by Christmas if you start now. If baking, make a plan of attack. I'm known for my pumpkin bread and I get a ton of requests around the holidays. I usually start in Oct. with making a few loaves when I have time. By the time Dec. comes around, my freezer is full of bread and I don't have to worry about finding time to cook. Cookies and a few other sweets freeze well too.



Schedule: If there are traditions you do every year such as baking day, Christmas parties, etc, start scheduling them in the next month or so. This way you ensure actually getting to the tradition instead of waiting until the last minute when everyone is already busy.



Pick a place to store everything: I have a place in one of my closets where I store all gifts. It makes it easy to find everything when it comes time to wrap. I also plan on creating a place in my garage pantry to store non-perishable food items I buy ahead for Christmas lunch. It is much cheaper to buy when things are on sale and a little at a time than to wait until you actually need it.



Do you feel overwhelmed now? Don't let it get to you. Sit down with a nice cup of coffee and make your plan of attack, then start working it one item at a time. Before you know it, Thanksgiving will be here and you will be able to sit back and enjoy the holidays.

First Carnival

I'm participating in my first carnival this week. Click here to go to Tiny Prints and check out the other participants. This one is for green living and features my Waste Less Wednesday post from last week.