Tell me I’m not alone. This time of year gives me the itch every year. I start thinking about crocheting and quilting and all the other lovely crafts I could make to give for Christmas gifts this year. It always happens at the end of October. The temperature drops, hot tea becomes a nightly ritual, we start watching movies again, I get the urge to bake bread, and then I start having visions splendid of homemade Christmas.
This year I have been forced to check myself. Between getting ready for a baby and (potentially) buying a house and moving, I think I have enough on my plate between now and the end of the year. All this chaos only reinforces the necessity of having a simple, frugal Christmas.
Personally, I think that the time between Halloween and New Years is the most expensive time of the year. There is always extra baking, holiday parties, gifts, travel, not to mention normal expenses like heating and winter clothes. While it’s probably too late to cross stitch Christmas stockings for all your kids, it’s not too late to plan a simple Christmas.
What do you have planned to cut back on Christmas spending and enjoy simple Holidays? What traditions will you revive this year to make a frugal Christmas even more meaningful? Do you have any ideas for quick and easy homemade gifts? Post your comments. I’m eager to hear.
In the quiet days following Christmas, you look through your pictures and smile. As you look through the pictures again, you might think about the shots you didn’t capture. The best way to avoid missing those pictures you want is to make a list and check it twice. Today I am going to offer a list of 15 pictures you might want to catch this Christmas Day.
photo stu_spivack CC-BY-SA
- Ornaments and Decorations–think inside and out (for tips on taking pictures of lights, see this article)
- wrapping presents
- Christmas baking (cookies, breads, etc)
- Gifts under the tree
- Packing the Car for the Christmas trip
- food preparation
- Setting the table
- Christmas candles
- Family groups
- pictures with grandparents
- kids dressed up in holiday clothes
- that funky holiday sweater or earrings
- opening presents
- wrapping paper spread across the floor and kids playing with new toys
- sunrise, or sunset Christmas day
- kid sleeping with new toys
As I have said before, if you want to make sure you get great photos, take lots of pictures. Keep your camera with you wherever you go. My guide is that if I will regret not having the photo, then I need to take the picture no matter how silly I feel.
‘Tis the season to write the family Christmas letter and to write it fast if you want to get it sent out before Christmas. The principles of good blogging can also be used for writing a good Christmas letter quickly.
Read these ten tips, and then slide up to your computer to write that family update letter
- Know your target audience. In internet marketing, one of the keys to a successful blog is to know your target audience and to write for your typical reader. When you are writing your family Christmas letter, pretend like you are writing for just one person, it could be your grandma, a cousin you only see once a year, or even your college roommate whom you haven’t seen since college. By writing for the reader, you will have a better idea of what information to include in your letter.
- Make it scannable. Life is fast paced, and Christmas is a busy season. While the letter recipient will probably sit down and read your family Christmas letter from beginning to end, scannable letters are easier to read. Use bullet points, numbered lists, and formatting such as italics, bold print, and underlines to separate different sections. You can also use headlines such as Vacation, Graduation, Job, School, and Kids, to grab your reader’s attention.
- Keep it short and simple. Long letters can be overwhelming (to read and to write). The ideal length for a Christmas letter is less than a page and a half. This forces you to only write about the most important events of the past year.
- Include photos. Photos catch your reader’s eye and help maintain interest in your letter. And of course, Grandma can never have too many photos of her grandkids.
- Tell, don’t show. When you write your family Christmas letter, consider that you are telling the story of your family. Rather than saying, “It rained the week we went on vacation.” you might say, “Instead of letting the rain ruin our vacation, We toured Disneyland under a big red umbrella, splashing through ankle-deep mud puddles.”
- Try a different angle. One way to make your Christmas letter stand out is to try writing from a different angle than most people will be writing from. Maybe you could write your Christmas letter from the perspective of your pet, or a fly on the wall. How about a multiple choice quiz. Instead of writing about what happened in the last year, write about your favorite Christmas memory. The possibilities for this one are endless.
- Get over yourself! We have all gotten them, three page Christmas letters that are nothing but bragging, bragging, bragging. “Johnny won a nobel peace prize, and decided that he would continue with his fourth year of Russian. He wants to take Chinese when he starts high school.” Your friends and family want to celebrate your accomplishments with you, but don’t dedicate your whole Christmas letter to the “my dog’s smarter than your dog” game.
- Be positive. Everybody faces difficult circumstances, and some years are much worse than others. In the worst of circumstances, there is always something to be glad about. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t even talk about the hard things that happen during the year, just try not to let hardships take over your Christmas letter.
- Proofread. Before you press print, read your Christmas letter out loud. If you stumble on a sentence of phrase, your reader will too.
- Relax! You are writing this Christmas letter for your family and friends. They want to know what has happened in your life more than they want to get the perfect Christmas letter. Lighten up, and just enjoy reliving the year.
photo: J.Nathan Matias used by permission, some rights reserved, CC-By-SA 2.0
