What not to give! The Tacky gifts

Are you a tacky gift giver, or just being funny? I'm sure one of you out there are itching to give one of these to the people on your Christmas list! 

1. Coffee Mugs

       Coffee mugs are best given as a corporate giveaway never as a gift. Unless you'll end up getting a fancy coffee mug (see: COFFEE MUGS CAN BE GREAT GIFTS TOO) that would fit this someone special's personality, stay away from it as much as possible.


2. Cash 

Elaine exclaimed “Cash? You got me cash? Who are you my uncle?”

   
This was a quote from an episode of Seinfeld when Jerry gave Elaine a cash for her birthday. Jerry was so pleased with his gift, Elaine was not.

   

I'm not a fan of receiving cash as gifts, unless probably it was my wedding that I would appreciate any help that I could get. But for Christmas or Birthdays, most people including me, would appreciate getting something that we know that the giver really exerted an effort finding me a gift. That alone would make them feel special.

Instead:  If you have no idea of what to give him/her, how about a gift card on his/her favorite store. It will be more appreciated.

3. A Regifted Pen engraved with initials... that is not mine

    One rule in Regifting: Take out all evidences that the item was regifted! If you can't take it out, please don't regift it!

4. Coupons 

       A friend of mine once told me that she received a Mc Donalds coupon for her wedding. It was nice to share these blessings but please not for a wedding!

Instead : If you're an advocate of Mc Donalds, a Mc D's gift card will be very much appreciated.

5. An Over sized Lingerie

      Women are naturally very sensitive when it comes to weight issues. So receiving an over sized lingerie is like a slap in a face. That's how bad it is. So if you're not really sure of what size she is, stay away from the lingerie section as much as possible!


6. A Denture Cleaner

     It's very nice that you're concerned of your recipient's overall health. But have you realized that giving this would mean that it's like you telling him/her that his/her dentures are dirty.

So this Christmas, please make sure that these things are not included in your shopping list. Or you'll end up in the worst gift giver list!

** Giveaway is still ongoing, Join HERE **

Buy Gifts or DIY?

It's exactly 14 days before christmas. I've done my christmas shopping already, I just need to buy few more gifts to complete my list. With regards to gifts, would you consider buying one or a diy? So buying vs homemade? I would say buy! hahhaha kidding! Well, I'm not really a DIY kind of girl, not because I'm not crafty enough, because truth be told I am a little crafty. But, it's just that I really do not have the patience. On the contrary, I'd say homemade gifts will always be the winner, it would always top my list. If I receive something homemade, fancy or not, I'll keep them. Last year, I gave away 3 kinds of cookies. I got the recipe from Chipits and I packed them inside dollar store plastic containers, and wrapped them in a cellophane, put ribbons, and they were good to go. Everybody loved them. Well, it was good not only because I followed the recipe well, but I made it with more than a cupful of love. This year I'm planning to give away leche flan to people close to my heart. I would like to share some homemade gift ideas that I received from busymomtips. You can get an idea or two from this so have fun and be creative!

10 HOMEMADE GIFT IDEAS

1. Edible Treats: Package homemade cookies, peppermint bark, or sugared pecans in old-fashioned tins that can be found at thrift shops and garage sales.

2.  Painted Pots: Take a standard, inexpensive clay pot and paint in a solid color. Let it dry completely and then decorate it with your own design. Personalize it by adding the recipient’s name. Finally, plant some herbs or a small plant in the pot for an extra special touch.

3. Printable Coupons: Design (or use an online template) and print out coupons to be used as stocking stuffers or stapled into a little booklet as a gift. A few suggestions for the coupons are: Good for One Hug (or Kiss); Good for One Back Rub; Redeem for a Car Wash; Take the Night Off; Have Breakfast in Bed. Be creative!

4. Printable Calendars: Use one of the many available calendar templates or software programs to personalize a calendar for a loved one by adding pictures and special dates

5. Handprint Canvas Bag: Have the kids stamp a plain, light-colored canvas bag with their handprints. Simply paint their hands with fabric paint and then press them on the bag. You can paint on stems, leaves, or other designs or lettering (such as the kids’ names) with fabric paint or a fabric marker. Note: may take a day or two to dry so give yourself plenty of time to finish this project.

6. Message Board: Make a colorful message board by wrapping a piece of fabric around a rectangular piece of styrofoam and glueing the ends to the back. Then create a grid by wrapping strips of ribbon around the board so that pictures and messages can be easily tucked behind the ribbon.

7.  Button Picture Frame: Paint a plain wooden picture frame (remove glass first) and let dry. Glue a variety of old buttons to the frame to create an unusual and interesting frame for family pictures.

8. Marbleized Christmas Ornaments: Squirt 2-3 different colors of acrylic paint inside of a clear glass ornament, and gently swirl the paint around. Let paint dry completely before adding the topper and tying it with a ribbon.

9. Family Cookbook: Ask all of the family members to contribute some of their favorite recipes to be typed up, printed out, and copied into a cookbook for all of the family to enjoy. You can have the cookbooks professionally bound by a printer such as Kinko’s, or put inside of a report cover or notebook with your own cover design or picture.

10. Garden Stepping Stones: Decorate plain concrete stepping stones by painting your own design with acrylic paints or using the kids’ hand or feet prints. Let dry completely before applying 1-2 coats of acrylic sealer.

I would like to add a sweet treat recipe book on digital scrapbook layouts. If you're not a photoshop junkie, not a problem. They came up with a program called Smilebox. It's a  downloadable program wherein you could create scrapbook layouts and play with your pictures. It's wayyy better than Scrapbookflair. I love photoshop and I'm comfortable using them but for some people who are not patient with photoshop, this is your best bet.

Let's all be creative this christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas

 Every single day, as soon as the month of November kicked in, my parents would adorn my front yard with christmas ornaments and christmas lights. Two days ago they hung the parol that they made out of papel de hapon. I got the papel de hapon, also known as gift wrapping tissue, from the Dollar store.

Parols are ornamental star-like Christmas lanterns from the Philippines. They are traditionally made out of bamboo and paper and comes in various sizes, shapes and designs, however its star-shape façade and basic design remains dominant.

Its shape is said to be inspired by the star on the Nativity of Jesus that guided the Magi to the manger. It also symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and the Filipinos' hope and goodwill during the Christmas season. SOURCE

I don't really decorate much for christmas. I usually just have a wreath for outside, and inside the house will be a 7' 5" christmas tree with red and gold ornaments, santa's socks, plus a garland to decorate my stairs and that would be all. When my parents hung the parol, I got so excited that I thought I have to take a picture. I just hope that the upcoming snowfall would not rip the paper or I'd feel so so bad.

Then last week we went to see the Santa Claus parade, which is a pretty interesting experience for all of us. My son had his face painted, which was also a first. He never liked having his face painted that's why I was surprised when I heard him say "I want to have my face painted".  I wanted him to be a dog, or a tiger, but he didn't want to, he said he wanted to be a clown, so be it. I don't  know where and how he got the idea but.. okay! There was a long line, so we waited for almost 2 hours to have his face painted but it was all worth it.

The Santa Claus parade is very nice, but it was sooo dragging. After 30 minutes of watching I felt so tired and bored. The parade itself lasted for 1 1/2 hour, I think. If they made it more like the "disney way" I think it will not be that boring.

Tomorrow, November 29,  we are going to see Santa again arriving by a helicopter in Galerie des Sources. We went there last year and I have to say that my son and I really enjoyed it. I love the sight of the dancing fairies calling out on Santa to come, saying these words "Pere Noel! Viens ici!" Then out of nowhere you'll see SantaClaus coming down through a helicopter. So effective and so magical.

Shopping centers are starting to be filled up with busy shoppers, which also means it's getting harder and harder to find a parking area, ulk!

Weather forecasts that snow is starting to fall on sunday night.

I've started putting up my tree.

I've started buying christmas presents.

It's definitely beginning to look a lot like christmas...