Cheaper, Better, Faster (17 page)

Carve out a quiet hour or two for a storytelling party with the entire family. Read classic Christmas stories aloud.

Christmas—Santa boot prints

Little ones will believe Santa was actually in their home if you make boot prints with baking soda. Just dampen the bottom of a pair of boots, dip them into baking soda, and make tracks leading from the chimney to the tree and then to the cookies and milk. Make sure the cookies and milk are properly consumed. The baking soda will vacuum up easily.

Christmas—Santa booth photos

If the Santa booth allows you to take your own photographs
(most do, but be sure to inquire ahead of time), take your camera when your kids visit with the old gent. Instead of ordering duplicates of the photo, take it to a quick-print shop and have colored photocopy enlargements made for about $1 each.

Christmas—Santa visit success

If you take your kids to see Santa, here's a way to save time and aggravation shuffling in long lines like cattle: Stay away from overcrowded malls. Instead, check smaller department stores or neighborhood centers. Santa Claus will probably be visiting in a less hectic atmosphere.

Christmas—saying thanks candle

Buy a large white candle (3 by 8 inches is ideal). Starting at the top, carefully carve 25 evenly spaced “stripes” around the candle with the point of a knife. At a designated time each day (dinnertime or bedtime), starting on December 1, light the candle and decide on something you are thankful for as a family. Allow the candle to burn down one stripe each night until Christmas.

Christmas—see
the neighborhood lights

Take a nighttime walk in your neighborhood to enjoy the holiday lights. It's fun to see decorations up close and personal.

Christmas—socializing reality check

Be realistic about how much you can do. You don't have to see everyone between Thanksgiving and New Year's, for example. Save some get-togethers until after the holidays, and you'll have something to look forward to.

Christmas
—vacation starter

On the last day of school before Christmas vacation, tie red and green balloons to the mailbox to welcome your children home.

Christmas—“We missed you” photo

Photograph your family for the friends and family members who can't attend your special event or holiday gathering. Download the photos to your computer and have copies printed. Mail them along with a note describing the event to those who are missed.

Christmas cards—send personal notes throughout the
year

If you have a very long Christmas card list and feel rushed to write the personal notes you love so much, divide your list over four or five holidays such as Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Explain that this is your annual greeting. To keep your records straight, color code every name in your address book to denote on which holiday you wrote the note.

Christmas cards—send postcards instead

Send postcards instead of traditional Christmas cards. They are cheaper to mail and can be made by the clever sender by recycling last year's cards.

Christmas
games—board games

Get out the board games and have an ongoing family tournament during December.

Christmas games—jigsaw puzzle

Start a giant jigsaw puzzle at the beginning of your season. The goal is that it be finished by Christmas Day. Keep it out on a table in a well-lit area so everyone can work on it whenever they want.

Christmas games—“Pin the Red Nose on Rudolph”

Make a “Pin the Red Nose on Rudolph” game board. Draw Rudolph's head on a big poster board and cut red noses out of construction paper. Use loops of tape to attach the nose.

Christmas gifts—cookie cutters

A simple cookie cutter in a holiday shape of a star, tree, or
gingerbread man can make a great little gift. Lay the cookie cutter in the middle of a piece of clear cellophane. Fill the center of the cookie cutter with tiny candies such as jelly beans. Gather the cellophane and wrap with a bow.

Christmas gifts—cookies for kids' groups

Bake Christmas cookies for your child's team or group. To save time, make the slice-and-bake variety and decorate with ready-made frosting.

Christmas gifts—emergency

Be prepared for surprise guests and keep some gender-generic gifts (candy or comics for kids, candles or calendars for adults) wrapped and at the ready. Use color-coded wrap, stickers, or ribbon to help select the right gift for the age of the recipient.

Christmas gifts—for college students

Send a Christmas basket to a college student on the first of December. Include holiday music, decorations for the dorm room, Christmas cards, stamps, and red and green pens.

Christmas gift tags
—backup

Just in case the tag falls off packages under the tree or while in transit, write the name of the recipient on the back or bottom of the wrapped gift.

Christmas gift tags—cookie cutters as patterns

Using holiday-shaped cookie cutters as patterns, cut tags from file folders or other heavy card stock. Decorate with stickers, markers, or rubber stamps.

Christmas gift tags—skip the gift tags

Use a marking pen that writes on glossy surfaces to write directly on gift wrapping. Sharpie is a popular brand; check stationery and art
supply stores. Now you can skip gift tags entirely.

Christmas gift tags—with free color paper scraps

Call or stop by a local print shop and ask for any scraps of colored paper they are discarding. Around the holidays you'll end up with lots of green and red scraps. Cut the green paper in the shape of holly leaves, add tiny red berries cut from the red scraps, and you have beautiful gift tags. Make blue stars and yellow bells. The possibilities are endless.

Christmas gift
tags—with photos

Instead of writing the recipient's name on the tag, attach a childhood photo. It's fun for the kids to try to match the grown-ups to the pictures.

Christmas gift wrapping—color-code dots for
snoopers

When wrapping gifts, outsmart kids who are prone to snooping. Instead of using name tags, put a color-coded self-stick dot on each package so only you know who it's for.

Christmas gift wrapping—large gifts

A car, or even a bicycle, can be “wrapped” by tying an oversized gift tag to a piece of string. Leave the tag under the tree and run the string to where the gift awaits.

Christmas gift wrapping—newspaper comics

Don't buy gift wrapping. Start saving the comics from the Sunday papers in the summer and by Christmas you'll have a good supply. You can also use foreign newspapers or fashion ads.

Christmas gift wrapping—penny accents

Wrap a box in brown paper, then hot-glue rows of pennies to the outside in a symmetrical design, randomly or in the shape of a Christmas tree. Tie with a copper-colored or white ribbon.

Christmas gift wrapping—scented packages

Just before you seal up a box for shipping, sprinkle in some pine-scented potpourri. When the carton is opened, the whole room will smell like Christmas.

Christmas gift wrapping—shoelace ties

Use new, colored, or patterned shoelaces to tie up small packages. Add jingle bells for that special touch. (Note: Packages with any string on the outside are not suitable for shipping.)

Christmas gift wrapping—special area

Set up a gift-wrapping area. Drape a card table with a large tablecloth that hangs to the floor. Hide wrapping supplies under the table for quick retrieval.

Christmas gift wrapping—velvet gift sacks

Sew little pouches of red or green velvet, then put small gifts inside and tie with a holiday ribbon.

Christmas gift wrapping—wall art

For the price of wrapping paper and ribbon, you can decorate your entire home in a truly spectacular way. Gift wrap all of the framed paintings on your walls. The effect is stunning. Tip: Wrap only the fronts and sides to use less paper.

Christmas
parties—back-to-back to save time

If you're having two holiday parties or get-togethers at your home, schedule them back-to-back. Serve an identical (or at least similar) menu. It takes the same amount of time to make a double batch. Bonus: All your serving pieces will be out and your house will be clean.

Christmas
parties—cookie decorating

Plan a cookie decorating event with your kids. Hint: Bake
the cookies early in the day. At party time, set out various toppings and frostings. If you've invited friends, let each child take home a batch of goodies.

Christmas parties—cookie favors

Copy your favorite cookie recipes on cards, then wrap colorful cellophane around a couple of freshly baked samples, insert a recipe card, and tie everything with a bright red ribbon. Give one to each guest as a favor.

Christmas parties—cutting costs

To cut back on entertaining costs, hold a joint party with a friend or relative. You can split the labor and the expense. Or have a caroling party and just serve cookies and hot drinks.

Christmas parties—food organizing

Organize your refrigerator for easy access to the food you'll be using most. Put all the appetizer or salad supplies together in a container or on a tray, labeled and ready to use.

Christmas parties—for singles

Getting together with a group of friends who are also single is a great way to celebrate Christmas. How about hosting a party and having everyone pitch in to bake cookies, prepare cards, and wrap gifts? Some activities are a lot more fun to do in a group than alone. The evening could end with an ornament swap.

Christmas parties—progressive

Instead of everyone in your circle of friends hosting a separate holiday party, make plans to have a progressive dinner. The dinner party moves from one house to another, starting with hors d'oeuvres at the first stop, appetizer or soup at the second, main course at the next, and dessert and coffee at the last. It's an enjoyable way to share the burden and the glory, and you get to see everyone's holiday decorations.

Christmas parties—seating arrangements

If you have so many in attendance at your Christmas dinner that you must have two tables or more, have everyone get up and exchange places between dinner and dessert.

Christmas stockings—filled
with stockings

Don't know how to fill the stockings hanging by the chimney with care? Fill them with stockings! Everyone loves argyles, tube socks, running socks, or knee-highs. Stockings filled with stockings are fun and practical.

Christmas stockings
—New Year's Day

Start a new tradition. Even though Santa fills all the stockings on Christmas Eve, leave them hanging full and untouched until New Year's Day. This helps to relieve the feeling of overdose on Christmas morning and is a nice way to celebrate the new year.

Christmas tree—decorating, base

Don't forget to decorate the base of the tree. A pretty tablecloth; a yard of lace, satin, or silk; an arrangement of potted plants; or even a collection of dolls and stuffed animals can make your tree look unique.

Christmas tree—decorating, fast-food toys

All year, save the toys your kids receive with fast-food meals. Use the toys to decorate a small artificial tree by tying them on with ribbons, but allow the kids to take the toys off and play with them. This will help make your fancy tree with fragile decorations a little less tempting.

Christmas tree—decorating, lighting tips

Use lots of lights. If your tree is loaded with your collection of different ornaments, limit the lights to one color to help tie everything together. If the tree is sparse, lights in
a variety of colors and shapes will help fill things out.

Christmas tree—decorating, lights that sparkle

To make your tree sparkle, use lots of miniature lights. To figure out the minimum number you need, multiply the tree's width in feet by 8, then multiply that figure by the tree's height. For example, a 4-foot-wide tree that's 5 feet tall would require 160 lights (4 x 8 = 32 x 5 = 160).

Christmas tree
—decorating, ornament alternatives

If you don't have a huge collection of ornaments, fill out the tree with Christmas cards, candy canes, ribbons, bows, tinsel, and snowflakes cut from paper doilies. Tiny boxes covered with gift wrapping can look surprisingly elegant. Hang gingerbread men, cinnamon sticks tied with bows, and seashells. To add glitter, hang walnuts, pinecones, bay leaves, or blown eggs spray-painted gold or silver.

Christmas tree—decorating
, ornaments made of cardboard

Make paper ornaments out of cardboard. Trace cookie-cutter shapes or draw designs on the cardboard freehand. Color the shapes and cut them out. Punch a hole at the top and pull ribbon or string through the hole.

Christmas tree—decorating, ornaments made of clay

Make clay ornaments. In a saucepan, stir together 2 cups baking soda and 1 cup cornstarch, add 1
¼
cups water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is the consistency of moist mashed potatoes. Turn out on a plate and cover with a damp cloth until cool enough to handle. Roll to
¼
-inch thickness. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Use a drinking straw or toothpick to make holes at the top of each ornament. Allow to dry and harden on a flat surface overnight. Paint, decorate, then protect with a shiny glaze; you can use a clear acrylic spray found at
craft and home improvement stores.