Another Crafty Christmas Tip

Saturday night was our office Christmas party/get together. Sarah was also invited so, the three of us had some quality fun time at the Richter’s. We ate some good Chinese food, talked and got caught up. Then we spent the rest of the night playing Norwegian Yatzee (which means the score card is in Norwegian) and an intense game of Uno (which one hand lasted more than 45 minutes – yikes)! I haven’t had that much fun since the game nights with the girls in Santa Maria!

I thought I would share a few crafty ideas for those shopping for Christmas on a budget! First off, I love Target. I know I am a little bias since I gave 10 years of my life to the Target Corporation but I feel most at home shopping there. Their $1 bins are always fun to look through. I often find something cool that I can use in a craft project or add to a gift to make it more special. Right now they have tissue packs for a buck. Love the colors and it took only one pack for all of these gifts!

In the stationary department, I found these cute gift bags for just .49-.69 cents each. To make them more personal, I used glitter Stickles and monogrammed the front with their first initial.

I am always on the look out for a unique ornament, to add to a bag for decoration, and found some cute napkin rings, 2 for $4.99. I added a ribbon ornament hook and vola! Two beautiful ornament wreaths. Jen gave me the best idea for a gift for my friends, Bart & Bethany. They have 3 adorable little kids and have been thinking about how to teach them about Santa Claus. Yet, they want to keep the season all about the birth of Christ – the real reason for celebrating the Christmas season. I had seen a book Jen had bought called St. Nicholas – The Real Story of the Christmas Legend. (Check out the look inside on Amazon.com) Along with a gift certificate for dinner, I put together a gift which included the book, 5 oranges, and three drawstring pouches with chocolate coins in each pouch; one for each of the kids. I also included an excerpt about Santa Claus from Ace Collins’, The Fascinating Stories behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. The anniversary of the death of St. Nicholas was on Dec. 6th, the day of our party. They loved it and are going to start a new Christmas tradition with their kids.

On another note, did any of you see Portland on the finale of this season's The Amazing Race? I am going to have to try and watch the episode online since I hear they were at some of my favorite places.

Also, Scarlet Lime has posted pictures of their artist's layouts using this months kits featuring my tags! They are so amazing - it is pretty wierd seeing them on other people's layouts - and super beautiful ones at that! Thanks again for all of the words of kindness regarding our One Bright Spot adventure. Jen and I are having such a blast creating and inpiring others through OBS. Jen is also giving free product away if you post a comment by tomorrow so, be sure to say hi.

http://theonebrightspot.blogspot.com/2008/12/weekend-sneak-peak-day-2.html