Surprise Christmas Gift for your girlfriend

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Christmas is the occasion of joy and festivity. It symbolizes love and peace. It is an ideal time to shower your love and affection to your loved ones with beautiful Christmas gifts.

Christmas gifts are one of the most significant parts of Christmas.Christmas is considered incomplete without gifts. The true spirit of Christmas lies in beautiful gifts,along with great Christmas decorations and mouth-watering Christmas recipe.

Make this Christmas memorable for your girlfriend by giving her something unique and beautiful. Your Christmas must reflect your love for her. It is ideal occasion to show your true and intense love for her. While choosing Christmas gift for girlfriend there is no need to bother, as you have great amount of choice. But, you must consider a few things while selecting gifts for, such as brand, her likings and your personal instinct.

Significant Christmas Gifts Ideas for Girlfriend

  • A heart shaped acrylic keepsake would be a great Christmas gift idea for Girlfriend. This keepsake would be with her always. It is an ideal romantic Christmas gift.
  • Another interesting Christmas gift idea for girl friend is sterling silver ring. You may also engrave a love message in this ring. It is a beautiful way to express your love and care for her.
  • Beautiful real red roses are one of the best Christmas gift ideas for girlfriend. Red roses are ideal way to express your love and passion for your girlfriend. You can also elevate the degree of romance by adding a sweet pearl ring and pendant.
  • Beautiful scented colorful candles are cool Christmas gift ideas for girlfriend.
  • Perfumes are considered safe bet with girls. They simply love their fresh fragrance. Perfumes are ideal Christmas gift for a romantic Christmas party.
  • Beautiful heart tokens with short and sweet messages are great Christmas gift ideas for girlfriend. Check the blushing smile at her face.
  • Cuddly and soft teddy bear would be an ideal Christmas gift for your girlfriend.
  • A beautiful snuggly scarf would be an ideal romantic Christmas gift idea for girlfriend. It would be advisable to go for pink color.
  • Chocolates are a huge hit among girls. So, a chocolate gift basket would be a great Christmas gift idea for girlfriends.
  • Complete set of her favorite movies would be a great Christmas gift idea to surprise your girlfriend.
  • Another interesting Christmas gift idea for your girlfriend is a beautiful photo frame. Place your favorite photograph in it. It would be a perfect Christmas gift for her. If your girlfriend like playing golf, you could give her golf clubs,such as Callaway Lady’s X-22 Irons Set only $339

More details at http://www.mysurbuy.com/activity.php

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Source by mysurbuy

Step-by-Step Guide to Make the Perfect Gift Basket for Easter

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Easter is a time of fun and celebration in many places all over the world. It is also a time for giving the perfect gift baskets to special people in your life.

There is great fun in receiving such Easter gift baskets. But, who’s saying there can’t be fun in preparing these Easter gifts? This brief guide will walk you through five fun steps for assembling the best gift basket to give away this Easter.

Before buying your materials, you need to find out whom to give these baskets to. That way, you can estimate how many items or how much material to buy. You can also innovate and be creative. Doing so will not only make the steps fun for you but will also help you save on expenses.

As a bonus suggestion, why not involve your kids and other family members in making these Easter baskets? After all, the common custom all over the world is for families to give such gifts to other families. Although, in many other places, it is also acceptable for individuals to give Easter gift baskets to other individuals.

Read through the following steps first before buying your materials. This tutorial is not meant to be an absolute instruction manual. Instead, treat it as a guide to get you started.

Step 1 – Finding a Suitable Basket to Hold Your Easter Gifts

Your first destination is the basket to hold your gifts. Depending on the weight of the gift items you’ll be putting into it, the gift basket must be of adequate size and depth. It must be able to hold the weight of the gift items. The color is up to you. You can go for one-color baskets, or you can go for the fancier, multicolored ones. One-color baskets, however, tend to make your colorful gift items stand out. That’s why I prefer to use them than the multicolored ones.

Giving Easter gift baskets goes a long way back to ancient times, and the tradition wasn’t always about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Instead, the tradition centered on spring.

The earliest record of such gift offerings are etched in stone—literally—on the walls of the ancient Persian city of Persepolis (ca. 550-330 BCE). Ancient Persians brought gifts to their king as offerings for the coming of spring, which also marks their New Year. Although the ancient Persians also offered colored eggs, they didn’t limit their gifts to eggs.

Several centuries later, Germanic peoples began the custom of offering gift baskets to one another in honor of the spring and dawn goddess known as Eostre or Ostara, from whose name we get our modern-day Easter. The practice of hunting for eggs and the myth of the Easter Hare (or Easter Rabbit), both of which were symbols of fertility and new life, also began during this time.

As the original ancient spring rituals began to spread, different people also adapted their own ways of celebrating spring. For instance, apart from painted eggs, people gave such Easter gifts as seedlings and live animals. In fact, in Christian history, several early churches started the tradition of bringing food (including eggs, of course), livestock, and seedlings to church on Easter day so that the priest could bless them. The belief was an ancient one: they needed the blessing for a bountiful harvest.

Thus, today, Easter gifts are usually placed in Easter gift baskets. The size of the basket doesn’t matter. The material doesn’t matter much either. The basket is just the container. But, if you prefer to give an Easter gift whose container can be used long after Easter, try to find a durable and multipurpose basket.

Step 2 – Stuffing the Easter Basket with Real or Artificial Grass

The idea here is to make your Easter gifts look as if they are sitting on a nest—particularly a hare’s nest (technically called a form). This notion comes from the old tradition of hunting for Easter eggs, the real purpose of which was to find the Easter Hare or Rabbit. According to tales and myths, the Easter Hare is the spring goddess’ precious animal and is supposed to lay colored eggs.

In reality, hares or rabbits don’t lay eggs at all. But, through some historical twist, the myth of the Easter Rabbit gives the animal egg-laying abilities—and colorful eggs at that!

If you want your Easter gift basket to be in keeping with the ancient traditions, stuff it with grass, preferably freshly cut crass. Although that might be a little bit messy, don’t you think so? And, real grass dries up quickly. So, the next best thing would be to use material that resembles grass. I’ve tried using shredded paper, which I colored with green dye. You can even go beyond green by using multicolored grass equivalents. Make sure you arrange the grass into some kind of nest or hare’s form.

Step 3 – Filling the Easter Gift Basket with Gift Items

The traditional items for an Easter basket are Easter bunnies and Easter eggs. You can go for the real thing, if you like—but you can’t expect the bunny to sit still until the basket is delivered to the recipient. There are many bunny- and egg-themed gift items that you can fill your basket with.

One really amusing thing that I’ve seen many of my friends do is to buy plastic Easter eggs, the kind that comes in assorted colors. Each plastic egg is hollow inside and can be opened at the middle. My friends would place small gift items—usually sweets or candy (especially chocolate, jelly beans, gummy bears, and gummy worms), food (e.g., biscuits, snack bars, and the like), small toys, and trinkets—inside the plastic eggs. They’d usually include a dozen eggs (in different colors) per basket and add a bunny to the mix. The bunny would look like it’s protecting the eggs inside the basket. (Although, if you are familiar with the custom’s roots, you’d know that the hare lays those eggs.) Most of my friends use stuffed bunnies, especially for Easter gift baskets for kids.

Or, you can go the unconventional route by filling the basket with other non-bunny, non-egg gifts. If you follow this route, you have two options: whether to stick to the traditional themes of Easter (i.e., spring time, abundance, and new life) or to give gift items that you believe might be meaningful and significant to the recipient. I have a handful of friends who fill their Easter gift baskets with fruits and food instead of inedible items. Another group of my friends fill their gift baskets with clothes—especially shirts, one for each member of the recipient family. My whole point in mentioning this is that you don’t need to restrict your Easter gifts to what is traditional or customary.

Step 4 – Wrapping the Basket in Transparent Plastic and/or Tying a Colored Ribbon

This is completely optional. The transparent plastic will protect your gift items from dust and dirt. The colored ribbon is just an additional decorative piece. Avoid overly flashy ribbons that will steal the scene; the gifts inside the basket are the focus, not the ribbon.

Step 5 – Attaching a Gift Tag or Greeting Card

Again, this step is completely optional, although I strongly recommend it. The gift tag will identify whom the Easter gift basket is for. Usually, writing the recipient’s name on the tag, along with a short greeting, will work just fine. Or, you could include a greeting card instead of a simple gift tag. You can use the greeting card to pour out all your Easter-related sentiments for the recipient.

Finally, if you really are at a loss for ideas, or if you are unsure about what gift to give to your loved ones this Easter, you can always resort to Easter gift cards. These are handy and practical gifts. You can give denominations as low as 15 cents to as high as $5,000. You can then email them, send them via Facebook, print them at home, or send them by postal mail to your recipients. Quite a time-saver, huh? If you prefer to give your gift recipients the flexibility and freedom to choose their own gifts, then gift cards may be the perfect gift for them this Easter.

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Source by Elmer M.

Great Side Dish For Lobster Recipe

If you love lobster, then you know it is the star of the show on your plate. So, what do you serve with this main star? What side dishes for lobster are the best?

To keep the lobster as the main event, you need to have very simple side dishes. Very colorful vegetables in the yellow, reds and greens work very well with Lobster dishes.

Here is one example:

Cucumber and tomato salad. This makes a great side dish for lobster. It is simple to make and very colorful.

Here is what you will need:

cucumbers (as many as you think you will need for your guests, you will have to gauge this yourself)

nice red ripe tomatoes

Greek style bottled dressing

Peel your cucumber and then slice in 1/2 lengthwise, and then again, and then slice the wedges about 1/2 inch think.

Wash and cut the tomatoes into pieces a similar size to the cucumber chunks.

Put these in a bowl, and then pour some dressing (I found the Kraft Greek style dressing with feta worked the best for me)

Then let it sit for about 15 minutes before you serve it, to absorb the Greek dressing. Then sprinkle with the crumbled feta cheese.

Put on the table with a large spoon, and let your guests help themselves to this delicious side dish for the lobster.

Add a basket of crusty rolls, and lots of whipped butter, and you will have a fine lobster lunch or dinner.

You don’t need to spend too long on the side dishes for lobster, they should be simple, colorful and delicious. Your guests will be more interested in the lobster than anything else really anyways. Potato dishes may be a bit heavy a side dish for lobster, so stick to lighter fare, such as fresh vegetables and fresh bread or rolls.

Don’t forget the napkins or maybe bibs!

Source by Diane Palmer

Learn To Make Gift Baskets – Gift Basket Ideas For Craft Gift

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What I am going to tell you about gift basket making thoughts & gift basket ideas is a treasure. Making a gift basket is an art and if you are good enough to prepare the right basket then you would be able to see the smiles on everyone’s faces. Looking for a place where you can get all the best ideas to make an appealing gift basket then boy you have come to the right place, we will tell you how.

Here we would like to you a complete list of things and ideas to make or create exclusive items that would put to shame some of the professionally gift baskets available in the market, all you need is imagination and implementing the whole idea properly.

· Delicious food packing are one of the most sort after gifts packing done today. A basket package having gourmet pasta one or two, paprika, tongs, garlic olive oil or virgin olive oil, Tabasco sauce, spices such as oregano, chili powder, dried red peppers, basil, black pepper, cayenne pepper, white pepper, thyme, or a mixture of spices, sauces of the likes of chili sauce, HP sauce, plum sauce, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce or Szechwan sauce, hot pickles plus an additional recipe book shall be nice to round it off. If you like to have more in the basket then flavored teas, herbal teas, cleavers, olives or chopsticks would be fine as well.

· For those who are wine collectors or like wines then what better gift than a gift basket containing wine. Such baskets are ideal for Christmas, for New Year, Thanksgiving and at any occasion. Take a small pretty looking tub or the conventional basket and place good wines either red or white or of them, place some wine glasses, corkscrew, pack some snacks as well like fine cheese, dry fruits, roasted nuts, and the odd Swiss chocolates would make the basket complete.

· Quite a lot of people love craft. In every family there exists an admirer of craftwork. If you are making one that has craft material in it them it should have a painting kit, glue gun having glue sticks, wood sticks, acrylic colors, fabric or glass painting kit, gel candles, water oil, craft knife, set of brushes, beads, candle making kits, pine cones, candle wax, dried flowers, wreath hangers, grape vine wreath, ribbons, oasis foams, arts & crafts material, DIY books, DIY project kits or pattern books.

* For the newborn you can have some baby bath kits, baby blankets, baby photo album, diapers and all sorts of goodies that are there in the market.

With the above listed ideas there should be no dirt of thoughts to make a great gift basket. I sincerely hope that we have listed all that can be done to prepare a proper and elegant gift basket. The list can be endless but that we have told you encompass a wide range of possibilities to choose from. Put a small handwritten note so that the person will remember you for a long time and I think this note shall be the perfect finishing material.

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Source by Angela B. Smith

Longaberger Basket – An MLM Network Marketing Business

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Longaberger Basket is an MLM network marketing business. Dave Longaberger founded Longaberger basket company about 35 years ago with five basket makers. Longaberger has a history of producing handcrafted baskets by skilled artisans. The company is located in Dresden Ohio. There are approximately 45,000 independent home consultants in the United States. Longaberger offers a wide variety of home and lifestyle products, including pottery, wrought iron, fabric accessories and specialty foods. Longaberger also offers decorative, storage and waste baskets.

Longaberger Factory and Longaberger Homestead Stores are open 24/7 online offering home decor, organizer baskets, corporate gift baskets, kitchen items, garden items, jewelry, and bath items.

Longaberger offers a new home based business kit opportunity for as little as $49. They actually have four starting levels for starting as a Longaberger consultant. The first level is called the Easy Starter Kit and as I previously said it is $49; the second kit is the Team Spirit Kit and costs $59; the Business Basics Kit runs $169; and the last kit is called the Business Builder Kit and goes for $399. The company will provide you with a free personalized web site, training and support, product discounts and they also have a reward program. According to the Longaberger web site, you can earn 25% commission on everything you sell. You are also able to earn commission on the sales of people you bring into the business.

Other reasons to consider being a Longaberger consultant is that as a home consultant you can purchase products at a discount or even earn them free. You can earn monthly sample discounts up to 50% off. There are no monthly (or quarterly) minimums and you are not required to have an inventory. Trips, recognition and incentives are also available.

As a Longaberger home consultant, you have the option on how you want to sell the products. You can either have home parties, catalog parties or you can have your customers shop directly on line at your free Longaberger personalized web site.

As with all MLM home based businesses, they recommend showing your business to family and friends. Again, like other MLM network marketing companies they would like you to attend meetings.

With the introduction of the Internet, more and more people are turning to the internet to market their products and businesses. To be successful, you need to be able to learn how to attract people so you can introduce them to your business opportunity. This is referred to as attraction marketing. People are attracted to people who are knowledgeable about how to generate leads and turn those leads into conversions. If you can demonstrate how you can effectively market your business using the internet the new online network marketing entrepreneurs in the business will want to duplicate your marketing methods. With this knowledge and the willingness to share your ideas with other online marketers, you will be able to increase the volume of your business.

You will need to advertise or market on line to generate the leads you need to be successful as an online network marketer.

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Source by Wendy Scheels

The Best Gifts For Kids To Make Them Love You More Than Santa Claus

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Who else are more excited than the children and kids when it comes to Christmas? The excitement comes alive with the Christmas spirit, looking out the frost covered windows, watching the snow blanket cover the ground, pine needle smells and sheer anticipation of the Santa and stockings of gifts and presents. With Christmas and winter signifying time for caring and sharing, giving and living, adults simply cannot help but truly enjoy shopping with these children and kids for the Christmas!

Despite the fact that shopping for kids and children during Christmas festival can be enjoyable and joyful, there are a lot of attention for details and considerations that need to be taken into account when it comes to selection of gifts and toys for the kids. The choice of toys is a very important component of your shopping process because the toys must appeal to your children or kids current developmental stage. Specifically the focus of concerns should be in the aspects of whether the toys are age appropriate, general fit of the toys to the living environment and concept, acceptability and appeal of the toys to the children and kids in general.

First of all, careful selection of toys must involve careful attention to the age appropriateness of the toys for the particular kid and child for the particular age group. Safety of the children must always come first. It is highly advisable that you exercise judgment as to the suitability of the toys using the age range recommendation by the suppliers on the toy packaging as a guideline in your selection process. Due to possible hazards caused by choking as the small children and kids have tendency to put and chew stuffs in their mouths, therefore, toys that are designated for play for the older kids are generally smaller in sizes and contain more loose and removable parts. While toys and games like this are suitable for play for older kids, they can be hazardous to the toddlers, babies and younger kids. It is equally important in the process of choosing toys to make sure that they are well made, of high quality and can handle lots of wear and tear. The fact that age designation toys are designed such that they are specially suitable for the children and kids of their ages specified because the complicated toys for the older children which can be too difficult to play and manage by the younger children easily frustrate them. On the other hand, simplistic baby games may get too dull for the growing or older children and would not stimulate their interest and fun at all.

Consideration of the living condition of the family as well as the childrens parents is also essential when evaluating the Christmas gift for kids. The specifics of the living environment that encompass the size of the living room, availability of empty space and garden size as well as the surrounding neighbourhood are few of those considerations to be accounted for. Toys can be tried out to see whether the noise level is appropriate for the child and whether it will affect the harmony of the neighbours particularly if one is living in an apartment. Large toys can be problematic when there is inadequate space at home to store it and indoor products such as foosball table can equally give similar headache with the spacing and storing problem. As a rule of thumb, smaller items which produce minimal noise level are the better gift ideas for your Christmas shopping for kids.

Other than the age appropriateness factor, personal beliefs and acceptability represent another dimension in shopping for the most appropriate Christmas gifts for the children for the season. Different multitudes of acceptability of the types and nature of toys and games by the parents can be seen from the consent given to their children and the childrens access to that particular toy and game. Ethical beliefs of parents and adults are important because they may find toys such as large guns and violent video games unacceptable and offensive because they believe that the presence of the violence element in these toys and games may lead their children astray in their upraising. The safest choice for the gift for these children where you cannot be certain of the beliefs and the feelings of their parents would be to avoid purchasing such items.

What is important in your decision making process during your Christmas shopping for the kids and children would be to involve their parents in the process. You will discover that your whole shopping would be a lot easier and relaxed than would be should you be doing the shopping all by yourself. Consulting the parents of the child can give you feedback regarding the interests and the types of toys that would engage their child. They may even know and tell you the exact type of toy from the childs wish list for the Christmas. By this, you will reap the benefit of getting the child what he or she wants best and not buying something that he or she already has or uninterested in at all.

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Source by Thomas Bronson

50th Birthday Gag Gift Idea for Anyone “Over the Hill”

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There’s been an ongoing battle of wits between you and a friendly rival.  And now there’s an opportunity to give a 50th birthday gag gift to that certain someone.  What to do? 

Well, you know full well that it’s now your turn to take the offensive.  This is a chance on a silver platter to gain points on the battle of humor scorecard.  It’s a time to take an innocent yet clever jab at that person.  A poke that’s harmless – yet has a dash of good natured ribbing.  

So you must think about getting a 50th birthday gag gift somewhere between two extremes.  And that’s in the middle of a cruel cheap shot … and the typical limp, pansy-worded greeting card.  What could be the solution that would send a message with your own unique brand of comedy? 

There are available “Over the Hill” Birthday Gift Baskets out there that would say it all without you saying a thing.  Yes, these weapons of comicality can be your strategy to fulfill your mission to get the advantage in the competitive game of roasting among friends or family. 

They are the happy middle-ground that you are seeking between the weak and downright mean alternatives.  And they contain items that all have the theme of jesting about the big “Five-O” event.  That means that all of the shopping for these components has been done for you.  The tasty treats and souvenirs are all in one classy container ready to go! 

Another great thing about these 50th birthday gag gifts is that they are so easy to shop for, purchase, and have delivered to anywhere within the continental USA.  How so? 

The internet is the way to go through our friends known as Search Engines.  They can lead us to a wide selection of ideas to consider in our quest to get the right “Over the Hill” Gift Basket that’s within budget.  And we can also direct our choice of gift to be delivered to a certain place and at a certain time.  That includes overnight delivery, if needed. 

Now anyone can be well-armed in their mission to get the upper hand in the duel between two joker contestants.  An “Over the Hill” Gift Basket could be the 50th birthday gag gift that would rank at the top among everyone else’s.  And it could be set up for delivery online in the next 10 to 15 minutes.  How can you beat that scenario of effectiveness and efficiency? 

So take advantage of this opportunity while you still have the chance.  That’s because you know that the target of your aim would surely do the same if given half a chance!   

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Source by Brian Connors

Elves And More Houston Texas Charity Bicycle Volunteers

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Elves and More 2007 bicycle build Houston Texas photos of bike build volunteers see your friends and neighbors photos. Building a bike represents a gift of love to someone less fortunate. Delivering that gift to these children in the neighborhoods where they live is a life-changing experience, for few of us know how much poverty there is among us, or what being truly poor, is really like.

All of Elves & More’s efforts are focused on helping children get out of poverty. Visualize 20,000 new bicycles loaded into more than 100 large trucks and delivered to 20,000 underprivileged children in entire neighborhoods, all on a surprise basis on December 22, with Santa at the front. a not-for-profit organization in Houston dedicated to brightening the lives of impoverished kids, Elves and more is a not-for-profit organization in Houston dedicated to brightening the lives of impoverished kidsin the Houston area.

Underprivileged children prefer bicycles over every other gift. Although bikes may seem to be just toys, for these children they are even more important than that, they are essential transportation, for bicycles give children the freedom and flexibility to go places: to participate in positive after-school activities, to go to the library and get on the Internet, or (for teens) to take a part-time job and help make a better life for their families.

All of Elves & More’s efforts are focused on helping children get out of poverty. Visualize 20,000 brand-new bicycles loaded into more than 100 large trucks and delivered to 20,000 underprivileged children in entire neighborhoods, all on a surprise basis on December 22, with Santa at the front. Without help, most of the children receive little or nothing at all for Christmas, year after year. With a sustained program of our scale, if only once in his / her childhood, we have the chance to say to each child: “Someone does care; WE DO!”

Collecting and giving bicycles and gifts to impoverished children. Description of their program, news, and letters from the kids.

The Fifth Ward in central Houston is one of our area’s poorest, with street after street of ramshackle homes and government projects, an area populated predominantly by African-Americans. In three neighborhoods there, we gave bikes and gifts to over 12,000 children, turning a blighted ghetto into a vibrant community of smiling young cyclists.
Reliant Park.

On December 22nd more than 600 volunteers completed the delivery of this year’s order of 18,000 bicycles. That brings the 5-year total to 80,000 new bikes to under-privileged children in the Greater Houston Area. Only through your generosity and commitment could this have been accomplished.

Thousands of contributors and volunteers are coming together to do for others, the underprivileged children in the 8-county Greater Houston Area.

Through our Bicycle Program, we’re giving children who live onfoot brand-new bicycles. Their bicycles represent the two wheels that can help them ride all the way out of poverty. How?

Bicycles take children to mentors such as Scout Leaders, Coaches, Community Center Guidance Counselors and others. These mentors serve as the “training wheels” in a child’s life; they build character, provide encouragement and help children build crucial life skills.

2007 has been an unbelievable success for Elves & More and the under-privileged children we serve.

The Bicycle Ball (September) and the Texas Golf Classic (October) were both very successful and allowed Elves & More to serve 16,000 under-privileged children in the Greater Houston area as part of the Bicycle Program in December.

2008 promises to be even more successful as we deliver our 100,000th bike to an under-privileged child and the number of Elves & More groups through out the country continues to expand.

Please mark your calendar for the 2008 Bicycle Ball in September, the 2008 Texas Golf Classic in October, and the 2008 Bicycle Program in December. http://www.apartmentshoustonmovingrelocation.com/elves_and_more.htm

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Source by Lloyd Button

Homemade Christmas Gifts Straight from the Garden

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During the long, hot days of summer, the last thing we think about is Christmas shopping.  After all, that’s a task we usually relegate to the month of December, right?  But the truth is, the job of shopping for Christmas gifts is something many people loathe.  Parking lots are crowded, malls are jam packed, and finding just the right gift for that special someone can take hours, or even days.  What if there was a way to get some of your Christmas gifts ready during the summertime and put them away in storage so they’ll be ready to go when the holiday season rolls around?  Before you grab your keys and jump in the car to go shopping now, stop and take a look around your own home and garden.  There may be some gift possibilities lurking right under your own nose that are homemade, thoughtful, and very inexpensive.

Many of us raise vegetable gardens in the summer, and we wind up with more fresh produce than we can possibly use.  Instead of letting it rot on the vine or giving it all away to neighbors, consider canning.  Many vegetables like fresh green beans and tomatoes can be canned and then given away as gifts at the holidays.  Fresh bell peppers can be made into relishes, and cucumbers can be pickled and canned.  Cans of fresh produce also make wonderful hostess’s gifts when you are invited to holiday parties.  Top off the jar with a colorful square of fabric and tie with a ribbon to make the gift really attractive and special.

If you enjoy cooking, consider using your fresh produce to make other items like homemade spaghetti sauce, fresh salsa, or pickle relish that can be canned.  For a really nice touch, put a couple jars of spaghetti sauce into a gift basket and then include some related items such as a pound of pasta and a loaf of fresh Italian bread.  Other nice touches might include an Italian cookbook, a bottle of good red wine or gourmet olive oil, and even some fresh parmesan cheese.  The idea of themed gift baskets based on your homemade canned goods can be expanded into other areas, too.  For example, if you’ve made some fresh salsa, include items in your gift basket like tortilla chips, margarita mix, and a bottle of good quality tequila.

Homemade gifts from the garden don’t have to be limited to only vegetables.  If you grow fruits such as blueberries, cherries, or raspberries, consider making homemade jams or pie fillings that can be canned for holiday gifts.  Nice additions to round out a gift basket with these items could include a new pie dish, or some homemade bread for toasting.  Fresh fruits can also be made into syrups that can be given as gifts along with some homemade pancake mix.  Furthermore, if you grow fresh herbs such as parsley or basil, consider making fresh pesto at the end of the summer and canning it into small jars to give as gifts.

Homemade Christmas gifts that have come from your garden make nice gift items for almost anyone.  After all, everyone enjoys good food, especially when it’s homegrown.  Even better, a gift like this is very thoughtful, and shows the recipient that you put some time and thought into what to give them.  So if you’ve got a garden that’s overflowing with fresh produce, take an afternoon and do some canning.  You’ll save yourself both time and money when December rolls around!

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Source by Ellen Bell

Creating Your Own Baby Theme Gift Baskets

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Creating your own baby theme gift baskets is really easy and fun. You can save money by making them yourself instead of buying them from a trendy gift store. You can make them for personal use to give as gifts or start a home based gift basket business.

You only need a few simple supplies to get started.

Supplies:

Basket
Basket Filler (shreds)
Basket Clear Cellophane Bag or Basket Wrap
Ribbon (to tie off the bag)
Ribbon (to make a bow)
Gift Tag
Product Fillers
Scissors

*optional* disposable cameras to pack in the baskets.

Now its time to pick a theme and go out and buy some product fillers for your gift basket. Here are some theme ideas to get your creative process started.

1. Baby Bath Care Basket: rubber ducky, bath toys, baby wash cloths, baby bath towels, baby body wash, baby bath shampoo, baby powder, brush and comb.

2. Baby Diapering Basket: newborn sized disposable diapers or cloth diapers, diaper pins, rubber pants, diaper rash cream, clothing diaper changing pads, disposable diaper changing pads, diaper wipes, toy and dirty diaper disposable bags.

3. Baby Feeding Basket: disposable and cloth baby bibs, feeding spoons, wash cloths, hand wipes, sipper cups, plastic feeding dishes (cup, bowl and plate), box of baby cereal, jars of baby food, teething ring and a toy.

4. Baby Nursing Feeding Basket: baby bottles, bottle nipples, bottle liners, bottle cleaning brush, bottle sterilizer, burp pads, baby bibs, wash cloths, hand wipes, pacifier, teething rings and a toy.

5. Baby Toy Basket: baby rattles, baby teething rings, rubber ducky, plastic soft-cover baby books, particle board baby books, lullaby music cd and a teddy bear.

6. Baby Basics Basket: 3 baby wash cloths, 3 baby bath towels, 3 baby bibs, 3 baby onesies, 3 pair baby bootie socks, 1 baby hat, 2 baby sleepers, 1 pacifier, 1 toy rattle and a teddy bear.

7. Baby First Aid Basket: diaper rash cream, antibiotic ointment, band aids, ear thermometer, rectal or oral thermometer, baby teething relief gel, infant fever reducer medication, medicine spoon, medicine dropper, tweezers and a teddy bear or other toy.

8. Bedtime Baby Basket: 1 baby blanket, 2 soft cover baby books, 2 hardcover baby books, night light, lullaby music cd, 2 baby sleepers or night sacks, crib sheets and a teddy bear.

9. Grandma’s Theme Baby Basket: (all items in this basket should have something to do with grandma and you can find a lot of preprinted grandma and nana theme items) bibs, sleepers, onesies, books, toy and a teddy bear.

*note* extra special idea: look for one of those going to grandma’s house theme totes and pack your items into one of those instead of using a basket.

10. Baby Travel Basket: (all items are small and can fit into a diaper bag, travel sizes work best) diaper wipes, diaper rash cream, diaper changing pads, shampoo, baby lotion, baby bath body wash, baby powder, comb, hair brush, hats, booties, blankets, hand wipes, sipper cup, baby bottle, travel-style baby bottle warmer, disposable dirty diaper bags and a teddy bear or toy.

You can find a lot of the smaller items to fill your baskets at the local discount dollar store to save money. I have also found basket filler shreds and basket bag wraps there too.

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Source by Shelly Hill