Christmas in July

In time past many of us would laugh off the thought of thinking ahead to Christmas in July. In July it is easy to be proud procrastinators.

Today’s economy has changed that privilege for many families. Nowadays everything we can do in advance serves not only to save money but our time too. Thinking ahead this month will pave the way for a more peaceful and rewarding holiday with family and friends. Here are some ideas to jumpstart the coming holiday season…

Special Occasions Binder.
In 2005 Anita Cramer shared the idea of creating a binder with MMCW to keep up with all the lists and ideas associated with Christmas. Taking her idea a step further, my binder includes all the events my family celebrates throughout the year. I can quickly pinpoint family holiday recipes, card lists, gift lists, or party menus without tearing the house apart. Better yet, I have a place to put ideas for family gatherings I compile during the year from magazines and online reading.

My binder is a simple $4 binder from Wal-Mart. Sections are divided with tabs and include: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Gift List, Christmas Card List, Homemade Goodie Ideas, Christmas Recipes, Christmas Parties, New Years, Valentine’s Day, 4th of July, Birthdays, and Mother’s/Father’s Day. I use page protectors to house pages torn from magazines, recipes, and gift receipts. If you do not have a binder, set one up this month. Just putting copies of your family’s favorite Christmas recipes in one spot will save you time come December.

Right on Schedule.
Take a look at your calendar right now. Odds are you have few events scheduled presently for November and December. Guard as many of those free days for your family as possible. Be intentional during the months ahead and use your time–and your binder–to stay ahead of the holiday rush. Pencil in events you know will be happening during December in the margin of the calendar. Only list essential events and feel free to set a boundary now around your December time.

Strategize Now.
Sit down and write your gift recipient list for 2010 and assign a monetary amount to each person. Be realistic–do not forget Christmas stockings gifts too! The beauty of planning Christmas in July is that you have plenty of time to find a $25 gift for $5 in the clearance section of stores. Do not put down a $25 gift amount on the list when you know that your budget is realistically $5.

Make hard decisions this month.
If you cannot afford to give gifts to extended family this year, have the discussion now. Choosing to draw names or set spending limits are alternatives. You may be surprised to find everyone else just as relieved about the change. Having a list along with a budget will help to avoid the burden of overspending in December. Keep a master list in your binder and a small copy in your purse. I keep my list on a folded piece of paper in my wallet.

Eyes Wide Open.
The key to Christmas in July is keeping our eyes alert for deep discounted summer sales. Around July 4th I visit the Disney store for 75% off beach towels and toys. During the same time period Target begins clearing out to make room for Christmas toys. By the first of August, Christian bookstores such as Lifeway mark selected home decor, books, jewelry, and CDs anywhere from 75% to 90% off. With the economy in its current state, do not be surprised to find deeper discounts than usual at the mall from clothing retailers. There are great fall and winter clothing sales to be had now at name brand stores. Just last weekend, I bought two fall blouses and a pair of jeans for $16. Finally, don’t rule out yard sales. I once bought four American Girl dolls in mint condition for $25 each at a yard sale. Never underestimate the power of the Lord to provide just what you are looking for within your budget.

Every Little Bit Counts
Do you have craft projects that would make perfect Christmas gifts? July is the perfect time to pull them together. If you like making homemade goodies, right now is the time for gathering jars for blueberry jam or maybe fig preserves. Are you a scrapbooker? Use extra supplies to create some gifts for teen scrapbookers in your family or even make an album for someone special. Make a photo CD set to music of last Christmas to give as gifts this year to family. Pick up a $5 Sonic gift card or maybe $10 iTunes cards. (Yes, $10 iTunes cards exist. They come in packs of three at Wal-Mart.)

Here are some craft projects I’m eyeing for this year:

Tea Wreaths

Washer Necklaces

Rice Bag Warmers

Framed Fabric Mon0gram

For plenty of ideas be sure to also look through our 12 Days of Christmas series. You’ll find recipes, gift ideas, devotions, and organizational tips.

How do you plan to plan ahead for Christmas 2010?

The Days After Christmas

Last week, my parents left to go back home after spending the holidays with us. I have been busy back at work and getting the house in order after having a house full of people. Funny, when the house is full it is noisy and so full of life and excitement. When everyone leaves, I am left feeling relieved to get back to normal and yet sad, feeling the emptiness left by silenced hallways and empty beds.

As I cleaned and re-organized things in the house today I realized just how much I love being surrounded by people. I enjoy having a full house and cooking for an army, so to speak. I enjoy serving and making special preparations for their stay. Most of all, I enjoy making new memories for the journeys we each are traveling. I don’t know that I have a gift for hospitality, but I certainly do enjoy it.

I remember right before we purchased our home, I prayed and asked God to help us find a good one where we could host missionaries, family, or friends in need. I wanted our home to be a safe haven for those we would encounter in the future. It dawned on me just recently that God answered that prayer. Our home has hosted many missionaries, homeless people, families in transition, friends visiting or in need of a get away, and it has even served as a host home for foreign exchange students.

Our home is not big, extravagant, or at all like a hotel. As a matter of fact, it is simple but comfortable. Just enough for my family of four and our wonderful dog Sam, plus a guest room that’s always available for visitors. Not much to it, but plenty of love in the way of prayers, talks, games, work, and that warm cozy feeling you get when something fits just right.

Cultural Traditions during the Holidays

It was the week before Christmas when I received a call from my parents who were in Florida visiting family. My mother said she was on her way back to Georgia and was bringing a pig for Christmas Eve. Knowing that it is customary in our country to have a roasted pig for Christmas, I didn’t really give it much thought. However, it occurred to me that they were driving from Florida, nine hours to our home, and so I asked how in the world they were planning to bring this pig home. My parents calmly responded that they had asked the butcher to prepare and freeze the pig to preserve it for the long journey. Already I was beginning to feel as though I was about to experience a blast from the past that my nuclear family was not prepared for.

I thought it was funny that we were actually going to roast a pig ourselves but, to be honest, I didn’t know how we would pull it off. Although this was part of my family’s Christmas tradition while I was growing up in Puerto Rico, it was not a tradition I brought into my marriage. We are the typical family that cooks meat already packaged. And pork is seldom on our menu. I knew this would be quite the experience for my husband and children, and I felt a little bit apprehensive and somewhat uncomfortable with the whole thing. I kept thinking my children would think their mother’s family was strange and would somehow feel awkward around their grandparents.

To my surprise, this turned out to be the highlight of our Christmas that year. Who would have thought a family could bond over a roasted pig! What I thought would be seen as an embarrassing and ridiculous custom became an opportunity to teach about my upbringing and my people. My boys loved every part of the experience. They took pictures of the pig on arrival, while being seasoned, after being roasted and even while being eaten. We had so much fun!

I know that pork is despised by many cultures as an unclean meat; however, in my culture it is perfectly normal to eat pork, especially at Christmas time. Though my immediate family does not typically eat pork, I saw this as an opportunity. It allowed my parents to enjoy a tradition from our country while sharing a tangible cultural experience with their grandchildren. I know my boys will remember this for a long time to come.
We had an exchange student from Germany living with us that Christmas. When asked what he thought of our Christmas Eve dinner, he told me that he loved the fact that our celebration was so different from what he was accustomed to. The highlight of the meal for him was….you guessed it. The pig!

Cheryl’s Christmas Salad

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Salad Dressing:
6 Tbsps olive oil
2 Tbsps white vinegar
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsps apple juice concentrate

Salad:

1 avocado, chopped
1 stick celery, washed and chopped small
6 cups torn spinach leaves or 1 bag (10 oz) washed spinach leaves
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup almonds, slivered (optional: roast in a saucepan for 7 min. with 2 tsp apple juice concentrate)
1 tomato, washed and chopped or 15 cherry tomatoes
red apple, washed, cored, and chopped small
green apple, washed, cored, and chopped small

Whisk oil, vinegar, apple juice concentrate, salt, and pepper in a small, deep bowl. Toss remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over salad to coat. Serve on pretty Christmas plates.

Our Family’s Christmas Traditions

The Christmas season traditionally begins for our family on Thanksgiving morning with a wonderful concoction known as wassail.  Our particular recipe consists of grapefruit, grape, orange, lemon and pineapple juice, tea, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.  We drink it the entire season until we consume the last batch just after Christmas.  My husband grew up with this warm drink and since my family lacked holiday traditions, I enjoyed passing this one down to our children.

Our first son came into the world on Christmas Eve, so we strive to focus all our attention on celebrating his birth into the world with his favorite meals that day.  My husband has been a pastor for over ten years, however, so we attend our church’s candlelight service before we head out for our son’s dinner celebration and a movie.

Christmas mornings at our house typically start with taking a picture of the children in front of the tree holding their stockings. What fun it’s been to compare the pictures over the years!  While the children enjoy their goodies, my husband prepares what has now become our traditional breakfast meal—eggs benedict. I clean up from our meal, and then we gather around the tree where we take turns handing out the gifts.  When the children were small, they opened their presents after they located where I hid baby Jesus.

Our Christmas dinners differ from most families.  We enjoy the selection of apple, pumpkin and mincemeat pie like many do.  However, my husband, connoisseur cook that he is, tickles our palates with different ethnic meals.  The year we adopted our youngest daughter from Kazakhstan, he arranged a traditional Russian meal.  We’ve eaten Mexican, Italian, and for the first time this year, we may be enjoying Chinese.

The holidays provide a wonderful way to enrich the family time.  My children anticipate Christmas for all our special moments shared together. I believe every family benefits when they add their own traditions to the celebration.

The Star of Bethlehem

Was the Star of Bethlehem a real astronomical event? A myth created by the early church? Explore the history and science for yourself.

These two video clips are worth taking a few moments to watch and be amazed!

Last Minute Gift Ideas

Christmas is almost upon us.  Have you finished all your shopping?  Don’t worry, it’s still not too late.  Why not try one of these last minute ideas for that hard-to-buy-for person on your Christmas list?

• Give a charitable gift in your recipient’s name.  Through World Vision’s Gift Catalog, you can purchase various items which will be sent to Third World countries, including seeds, livestock, Bibles, mosquito netting, and educational supplies.

• Buy your favorite coffee drinker a Starbuck’s gift card.  If they register the card online with Starbucks.com they’ll get a free beverage on their birthday.  If they use their card at least 5 times they’ll receive all kinds of rewards, including 2 hours of free Wi-Fi daily, free refills on brewed coffee, free beverage customization (like syrup and milk options) and a free tall beverage with the purchase of whole beans.  Package the gift card inside a coffee cup.

• Amazon gift cards are customizable and can be sent via email for immediate delivery.  The recipient can purchase anything from toys to books to music or video game downloads from Amazon’s online store.

• Pre-load an SD card with old family photos and give it to your parents along with a digital photo frame.  We made these for our parents one year and it was a huge hit.

• Walmart One Hour has some gifts available with their 1 hour service, including photo books.  If you have a little more time, you can custom-make your own calendar online.  Sites such as Walmart.com allow you to upload personal photos and add customizable dates (like those birthdays you are always forgetting!).  They’ll print it all on a high quality calendar and send it to you in the mail.

• Try Page’s idea of wrapping candy bars in crisp dollar bills for your favorite teen.

• Last year Dawn Hays shared several inexpensive, themed gift basket ideas.  You can read about them all right here.

• Gift certificates to a local movie theater, restaurant, theater show or sporting event make a fun gift.  One year I bought concert tickets for myself and my husband, even though the concert was over a year away.  He loved it.  Another year I purchased one lesson with a golf pro for the two of us to share.  It was lots of fun, even though we had never played golf before.

• Make homemade mixes that can be transformed into yummy treats later, when the holiday season is past.  Gifts in a jar are economical and fun to make in bulk for teachers, neighbors and friends and can be filled with a variety of mixes, including hot chocolate, cookie, cake and soup mixes.

• If the recipient is a woman, you can rarely go wrong with high quality chocolate, candles, nice lotions or other beauty products, stationery and stamps, a plant or a nice kitchen gadget.

• Do you have a special skill you can share?  Offer your friend a blog makeover, a few hours of babysitting, or a quilting lesson.  The possibilities are as unique as you are!  Use cardstock and embellishments to create a coupon describing your gift.

• A friend who likes cooking or decorating may enjoy a magazine subscription.  Devotional magazines are also a good choice.  Purchase the current edition of the magazine and wrap it up with a note, letting your friend know their subscription will begin in the new year.

• Here are some great last minute stocking stuffer ideas.

• Do you prefer giving homemade gifts?  This list of homemade stocking stuffers includes lots of links for directions and recipes.  Here’s another article with great ideas for homemade gift items.

Make Your Own Gift Card Holders

Is the teen on your list requesting more than one gift card? Create a gift card holder. Creative Memories offers a product called the Photo Sharing Card that is perfect with a few embellishments. Or create your own custom design with card stock, some plastic photo sleeves, colored paper, and stickers.

Creative Gift Giving

During the Christmas season one of the most difficult challenges for many is what gift to give. Over the last few years many have opted for a gift card, but even they can be complicated. Can they find something they would like at the store chosen? Is there a store of that chain in their area? Is it too impersonal?

Why not try a new twist on this idea? Find out the gift receiver’s favorite candy bar. Purchase a snack size bag of that candy. Then wrap each miniature bar with a crisp dollar bill. You may want to top each tiny package with a piece of red ribbon. For just a few dollars you will have a unique personalized gift.

Book Review: The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

We are always on the look out for good Christmas books that have themes about the true meaning of Christmastime. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is a worthy addition to add to your Christmas library.

The Christmas Miracle Of Jonathan Toomey With CD

This story weaves so many themes throughout its covers that it touches the young and the old. The young children can identify with the hero of the story who is a young boy. People who have lived a little while longer and have felt the pain of losing a loved one will relate to the other characters of this book. The book’s themes that our family has talked about were love and compassion, which are two virtues that encompass the Christmas spirit.

The story is about a grumpy man, Mr. Toomey, who is the best woodcarver in the valley. He keeps to himself. No one knows why he never smiles or laughs. A widow and her son ask him to carve them a Christmas scene. By coming to visit him frequently as he carves the figures, they learn that he has lost a wife and a child. This draws the two grieving families closer together because they have both experienced love and loss.

The compassion that the widow’s son shows Mr. Toomey is unconditional. Mr. Toomey is grouchy and, frankly, deserves to be left alone. Yet the boy and his mother show him kindness which changes Mr. Toomey.

I would recommend getting the book with the CD, as I can never make it through the book without sniffling and sobbing. It’s nice to have someone else read it while you listen and turn the pages with your children. We also watched the movie, after reading the book. It is equally as good. After reading the book or watching the movie, don’t be surprised to hear your little ones walking around saying, “Christmas is pish-posh!”

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