Christmas Gift Idea #3

A Memory Box

I have done variations on this.

This one was for my mom. 

I did one for Big Mary too. 

They are great for someone who *needs* nothing.

I got the unfinished wood boxes and 

burned and painted them myself. 

But I have also used "off the rack" boxes as well.

This one was for Honey's 50th.

This one was for my friend Val's 50th.

Honey's had 50 things I love about him.

Mom and Big's each had 50 memories.

I sent an e-mail to my siblings and asked them to contribute.

I just wanted short little one lines, even just a word.

Like "The wooden spoon" LOL

I had them all rolled up individually 

and tied with a piece of embroidery floss. 

It's a fun project but start early.

50 is a lot!

Christmas Gift Idea #2

Run a race.

My brother and daughter have ran just a

*couple* in honor of mom.

This is but a small sampling of the signs they

wear as they run. I love that some of them in there

say "For Dirk's Mom."

Dirk and Shanna will usually gift mom with a

pin, a race brochure and a photo, along with the 

Celebration Sign. 

(if that's what you call them)

I don't run. 

Correction, I only run if someone is chasing me.

You don't get any little signs when running for

your life so I don't know what they are called.

But I digress.

Dirk lives in Washington sate. 

Shanna lives in Indiana.

They have run a couple of races together. 

I think that's part of the gift.

A family that joins together because they

love you and love each other. 

Warms my heart.

Christmas Gift Idea #1

The title of this post would imply I have 

a series of gift ideas all mapped out.

Um, not so much.

But it does show the optimistic attitude with which

I present this idea. 

A few years ago my mother had the idea that she would

prefer not to get gifts of "stuff."

She asked us all to give her gifts of donations.

Time or money, either was good.

At first it was intimidating but after some thought

each family was able to come up with ideas unique

to them.

I'll share the one we gave my mother the first year

now and will hold out some of the other ideas in

hopes of many moments of happy blog reading

for the future. 

heheheh...

My grandfather had an affinity for 

The Salvation Army.

I'm not sure of the origin but I do recall a family tale 

involving it, my grandpa and my brother.

So our gift to my mother was the four of us ringing

the bell at a few different times during the

Christmas season. 

I had in mind buying a bell and wrapping it up as

a token of our gift but I wound up with 

something better.

We were such enthusiastic bell ringers that 

we actually rang a bell right off it's handle.

Yep, gave mom that busted up bell.  

OK, well, in the spirit of full disclosure, 

this is not the bell. 

This is not even my photograph. 

But the bell we busted up looked like this when we got it :o)

And I like visuals. 

Hostess Gifts

I have a couple of thoughts about hostess gifts

I'm sure the world needs to hear about. 

(Or at least the 3 people who read this blog)

hehehehe

The first is from my favorite Blogger, Aggie. 

http://aggieskitchen.com/2010/12/03/holiday-sangria/

I'm not certain how long the fruit in this will hold up but

even the spiced simple syrup would be a great gift. 

Aggie has a couple of suggestions for other uses for the syrup. 

It just sounds like holiday!

The other great idea comes from my friend Kristie.

I had a huge Halloween party one year and she brought 

a basket of breakfast for the next morning.

What a great idea!

After all the focus on the party preparations the last

thing I was thinking of was eating the next morning. 

This was a couple of years ago but it seems to me she had

a bag of coffee and donuts in a basket but you could do the 

coffee and some banana bread, muffins, Alka Seltzer, 

a can of tomato juice, tobasco sauce.

(depending on what *kind* of party it is) 

A couple of mugs.

The possibilities are endless!

There you go!

Now, have I wormed my way into any parties?

Fun Girlfriend Gift!

Here's a cool idea!

My friend, Aggie, had a great appetizer recipe

on her blog, 

http://aggieskitchen.com/

This idea evolved, as I showered 

(at least it wasn't 4 in the morning, when I usually get my best ideas).

I printed up her recipe and bought the shelf stable components,

dried figs, roasted pecans and balsamic.

I picked up some festive oven mitts and put all the 

items in them and tied the recipe on the loop. 

The girls were coming for lunch so I tied the mitts
onto the backs of their chairs.

How fun is that!?

They just need to grab some cheese to keep in the fridge and then 

when they need a last minute app, they're set!

I figure at the holidays who couldn't use a little somthin' up 

their sleeves?

So, here you have it. 

The basic concept is fun but you can totally adapt it.

If you have a favorite appetizer that has mostly

shelf stable ingredients then use that.
Merry Christmas!!!