Building Your Prefab Metal Storage Shed: A Great Project for the Long Weekend
You’ve needed a storage shed for quite some time and you have a long weekend coming up. This long weekend is going to present you with the best opportunity to embark on your shed project and clear some of the clutter in your life. As a matter of fact, it can make a great project for the entire family, bringing everyone together in clearing out their lives. But it is important to outline the steps of putting up a prefab metal storage shed with the family before beginning.
So what are the steps?
- Make sure you have everything that you need. This includes such tools as levels, measuring tape, all of the materials included with the kit, and goggles to protect your eyes.
- Check to see if your community requires a permit to erect prefab buildings. If it does, then make sure the proper permit is acquired. Many states and communities require that a permit be acquired when the storage is more than 120 square feet. The local zoning and building inspector will have this necessary information and will be able to instruct you on how to acquire a permit.
- Make sure your shed is on level ground and that it is in a place that you can easily access. Try to avoid building it over underground pipes or utility lines. If something ever happened that the lines would need to be repaired, your storage shed could present a problem.
- After determining where the storage shed can go, see how much room that gives you. This will determine the size of prefab shed and how much you can store. If you need work space, how much you store may have to be changed.
- Since the building is a metal storage shed, it isn’t hard to build from the ground up. You want to install any flooring first, if it is required, and use foundation blocks or stakes to secure it to the ground. You then want to place your prefab metal storage shed over that flooring. After that, install any doors that you may need to install.
This is actually a job that you can do yourself and you can do it before the weekend is even over. If you get the family involved, you may be able to do it faster, but your entire family can stake their claim on a job well done. It is great to be able to involve the family in such projects.
However, even if you do it alone, you are still able to have time for your family after a job well done. Erecting a prefab metal storage shed is not hard at all. Everything that is needed to erect the shed is there and even those with limited carpentry skills can put up a sturdy metal building that will last for a very long time. This makes it both a time-efficient and very cost effective solution to being able to store those items that tend to get in the way. You don’t have to pay someone to do it for you, you don’t have to buy expensive equipment or tools, and you don’t have to wait weeks or months for your building. You can have your building up and stocked before the weekend is ever over. You and your family can then sit back and be proud of a job well done and a life that has a little less clutter in it. That in itself makes the entire task one that is very worth it and to think that the shed will be serving your needs for years to come is also satisfying.
Metal buildings are versatile, durable and easy to maintain. Weather making use of them in rural or urban areas metal buildings are easy to construct and can be designed to your specifications to blend in with your home or on your farm.
Where Did The Idea Of Gifts Under The Tree Come From
Stop for a second and think about Christmas. What is the first thing that comes to mind?
Maybe you thought of Santa, maybe you thought of turkey, or maybe you even thought of a Christmas tree. However, chances are, most of you thought of gifts. In fact, can you imagine Christmas without them?
Gifts are very much a part of Christmas these days. Just turn the television on during the Christmas season and count how many commercials in an hour mention gifts for Christmas. Chances are its pretty high. Gifts have become such a part of Christmas, that it is the biggest shopping period of the entire year. On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, retailers immediately get out of the red and into the black as consumers spend upwards of $20 billion in one day on presents for Christmas.
So where did this concept of giving out gifts on Christmas come from?
Well, the tradition of gift giving goes back to the Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Kalends, when high-ranking men in the Roman Empire would bring gifts for the Emperor, who was worshiped as a god. As well, lowly families would exchange gifts at this time, usually simple things like twigs of a sacred grove for good luck.
Slowly, those gifts expanded to include food, jewelry, candles and statues of gods, making it a lucrative time for traders.
When the Christian church began to gain power, following the fall of the Roman Empire, they frowned upon the old Pagan practice of gift giving. However it was too popular to be ignored. By the Middle Ages, gift giving was acceptable across Europe.
During that time, on the day of the feast of St. Nicholas, a man known for giving gifts to the poor and the basis of our current legend of Santa Claus, parents would leave gifts for their children. Does that sound familiar?
The concept of a consumer Christmas may seem modern, but in fact it dates back to the turn of the 19th century. During that time, the first gift giving advertisements appeared, around 1804. By 1820, more and more ads were appearing in newspapers throughout North America and Europe and the concept of gift giving as we know it was born.
Fast forward to the first decade of the 21st century and you have the biggest holiday of the year centered around gift giving. All of this came from a small Roman holiday that started the gift giving tradition nearly two thousand years ago.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for flowers and gifts. When shopping for flowers and gifts, we recommend you shop only at the best online stores that specialize in Flowers for Christmas, and Affordable Christmas Jewelry.
Fourth of July Party Ideas - Mini Meals Make Mealtime Fun For Kids
For adults portions that are bigger are better but kids like the little stuff. Mini meals are fun and tasty. Try these ideas at your Fourth of July Party. The kids will love you for it.
Salad to go. Wash endive leaves. Fill the broad end with a teaspoon of your kid’s favorite prepared salad. Wash butter lettuce leaves, selecting the smaller more pliable leaves. Spread out the lettuce leaf and put a tablespoon of salad on the end nearest you. Roll the leaf forward covering the salad. Tuck the ends of the leave under as if you were rolling up a burrito. Lightly fill celery stalk with cream cheese. Press dried cranberries or raisins into the cheese. Cut into child bite sized pieces. For a change use flavored cream cheese.
Child sized pizzas. Use refrigerator biscuits. Lightly flour a board. Roll each biscuit flat doubling the size of the biscuit. Place biscuits on cookie sheets. Spread with a teaspoon of tomato sauce, pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce. An alternative is to use a slice of fresh tomato. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake as package directs.
A veggie platter and dip can be made special by using baby vegetables. Carrots, summer squash, patty pan squash, string beans, both yellow and green should be blanched by immersing in boiling water for one minute and then in immediately in an ice bath. Add snap pea pods, grape tomatoes, both red and yellow, and boiled baby potatoes.
Mini tacos are fun and easy. Use the corn chips that are made for dipping and have a bowl shape. Fill with a teaspoon of cooked taco meat, a bit of refried beans and top with shredded cheese. Bake until the cheese just melts.
Usually the challenge with kids and desserts is to stop the kids from only eating the sweet stuff. Here are a few suggestions to carry the mini theme forward. Use small cookies like vanilla snaps or mini chocolate chips cookies. Place a tablespoon of ice cream on the flat side of one cookie and cover with the flat side of another cookie to make a sandwich then freeze in a plastic container.
Use a medium size sugar cookie, about a 3 inch diameter. Frost with vanilla pudding and top with slices of fresh strawberries for a mini strawberry tartlet. Make different varieties: Use chocolate pudding and raspberries, lemon pudding and fresh blueberries.
Jello jigglers are always a hit. How about a jigller flag? Make up three batches of jigglers, one of blue, and two of red. The blue jigglers should be set in a square pan about 9 inches by 9 inches. Using a star cookie cutter, cut out star shapes and remove from the square pan. Carefully place the pan in warm water to loosen the jello from the pan. Then put the square shape with the cut out stars on a white rectangular serving plate.
The red jello should be cut into stripes and placed on the serving plate leaving white spaces between the stripes. Place the cut out stars on a separate plate.
Children will love you for making them feel special at your Fourth of July party
More grilling tips, techniques, recipes, and menus. Dee Power is the author of several nonfiction books and loves to come up with party ideas for kids.
Fourth of July Party Ideas For Kids - Food They’ll Love
Fourth of July marks the high point of summer but sometimes kids get left out of the party because there’s only grownup food around. Here are a few food ideas that are sure to please your little ones.
Children love bite size snacks they can carry with them. Just about every child loves macaroni and cheese. You can make it special and portable by hollowing out a small dinner roll and stuffing it with mac and cheese. They won’t even need a spoon.
Stuff cherry tomatoes with a mixture of one cup of cottage cheese mixed with one quarter cup of Parmesan cheese. Fill a plastic disposable container large enough to serve the stuffed tomatoes, half full of water, then freeze at least overnight. At party time serve the tomatoes on the lid of the container placed on the ice.
For a variation stuff the tomatoes with chicken salad or tuna salad.
Chicken wings are fun and easy. Cut a chicken wing in three pieces. Save the bony wing end for making chicken broth. Bake the wings at 350 degrees until done. Serve at room temperature with dipping sauces. Mix equal parts honey, lime juice and mustard for a tangy dip. Or try equal party ketchup and brown sugar for a BBQ like sauce. Each child gets their own little cup of dipping sauce.
Miniature hot dogs and buns are always a hit. Buy the little franks and refrigerator biscuits. Cut the biscuits in half. Place one little frank in the center and roll up. Bake as package directs.
Grill baby burgers and place in a cut dinner roll, top with a slice of tomato, a lettuce leaf, and favorite condiments like mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.
Finally chop tomatoes, cucumbers, and celery. Defrost frozen peas. Shred lettuce and carrots. Layer the ingredients in a small 4 ounce, clear plastic glass. Place a tablespoons of Ranch salad dressing on the top. And you’ve got salad for kids on the go.
A variation of the salad to go is seven layer taco salad. Delete the peas and carrots and add taco meat, shredded cheese, and refried beans. Add a dollop of sour cream on top instead of salad dressing.
Peanut butter and jelly rollups are quick and fun. Spread a flour tortilla with peanut butter and jelly, then roll up tightly. Refrigerate for at least an hour so the peanut butter hardens a bit then cut the rolls into slices.
Keep portions tiny. Children are constantly being told to finish their food. Mini meals make it easy for them.
More grilling tips, techniques, recipes, and menus. Dee Power is the author of several nonfiction books and loves to come up with party ideas for kids.
The Worst Holiday Gifts Of All Time
There are bad gifts, and then there are truly bad gifts. These ten gifts rank among the worst ever conceived in a boardroom. In a poll of 100 lifestyle editors done by Martin Millers Gin, the following gifts came up as the worst ever.
1. Fruitcake: What a gift to give someone, food in plastic wrap that could double as bricks for the house if the need arose. For whatever reason, these are still sold each year and enough people buy them to add to the profit of the companies that make them.
2. Christmas Boxer: Nothing expresses Christmas spirit like wearing Santa boxers in July. Giving boxers that you can only wear during one season is like providing a delicious drink during one month of the year.
3. Stuffed animals and Santas: Stuffed animals are nice but let’s be honest, once the initial warm fuzzy feelings wear off, the stuffed animals and Santas are going to end up in a closet somewhere or in a garage sale where someone else can buy them and start the whole process all over again.
4. Chia Pets: It is like a plant except it looks like hair coming off an animal. The perfect gift for people who like constantly taking care of something someone else gave them.
5. Nut Covered Cheese ball: Mmmm… thanks for the gift of cheese during this holiday season, way to break a fiver.
6. Beanie Babies: Unless you are giving one of the collector items that are worth hundreds of dollars, do not bother with these. They lack the cuteness of stuffed animals and the practicality of beanbags.
7. Pet Rocks: This was a brief fad in the 1970s when someone had a stupid idea and got rich off it. If you don’t know this amazing invention, it is a rock that people buy and treat like a pet. It is sad really when people buy rocks from the store when there are so many stray rocks out in our world.
8. The Clapper: This is the best gift for someone who lacks the motivation to walk ten feet to turn off a light. Instead, you can just clap and presto, lights are off. Nothing says ‘I think you are lazy’ like this gift.
9. Ginsu knives: They slice, they dice, they cut through cans. If you know someone who has the need to cut cans in half, maybe you should look at getting them counseling rather than knives.
10. Big Mouth Billy Bass: This is the exact kind of gift that everyone loves for ten minutes but by the end of the night, everyone is ready to smash it to little pieces and send it back to hell.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for flowers and gifts. When shopping for flowers and gifts, we recommend you shop only at the best online stores that specialize in best flower gifts,
Celebrate Christmas With A Themed Party
Parties are a time-honored tradition during the holiday season. They are the perfect way for friends, coworkers, and loved ones to gather together to celebrate the holidays. They are also the perfect opportunity to do something fun and different. For instance, you could throw a theme party. No matter who you invite, there is sure to be a wide variety of Christmas party themes to choose from in order to match the personalities of your guests.
For children, there are numerous ideas that you can use for Christmas party themes because it is fairly easy to determine what make children happy. Throw them a Santa Claus party where everyone comes dressed in red with a Santa hat on. Make all of the decorations, serving plates, napkins, and cups Santa-related and maybe even invite a grown up Santa to the party to give out little gift to each of the children. You could also serve Santa shaped cookies and milk.
If a Santa Claus party doesn’t interest you, maybe a tree decorating party would. This might be a little more costly but probably not much more than what you would spend on any other party. Once you decide on the number of children that you want to invite, take a trip to your local dollar store and purchase one miniature Christmas tree for each child. You can get them for around $5 a piece and you can also purchase miniature ornaments, garland and tinsel for a very reasonable price. Again, as we did with the Santa Christmas party theme, make sure everything is Christmas tree related, such as cookies, napkins, plates, and decorations.
Even for adults, Christmas party themes can be a lot of fun. You can definitely use your imagination here. Costume parties are always a hit because it is fun to see everyone dressed in costumes. It really shows their imagination. For this type of party, ask your guests to dress up as one of the characters from one of your favorite Christmas cartoons or shows.
For example, if your favorite Christmas cartoon is How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the guests could dress up as the Grinch or Cindy Lou Who. You could even serve your own version of the Christmas feast with the “Roast Beast” and “Who Hash”. If you like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer have everyone dress up as Rudolph, an elf, or even the Abominable Snow Man and serve some type of food that you can rename “silver and gold” after the cartoon’s theme song.
Christmas is a great time of year and should be enjoyed to the fullest. Parties are the absolute best way to do so, whether it is with your children and their friends or your adult friends, family, and coworkers. You can create Christmas party themes from just about any holiday related item. All you have to do is use your imagination and have fun with it.
Whether your looking for a good Christmas gift idea or how to make Christmas gift baskets, http://www.thechristmasdomain.com has something to offer you.
Alternatives to Chocolate For Easter
Easter, a time of chocolate bunnies, brightly colored Easter eggs and kids hopped up on too much sugar.
Giving chocolate on Easter is a tradition, but in an age of healthy eating there are many ways you can make it a memorable Easter, without the fatty chocolate which can lead to obesity.
Stuffed Animals
Every kid loves a teddy bear and they will get much more mileage, friendship and enjoyment out of a stuffed animal over a chocolate bunny that will last a few hours at most.
Small Books
Get them reading early, or continue a reading tradition by giving a book to a child on Easter. Reading can open up new worlds for your child, taking them on adventures and through mysteries that their imagination can explore.
Eggs with toys in them
Instead of a chocolate egg, give your child an egg with a toy inside. Preferably, make it a toy they have to construct. This will put their problem-solving and creative skills to work. Plus, they will get a great deal of enjoyment out of the toy.
Silly Putty
We all have had silly putty and we all love to put it on the newspaper and make a copy of a picture. Silly putty, while it can be messy, is a great deal of fun for any child. Teach them to sculpt something out of it and you may open up a whole new creative outlet that you didn’t even realize was there.
Tiny Art Sets
Do you have a little artist in the family? Nurture their artistic side with a small paint set. Get them to paint eggs or glasses instead of feeding them sugar.
Fruit
You know the saying, fruit is nature’s candy, and despite their initial misgivings, every child loves bananas, grapes and watermelon. This is a cheap and healthy alternative to any chocolate bunny.
Coloring Books
Instead of giving them chocolate, sit them down with a coloring book and watch their inner painter take over.
Video Games
Games may not be the best alternative if you are going healthy, but it is a much better bet than chocolate. Try and get them a game that tests their problem-solving skills and helps them learn.
Disposable Camera
You would be surprised with the kind of pictures you can get by looking at things from a different angle. Give a disposable camera to your child and watch them photograph the world from their eyes and their level. It may open you up to a whole new world, the world of a child.
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Thanksgiving Traditions: Nine Ideas for Families
Celebrate families and togetherness this Thanksgiving Day with some time honored traditions, which give us a sense of family identity and meaningfulness that can last for generations.
Here are nine ideas for starting new family traditions, and for revering the old ones:
1. Sit down with your family and reminisce about your childhood celebrations. What do you remember most about Thanksgiving and the days that follow? Thanksgiving traditions can be much more than just food and recipes. In what ways did your childhood traditions symbolize particular values, such as abundance, generosity, the importance of family? What would you like to do that is the same? What would you do like to do differently?
2. Make a small booklet or a mini scrapbook album (which you can either make or purchase.) Write “Five Things I Love About My Family and Friends” and keep it out on the table during your Thanksgiving celebration. Each guest can come and record thoughts and insights. Other themes to try: “Five Things I am Thankful For” or “Five Wishes for my Family and Friends.” An even simpler approach would be to put one sheet of cardstock out for each year, and combine them together over the years in a Thanksgiving Gratitude Scrapbook.
3. Keep a Family Gratitude Journal throughout the year. Each night, a family member can share something that they are grateful for. Share the highlights of this family tradition at the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day.
4. Make a Gratitude Circle. Before the Thanksgiving meal, everyone stands and holds hands in a circle. Guests each take a turn sharing what they are grateful for. Or, if your guests are on the shy side, ask everyone to write down their blessings on a piece of paper, which you can read before or after dinner.
5. Designate a particular tablecloth for your family Thanksgiving celebrations. Provide fabric markers where guests can record their “gratitudes” or special prayers for the year ahead. Ask your guests to sign and date each message, as you will be using the same tablecloth year after year.
6. Involve the entire family in Thanksgiving decorations. Family Fun magazine posts lots of creative ideas for the entire family at familyfun.go.com
7. Make a hostess gift for the person who is cooking this year. Purchase an apron or a T shirt or a gift album with sentiments of thanks from each guest. Present the gift after dinner.
8. Show your gratitude to an unsung hero. Get together with your family and decide on a person or a group in your community who could use an extra pat on the back, ie. firefighters, soldiers, police officers, volunteers. Put together a special plate of goodies and deliver it (or pack it up for shipping) as a family.
9. Preserve your traditions. After the meal, record the favorite activities of each family member. Appoint one person to be the scribe, or ask everyone to jot down a few thoughts. Remember to take lots of photos. It is fun to place disposable cameras throughout the house so everyone can capture bits of the action.
Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape.com and Susies-Coupons.com, where she hand-picks only the very best online coupons and products, including online coupons for children’s clothes.
Christmas Traditions: 25 Meaningful Ideas for Families
The holidays are a time to revel in the gratitude and love we feel for one another. Here are 25 meaningful ways to celebrate your togetherness this season.
1. Go for a family nature walk near your home to collect seasonal items that you can use in your holiday decor. If you live near a forest, the obvious choices are pine boughs and pinecones, but long dried grasses can look just as festive tied with a holiday bow.
2. Make a few handmade holiday cards this year as a family.
3. Make appreciation cards. Replace the annual Christmas letter in your holiday cards with a brief letter of appreciation for the recipient.
4. Create or purchase new ornaments each year for the tree. Create or shop for an ornament that reflects a defining event or sentiment for the year.
5. Enjoy a Family Night with special holiday crafts or games.
6. Start a Christmas themed puzzle somewhere in your home. A puzzle table, placed in a quiet room is great for holiday visitors. Whenever your guests want to get away from the action, they can retreat to work on the puzzle. This can be a great stress reliever, and it is wonderful for those guests who always have to be busy doing something.
7. Play special music. Ask everyone for their favorite holiday CD. Allow each family member to choose and keep them in the CD changer.
8. Take a photo of your children standing in a particular spot each year (in front of the tree, by the front door) anyplace that will be consistent from year to year. Make a special holiday ornament or scrapbook album that depicts the growth and change of your family each year.
9. Research the holiday traditions of your nationality. Adopt a few of these traditions into your annual celebration each year to celebrate your heritage.
10. Ask each child to write a Dear Santa letter. (Small children can draw pictures). Keep a special record of these letters in an album or treasure box.
11. Create an evening tradition of taking a family walk or drive in your neighborhood to view the holiday lights.
12. Cut snowflakes from wrapping paper, festive holiday advertisements, or holiday cards, and string them together into a festive garland.
13. Adopt a special cause each year and spend some time as a family helping those in need, or raising or donating money for a charity of your choice.
14. What are your favorite holiday memories? Pose the question tonight at the dinner table. Use the answers to plan the celebration. You may be surprised at the special memories that have nothing to do with gifts or elaborate events.
15. For fifteen minutes, write down things in your life that you are grateful for. Ask each of your family members to join you in creating their own lists.
16. Bundle up and head outside. Make snow angels or build a snow fort with your kids. When it is time to warm up, build a cozy fire and roast marshmallows in your living room.
17. What is your favorite homemade holiday treat? Write down the recipe, and share it with your friends. Encourage them to do the same.
18. Challenge each member of your family to fill a box or bag full of items to give away. Decide as a family where to make a donation.
19. What was the best book you read this year? With whom would you most like to share its message? Purchase a copy for them and drop it off, anonymously.
20. Take your family to a performance of The Nutcracker. Purchase a CD or DVD of the Nutcracker to bring the memories home.
21. The holidays can take their toll. Make a holiday tradition of recharging your own batteries. Gather your daughter and your best friend and head to the day spa for a much deserved pedicure or massage.
22. Reach out to those whom you have not seen all year. It takes a little extra effort this busy time of year, but make a goal to send a card or note to someone you think about but do not see much anymore.
23. Keep a “Joy Journal” this holiday season, in which you record the funny things your kids say, joyful times you share, your favorite things to do with your family (and by yourself), and all the things for which you are grateful. Use your Joy Journal as a reminder of the facets of your life (and this holiday season) that are really important.
24. Give small and simple gifts (homemade cookies or a small book) to a few of the people who make your everyday life easier, such as the trash collector and postal carrier.
25. Share your family traditions with friends and ask them to tell you about the family traditions that make their holidays sweeter.
Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape.com and Susies-Coupons.com, where she hand picks only the very best online coupons and products, including coupons for photo processing and photo gifts.
Holiday Stress Management: Four Tips to Help You Enjoy all the Fa La Las
Decking the halls and spreading good cheer can be stressful. Here are some tips to make sure you enjoy every last fa la la.
1. Stay Centered. An energized and peaceful holiday season is possible only when you can keep your priorities straight. Take a pen and paper and ask yourself: What do you value, above all else? What comes second? Third? How important is your spirituality, your family, your profession, your time for yourself? After some thought and reflection, rank your top priorities on a Post it Note where you will see it throughout the day. (Mine is on my computer monitor). Refer to your list when asked to make commitments and compromises. If the request does not jibe with your list, you do not only have permission, you have an obligation, to say no.
This list of priorities may set the course for new holiday traditions, as well. Maybe you will donate toys, books, and food to charities. Maybe you will help serve dinner at a homeless shelter in lieu of a holiday meal.
2. Indulge the ghost of Christmas Past. What memories immediately come forth that evoke a fond nostalgia? For me, it is not the gifts or the shopping or even the parties. It is rocking my infant, alone, by candlelight, to “Silent Night.” It is letting my 2 year old crack the eggs for the cookies, and seeing the pride on her floury face.
Decide what the holidays really mean to you. What is really important? Then make a plan to weave more of those activities into your holidays, and reduce the rest.
3. Deck the Halls with Light and Love. Do not let commercialism spoil your fun. Make the simple promise to yourself that, this year, you will actually enjoy your holiday shopping. Brainstorm ways you can make this happen. For me, the mall is a giant energy drain. The look of worried resignation as a shopper hands over her credit card tells me that she is shopping out of a sense of obligation and not one of joy. And it sours my holiday spirit.
Instead, I carve out an afternoon all to myself. I put on an Andrea Bocelli CD, sip Chai tea from a giant mug, and curl up with a fleece blanket to surf the Internet and page through catalogs. That is how I find just the right something for everyone on my list. When it ceases to be fun, I stop. I so enjoy shopping this way that, throughout the year, I bookmark sites that offer just the right items.
If you find the materialism of the season draining your energy, commit to making an attitude shift. If you want things to be different this year, only you can make it so. Take the lead for your family, and live in such a way that you prove less stuff really does equal more fun.
Maybe you will take the money you usually spend on one too many toys and enjoy, instead, a weekend family getaway. Maybe you will make homemade goodies, such as picture frames, home movies, or goodie baskets, which the whole family helps to create.
Maybe you will bag the traditional gift giving and start a new tradition. In our family, it goes like this: Each guest brings a wrapped gift of roughly the same dollar value. We sit in a circle and each person, in turn, has the option of taking a gift that is already been opened or opening a new one. It is fun, festive, it gets everyone moving and talking, and it switches the focus to the relationships and the event…not the gifts.
4. Start early, plan well, and take care of yourself. Here are some tips:
Simplify as much as possible. Use paper plates. Eat out. If a holiday tradition is old and tired, reinvigorate it or start a new tradition of staying at home.
Plan ahead. To help, chances are, your favorite food website has a checklist for big holiday events.
Replenish your natural energy by taking care of your body. Eat right. Exercise (in the crisp outdoors once in a while). Drink plenty of water. Sleep.
Energize your image. Give yourself an early holiday gift or a great haircut, a brow shaping, a pedicure with bright red polish, or a free makeover at your favorite cosmetics counter and a purchase of the most vibrant lipstick shade you will actually wear.
Decorate with items of comfort and joy. Display photographs from past holiday celebrations. Keep in full view reminders that you take care of yourself…fresh flowers, indulgent hand cream, inspiring music, and energizing scents, such as citrus or peppermint.
Spend the season with your most energetic friends. Instead of letting the Scrooges in your life yank you down, send them something sweet from a Secret Santa. A little anonymous enchantment may be just what they need.
Keep a “Joy Journal” this holiday season, in which you record the funny things your kids say, joyful times you share, your favorite things to do with your family (and by yourself), and all the things for which you are grateful. Use your Joy Journal as a reminder of the facets of your life (and this holiday season )that are really important.
Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape.com and Susies-Coupons.com, where she hand picks only the very best online coupons and products, including sites that offer free gifts with purchase.
