Put Your Merry Where Your Mouth is

Hi Friends!
For those of you who follow this blog (all...7 of you) you may have noticed that I've been M.I.A. This is due in part to the fact that I've been working on the tree adoptions this season for The Living Christmas Company. It's a crazy job, but somebody has to do it, and who's crazier than me? Don't answer that. (I can see you out there...shaking your heads..."Nope, can't think of anyone...")
I do feel a little bad about cutting my "Christmas List" short, but what was I thinking? Maybe next year I'll write it up in...June. That could work. 
The other thing I did, which you may have seen on my Facebook page was to have a "Giving Get Together". Remember I said I wanted to? This is a great season to follow through on things. I know it's hard. Believe me, I've been typing like a nervous Marconi operator in a sinking ship. The emails flood in faster than I can answer them. Of course that may be because there's about 300 adoption customers and one of me, but I digress.  Honestly, I'm having a great time. I love seeing the names people have picked out for their trees, and sometimes they even tell me the story behind it.

The point is, that once in a while. you have to take a break. I chose to throw a party of sorts, and at the same time, I invited everyone to help make Christmas cards for our military. You might think, wow, I'm invited to go to a party and you want me to...what? I'll tell you what, whatever anyone thought coming to my house that day, they left with smiles on their faces. They started by telling me that they didn't have a creative bone in their body and by the end of the night they were picking up what they'd just made saying "Hey, this one's not bad!"  I mean seriously, how often do we (adults) get to do arts and crafts?
Now the kids...they don't worry about perfection. One little girl who came made about 10 cards I think. She went to town! The great thing is that when you get a homemade card, especially from a child, but even from an adult, you aren't thinking "Wow, I guess it's okay, but they colored outside the lines right there, and oh, there's a smudge of glue stick by the corner." No, you look at it and know that someone took the time to make something JUST FOR YOU. It was made from the heart...and was offered in hopes that it would touch yours.
So Friends, put your Merry were your mouth is. Make it your goal, even if it's just for one day, to make someone, somewhere, smile. Make a card for a soldier, call up a friend, donate to a food drive, or just be patient with the crazy elf on the phone...she's doing the best she can. 

Merry, Merry


Care'n Presents

Spending a Little Time

We all know how to spend money. Some of us more than others, lol. Sometimes it's better to spend time, than money, but most times it's harder to do. I know I've had similar items on my list so far, but this sort of thing is really important and so easy to let go of for most of us. So...

Day 63 - Spend some time with a loved one. No time? Find some, I'm sure there's a little around you somewhere. Even if all you do is sit together and watch TV, or go for a quick walk around the block, or go to a juice bar and stock up on healthy stuff (not something I would do of course. I consider candy corn a vegetable). The amount of time isn't necessarily important, but the quality is. I'm not saying you have to do something spectacular, but merely that you spend time letting that person know that they are important to you. It will lift their spirits and yours too.

Day 62 - Do something on your "to do" list. We all have that list of things, whether mentally or actually down on paper, that we keep saying we're going to do when we get around to it. So here you go:

 

 

 

It's even a Christmassy one. So think of one of those things you've been putting off, and take a little time to just do it. You'll feel better knowing it's taken care of.  Don't let it be that thing that pops up in the middle of the holidays that you "should've done" before then.  Before it gets crazy(er) - do it. Oh, and if it's on your list to order a Living Christmas Tree, you might want to do that soon too.  Just a thought.

 

 

Merry Merry,

 

Care'n Presents



photo: www.geocaching.com

A Giving Get-Together

I haven't had much time in the last couple of days to look for worthy causes, but rest assured, I'm still trying. Meanwhile, I started thinking about "Operation Christmas Cards" that I talked about yesterday, and I'm really excited about it. So on my list of things to do...

Day 69 - Plan a "Giving Get-Together".  I want to have a little party to make Christmas Cards to send in! It's always more fun doing arts and crafts with friends and family. Even people who wouldn't normally do that sort of thing will be more inclined to do it in a group. Come up with a few easy designs that anyone could put together, give everyone instructions and then, have at it. Be creative!   Then brainstorm about things to write on the inside. It's hard sometimes to come up with something to write to someone you've never met, but again, if it's a group endeavor it becomes fun. Have some coffee and cookies (or for you healthy people:  water and veggies).  If you have any old Christmas cards that you can recycle, or other items that can be reused, all the better. One person's scraps of colored paper might be just the accent on someone else's card. It could be a challenge: to avoid any leftover materials!

 

So make a plan to give this Christmas in anyway you can, and invite your friends to join you!!


Merry Merry!!

Care'n Presents

Busy, Busy, Busy

I can't help it! I'm a busy little elf. What can I say? Today, however I am caught up.


Day 89 - Enjoy something green. Maybe for you it's Kermit the Frog. For me, it's a Christmas tree. Since there aren't a whole lot of Christmas trees around yet, I'll settle for any tree. Step away from your computer and go outside. Appreciate whatever nature you can find. Breathe it in.

Day 88 - Look in your closet for red and green items. I don't know about you, but being an elf, I can't very well wait until December to find something festive to wear. Granted, being an elf, most of my clothes are red and green, and some even have jingly things on them, but still, I need to make sure they are in good shape and ready to wear this season!

Day 87 - Give someone a hug. Did I say that one already? Well, you can never give out too many hugs, right?

Day 86 - Check out our Christmas ornaments on livingchristmas.com. We have some really beautiful recycled ones, and lots of Fair Trade ornaments from exotic places like Peru and Tibet.

Day 85 - While you are there, check and see what kind of tree you'd like this year, unless of course you have adopted one from last year. If you don't see your adopted tree, don't worry, and elves are working hard to get everything organized. We recently moved all our trees from one lot to another one AND The Workshop has moved too. What a year, huh?

Day 84 - Call a friend. Ask them out for a cup of coffee, or a soda, or lunch. We all say: "We have to get together!" The problem is, then we get busy with, well, life, and these things tend to be a low priority. Push it to the top. Having friends takes time, but it's well worth it.

Day 83 - Clean the house. I mean really clean. As we get closer and closer to the holidays, things get busy. wouldn't it be nice to have a fresh start on it all? Think of it as Spring Cleaning...in the Fall. :)

Day 82 - Rub your pointy ears. Wait, you don't have pointy ears? Oh, that's right. I'm just so used to most of the people I know having them...well, rub your roundy ears then. Why? I don't know. I heard that it's lucky, or something. Can't hurt.

Day 81 - TODAY!  Wow, I'm caught up (for the moment). Today I want to make up my holiday calendar. We all know that things get a little crazy during the holidays. We all schedule way too many things and get way too stressed out about everything. So I make a calendar. If there's too much, I try and figure out if I can let something go. If there's nothing I really can let go, I make sure to schedule in some restful moments in between. Going shopping all day? Decide to stop at some point for a little "me" time.  Cleaning the house? Put some fun music on and dance while you work.

Well, there you go. Wow. tomorrow it will only be 80 days until Christmas!! Part of me can't wait, the other part wants to make every moment last. This can be a great time of year. Don't let it get so busy, that it's no fun any more. Be a kid, or better yet...an elf.


Merry Merry!

Care'n Presents

 

A Little Catching Up to Do

Okay, so I'm already behind in my 100 days of things to do before Christmas. It isn't that I haven't thought about it, but it's been a busy week!! On Thursday, Lauren Peace (my fellow elf) and I participated in an event at the Oprah Winfrey Network. How cool is that? Seriously! Earlier in the week I was trying to get ready, making sure we had all of our Christmassy stuff ready to bring with us. This is one of my typical elf duties here at the Workshop. I get stuff together, I go, I smile and I talk about The Living Christmas Company, AND, I get to meet lots of fun and interesting people in the process. I love being an elf.

But back to the list....

Day 99 - Give someone you love a BIG hug!! (easy, right?)

Day 98 - Decide what kind of cookies to make this year. I know, not everyone makes cookies, but if you do, this is important right? Usually I make Gingerbread Trees, but I was considering Short-bread pinwheels this year, what do you think? Maybe I should stick to Trees, considering all....

Day 97 - Check out the eco-friendly wrapping paper at livingchristmas.com. We have some really groovy styles and patterns! It's never too early to think about gift giving. Think about it! On the off chance that you actually do get your shopping done early (if you are like me every year you promise yourself that you will...) you'll want to wrap those fabulous gifts!!

Day 96 - Meet someone new!! I can say I actually did that when I went to the OWN event! I met LOTS of really nice, wonderful people!

Day 95 - Think of some random person that you haven't talked to for a really long time and send them a message, or call them, or write them a letter or e-mail just to say that you are thinking of them. This is something I try to do...at least once a week. It can make someone's day. Believe me, it's always worth it. A few minutes can mean so much.


Now I'm caught up. I'll try and be better, but you know what they say...an elf's work is never done. Actually...I'm okay with that.


Merry Merry!

Care'n Presents