Dandelions and Daydreams

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

1. Ornaments and Decorations–think inside and out (for tips on taking pictures of lights, see this article)
2. wrapping presents
3. Christmas baking (cookies, breads, etc)
4. Gifts under the tree
5. Packing the Car for the Christmas trip
6. food preparation
7. Setting the table
8. Christmas candles
9. Family groups
10. pictures with grandparents
11. kids dressed up in holiday clothes
12. that funky holiday sweater or earrings
13. opening presents
14. wrapping paper spread across the floor and kids playing with new toys
15. sunrise, or sunset Christmas day
16. 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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.”
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Proofread. Before you press print, read your Christmas letter out loud. If you stumble on a sentence of phrase, your reader will too.
10. 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

Christmas is three weeks away. Dust off your camera and get ready to take some great Holiday photos with the tips listed below.

1. Prepare your tools!

A year ago, Brenton and I took a trip to Glacier National Park to celebrate my birthday. The scenery in Glacier is awe-inspiring, to say the least.

I had recharged my camera batteries, but I didn’t bother to check if my memory sticks were empty. I had not used my camera in a few months, so I assumed all was well.

You can imagine my dismay when I found all three of my memory sticks full with pictures from our vacation. We spent one evening of our Glacier trip driving to the nearest Walmart to buy another memory stick.

A few days before you leave for your Christmas trip, recharge your camera batteries and make sure your camera’s memory stick has room to hold your photos.

2. Frame and Focus!

When you put the camera up to your eye, think about how you are framing your photo before you press the shutter button. What are you trying to say in this picture? What is the focus?

When you take a picture, leave no doubt what the photo is about.

Here are a few composition guidelines to achieve this:

One of the most basic rules in photography is the Rule of Thirds.

Divide the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically. When you frame a picture, try to put an important element on these lines (i.e. when taking a head and shoulders photography, put the subjects eyes on the top 1/3 line).

If you are taking a photo of some detail, such as an ornament, put the detail on the intersection of two lines (called hotspots) rather than right in the middle of the photo frame.

Fill the Frame.

One of my photo pet-peeves is when a picture is taken with the subjects face right in the middle of the photo and half the image is empty.  When you take a picture, fill the frame with the subject.

Take a look at this shot:

Because the faces are centered in the picture, there is a lot of visual clutter/discraction.

Now, compare this one:

This is kind of a sillypicture, but it illustrates the point.  By filling the frame with the subject (as in the second picture) most of the visual clutter is cut out and your eyes are drawn to the faces.

3.  Take more than you need!

That’s right, be greedy!

This is an old photographer’s secret.  If you want to get a good picture, take more shots than you think you need.  The more pictures you have the more likely you are to get one that turns out well.

As my mom says, “Pixels are cheap.”

4.  Play with the Flash!

Don’t always stick with the hard fast rule that a flash has to be used for all indoor pictures.  If you are taking indoor action shots, by all means, use a flash.  If you are taking group portraits, try a few without the flash.  If you need the flash, but want to soften the light, try taping a piece of  white toilet paper over your camera flash.  This will help diffuse the light and reduce some of the shine on people’s faces.

If you are photographing Christmas lights, you will want to do it without the flash.

5.  Enjoy the holiday!

Don’t get so caught up in taking the “perfect” Christmas photos that you forget to be a part of the holiday.  Get out from behind your camera and soak in all the memories.  Without the memories, your photos won’t be worth much, no matter how great they look.

Christmas is upon us and the panic of buying “the perfect gift” has settled in. If you have a writer on your gift list, I have a few ideas for finding the gift that will light up his eyes and say, “I support your dreams.” To tell the truth, it may be more important for a writer to know the she has the support of her family and friends than to get the perfect writer gift, but the perfect gift is always nice.

1. Writer’s Market 2008. The Writers Market is the book for the marketing side of being a freelance author. The book contains information, addresses, topics, and tips for getting published in over 3,500 different magazines. The Writer’s Market is updated yearly with new publications and updated listings.
2. Notebooks. In this digital age, writers still rely on pen and paper to capture ideas. I like to carry a small pocket sized notebook with me all the time. This is handy for when inspiration strikes on the road. I use a lot of regular sized notebooks too. Even with a laptop computer that goes anywhere, nothing beats pen and paper for jotting a quick note or catching that fleeting inspiration.
3. Gift certificate to an office supply store. An office supply store doesn’t sound like the most “Christmasy” place to find a gift, but I’m being completely serious. I have an office supply addiction, and I suspect that many other writers have a similar addiction. I spend a lot of money at Staples for things that I need, like printer paper, ink, computer disks, etc. I could spend a lot of money on things that I want there too. My list of wants include a new microphone/headset, a external hard drive, and a 22″ computer monitor (or 2). Your gift certificate will be appreciated.
4. Post it notes. When I am writing, I often think of things I need to say later in the article. Sometimes, I realize changes that need to be made in stuff I have already written. If you could see my laptop computer, the whole wrist rest area is covered in post it note reminders.
5. Magazine Subscription. Give the gift of inspiration, all year long. There are some very good writing magazines such as Writer’s Digest, Writer, and Poets & Writers Magazine.  If the writer on your list already subscribes to these magazines, give him a subscription to a hobby magazine.  Writers are readers and inspiration can come from anywhere.
6. Tea/hot cocoa/coffee. In the cold winter months, typing on a computer always makes my fingers cold.  I love having something warm to wrap my fingers around.  There is something inspiring about good tea.
7. Spill proof mug. Have you ever seen the havoc a full cup of tea can cause when spilled on a keyboard?  If you spend hours in front of a computer, one day you will likely spill something on a keyboard.  Help your writer save her computer, buy her a spill proof mug.

I have given you a short list of stocking stuffers for writers, but remember, when all else fails, give chocolate!