(Belated) Martha Monday--Father's Day

Father's Day is just around the corner, and I found some super-cute ideas on MarthaStewart.com.  These handmade gifts would be perfect for new fathers, old fathers, grandfathers, uncles and general dad-type people. 


Remake Dad's favorite foods with fun labels:

 Give Dad a booklet of fun coupons:

If handmaking gifts is not your thing, this car care travel kit would be easy enough to assemble:

You can find more handmade gift ideas here, or go here for a fun Father's Day gift guide.  Have a great week!

Last minute gift ideas

Christmas is only three days away...are you ready?  I have only one more gift to purchase, and I know exactly what it is so I'm not freaking out.  I do, however, know several people who are freaking out.  If that's the boat you're in, have no fear. Here are some super-duper last-minute Christmas ideas that are easy to buy and won't break the bank:

For her: gift certificates for manicures/pedicures.  You can't go wrong with this!

For him: new gloves, hat, scarf and a super-fancy heated windshield scraper. Cozy, yet technologically advanced. Win!

For kids: board and card games.  In a world where too many kids are plugged in too early and for too long, an old-fashioned board or card game is a nice break. How about a poker set?

For the couple:  chocolates and champagne.  No need to say more.

For the family: a family-friendly movie, popcorn, candy and a six-pack of high-end root beer.  Instant family movie night!

Need to buy a bunch of gifts?  My advice is to pick a theme and shop at a quality department-type store.

For example, let's say you are exhausted with all of this Christmas preparation and craziness. All you want to do is sleep, am I right?  THERE'S YOUR THEME!  There are lots of great gifts out there (for kids and adults) that relate to "sleep":

Pajamas (these are especially fun for kids)
Fancy sheets
New pillows
Fun and functional alarm clocks
Nightlights (again, especially fun for kids)
Cozy bathrobes
Throw blankets
Stuffed animals (for kids)
Night time reading materials (for kids or adults)
Slippers

Any of these items can be easily found at any major store, and at affordable prices. 

Here's another theme (and one of my favorites)....the kitchen!
What kitchen gifts would be suitable for a wide variety of people?

Cookbooks (good for kids and adults)
Popcorn maker (include popcorn and seasonings)
Blender (include drink mix)
Aprons
Food gift basket
Food kit--think cake pops, cupcakes, cookies, etc.
Platters and serving dishes
Vases and centerpieces
Tablecloths and placemats
High-end kitchen gadgets, such as a rotary cheese grater, omelet pan, food processor, etc.

Again, these are all items that can be purchased on a budget in any department-type store. 

Get an idea, make a list, check your budget and then get to the nearest store that suits your needs. Grab everything, check your list, make your purchases and go home to wrap.  At this point in the game, there's no reason to spend any time stressing out over what to get for whom...Christmas is right around the corner, and there are better things you could be doing with your time.  Such as sipping a nice Riesling while watching Miracle on 34th Street for the millionth time. 

And if all these ideas aren't working for you, head to Walgreen's or CVS and get everyone on your list a Chia pet.  Everyone loves those things!

Martha Monday--Wonderfully handmade

Right now, all of my homemade gifts are of the baked variety...cookies, cookies and more cookies. Next Christmas, I hope to branch out and give handmade gifts that don't have to spend time in the oven before they are given.

But if you're looking to give handmade this year, Martha has some amazing ideas.  Check out her 82 ideas for handmade gifts for the women in your life; 33 ideas for homemade gifts for the men in your life;  and 34 ideas for kids' handmade gifts.

I'm really liking this No-Sew Tote Bag:

And homemade Body Scrub looks easy to make, while still being a luxurious gift:

If "Project Sony" goes well, then maybe I'll try my hand at some other homemade gifts for my kids next year.  This Animal Trunk is awesome:

I'm also a fan of these Monster Mittens (which can also be made to look like lions and sharks!):

Making handmade gifts accomplishes so many things: there's a real sense of accomplishment in making a gift that's good enough to give, it saves money and it truly shows the recipient how much you care.  Baking is how I do that now, but my inner-Martha is crying out for me to do more. 

For more handmade gift ideas from Martha Stewart, click here.  Happy gifting!

Gifts for my kids

It's easy to go overboard with Christmas gift-giving, especially when kids are involved.  The urge to buy my kids stuff, stuff, stuff is strong, but fortunately I don't have unlimited space or funds to indulge in this madness.  Gifts from Mommy and Daddy follow this handy rhyme:

Something you want; something you need. Something to wear and something to read.

Little Guy and Little Miss's gifts stay in line with this credo. Additionally, they get a gift from Santa and a stocking full of goodies, small toys and treats.     

This year, their "something to wear" happens to be Halloween costumes I bought on clearance.  We play dress up a lot and these will be a big hit.  In a few years, I'm sure more practical clothing options will replace the superhero and storybook costumes, so I'm enjoying (and indulging!) this dress-up phase for as long as I can.

While not everything is pictured, nearly all the gift-buying for my kids is done. I have a few more stocking stuffers to buy, but that's it.  There is one gift in the making, however.  The big project is the gift from Santa.  Handy Freddy and I are calling it "Project Sony."

We got this television from the side of the road several months ago. After confirming that it doesn't work, Handy Freddy gutted it.  My plan is to spray paint the inside, and MOM2 is sewing a curtain to go across the top.  What will that give us? 

A super-cool puppet theater for Little Guy and Little Miss, direct from Santa. With a little help from his elves, of course.  Stay tuned!

Sign up now for 'Happy Holidays!'

For the fall semester, my Live Well, Spend Less! course has been divided into three one-night seminars for a fun "Happy Holidays" series:


Creative Gift Solutions at the downtown Aurora campus
Monday, October 24, 7:15-8:45pm
Cost: $19.00 (The cost of $59.00 as listed in the WCC course catalog is incorrect.)
We'll focus on fabulous and frugal gifts for everyone on your list, as well as great gifts for families, online deals and homemade goodies that friends and family will be delighted to receive. I'll have great ideas to help you shop for even the hardest-to-please person on your list.  I understand that resources are limited, and my suggestions for holiday gift-giving will leave you with time and money to spare!

Perfect Party Solutions at the Sugar Grove campus
Monday, November 7, 7:15-8:45pm
Cost: $19.00
Does the thought of hosting a holiday gathering have you stressed? I'll have tips and tricks for organizing and hosting everything from office cocktail parties to family feasts that will make you the host with the most!  Whether it's a simple gathering for friends or a 7-course meal for fussy in-laws, I'll help you create a memorable event.  Be careful, following my suggestions could have your family begging you to host the holidays every year!

Holiday Activities for the Whole Family at the Plano campus
Monday, November 21, 7:15-8:45pm
Cost: $19.00
I firmly believe that the holidays should be a time for fun, family and friends...if your holiday preparations have you threatening to cancel the whole season, then something must change! Let me help you find ways to reconnect with your family during this busy season, whether it be by creating new traditions, improving upon old ones, or finding ways to tackle holiday chores in ways that will leave the entire family feeling merry.

Registration information is at the links.  As always, you can find all of my Waubonsee Community College courses listed to the right. I hope to see you in one soon!

Welcome back basket

Good friends and neighbors Yogita and Adithi are returning home from a very long trip today.  Yogita is my closest friend in this neighborhood, and Adithi is a great playmate to the Little Guy so we are very happy to have them back.  To welcome them home, I made a fun little St. Patrick's basket for them.

On top is a loaf of fresh-out-of-my-oven white bread. Yum!

Below that is a round of Irish soda bread. It is St. Patrick's Day, after all!

I have some treat in there for Adithi: a writing pad, fun spring-themed pencils and sunglasses.  I put bath gel and lotion in there for Yogita.  After a 24 hour trip, I'm guessing she'll need some pampering.  I know I would!

To expand on the St. Patrick's Day theme, I got out my Wilton candy molds and made some shamrock pops.  The dark chocolate (behind the green) is mint-flavored.  Mmmmmm...mint.

These chocolate covered pretzels are hard to make out, but the designs are shamrocks and top hats.  You can see the pretzel mold here. 

These are just fun little candy cups I made with the remaining chocolate. This way, there's plenty of chocolate for everyone! Which is also something one would need after a 24 hour trip.  I know I would.

Welcome back, Yogita and Adithi!  And happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!

Manda Monday--After Christmas sales

In the December issue of Living, Martha's calendar denotes December 3 as the day to stock up on gift-wrapping supplies. 

This is totally, absolutely, positively wrong. 

Don't stock up on your wrapping supplies weeks before Christmas when everything is still full price; instead, buy your supplies immediately after Christmas to take advantage of sales.  Buy gift wrap, bows, ribbons and more at 70-90% off, and get everything you need for next Christmas on the cheap.

In other words, TODAY is the day to restock your gift-wrapping supplies.

This has been my way of doing things for years. In fact, I so love buying gift wrap after Christmas, and could get it for so cheap, that for many years BOTH of these wrapping paper bins were full.

Three years ago, I had over forty rolls of paper.  That's a bit much, even for a gift wrap fanatic like me, so I stopped hitting the after Christmas sales.  Well, at least, I stopped buying the discounted wrapping paper.  Now, I'm down to 22 rolls of gift wrap.

Yes, I know there are 24 rolls in the bin, but two of them are basket wrap, and I don't count that as wrapping paper. 

I did the same thing with bows: I bought bags and bags of bows at 90% off, and now I have an entire storage tote dedicated to bows. 

And do you know what the crazy thing is?  I'm more of a ribbon person, so I hardly ever use bows.

My supply of tissue paper is adequate, so if I see some really cute patterns then I will snatch them up.  I have plenty of the Scotch pop-up tape refills, so I'm good there.  And I have a few rolls of ribbon left over from years past.  Normally, this amount of ribbon would be too little for me, but I'm going to avoid buying more so that I can start using up all those bows next year!

Before you put your Christmas gift wrapping supplies away, take a good look at what you have and what you need. Then, with a list in hand, hit some of the after Christmas sales for super cheap supplies. 

Trust me on this one: save money by stocking up on supplies now, and you'll be ready to wrap for next Christmas.  Happy shopping!

Merry chaos

Last year, the weeks leading up to Christmas were orderly and organized.  Cards were out at a reasonable time, cookies were baked and delivered with time to spare, gifts were wrapped well in advance of the big day, and all was right with the world. I even managed to have a gift-wrapping Girls Night In party!

This year...not so much!  I don't know if it's because December has been really hard on us with family dealings, or if adding another child into the mix has made things more difficult, but my best laid plans have gone by the wayside.  I am way behind on everything I need to do--Martha would be appalled.  Christmas at the TMI household has been anything but orderly this year.

I wrap all the presents in the dining room.  Last year, the buffet was nice and organized with all the tissue paper, gift bags, ribbons and supplies:

This year, it's a mess.  The picture boxes actually contain candy making supplies, none of the wrapping supplies have made it out of the tote, and random Santa hats are everywhere.

On a good year, my dining room table is free from clutter so I have plenty of room to wrap presents. I keep a small basket of supplies and a bowl of bows in the middle, but that's it.

This year, everything is on the table!  The stuff you see is a mixture of presents that have come in and presents that need to go out.  Tissue paper and empty bags/containers are everywhere.  It's madness!

The kitchen is not much better.  It's a disaster area!  From left to right on the counter, you can see not one but two baking projects where the ingredients are out but no progress has been made, dinner cooking in the crockpot, a sink filled with bottles and cups that need to be washed, and a whole array of dirty cook/bake ware that needs to get into the sink.

 And on the island I have a pineapple.  Why on earth do I have a real pineapple in my house?  I don't even know how to cut the thing!

After surveying the mess last night, I decided to call in my reinforcements this morning.  Little Miss Purple Polka Dots, while incredibly cute, hasn't been much help, but Spiderman is really pitching in.

Once he figured out that the sticky side of the tape goes down, we were really in business.

I tried to give him a kiss for helping me out, but Spiderman can be kind of bashful sometimes.

Now, as soon as the rest of the Justice League arrives and gets to work, I will really be ready for Christmas!

Martha Monday--Homemade gift tags

I think it goes without saying that Martha makes her own gift tags.  I bet she also makes her own wrapping paper from wood pulp that she gets after planting, growing and harvesting her own trees.  That Martha, I bet she does it all.

Ahem. 

I have yet to plant, grow, cut down or otherwise process a tree into paper, but I did skip right to the crafting part and make some homemade gift tags for this Christmas season.  I've wanted to try this for years; after all, I put so much thought into each gift and it's wrapping paper, that it makes sense to give the same attention to detail for the gift's tag.

Take a look at one of Martha's homemade gift tags:

And here's mine: 

I used the same hole punch!  It's the snowflake from the Martha Stewart Crafts line at Michael's.  After I mastered the traditional tag shape, I moved on to circles. 

Then I started using stamps.

Once I got started, I couldn't stop. In an hour, I had made over 20 gift tags.  Some I will use and some I will give away to help others add a personal touch to their gift presentation. 

I used a mixture of plain and patterned paper, and really had fun with the whole process.  And a bonus:  I felt so crafty and Christmas-y that I think I took another full step toward becoming a full-fledged domestic diva.  Get out your crafting supplies and give it a try!

Smart Christmas shopping solutions

I used to spend a ridiculous amount of time Christmas shopping. I would roam up and down the aisles for hours searching for that perfect gift, only to find out that not only is there no perfect gift aisle, but also that I wasted three hours in one store with a single so-so gift to show for it.  Bah humbug!

Fortunately, I've learned a few tricks over the years to keep my sanity, budget and free time in check.

Make a list--I make a spreadsheet in Excel of who, what, where and how much.  This list is king and really helps me stick to my budget.  When a person's name is ready to be checked off, I simply highlight their name on the spreadsheet so I know I'm done with them.  The list includes gift ideas and/or that person's wish list, so I can go into a store with a good idea of what I'm going to purchase.

Stick to the budget--Once you've determined your Christmas budget, stick to it like Martha on a craft project.  Use coupons and sales whenever possible.  The cost of Christmas can quickly get out of hand, but you can make your cash stretch farther by shopping sales, using customer loyalty programs and store coupons.  For example, at Kohl's they have great sales that can be combined with store coupons, and Kohl's Cash is a great incentive to do my shopping there.

Shop smart--There's no need to shop at forty different stores to find the right gift for everyone on your list.  Pick a few stores that offer a wide variety of items, and try to get as many people checked off your list there as possible.  For example, my go-to store is Kohl's: with clothes, toys and housewares under one roof, I can do 80% of my Christmas shopping there. 

When in doubt, shop with a theme in mind--Don't know what to get someone?  Or an entire group of people?  Choose a theme and stick to it.  For example, go to a bookstore and buy everyone books. Or pajamas.  Or Christmas ornaments.  Choose an item that can work for everyone on your list, and get all of your shopping done at one store.  Genius!

Support local merchants, small businesses and artisans--In the age of large stores and mega sales, this is something we all could be doing better.  Make a choice to support small businesses and buy handmade whenever possible.  

To that end, I have three (online) small businesses and artisans to recommend:

Darling Clandestine--You all know how much I adore Darling Clandestine.  Her fragrances and earrings are simply stunning.  Santa has orders for the set of three bottled fragrances (I want Serpentine, Big Top Train and Tapadero) as well as these earrings.  This Christmas, I'll have to switch gears and buy for others at Darling Clandestine, rather than thinking only of myself!

Maxwell Apparel--Have a big and tall man on your giving list?  This is the place to shop for him.  Maxwell Apparel specializes in stylish clothes that are made to fit and flatter men who are big, tall or both.  Right now they have a great selection of printed tees, along with plans to expand their line.  Check them out!

Dish of the Day--This is an Etsy store I just recently discovered.  Dish makes lovely handmade Christmas ornaments.  I especially like the set of beaded silver icicles.  Looking at Dish's offerings makes me want to buy several ornaments and have them shipped to my house where I can re-wrap them and pass them off as my own handmade gifts.  Dishonest?  Absolutely.  A great solution to any gift-giving dilemma I might have?  You bet!

Happy shopping, everyone! 

Handmade gifts

The Little Guy got two really awesome gifts recently that I wanted to share with you.  Both gifts were made by talented, creative ladies who come up with some really darling stuff.

First, the penguin mittens...

These were made by a friend of My Big Martha.  Aren't they adorable?  I think they've been used more as puppets than mittens this winter, but that's fine with me.  But when they are used as mittens, the strand of yarn that connects the two keeps them from getting lost.

Next, the bug bean bags....

These were made by my BFF Laura for the Little Guy's 2nd birthday.  She found this awesome fabric, made the bean bags, and included two fun books about bugs.  The Little Guy loves them.

We use these for playing catch and our own (smaller) version of Bozo buckets. 

BFF Laura made sure each bean bag was a different shape in case we want to work in a lesson there.  She thinks of everything!

These two gifts have inspired me to put my crafty talents to good use and give gifts that are homemade, rather than store bought.  Now, I just have to cultivate my crafty talents...until then, it's cookies for everyone, baby!

Birthday gifts on a budget

This year, I'm taking my Aunt Donna's approach to gift giving: buy people the things you know they need and will use, which will free up their money for something they really want. Since the birth of my son, Aunt Donna has given us huge boxes of diapers for major occasions. As any parent knows, a gift like this is worth its weight in gold. We always appreciate the diapers and then our money is spent of other things for our son...clothes, educational toys, college fund. Clearly, Aunt Donna is a gift-giving pro (and remembers what its like to have small kids!).

Today is my brother's birthday. Using the Aunt Donna approach and my knack for buying a lot of stuff for a little money, I'm giving my brother a gift bag filled with items he will actually use.

The Schick Quattro razor, Edge shave gel, Crest Spinbrush, Colgate toothpaste, Adidas deoderant, Thermacare patch and candy were all bought at CVS and Walgreens, on sale and with coupons. I estimate the total worth of this gift between $30 and $35. I'm betting that I spent less than $2 out-of-pocket for all of it.

I know toiletries might seem strange as a gift, but it beats another shirt/CD/video that won't be my brother's taste. I'm giving him items he can use, so the money he would have spent on this stuff can be used for a shirt/CD/video that he does like. And bonus! This gift didn't break the bank.

Gift for my brother's birthday? Check.

Gift given on time? Check.

Something he can use? Check.

Something I put a lot of thought into? Check.

Would Martha be proud? Check!

Happy birthday, Freddy!