Online Christmas Wish List

There’s a site that makes creating your own Christmas wish list super easy. It offers you the option to quickly and easily add links to anything you find online on any site.

Go to Wishmodo and sign in. 

You have the option to post your wish list on Facebook after you’ve created it.

Making a wish list is super easy. You just install a Wishmodo button into your browser and surf online as you usually do. Once you find something you like just click the Wishmodo Button and it’ll be quickly added to your wish list.

Obviously, a huge time saver.  Let me know if you try it out.


Update:
Various people have stated that Internet Explorer does not open the website.  I liked the idea and am saddened to hear of this glitch.  If you do achieve access, please tell us your experience with an online wish list.

12 Days of Christmas Gag Gifts

This is a great gift idea, especially if you are a secret Santa. You present the suggested gift along with the printed verse each day for twelve days.

Feel free to make up your own verses.

ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - a partridge in a pear tree...

Sorry, but I couldn't find the partridge so I am giving you some pears from the tree the partridge flew away from.
(Leave note along with a can of pears or a few fresh pears.)

ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - two turtle doves...

Unfortunately, I don't have any, will candy turtles on a bar of Dove soap do?
(Leave note along with a box of turtle candy and a bar of Dove soap.)

ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - three French hens...

The French hens were not available, so I'm giving you some chicken noodle soup, compliments of the three French hens.
(Leave note along with a can - or 3 cans - of chicken noodle soup.)

ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - four calling birds...

I can't find those calling birds, but here are four messages they left for you before they flew off.
(Leave note along with four messages describing what a wonderful person the gift recipient is.)

ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - five golden rings...

Sorry, I'm too poor to buy five real gold rings, but will some golden pineapple rings suffice?
(Leave note along with a can of pineapple rings.)

ON THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - six geese a laying...

You don't really want messy geese all over the house do you? How about some of the eggs they left behind?
(Leave note along with six eggs.)

ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - seven swans a swimming...

All of the swans have flown south for the winter, but here are some of the bubbles they used while they were swimming.
(Leave note along with a bottle of bubble bath.)

ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - eight maids a milking...

Here's some milk I got from the eight maids - we think they must have been milking some brown cows.
(Leave note along with carton of chocolate milk.)

ON THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - nine ladies dancing...

Here are some canes used by the ladies to help them walk home after they were out dancing all night.
(Leave note along with a box of candy canes.)

ON THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - ten Lords-a-leapin'...

After the Lords get done leapin', this is what they use for their sore muscles.
(Leave note along with a tube of Ben-gay or other soothing lotion.)

ON THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - eleven pipers piping...

Here's a pipe of your own, have fun and don't blow the whole day.
(Leave note along with a bottle of bubbles and bubble pipe.)

ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, your true love gave to you - twelve drummers drumming...

No drummers, we thought you could use some quiet time so here is a special treat we drummed up for you so relax and enjoy.
(Leave note along with some homemade cookies or other treats.)

The Safe Road to Santa's Workshop

Be Safe This Holiday Season - The Safe Road to Santa's Workshop

Where Does Your Holiday Spirit Come From?

Your Holiday Spirit Comes From Decorating the House

You are a very visual and creative person. You have a clear idea in your mind of what the holidays should look like. You enjoy using this time of year to express your artistry and impress your friends and family a bit. You are a comforting influence on those around you. You are the perfect person to host a holiday gathering. You are grateful for everything you have. More than grateful, you're downright delighted.

Where Does Your Holiday Spirit Come From?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

If  you know me, you know this is true.  I love decorating for the Christmas season.

Top 10 Christmas Lists

Top Ten is a generic term used to indicate the ten items that are best, worst, or otherwise notable according to some criteria. Enjoy the top ten lists about Christmas. Where do you find the world’s tallest Christmas tree? How do you nick an elf? Top 10 lists are good, fun, and decisive ways to get an overview of many Christmas topics. 365 Days of Christmas brings a selection of top 10 lists here (at the blog site). Click around, have some fun, and learn a bit more about Christmas. 

The Christmas Card Test

You Are Caring

You are an extremely stable and together person. You don't have a lot of chaos in your life. You're at a point where you can help others, and you do so happily and willingly. You are sympathetic and compassionate. You find it easy to place yourself in someone else's shoes. You are organized and responsible. You take care of yourself so that you're not a burden on others.

The Holiday Card Test

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

Christoper Radko Ornaments

It's Become a Well-Known Tale


A tree ladened with the Radko family's antique ornaments fell when a newly purchased Christmas tree stand broke. Christopher ruined Christmas for his family! So he decided to right that wrong and on a trip to Poland went about trying to find replacements for the ornaments. The first collection consisted of 65 ornaments in 1986.


The Making of an Ornament

Ornaments are produced in several European countries -- Poland, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Each ornament is still made the old fashioned way and takes seven days to create. Over 10,000 different items have been created over the past twenty years.


The Different Radko Lines


Over the years the Radko name has grown to include numerous products that fall into three lines: mouth-blown glass ornaments, Home for the Holidays (tabletop/decorative accessories), and Shiny-Brite, retro looking ornaments and decorations. 


Much to the chagrin of long-time collectors several years ago Radko produced an exclusive line for Target. The Target line was limited and to the expert collector the difference was obvious, but many felt it hurt the brand name in the long run.


It's Easy to Get Overwhelmed


Christmas collectors can be easily overwhelmed when looking at the hundreds of different designs produced every year (1,100 in 2006). Sometimes it is best to focus in on a particular type of ornament or design and go from there. There are lots of choices including whimsical, traditional, or storybook styles, as well as ornaments supporting charities and groups. It would be hard to name an item, character, or culture which has not been represented by a Radko ornament.


Charity and Benefit Ornaments


Every year Christopher Radko has numerous ornaments designated to raise funds for various charities including AIDS, Breast Cancer, Pediatric Cancer, Animal Rights Organizations, Diabetes, Heart Disease, and The Christopher Radko Foundation for Children in Poland. 


Other exclusive ornaments are produced specifically for charities to offer for sale as a fund-raising option. These include St. Jude's, the Dave Thomas Foundation, and The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.


Licensed and Exclusives


In addition to the extensive Radko open ornament line, many stores have the chance to offer exclusives only available at their store, as well as signing exclusives. These are ornaments available only at a Radko appearance. 


Over the years Radko has produced numerous licensed ornaments for companies as diverse as Disney, Warner Bros, and Harley Davidson.


Radko Values


The early years of Radko ornaments have risen in value and are difficult to find at a bargain. People usually know what they have! Secondary markets through newsletters, dealers, or Internet auctions are the way to find the older ornaments. Many stores will also have a few retired ornaments in stock, you'll have to let your fingers do the walking when trying to find something specific.


Resources

Author David Olsen has categorized the entire Radko line from the first year 1986 through 2000. The book will be very helpful when shopping the secondary market, plus it serves to whet the appetite for ornaments from the early years.

Christopher Radko Ornaments, Volume 1
A Chat with David Olsen
Christopher RadkoRadko Ornaments

Dear Mr. Santa Claus

Check out this adorable, fun animation for the whole family.  I think, it will easily become a Christmas classic. This animated song reminds of the ads and songs from my childhood.

Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dicixW23rwo.

If you like, please help us spread the word!

'Tis the Season to Be Spendy

Best Selling Christmas Songs of All Time

When you talk about Christmas, you can’t ignore the Christmas music that can be heard everywhere in December. After all, music plays a significant role in creating the desired atmosphere. 

Best Selling Christmas Songs of All Time

1. Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? - 1984, 1985, 2004 
2. Boney M  - Mary's Boy Child - 1978
3. Wham! - Last Christmas - 1984, 1985
4. Harry Belafonte - Mary's Boy Child - 1957
5. Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody  - 1973, 1981, 1983, 1998, 2006
6. Bing Crosby - White Christmas - 1942, 1977, 1998
7. Cliff Richard - The Millennium Prayer - 1999 
8. Johnny Mathis - When A Child Is Born - 1976
9. Gene Autry - Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer - 1999
10. Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock - 1957

"New Tradition"

I was introduced to a new holiday song that I want to share with you.  Hey Romeo, a country group from Edmonton, Alberta, released a new song yesterday titled "New Tradition."

The group Hey Romeo are the 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards "Group of the Year."

I've included a sound clip here for you to check them out: http://soundcloud.com/heyromeo/new-tradition-hey-romeo.

Christmas Countdown Giveaway

Happy December!  Only 24 days until Christmas.

In between the hustle and bustle of the holidays, let's have some fun.  If you like surprises and prizes, HostelBookers has a thing or two in their Santa sack this year, just for you.

In the spirit of a traditional advent calendar, HostelBookers is getting fun, merry, and festive by giving away fantastic prizes every day between 1st through 24th of December.

We can't promise everyone a white Christmas, but we can offer prizes including iPad2, free accommodations, Kindle, InterRail tickets, Round-The-Word Expert Flights and much more.

Come play - and win - with us...

1.  Go to HostelBookers Facebook page.
2. Like Hostelbookers.
3. Click on the 'Christmas Giveaway' tab and answer a question.

• A new question will be posted daily at midnight 00:01 GMT up to and including December 24th.
• Winners will be notified by email and announced on the blog once they claim their prize.
• Answers will be posted on the Facebook wall and on the blog.

HostelBookers is the leading budget accommodation website in the travel industry not to apply a service charge and is, on average, 8.7% cheaper than its nearest competitor. It features over 20,000 hostels, cheap hotels and budget properties on its website in over 3,500 destinations across the world. Follow us on Twitter @hostelbookers.

What Color Christmas Lights Are You>

You Are Green Lights

Your holidays are a time of rest and solace. You take time to reflect on the year that's passed. You also enjoy connecting with friends and family you've lost touch with. The holidays are your opportunity to remember what's important in your life.

What Color Christmas Lights Are You?

Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!

Easy Homemade Gifts to Make for Christmas

We certainly love to receive gifts but there is more joy from giving gifts. This, unfortunately, can turn into an expensive venture as our list of recipients continues to grow and the prices continue to creep higher. A fantastic way to give Christmas gifts is to make them yourself. This is not only a great cost-saving way to give, it also adds a personal touch to your gifts and is a terrific bonding activity for the whole family. Get your creative juices flowing with these great homemade Christmas gift ideas:

Box of Homemade Christmas Ornaments

This is a great gift idea for anyone as it can be personalized to suit ages and personal interests. You will need a box of plain round Christmas ball ornaments. For a sports fan family, you can paint the ornament to look like a soccer ball, a basketball, a baseball, and so on. You can also paint on personalized season greetings or names. Another idea is to put colorful beads, metallic shreds/tinsel, a feather (to represent an angel), paint (then swirl ornament around to get good coverage), or small toys inside. More ideas include placing a small photo or flower insides.

Box of International Teas (or Coffee)

This is a great way for your family and friends to experience different tastes of the world. Invest in a number of different boxes of tea from different places in the world. Many types of tea can be found at your local supermarket or mass merchandise store, for example, green tea from China, masala tea from India, black tea from Kenya, Earl grey tea from the UK, etc. For more specialized tea, you can find great deals online, especially if you buy in bulk. Then pack them in pretty plastic bags, simple baskets, or mugs. Remember to  include a card explaining the different types of tea and where they are from.

Box of Homemade Treats

Roll up your sleeves and get your hands sticky making homemade fudge, cupcakes, truffles, mini loaves of bread, brownies, candy, &/or cookies. These are fun to make, fun to decorate, and fun to eat. Get out the tried and true family recipes to use. 

Personalized Wrapping

Get creative with your wrapping too. Many options include pretty but inexpensive plates, mugs, disposable foil pans, colorful plastic wrap, and Christmas patterned Ziploc bags.

Written by Nisha Sharma from Freebies365.co.uk and Storm Litz.

Personalized Christmas Gifts

With the festive period fast approaching, the spectre of what gifts to buy family and friends is upon us, and with topping last year’s purchases and buying for those that seem to own everything already, the task is becoming more difficult every year. Tailored Christmas presents are one way to get round this conundrum.

·      An old favourite is simply to make something from scratch. This method is particularly nice when the present comes from a child.  The gift actually means something and will more than likely adorn the wall or mantelpiece of a loved one for years to come.

·      Personalised mugs, hats, t-shirts, etc. are a great way to make what is usually a pretty standard Christmas gift into a more enduring and meaningful offering. The process for arranging this sort of present is fairly easy and can be done in most cases simply by sending off a relevant photo. The end result will belie the actual effort put in!

·      If you want to really make a point with a personalized Christmas gift why not go for a private license plate? For a new motorist or a seasoned driver with a new car, a personalized plate would be a perfect gift.

·       A photo frame of the digital variety is a great modern take on a classic heartfelt present. By loading up the frame with snaps of friends and family, before wrapping up for Christmas morning, you can take the hassle out of the technology for a loved one and give them a gift that will always be fresh.

·      Lastly, everybody likes to let themselves 'go' over the Christmas period, so giving the gift of chocolate is always a winner. We all know about the selection box on Christmas morning but a more refined cocoa present, with a personalised message, from a good chocolatier is a great way to give a custom gift.

Written by Daniel Nicklin on behalf of Search Laboratory Ltd. and Storm Litz.

Clever Personalized Christmas Card Ideas

Have you been thinking about what you will do for this year's Christmas card? Are you tired of buying the same boxes of snowman and reindeer cards?  Are you looking for a fresh, fun new idea? Consider sending a more personalized Christmas greeting - a photo Christmas card is a unique way to send holiday wishes to friends and family. 

Photo Christmas cards come in many creative styles and colors.  Some cards have one focal photo while others feature two or more photos. Many Christmas photo cards have the option to include a short personal message.

Here are some ideas to help you create a clever personalized Christmas card using a photo card:

• Think 'outside the box' when choosing a photo. Not all photo Christmas cards need to have a picture of the kids sitting on Santa's lap or the whole family posed in holiday sweaters. Capture another fun family moment where your family's personality shines through - baking Christmas cookies together, a family ski trip, making the annual gingerbread house, or finding the perfect Christmas tree.
• Have trouble getting everyone to smile and look at the camera at the same time? Consider a photo Christmas card that allows for multiple photos. Choose photos that give everyone a moment to shine.
• Don't forget the pets (they're part of the family too). Put a Santa hat on the dog and some reindeer antlers on the cat and snap that photo.
• Optimize your color scheme. While your whole family doesn't need to dress in red or green, having everyone dress within the same range of colors will make the photo seem more cohesive. Or change all the photos to black & white or sepia toned, so you don't have to worry about the colors clashing. Coordinating the colors will help you choose a Christmas photo card design that compliments the color scheme of your photo(s).

 The sky is the limit when it comes to designing your personalized Christmas photo card, so have fun creating some Christmas cheer! 


Written by Kevin Phelps from SEO.com and Storm Litz.

My Ugly Christmas Sweater

You have heard the phrase 'another man's junk is another man's treasure.'  Here is an updated version:  One man's ugly, tacky sweater is another man's sparkling, fun sweater.

Do you remember the gawdy, over-rated, sparkly, light-up sweaters from about twenty years ago?  Guess what?  They are back in fashion.  In the case of the Ugly Christmas Sweater, the more lights, patterns, sparkles, colors, fringe, reindeer, snowmen, Christmas trees, glitzy, the uglier; the better the sweater is according to Ugly Christmas Sweater.

Each sweater is one-of-a-kind and hand-crafted in Vermont, USA.  You can beam with pride that you are wearing a genuinely ugly sweater.

It Is Okay to Say Merry Christmas

Every Christmas, anti-Christian groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, sue some city for erecting a nativity scene on public property. Likewise, fearing they may be perceived as politically incorrect, a handful of retailers replace the word "Christmas" with "Holiday" in their marketing.

It may seem like a small issue, but these things are significant because they diminish the importance of the Christian foundations of America.

Our ideas of justice, mercy, liberty and love for our fellow man are deeply rooted in the Bible, and particularly in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That's why America has been a light among the nations in the world.

Like the angel who appeared to the shepherds saying: "I bring you good news of great joy," we Christians have a story to tell about the blessings of honoring God. Telling that story can start with wearing and sharing the 2011 Christmas button.

Black Friday Info

Black Friday Info is a one-stop destination for everything shoppers need for Black Friday 2011. From early access to Black Friday ads to bargain-hunting tips to the best deals from top retailers. 

Check Your Christmas Lights

As a person who usually decorates more than an average of 20 Christmas trees every year, I can tell you from experience it is MUCH easier to check your strand of Christmas lights before you put the lights on the tree or intertwine it with the garland, etc.

There is nothing more frustrating than getting all the lights situated just the way you want and then find out the lights don't work, especially if you have the older lights.  Why is it one light doesn't work and the whole strand has to be damaged.  On top of that, it is difficult to go through the whole strand to find that one light that is causing all the trouble.

This year I saw a new television commercial for the Light Keeper Pro.  It fixes the strand of lights with the simple click click of the device.

I think I need this item.  Here is a video that shows just how easy the Light Keeper Pro is.

Have you tried this new item?  Does it work?  Let me know what you think in the comments.

If interested in purchasing this light-saver, check on Amazon.

(This is not a review.  I did not get paid via cash or item.  This item was listed as purely incidental.)