3 posts tagged “christmas”

this year was a little weird for me. i made it a point not to put anything on credit cards, which i accomplished, but in doing that, my gifts felt totally inadequate. my family and matt's family are very generous. so when matt's step mom bought me at least $100 worth of things, the candles that i made for extended family and friends seemed silly. i know that they don't expect $100 worth of items in return, it just makes me feel bad because i wanted to do so much more. i normally go all out for christmas, but that was when i wasn't paying any attention to what was going on my credit card. i think if i would've started christmas shopping a little earlier and spaced out buying gifts a little better, i could've still purchased the same amount of gifts as normal. i'll have to keep that in mind for next year.  

tragic gifts i received this year: mid forearm length gloves that are red violet with big black fur cuffs. two purses that i would never ever carry. what makes it worse is that one of them is a guess brand purse and those aren't cheap. a sausage and cheese medley from my aunt.

sweet gifts i received this year: nintendo ds. gift cards are always awesome. there were a few cute sweaters...one from my brother which i was completely floored by. he normally sucks at picking out presents for me.

bottles of wine seem to be a common theme this year. i received 4 of them. a mulled christmas wine, pinot grigio, pinot noir and a chardonnay.

i'm not going to bore you with the details of this year's family functions...although there was a wedding proposal. matt's cousin's boyfriend prosposed to her in front of her entire family. apparently there was a bet going with all the cousins as to whether dave and julie were going to be the next to get married or if it was going to be matt and i. looks like whoever bet on us lost. i can't say as though i wasn't jealous. the rest of the night was filled with aunts and cousins poking and prodding us as to when we'll be getting married. it was a little awkward...we're pretty private when it comes to that stuff and it was hard to dodge the subject.

*sigh* christmas is over for another year. seemed like it came and went so fast.

i got just about all of my christmas shopping done online last saturday. i only need to pick up one or two more presents. i did end up going over my $20 limit, but they all stayed under $25...not including shipping...or matt's gifts. i only have two more people to finish up and it's all done! whew!

niki asked that i post the recipes for the bath fizzies and organic sugar scrub...so here goes:

Bath Fizzies

Tools and Materials
1/2 cup citric acid
1 cup baking soda 
3/4 cup cornstarch 
1/4 cup organic cane sugar 
About 6 drops food coloring 
10 to 15 drops essential oil(s)
Special equipment: 2-ounce travel-size spray bottle, plastic pipette, silicone ice-cube tray, storage jars

Directions
1. Stir together citric acid, baking soda, and cornstarch in a glass measuring cup. 

2. Pass mixture through a fine sieve or a flour sifter into a mixing bowl. Stir in sugar. 

3. Fill spray bottle with water, and add food coloring. Spritz mixture lightly (it should become damp but not fizzy) until you can pack mixture with your hands. 

4. Using pipette, add oil, 1 drop at a time, until strength of scent is to your liking. Using a metal spoon or your hands, mix ingredients until color is even throughout (mixture will begin to dry out; when this happens, spritz until packable again). 

5. Spoon into ice-cube tray, pressing firmly. Let dry at room temperature overnight. Pop out of tray gently. Transfer to jars.

Body Scrub

Tools and Materials
2 cups Epsom salts or organic cane sugar
1 cup carrier oil (olive oil or grapeseed oil)
8 drops essential oil(s)
1 drop food coloring
Special equipment: plastic pipette, canning jars

Directions
1. Stir together Epsom salts or sugar and carrier oil in a bowl, mixing well. 

2. Using pipette, add essential oil, 1 drop at a time. Add food coloring, and stir until color is even throughout. Spoon into canning jars.

these are pretty simple ingredients, but i found www.organic-creations.com a good website to get stuff like the essential oils, pipette and the citric acid. it's really inexpensive. i bought everything for a double batch of bath fizzies and a double batch of sugar scrub for about $40. i still have to pick up little jars, but i can get those at the craft store for about a dollar.

here's to christmas without adding to credit card debt.

i always make a bunch of stuff every year, including my christmas cards, so this year i am planning to make the home made things the focus instead of the just the extra gift on the side. i'm making bath fizzies, organic sugar scrub, soy candles and cookies. obviously the ladies will get the bath stuff and the guys will get cookies and they both will get candles.

there are only a few actual gifts i'm going to buy for people...not only because i think people appreciate the effort it takes to make things, but also because i'm really making a serious effort to get out from under this mountain of student loans and credit card debt. i don't want to put anything on my credit card this year...or at all for that matter unless it's an emergency.

so i'm keeping it to one relatively inexpensive store bought gift for each person in my immediate family, the family name draws and a couple friends plus the home made things. i'll be buying a couple extra little gifts for matt, but that doesn't count :) oh, and i have to buy something for my boss because that's what you're supposed to do. my goal is $20 and under for all of the store bought gifts...except for matt's.

i'm happy with this plan...i hate it that christmas is all about presents anyway.