Tag Archives: holidays

A Clean Slate

Forgiveness is a tricky thing. When someone has hurt you over and over and over again it’s hard to set it aside. The more you let it fester the deeper the pain becomes and the more difficult it is to let it go. There have been many men in my life that I feel have ill-treated me. They betrayed me and taken advantage of me time and time again. What’s more their actions have affected my son, which seems unforgiveable. I love my son more than anything in this world, and to know that he has been hurt, breaks my … Continue reading →

Holiday Themes on the Cheap

Use the word “cheap” during the holiday season and you’re likely to be labeled “Scrooge” or “Grinch.”  However, not everyone can afford to bleed through wads of cash in order to deck halls, make merry and spread holiday cheer. Fortunately, there are ways you can get into the spirit of the season without spending a ton of money.  One way is to stick with a theme.  There are a slew of holiday-friendly themes you can use to spice up your home in time for Christmas.  For example: Hawaiian Holiday:  You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars importing fresh flowers … Continue reading →

Make Merry Layouts

Tis the season for your mailbox to overflow with holiday merriment.  In a few weeks, it will be overflowing with bills accrued from making merry, so now’s the time to make the most of those seasonal greetings. As you are going through the cards, photos and newsletters sent by family and friends, take a moment to note which ones you would like to preserve.  Pretty holiday greetings make fabulous additions to Christmas-themed scrapbooks.  Not only do they provide gorgeous images to enhance layouts, holiday cards also allow you to save special handwritten messages from loved ones. Christmas is a magical … Continue reading →

Seasonal Titles

It’s time to haul out the holly and deck those halls. The holidays are a hectic time whether you are traveling thousands of miles to grandma’s house or you’re hosting Christmas at your own home.  In the midst of the madness, scrapbooking often gets put on the back burner.  However, if you are planning to craft a memory album to preserve your family’s precious holiday moments, it’s important to keep documenting despite the hoopla. Have your camera handy so you can snap your family members and friends making merry.  Remember to take some candid shots along with the posed images … Continue reading →

Overcoming Fitness Challenges during the Holidays

Life is busy.  There is a lot to be done to prepare for the holidays.  It might make sense to put exercise on the backburner.  After all, there is always the New Year, right?  Wrong. Let’s face it.  We can always come up with an excuse to not exercise and to indulge ourselves in unhealthy food choices.  The holidays are just a convenient time in which to do this. It can be hard to stay motivated during this time of year.  But there are ways to overcome the challenges. First, you just might have to accept the fact that exercise … Continue reading →

Capture the Holiday Magic

It took nearly six years for me to capture a photo of my daughter with Santa. I can’t remember a time when my daughter wasn’t deathly afraid of the holly, jolly, chubby guy.  She’s not a fan of skinny men with facial hair either, but I digress. My daughter’s exceptional fear of Mr. Claus made it impossible for me to snap a picture of the two of them together, so when it finally happened, I crafted a double page scrapbook layout commemorating the event. Two pages for a single trip to see a mall Santa may seem like overkill to … Continue reading →

Over 40 Holiday-Themed Scrapbook Title Ideas

  “Holiday Hoopla” is the title of a scrapbook layout I made last year.  It features photos of three generations of my family cooking together.  I was going to use “Organized Chaos,” but decided to go with the seasonal title instead. Coming up with page titles is a passion for some scrapbookers, while others see it as a pain.  I like to ponder page titles while I am figuring out the placement of my photos, memorabilia and embellishments.  Often, a title will pop into my head as I survey all of the materials I am featuring on the layout.  However, … Continue reading →

Surviving Holiday Parties as a Single Parent

As a single parent this time of year can be filled with bittersweet emotions. Family and friends are gathering together to celebrate the holidays. While this is an exciting time of year, it can be hard for a single parent to attend such gatherings when they are attending on their own. It can be isolating at times to be in a room full of people with families and children running around when yours aren’t there. Not only are your children gone, but you don’t have that special someone by your side to help you endure it. You can be in … Continue reading →

Float Your Holiday Boat

Tis the season to set sail or at least view a flotilla of festive lights parading on the water. Holiday boat parades are extremely popular this time of year in communities that feature large bodies of water.  The parade of lights is truly a sight to see.  Vessels of all shapes and sizes get decked out in twinkling illuminations and strut their stuff near shorelines crammed with excited onlookers. Among the most popular holiday light boat parades are: December 3rd:  Downtown Hampton Lighted Boat Parade in Hampton, Virginia and Island of Lights Holiday Flotilla in Carolina Beach. December 10th:  Chanel … Continue reading →

Holiday-Themed Sanity Savers

Whether you are hosting a Christmas party, a Hanukkah get-together or you simply need ways to keep your kids busy while they are home from school during the holiday break, the following ideas will go a long way to preserving your sanity: Games:  Get into the holiday spirit by modifying traditional kids’ games, such as “Duck, Duck, Goose.”  A holiday version could be “Reindeer, Reindeer Rudolph” or “Elf, Elf, Buddy” (Will Ferrell’s name in the movie “Elf”). Another option is to turn “Simon Says” into “Santa Says.”  These types of interactive games are great ways for kids to burn off … Continue reading →