Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Greetings!

I hope that you are having a wonderful holiday season. I still have some shopping to do and plenty of wrapping, cookie baking and all the other fun things that come this time of year. I am really looking forward to spending time with my family this Christmas. My girls are practically counting down the minutes til Santa arrivies, which is fun stuff!

merry christmas!

I am signing off of Molly Merchant until 2012. Amidst all of the other holiday preparations that I have going on, I will be working on this blog. I will be focusing on the design (or re-design) of the site and preparing for a slightly new and better focus. I have some very exciting things in store for you in 2012!

Thank you for reading this blog or simply stopping by from time to time. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year. May all your holidays be Merry and Bright!

All my best,

Photo credit: e_walk on Flickr Creative Commons

A Stocking Stuffer They Haven’t Received Before (Now)

Are you looking for stocking stuffers for an adult man or woman? Or maybe you just want to get something different and new? If so, you should get the Blade Buddy this Christmas.

What is the Blade Buddy?

The Blade Buddy is a tool that sharpens any razor blade prolonging the razor’s life and making each shave close and comfortable.

Replacing razor blades after only a few shaves is both costly and wasteful. With Blade Buddy you save money, reduce waste and eliminate nicks, cuts, razor burn and ingrown hair caused by dull razor blades.

 

My Experience

I recently tried the Blade Buddy and was impressed with how it sharpened the very inexpensive razors that I use. I don’t spend much money on razors, since I buy  the plastic disposable kind (on sale). Call me frugal. But it sharpened my kind of dull, plastic razor for a clean shave without nicks or cuts.  

My husband also tested the Blade Buddy. He has a very thick beard, and is a 5 o’clock-shadow-at-noon kind of guy. He uses a much more expensive razor for his needs, and he said that the Blade Buddy sharpened his razor very nicely. 

What my husband and I liked the most was how the Blade Buddy kept our blades from getting warped so that each shave was very clean and comfortable.

Get your Blade Buddy or learn more about it here.

Gifts in a Jar for Kids

I recently purchased the book ”Gifts in a Jar for Kids,” since I was looking for easy presents for my kids to make for teacher gifts this holiday season.

About the Book

The spiral bound book includes approximately 22 recipes for cookies and brownies and there are even recipes for trail mix and funnel cake. The idea is that you compile the dry ingredients in a jar, attach the recipe card for mixing and making the dry ingredients and then share as a gift.

The beauty of this book, besides the $9 price tag, is its simplicity. There’s a short introduction page at the beginning of the book and each recipe has one page of instructions for compiling the dry ingredients. On the back of the instruction page is the actual recipe for cooking the ingredients followed by 6 cut out recipe cards for attaching to the gifts.

The dry ingredients are all common items you can find in a typical grocery store. You won’t find anything funky or overpriced. I also liked the recipe selections since they weren’t too common, like chocolate chip or sugar cookies. You should be able to find a gift that the recipient doesn’t typically make on their own.

What We Did

My two daughters and I chose Chocolate Chip Muffin Delights on the basis that the recipe sounded very delicious!

My girls thoroughly enjoyed measuring and pouring the ingredients into each jar. They love cooking and usually want to join me when I’m making dinner, so this was a perfect activity to do with them. I was very proud of the care they took in putting these gifts for their teachers together including attaching recipe cards with some decorative ribbon.

I highly recommend “Gifts in a Jar for Kids” if you are looking for easy Christmas gifts kids can make.

You can purchase a copy here.

Do you have any easy, creative gifts that you like to make with your kids during the holidays?

And the winner is….

Kristen!  She won giveaway for the $50 gift certificate to Xperience Days!  Congratulations and I’ll be in touch with Kristen directly to make sure she gets her gift certificate.

{The results were used by using  the True Random Number Generator on random.org

 Min: Max: Result: 1 Powered by RANDOM.ORG}

The Molly Merchant Guide to Gift Guides 2011

 Here’s a collection of the best holiday gift guides I’ve curated from around the web. Whether you still need a little more inspiration for those last Christmas presents or are just getting started on your shopping, there are ideas for just about anyone.

Better Homes and Gardens - Better Homes & Gardens is a staple when it comes to all things holiday. You can’t go wrong here.

 

Gifts. com - The authority on gifts on the web strikes again with another wonderful holiday guide. They have made it so easy to browse and search on this site, it’s almost impossible to not find a gift.

The TomKat Studio - A leading source for entertaining and party ideas, the TomKat Studio offers up a magazine style guide that’s so pretty to look at, it’s a gift in and of itself. Various bloggers, designers and photographers offer up fun and chic gift suggestions throughout.

Real Simple - This magazine happens to be a personal favorite of mine and I look forward to their holiday issue every year since it’s so full of great ideas. What I really like about the 2011 gift guide is the section on a particularly challenging gifting demographic – Teens and Tweens.

Imagination Soup - This is a gift guide for kid’s educational gifts broken down by categories like reading, math & science, and writing. It’s refreshing to see suggestions for children that are fun and educational.

Gifted Magazine - When I started blogging a little over a year ago, I saw the 2010 issue of this magazine and my jaw hit the floor. When you see the striking layout and colors of this online magazine, you’ll feel visually inspired to say the least.

Unclutterer - True to it’s name, the gift suggestions here are all about minimalism and purpose.

The Red Cross Gift Guide - Are looking for a gift that gives back? The Red Cross Gift Guide provides many ways to truly “give” this holiday season like a military comfort kit, an emergency family kit or simply donate.

Technical Difficulties

 I promised some stocking stuffer ideas in a previous post and I’ve been gathering lots of great ideas and even published a post with ideas for women. But when I viewed the post on my web site, the formatting looked horrible  and I couldn’t read over half of the text. So, I’ve been trying to fix the problem, but it still looks ridiculous. The thing is, the post had a ton of links and photos, which is what I wanted but I think that’s what caused the problem. At least I’m hoping it’s something minor like that.

TemStock - Teddy in Xmas Stocking

So I’m deleting it and starting over.  I’ll get the stocking stuffers to you, but this is taking a little more time than I expected.

It wouldn’t be Christmas if I weren’t feeling at least a little bit behind right now.

Photo credit: Temari 09 on Flickr Creative Commons

Inexpensive Stocking Stuffer Ideas

There’s not much I don’t like about Christmas.  I get very wrapped up in the season (no pun intended) and enjoy the decorating, the baking, and the shopping, of course. And I especially love stocking stuffers. Picking out a lot of fun, small gifts is a creative venture for me.

I was recently talking to a friend who told me that she hated purchasing stocking stuffers.  What?  She said it stressed her out.  Who knew?

But I’m guessing that she’s not alone. So I’ve decided to devote a few posts on Stocking Stuffer ideas to help all you stressed out people ;-) I’ll be talking about inexpensive stocking stuffers for her and for him and even for a baby. And I’ve got the ultimate, fun stocking stuffer that would be great for just about anyone on your list.

 

 

Copyright Koeb - Flickr Creative Commons

 

But to kick this series off, I’m linking to a post about stocking stuffers from last Christmas season.

Visual Inspiration: Stocking Stuffers

And don’t forget that the giveaway ends tomorrow, 11/30/11 at midnight. If you’re looking for a fun gift you can experience, please stop by this post and comment to win a $50 gift certificate to Xperience Days.  Stop by their site and check it out. They have some really great gift experiences.

Hostess Gifts Don’t Get Any Easier

I was shopping the other day and came across this:

 

I couldn’t resist purchasing a set of these Drink Me Wine Bottle Gift Tags for myself. Since “the season” is upon us, you’re bound to have a party or two to go to. And, if you’re like me, you’re probably a bit overwhelmed with all of the other Christmas shopping you have going on. Simple and easy is the way to go with holiday hostess gift ideas.

You just pop one of these wine bottle gift tags on and your hostess gift for Christmas is done (and not to mention so much more fun than a gift bag). And they come in a packet of 25 so you’re set for other occasions.

Happy gifting!

$50 Xperience Days Giveaway

Xperience Days is offering one lucky Molly Merchant reader a $50 gift certificate that can be redeemed against of any of  the unique gifts offered on their site!!

What is Xperience Days?

Xperience Days is the Country’s leading Experience Gift Company. Since 2004, we have helped over 100,000 people give Unique Gifts and create lasting memories in the form of Experience Gifts. At Xperience Days we offer thousands of unique gift experiences nationwide which are perfect gift ideas for Holiday Gifts, Wedding Gifts, Birthday Gifts and more. All of our unique gifts are presented in the form of a gift certificate which may be redeemed by the recipient at their convenience, and all experience gifts are sent in an attractive Xperience Days Gift Pack.

 

Have you ever wanted to try race car driving?

Are you interested in salsa dancing?

Have you ever wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride?

If I were to choose a gift experience, I think I’d pick a cooking class or maybe a wine tasting. That’s definitely my speed. With so much to choose from, there’s a gift experience for pretty much anyone in over 18 major cities nationwide.

 

How to Enter

To enter, please leave a comment below. A winner will be chosen at random. The giveaway closes at November 30, 2011 at midnight.

Bonus entries (optional). Just be sure to comment that you did them:

  1. Tweet this post
  2. Follow Molly Merchant on Twitter
  3. Follow Xperience Days on Twitter 
  4. Visit the Xperience Days web site and then come back and comment below about what experience you would choose and why.

Good luck!!

 Photo credit: All photos from xperiencedays.com

Six Weeks and Six Tips to Get Your Holiday Shopping Organized and Done

It’s mid-November and you still have plenty of time to get your holiday shopping done and enjoy all that the season has to offer.  I realize there are folks who start their Christmas shopping for the following year the day after Christmas.  I also realize that there are those people, like my husband, who do all of their shopping on Christmas Eve.  I lie somewhere in the middle.  I might do a little bit throughout the year, but I prefer to do most, if not all of my shopping after Halloween.  I enjoy shopping when the stores are decorated and Christmas music is playing – it puts me in the spirit.

If you haven’t started shopping, here are six tips to get you going and done in no time.

1.)  Make Your List and Check it Twice

Make a list of all the people you typically purchase Christmas presents for.  Think of everyone starting with your closest family and friends and continue adding.  Don’t forget people like teachers, cleaning services, newspaper delivery and others who help you throughout the year.  Now is the time to brainstorm every potential gift, so you’re not caught off guard a week before Christmas and you have a million other things to do.

Here are some helpful tips and applications for getting organized for Christmas.  And if you are unsure who to tip and how much, check out this handy guide.

2.)  Trim Your List, if Possible

Take a good long look at your list and dispose of all the naughty people in your life.  I’m just kidding!  Actually, you need to take a look at your list and see if it’s realistic.  Have you been totally stressed out previous years with a tremendous amount of shopping?  Are you going into serious debt by trying to get too much for too many people?  Are there people on your list who you don’t really see or keep in touch with throughout the year?  Nobody wants to be scrooge this time of year but it’s important to stay within your own means in terms of time and money.

And keep in mind that if you need to cut a few people from your Christmas list, you can always get them a gift for their birthday or other occasion.  Just because they are no longer on your Christmas list, doesn’t mean you can’t give them a gift or take them to lunch at another time.  I had a friend call me up before the holidays and ask me if it was ok to not exchange presents that year since their budget was really tight.  I appreciated her honesty and it was a relief to have one less gift to shop for.  Sometimes a quick phone call can save a lot of undue stress.

3.)  Naughty or Nice?  Budget

If you haven’t already done this, it’s time to crunch some numbers.  Only you know how much you have to spend for the holidays.  Since you have your list of everyone you need to shop for, you can determine how to allocate those funds (there’s a phrase I never use, but I feel all budgety and money-wise typing “allocate those funds”).  How much can you spend on each person?  Write the dollar amount next to each person on your list.  I’ll admit that I’m no budgeting guru, but planning how much you will spend will save you misery and time later.  It will also help you pick out gifts, since you know exactly how much you can spend on someone.  You’ll stay away from pricey items when shopping for the people who you can only spend $10 on.

Simple Mom always has tons of great advice, and this is a very helpful budgeting article.

4.)  Virtual Shopping First

Armed with your list and your budget, you can start deciding what to get each person.  Can you get it online?  Would they like (or prefer) a gift card?  Tackle all the gifts you know right away and do it online or from catalogs, which will obviously save you a lot of running around.  You’ll also save a lot of money since you can choose the slowest and cheapest shipping method.  It’s still early enough to look around. Be creative and take your time finding some special gifts. Sites like Giftbee allow you to search for your gift various ways including traits of the recipient like, “always cold.”

5.)  Hit the Stores

Before you hit the stores, know what you are purchasing and where you’re going to buy it.  I’m always awestruck at the number of people who decide to wander a crowded mall aimlessly during the holidays hoping for gift inspiration.  I’m pretty sure it’s just going to lead to frustration and sore feet. Make a plan, take your list and get it done.

Also, it’s a really good idea to go shopping on a Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon during the holidays.  I discovered this gem when I was a stay at home mom.  The stores and parking lots are pretty empty on these days.  So I try to arrange my schedule during the holidays so I don’t HAVE to go near a mall on a weeknight or worse yet, the weekend.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

P.S.  Be sure to save your list and your budget.  It will save you time next year!