Holiday Tips

Here are those holiday tips that I said I was going to post. These are from the contest a few weeks ago. Thanks EVERYONE for your AWESOME tips on how to get through the holidays and stay on your "calorie budget," and frugal and fun tips too. There were sooo many suggestions and they were all GREAT suggestions.

Okay, here you go........

Here are the "keeping your weight in check" tips:

*Wii is my best friend during holidays, exercise/eat/have fun.
* We make an extra effort to have washed and cut vegetables and fruits available for snacking so that it's easy to eat well during the holidays, when all the treats and candy is around!

* I take the kids out a lot to play outside during the winter, so we all still get lots of exercise!
* I have a few favorite Christmas treats, but I allow myself to eat them, because if I don't then I know it would be only a matter of time before I gorged out on them. So, to combat this, we try to get out and exercise in a winter way. Take the kids ice skating (I learned when I was 2 and a half), sledding, if there is enough snow, skiing/snowboarding, tubing or even somewhere indoors like jump and bounce (yes, I am one of those parents who loves to go on the toys when I am there!)

* Weight loss tip: I eat a healthy meal until I feel content before going to parties. That way I don't fill up on a lot of fattening appetizers and drinks.
* for me its always been about trying to stay away from the fast food and soda...i guess its a year round tip not just a holiday thing.
* I tip for not packing on the pounds during the hoildays is to do a lot of the cooking/baking. I find that when Im finished, I am to tired to eat any of it.
* Holiday weight loss/baking tip -- use applesauce instead of oil in your baking. It doesn't taste much different if you use the same other ingredients, and it is much, much better for you!
* my tip for losing weight this season is to stick with drinking water instead of egg nog or other holiday drinks- be sure to indulge once in a while, but not every time. You'll really cut out a lot of calories doing it.
* weight loss tip--drink plenty of water BEFORE the dinner is being servedand skip the dessert :)
* It's so hard to watch my weight during the holidays - i think it's most important to not "diet" but have willpower when it comes to portion control! Have your favorites but just a small amount!
* Start your day with a workout of some kind. It sets the tone for the rest of the day and gives you energy!

Frugal gift/craft/holiday ideas:
* For Thanksgiving, when someone arrives, we have them write down on a sliver of paper what they are thankful for. At the dinner table, before eating, everyone reaches for a piece of paper to read aloud!

* I like to make salt dough ornaments with my kids.
* We make homemade hot chocolate to give as gifts!
* I taught art for 11 years and found kids could make super cute (super cheap) gifts that parents adored and kept forever! One grade made frames from 4 X 4 white tiles (about $1 or less at Lowe's). We used Modge podge to attach a wallet-sized school photo to the middle of the tile. Then we used permanent markers to create a frame around the picture. Next we covered the pic and artwork with a 4 X 4" piece of clear laminate to protect it. Finally, we hot glued a 1 1/2" dowel to the back so it could stand upright on a shelf or bookcase.
* my frugal craft tip- trace kids hands onto colored construction paper, cut out, and then decorate as turkeys. Makes cute table decorations.
* You said you wanted some tips (crafts included) well here is a site that I found through a newsletter the other day and they have some of the cutest holiday crafts! Me and my son are going to do this penguin one that I am going to link you to now, we picked up some little plastic cups this morning so we could do this after dinner! http://www.parents.com/holiday/christmas/crafts/christmas-kid-crafts/?page=13

* my fun and frugal holiday tip would be the use of swagbucks (redeeming them for amazon gift cards) and how useful it is during the Christmas season. thanks to swagbucks i can get all of my christmas shopping done and not have to spend a whole lot of money out of pocket
* I start shopping early (like the free notebook we got this summer from snapfish, free lip gloss, nail polish, candles, etc.) and put it away and then build gift baskets for people using this kind of stuff. I also make a list and strict price limit for each person. If I have already shopped for someone and find something else that would be "perfect" I call my dad or brother (or someone else who would be shopping for that person) and give them the idea. We have also gone away from buying our kids a bunch of plastic junk and instead buy things for them to experience (ski lessons, a family trip somewhere) to make it less about materialistic items and more about spending quality time together.

* I try to wrap christmas presents as I purchase them so that I am not up all night before Christmas day doing it :)
* My holiday frugal tip is to shop with family and friends.
* I buy items on sale throughout the year with coupons .Most of the health and beauty items are free and I make a pretty gift bag and put them in them.


* my holiday tip -- hold on to all of the celestial seasonings tea coupons and other good "basket-y" item coupons you see. You can make a really, really nice Christmas gift basket for super cheap by getting the items one by one as they go on sale. I keep all candy, tea, and other good snack coupons and use them for that!

* For a frugal family gathering......instead of bringing gifts, bring an ornament from your own tree to exchange for someone elses. It costs you nothing extra, and you can part with an ornament that's not your favorite, and get a new one without costing a penny!

* frugal tip--save the leftovers--don't toss them out--the mashed potatoes can be used as potato pancakes and the turkey can make a great noodle soup :)


* Hmmm well one of my favorite things to make at Christmas time is naniamo bars, like this recipe here: http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/recipe239.the-original-nanaimo-bar.html

Thanks again everyone. I can't wait to try some of these "new" frugal tips!

Cheryl

Frugal Halloween Tips

When I had posted my last giveaway, one of the possible entries was to share a "frugal" Halloween tip. Well, we got a few tips and I REALLY want to share them with you like.....

From Marci (our giveaway winner)
a frugal tip for making your costume is to take old white bed sheets and safety pins, cut them into long strips and make your own homemade mummy costume--it works and keeps them warm too :)

From Eva
Frugal Halloween tip? Make your own Halloween costume! We've bought headbands at the dollar store and then glued felt ears to them. Add a little face paint and solid-colored "fur"-colored clothes and you can be any number of animals on the cheap!

From Maggie
We try to make the costumes to save money. One year my son wanted to be a robot, so I made a silver shirt and pants and we attached dryer vent for the arms and lower legs. Then my husband put together a bunch of gizmos and gadgets from the garage as his robot panel. It was one of the coolest costumes!

From D
halloween tip: sprinkle the under side of your jack-o-lantern lid with ground cinnamon and/or nutmeg to get a yummy aroma :)

From Dax and Steph
My cheap Halloween idea is to add tonic it water to your drinks and they will glow under a black light. It adds a nice touch to a Halloween party, and tonic water is pretty cheap.

From Degood
My frugal tip is that each year after halloween I wait until the stuff is 75% off and I buy a few costumes for my kids and some fun decorations and pack it in our halloween container and don't tell the kids and then when we pull it out next october, there are fun costumes and decorations that I bought on clearance. This year we had all sorts of star wars and princess stuff to choose from and fun new decorations!



From Baby Mama
My frugaltip is to keep all costumes. You never know what you can reuse the next year!

From Anonymous
We buy costumes at 75% to 90% at clearance sales and use them the following year! (rosanova_family)

From Leslie
We grow all our own pumpkins and gourds so that we don't have to buy any! That's our frugal tip!

From Rhonda
I always buy items for parties when they are on clearance. I will then put them away at home and take it our when I need it. (ME TOO!)

Thanks EVERYONE for submitting these wonderful tips. Did you ever know that tonic water makes a glow under black light? I had no idea.

Cheryl