This morning I stumbled across these zoo animal silly bands at Amazon….they ship free with super saver shipping and free with Amazon Prime. Kids of many ages are enjoying this latest fad. These could be good for Operation Children’s Shoebox, kid’s birthday goody bags, or even stockings. I don’t know how long the great deal will last (mine was under $2, shipped free with Prime), so if you’re interested check out soon.
Did you have a “live” Christmas tree this year? If so, area cities and townships are gearing up to take them off your hands. Some will pick up at the curb or offer neighborhood drop off points. Most trees are recycled into mulch or compost. And some municipalities will do the work for you and let you take mulch home. What a deal! To see what your community is offering check out these links:
Butler County – Main recycling page or Tree Recycling PDF or Channel 5‘s info in text format.
Hamilton County – city by city list (search for your city, town, or township)
Mason, OH curbside pick began Dec 28th
Montgomery County Tree Drop Off Info
If you’re on my gift list….please don’t read this post….or at least pretend that you didn’t see it when I hand you a gift this year.
I’ve been scouring the web for great ideas for gifts for everyone this year. Here’s some ideas for gifts from the heart….
Homemade Bread — Last year we gifted this bread to all the kid’s teachers. They *loved* it. It was good and healthy to boot. I’m going to fire up the bread machines again and make a bunch for this year. I’m making 23+ loaves this year.
Cookie Mixes in a Jar — These are fun to receive and can be made with basic ingredients. Add some pizzaz by tying a ribbon around the top or making a cute label. (I haven’t made these in a long time, but have been on the receiving end.) Great ideas and books here:
Return Address Labels — If you’ve got a printer and basic software, you can create some cute return address labels. This is on our list this year. I want each family member to have their own address labels. It fun as a kid to have your own. I like to use Avery labels from Office Depot or Staples. If you don’t feel too creative, or want someone else to do it for you, check out Vista Print.
Click here to order self-stick labels.
Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix — We love the recipe from Alton Brown. Guess what someone’s getting this year? Package in a pretty jar and include instructions and maybe a nice Christmas-y mug.
Wall Calendar — Grandparents seem to love this gift. You can make your own by printing pictures and gluing on pre-made calendar blanks, or your own card stock. Or, if you want someone to do it for you they can be done at:
Ornaments – some of my favorite gifts from friends have been their simple ornaments tucked inside a card. Here’s some I found online:
And then package your special gift in a Cereal Box Gift Bag or other inventive wrapping. A basic box with a bow looks great.
Do you have a favorite homemade gift to share? Or if you tried one of these links leave us a comment and tell us about it.
Happy Holidays!
This post has been linked to other great ideas at Life As a Mom.
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Now through DEC 31, 2009 buy a $20 gift card at Steak ‘n Shake and get a $5 certificate
(certificate valid Jan 4-Feb 28, 2010)
Must purchase at a local restaurant.
That’s like getting a free meal after the first of the year.
Yes, I know it’s December and snow is right around the corner, but if you think ahead to next summer you could save some bucks on summer entertainment. Our family isn’t much of a waterpark family, but I know of plenty of others who LOVE to hang out at The Beach during those hot, steamy days of summer. If you’re thinking about going next year, check out this deal directly from The Beach.
You could even buy it now, and wrap it up for a Christmas gift….2 birds with one stone — a gift now and fun at Holiday Fest and all next summer.
Every year after the crumbs from Thanksgiving have been cleaned up, we get our our Christmas decorations. Years ago I was introduced to the Little People Nativity set from Fisher Price. It has the familiar faces of the Little People dressed up in “costumes” to help tell the nativity story. We get our set out every year and everyone plays with it at some point — even the older kids. Do you have small children? Or nieces and nephews? This would make a great gift that can be used year after year. I wish I could link you over to Amazon to buy it and get free shipping — but the price is not good today. In fact it’s about twice as high as ToysRUs. And for a limited time, ToysRUs is offering free shipping.
Want to listen to some new holiday music? Amazon is offering 25 days of free MP3s available for download. Each day Amazon unveils a new song. I love deals like this because I get to listen to new music and see if I’d like an entire album. This has lead to me getting CDs that I really like and avoiding CDs that had good cover art, but didn’t match my musical taste. Check it out: Free MP3s from Amazon
If you’re looking for some good stocking stuffers of Christmas music check out some of my deals here. Or a complete list of items I’m selling on Amazon — many of which are available for Free Super Saver Shipping.
