I have a lot of "Christmas Card" people. Some I actually speak with, some I haven't talked to in years, and a few I have never even met thanks to my husbands very large side of the family. I looked everywhere for a decent card to send at a decent price. I considered doing a Group A and a Group B --A being the "better" card, and B being just a plain ol' card. When discussing this with a friend she mentioned checking out Costco. I don't know why, but I expected cheaply made, and limited amounts of choice. I was so WRONG! Not only did I get a stylish, large photo card that I got to edit and design online, I also got lined envelopes, and the ability to pick up at the warehouse so there was no shipping charge. I bought 130 of them... and I paid...drum roll PLEASE..... $31 AND got 7 free photo calendars along with it! I am never ever checking out any other site again!
*Need A Gift--A Little Something--But Have NO Ideas?
Don't worry! HomeGoods has got it! With a large inventory of so many different things for so many different ages, there is so much to choose from! BlogHer & HomeGoods gave me a $25 gift card toward my holiday shopping this year! It became a contest within my own head of how many things I could get for $25 for how many people! This is what I purchased:
A Rachel Ray knife, a bath toy, a note cube with pen (perfect for an added teacher gift!), beginners chop sticks, organic lollipops, and some chocolates! It took me hours to choose these things, as I kept adding and subtracting to my basket because of all of the amazing choices they had. I even contemplated being a giver this holiday season and donating some of it to the customer after me--but.... I got greedy...and I ended up going over my said $25 and spent .91 cents!
A Rachel Ray knife, a bath toy, a note cube with pen (perfect for an added teacher gift!), beginners chop sticks, organic lollipops, and some chocolates! It took me hours to choose these things, as I kept adding and subtracting to my basket because of all of the amazing choices they had. I even contemplated being a giver this holiday season and donating some of it to the customer after me--but.... I got greedy...and I ended up going over my said $25 and spent .91 cents!*Don't Be Fooled!
I was so excited by the prices I found in the Lakeside catalog. I put in a MIGHTY order, and had felt such relief that not only did I make a huge dent in my shopping before Thanksgiving, I also got it at a great price! Then I noticed that the website ordered one of my items the wrong character (I was buying Rylan Scooby Doo pants and they came up as a Sponge Bob). I emailed the company right away and got nothing but an automated, confusing response. I figured I would just return them and get the right ones when I received the order. When I got them I went to the UPS office to find out the shipping would be ON ME! $8.95 for $8.95 pants (literally). I called Lakeside to ask for reimbursement since a. it was THEIR mistake, b. I tried to contact them prior and got a crap e-mail more then once, and c. why would ANYONE return an item that they have to pay the same about in shipping. They said they don't do that and they can't help me. I have YET to get my money back, or new pants. As of today I am out $18! Needless to say I am still fighting this fight!
*Gifts in a Jar
Who doesn't love cookies? Or cocoa? Or a soup that all you have to do is add water? This is why I love to make gifts in a jar! It is so simple to assemble, and the receiver only has to dump the contents and add minimal things to it inorder to have newly baked cookies, or a hot cup of cocoa! If you are looking to make small gifts for people and need to do it on a budget--get your measuring cups out and your mason jars! I haven't done mine yet but here is what I am talking about:
I am sure you have seen them at the stores on sale for like $20!!!! Don't bother spending that
much when you can
easily make 4 for that price!
Need some help with ideas? NO WORRIES--there are awesome books out there like this one:
That literally take the guessing game out of it for you!!!!! Happy hand-craft gifting!
*Other ideas to keep in mind while out shopping:
- My local Scholastic Book Warehouse is having a massive book sale this week. I am planning on purchasing all those extra little gifts that I need to supplement. I buy for what feels like a million kids, and lets face it, books is ALWAYS a perfect gift (says teacher). They also do awesome sales like fill a box for a certain amount of money, and offer $10 and $25 off coupons!
- Target, Wal-mart, Starbucks, Dunken' are ALWAYS good choices for small giftcards for people you don't quite know well enough to buy a specialty store card for. For men there is always Best Buy and Home Depot! As for teachers--my sister (who has long been a 1st grade teacher since forever ago) says bookstores are the way to go! My two years of full time teaching gave me little to judgement since being in the inner city, and just grateful for chocolate! However I can see why chocolate gets a little uncreative on the teacher end. How much could one have from 30 students?
- You might have seen this on my other blog--but ... While organizing gifts to wrap and to "hide", I have been putting them in designated trash bags with labels on them. Then the wrapping mountain doesn't seem so large, and I feel like I have control of it!
- Music. Isn't the holidays all about music! My all time two favorites are:
AWESOME! One month isn't enough to this to this!
And...
Ok...I just bought this one..but seriously.....AMAZING!
Happy shopping, happy cooking/baking, happy wrapping, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
