Xmas 2012!

Ok, so this should be the last post about Xmas until next year. Here are the rest of the Xmas related things we have done.

Here is our tree again! I LOVE the black and white but I think it might be time for a change. I want to keep a white tree. NOT this one thought. I HATE it. It is thin and leaning and the branches are ugly. What I really wanted was the white Xmas tree at Garden Ridge with the glitter on the branches. That bitch cost $200 bucks and apparently anyone else who wanted a white tree wanted that one too because my local Garden Ridge sold the last one right in front of my eyes. :( I was hoping to catch it on an after Xmas sale.

Hopefully I have made it clear at this point that I am a couponer! I love to coupon and also request free samples. What you see above are 3 gift bags for family members completely made of things I have gotten for free with a coupon or a free sample. I collect these things through out the year and at the end of the year whatever I dont think I will use I give away. These can include all kinds of things toothpaste, deodorant  hair brush, cosmetic bag, baby shampoo, make up and even socks. I never do this as the main gift but so far they have been pretty well received by my family. Last year because I was a bit more into couponing and less stressed about my job status and home buying, I was able to give a filled stocking to each person about 7 people. This year I did a bag per house.

So this is pretty random but I just thought I would share it. I could not think of a cute way to wrap batteries or to give someone batteries. I mean who wants to open batteries any way? Well, I decided to just tie them together with a little ribbon and toss them in on of the bags above for my brother in law and his wife. Nothing special but I think it looks better than 2 loose batteries. Come to think of it why the hell did I give them just 2 batteries? I mean that was all the toy need but still maybe I should have wrapped the whole pack with ribbon? Any other suggestions for batteries? Do you even give the batteries or do you just let the parents work that out later?

We also went to look at all the pretty lights in the neighborhood. I hope that we can do this every year! It something that is free (or mostly free becuase of the gas) and it is nice to ride around and listen to Xmas music and look at the lights. This was by fay my favorite house! You could see it from a few streets over and  all of the lights in the tree twinkled in and out. Look at those giant statues with glowing eyes! 

One of the most fun things Zoey and I did was make Xmas cards. Inside of each one I drew an Xmas tree and had her color the "ornaments" on or we glued different shaped sequins on for the ornaments. I had lots of fun being completely random and attempting to be creative. I hope the recipients liked them!