Teacher Christmas Gifts on the Cheap - By Trish Berg

I have 4 children who each have five teachers at school, and one Sunday School teacher at church. Now, I am not a mathematician, but that's about...hmmmm, let's see. Four times five add more, carry the one.

About 25 gifts. And that can get expensive.

So what is a mom to do? Here are 5 TOP TEACHER GIFTS that won;t break the mom bank.

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5 TOP TEACHER GIFTS THAT WON'T BREAK THE BANK

1. COOKIES IN A JAR - You can assemble these cookie mixes in quart mason jars, and add a fabric swatch on top. Talk about sharing sweet love. Click here for details.

2. LIGHT UP THEIR DAY - You can buy inexpensive votive or jar candles at the dollar store and wrap them in fabric swatches with a tag attached that reads "You Light Up My Days."

3. NOTEPADS - Teachers are always in need of notepads. Find some fun and inexpensive ones at the dollar store and wrap them up in fun paper for your teachers.

4. COFFEE TO GO - Purchase $5 coffee gift cards to a local coffee house or Starbucks. Always a great gift, and no wrapping needed. $5 will buy one sweet cup of coffee. For a variation, get a Subway $5 gift card for lunch on the go. Their foot longs are only $5!

5. HOT COCOA MIX - Make hot cocoa mix. There are a ton of varieties that are sweet and scrumptious. Who doesn't love hot cocoa for Christmas. Tons of recipes here.

SOCF makes the Perfect Gift

Melinda Schmidt (Midday Connection) sent this beautiful photo to me. She is giving away copies of SOCF as Christmas gifts and tied them up with a beautiful ornament. It does make a great gift to share...

Best Gifts Under $25 for Men and Women - By Trish Berg

We exchange names on both sides of our extended families, and so shopping is simpler. Except that I always struggle with gifts for the men in our families.

But no longer. I have discovered that buying men a food related gift is always a great gift.

BEST GUY GIFT UNDER $25

For my brother-in-law, I once assembled a basket of goodies including pancake mix, fresh flavored syrups, muffin mixes, dip mixes, chips and salsa. He loved it! I included a manly apron and some great recipes, and piled everything in a great basket, and for less than $25, it was a huge hit!

At a loss for a guy's gift under $25 this Christmas? Try this: The Salsa of the Month Club. You could even get him some unique tortillas chips in a basket and all year, he will be reminded of your love.

Click here for more info on The Salsa of the Month.

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BEST GAL GIFT UNDER $25

I have discovered a fantastic, unique gift for the gals in your life. Handmade

jewelry from stones and wire. I found this gal, Jen Berly, at a local craft fair and bought a beautiful stone ring. I have had more compliments on that ring than any other piece of jewelry I own.

Her rings are around $20. She also carries beautiful necklaces and bracelets that are a little more expensive, but well worth the price.

Check out her collection. you can order online here.

Simple Inexpensive Gifts - By Trish Berg

We have four children, and each of our children has at least 4 teachers in school. They have Sunday School teachers, baton instructors, coaches, and the list goes on. I want to bless these amazing people with sweet gifts at Christmas time, but do the math,

That is 16 plus 4 plus 2 plus 3...Ok, I lost count. Let's just round up to 20 or more gits. That can not only break the bank, be stressful to figure everything out.

So, what we have done many a time, is give the gift of COOKIES IN A JAR. They are simple recipes that you assemble in canning jars, all the ingredients to make cookies or brownies. We cut some Christmas fabric for the lid, print out labels and instructions, and voila. For a little but of investment, we can give these homemade gifts that look beautiful and are yummy.

So here is how you can make your own.

Gathering Supplies

Quart Size Canning Jars with Lids
Scrap Fabric
Ribbon
Glue
Paper
Recipe and Required Ingredients (below)

Filling the Jar

Thoroughly wash and dry the jars and lids.
Pick a recipe from below and gather your ingredients.
Using the instructions and tips from the recipe you choose and fill the jar!

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar Gift

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix the salt and baking soda in with the flour, then layer the ingredients a quart-size jar in the order listed, with the chocolate chips on top. Use scissors to cut a 9 inch-diameter circle from calico. Place over lid and secure with rubber band. Tie on a raffia or ribbon bow to cover rubber band.

Enclose a card with the following mixing and baking directions:

Baking Instructions:
Note: Store this jar in a cool, dark place for up to 3 months before using.
Additional ingredients needed: 1 cup unsalted butter or margarine,
1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Sift dry ingredients through a colander to separate the chocolate chips from other ingredients. Beat butter in a medium bowl until creamy. Beat sifted ingredients into butter until blended. In a small bowl, beat egg with vanilla. Mix beaten egg mixture into butter mixture until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop teaspoonfuls of batter, spaced well apart, onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 4 dozen.


Additional Recipes for COOKIES IN A JAR are here.

Home Decor by Brenda Nixon

A few friends tell me they keep their nativity set up year round to remind them of Christ's first and His anticipated second coming. While I respect that tradition, it's not one our family has adopted.

We do have a lovely, handmade nativity that I bought one fall for the upcoming Christmas season. Since my wedding anniversary is in November, I bought the blue-glazed porcelain nativity as our anniversary gift knowing we'd have it for years.

We also decorate outdoors. I don't do the lawn ornaments nor look like Clark W. Griswold in Christmas Vacation but our home is festive.

Actually, in my home decor, I like to rotate the furnishings by season. If you visit me in the spring you'll see fresh flowers, "springy" wall decor, and other reminders of new life. If you visit in Autumn, you'll munch candy corn and smell fall scented candles. Changing my decor with the season is one way I make my home a haven to family and friends.

How do you decorate for the holidays . . . or anytime of year?

Brenda Nixon, www.BrendaNixon.com
Co-author, A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts

Gift Lists and Name Exchanges - By Trish Berg

This year, Mike and I are getting a joint gift for each other...no surprises this year. We want to have an elliptical/treadmill to use at home. We have been running and biking together, and losing weight, and want to have a treadmill or elliptical to use at home this winter.

But we also have extended families on both sides, and we have celebrated Christmas gift giving many different ways. Here are some tips.

5 Tips for Gift Exchanges

1) SWAP NAMES ONLY - With my husband's family, we swap names at Thanksgiving for Christmas gifts. Each person, whether child or adult, draws one name out of a hat and that is who they purchase a gift for.

2) SWAP NAMES & GIFT IDEAS - A friend of mine has a different take on their name swap. They swap names, but include a list of gift ideas. So when you draw a name out of the hat, you get a list included of some things they would love to get for a Christmas gift.

3) THE GIFT GAME - In years past, we have had everyone bring a gift for extended family worth $25-$30 and wrap it anonymously for a man or women. Then everyone draws a number on Christmas day and you start at 1 and go up. When your number is called, you pick a wrapped gift to open and keep. But everyone who has a # bigger than yours can choose to "steal" your open gift, or choose an unwrapped one to open. If your gift is stolen, you can steal someone else's gift or choose an unwrapped gift.

4) THEME GIFTS - Decide as a family of a gift theme for this years Christmas celebration for extended family gatherings. i.e. Swap names, and then if you are all Ohio State fans, have everyone everyone purchase an Ohio State themed gift for the name they draw. You could have themes like: jewelry, sports, theatre tickets, night out on the town, etc.

5) EVENT INSTEAD - Instead of buying gifts for extended family, do something together, Create a family event and spend the money you would have spent on gifts on that event. You could all go to and indoor water park/hotel, an amusement park, take a Christmas train ride, or simply go out to a fantastic dinner at an area restaurant. Memories are made at events that last far longer than many gifts last.

Whatever you do for your gift exchange, remember to stay within your spending budget. Set limits, and stay within those limits. Shop sales and clearance outlets. And when you set price limits for gift exchanges, make that for the GIFT VALUE not what you actually spent. That way, you can shop on sale for a $45 valued gift and only spend $20 when you find it on sale, saving you a ton of money.

Da, dum, da, da, da, Here comes the Sun

Wishing all our readers a happy week ahead. You will get some great solar powered gift ideas from the Word Quilter's blog this week. We really want to help you have a less stressful Christmas, and one way to do that is to plan and purchase early.

My family has two solar powered items on our homestead that "light" up our lives. Our friend Eddie found solar powered luminaries at a dollar store, and they are remarkable, a total of six for $6.00 plus tax. They are a square plastic box with two AA batteries that are powered up by the sun througout the day, cloudy, rainy, or bright sun. They begin to flicker on at dusk and last for about three hours. Eddie gifted ours to us last December and the only thing I have done was to put a heavy rock inside each of them to keep them from blowing over. I have three on each end of a platform right before our front porch. These lights have created a delightful homey look year round. Many more outdoor products exist such as Roman stepping stones with a light in the middle, and much, much more. Surf the Web and look for luminaries or other solar powered outdoor lighting.

My second suggestion is a solar powered motion detector light. On our farm, my husband's work truck is parked in an open-sided barn shed a few hundred feet from our home. It seems that the cows love to hover around that end of the barn, and well, let's just say they sometimes mark the path with plops of manure. Stepping in that is no way to start your day. With the motion detector light attached to the eave of barn, as soon as Dave walks near, it sheds light on his walking path, and he can walk in a straight line to his truck or sidestep.

The lights can be purchased at Harbor Freight stores or online. And you can also find a lovely sun-powered garden lantern for $9.99

We'd love to have you tell us about the solar powered products you use.

Happy Summer Days.