Budgeting for Christmas NOW {Christmas on the Brain}

OK, I hate to admit it, but I have Christmas on the brain!

I'm not decorating the house and listening to Bing Crosby yet, but I'm definitely thinking about the upcoming season.  {Secretly... I'm really in the mood to start decorating for Christmas.}

Here's why I'm thinking about Christmas...

Last year was the first Christmas {Holiday Season} in a long time that I actually enjoyed.  I didn't feel stressed.  I didn't feel rushed.  I didn't feel burdened.  It was great.  I was able to sit back and enjoy the people in my life and what Christmas means to me.

Last year I was prepared...prepared in so many ways, but one of the biggest was financially.

We budgeted for all of our Christmas shopping last year.

After Christmas was all said and done, there was no buyer's regret.  We were able to get the gifts the kids really wanted.  There were no upcoming credit card bills looming over our heads to remind us of the gifts we had given.  We had PEACE!

I plan to have that peace again this year and to enjoy myself, enjoy my family, enjoy the season.

Here's how...

Start budgeting NOW.  Don't wait until Thanksgiving day or later to start saving and budgeting.

Make a list of everyone you need to buy for and set a limit on how much you are going to spend for each person/gift.  This way you will know how much you need to save {better yet, how much you really can afford or actually want to spend}.

Skip "Black Friday" shopping!  Seriously, I said it.  There are deals just as good if not better on the same products leading up to Christmas.  Sleep in, spend the day with your kids, spend the day relaxing, spend the day having fun...fun is not going to a store and getting trampled, shoved, or elbowed by rude, greedy people all in the name of a DVD player, bed sheets, crock-pot, or clothes that will be clearanced out within a couple weeks {I worked in retail for years and saw it all...}.

Plan to do all of your shopping with CASH.  Going shopping with hard earned cash makes you think twice {or three times} about what you're buying and the amount that you're spending.

Have a game plan.  Make a list of each person you're buying for, the dollar amount, and what you want to buy for that person.  Shopping and wandering aimlessly for the perfect gift to pop out at you rarely turns out well.

Being prepared for the season and not "breaking the bank" makes life and family much more enjoyable.
Most importantly remember that Christmas is not about the gift bought and wrapped up under the tree...it's not about the dollar amount you spent, or the number of people you gave gifts to...

How do you plan for your holiday and Christmas spending?  Do you have any great tips to share?

F-U-N Addressing Cards {Mail}

Being on top of my game this year {getting to my Christmas cards with more than one day left until Christmas}, I decided I was going to make addressing my Christmas cards a little more "F-U-N".

Why not bring the "beauty" of the card to the envelope too?  I figured there's so much envelope...why not use it?

I gathered my supplies...cards, envelopes, and my trusted Sharpies.

I just l-o-v-e Sharpies...don't you?

I sat down in front of the television after the kids went to bed and got to "work" on addressing...

It's all free hand.  Nothing too fancy or professional, but it adds a little "flair" to the envelope.

Now I just need to get myself one of those "cutesy" return address stamps!

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you are having a peaceful and joy filled Holiday season!

Kid Crafting. Felt Christmas Ornaments & Gift Toppers

Previously I mentioned that the kids and I have been Christmas "crafting" and decoration making nearly daily.  Their new favorite craft is sewing felt ornaments.

They have diligently been busy creating felt ornaments and gift toppers for everyone.  It's quite cute and sweet of them.

{Plus...it keeps them "busy".  Which we mommies need sometimes, right?}

They're so simple to do...they've done so many that they can completely do them on their own now.

We bust out the felt.


Grab the embroidery thread.

Cut out a couple felt circles {we are now "graduating" to hearts}.

Cut out our "embellishment"...usually initials, hearts, or stars.



And away they go...sewing to their heart's content.

We stuff them with a little "stuffing".

Stitch it closed, add a little hanging loop...and voila!


The result...simple, inexpensive projects that make great gifts or gift toppers.

Christmas {Holiday} Cards & AWESOME coupon deal!

I'm so happy to say that I am ahead of the game this year on my Christmas cards!

They are done and out...and it feels soooo good.  I'm now sitting back and enjoying reading and seeing the cards that come to us each day in the mail.

Usually I'm the person with great intentions to get my cards done {designed}, ordered, and printed right after Thanksgiving.  Reality however is that I'm typically the one standing in line at Walgreens Photo {or the like} the week of Christmas to print up some Christmas cards in hope to get them post marked before the 25th.

This year though I stuck to my intentions and followed through!  I'm so happy with how they turned out too!

Thanks to cyber Monday I got an awesome deal on my cards...which was the "icing on the cake".

This is how my cards came packaged to me {inside the box}...could it be any cuter!?

I just happened to come across cardstore.com on the Monday following Thanksgiving, and they just happened to be having an awesome sale on their photo cards...it was fate!  I have to admit that I was a little nervous about how they would turn out because of how great the sale price was.  But, when they were delivered {quickly might I add} I was so pleasantly surprised.  The quality was fantastic!




I just received an email this morning with a coupon code for an awesome deal on their cards TODAY ONLY!!!  29 cent cards!!!  Did I mention how awesome the quality is?  I know my photos don't do them justice.  If you still need cards you should check them out.  Their site is www.cardstore.com  and the coupon code is on the front page of the site {CCP2229}.

*I was not paid or asked to write a review for cardstore.com...I really do think their products are awesome and look forward to using them again!

We need more Jingle Bell! {aka decorations}

I am so happy to say that I am truly enjoying the Holidays this year!

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday of the year, but once I got married, and started having kids, it lost its luster a bit for me.

Don't get me wrong...I still loved Christmas, and enjoyed experiencing it with my family and kids, but it seemed to come with some "stresses" which took away from the overall enjoyment.

This year is so different...it's fun, relaxed, and stress free.  One of the things that I am enjoying is "decorating" and "crafting" with the kids.  It seems as though we are doing a Christmas craft, or making a decoration every other day.

Here's a flavor of some of the happenings around here...










Some of them work, some of them don't...{some are complete failures}, but the time doing them is {usually} so enjoyable.