Anyone want to join me in a "make do with what you have" holiday challenge?
This doesnt necessarily mean spending absolutely no money, but as little as possible, definition to be decided by the individual.
We are really poor this Christmas. Heck, we are really poor every Christmas. DH is in the restaurant biz as a waiter. Sept, Oct and Nov are really slow, december is better, but we have a lot of make up to do, and jan and feb are awful. So, we have very little to work with.
So, some people make gifts, but you have to go out and buy supplies, and even that part isnt feasible. And then, okay you have the gift made, and now you have to decorate the house, provide a wonderful meal, cookies, and wrap and ship presents. Oh, wait, now every chairty in america is tugging on your heartstrings, making you feel horribly guilty and terrible about yourself since you cant even quite provide a good Christmas(good by media standards, anyway) for your family, let alone stuff for anyone else. And then "everyone" (which is ussually comprised of writers from their comfy homes where their holdiay is secure) tells you to remember that the holidays arent about giving they are about family, blah blah blah, and yet, they dont tend to give up their fab holiday.
rant ends
Anyway, I do intend to sign up on the holiday fairy swap here on mdc, but from my end, I want to really do the holiday well without feeling guilty, burntout, overextended, or like I didnt do "enough"
Anyone want to join me? We can post our successes, how we made gifts from dryer lint and wrapped them in a pumpkin shell dried in such a way that it was beautfiful enough to make Martha Stewart cry red and green tears!! We can hold each other accountable when we want to break down adn blow the rent money ona last minute trip to Goodwill and Toysrus. We can support each other when we are feeling poor bc of what others are doing. We can post reactions of recipients of our gifts.
Anyone up for it?
This doesnt necessarily mean spending absolutely no money, but as little as possible, definition to be decided by the individual.
We are really poor this Christmas. Heck, we are really poor every Christmas. DH is in the restaurant biz as a waiter. Sept, Oct and Nov are really slow, december is better, but we have a lot of make up to do, and jan and feb are awful. So, we have very little to work with.
So, some people make gifts, but you have to go out and buy supplies, and even that part isnt feasible. And then, okay you have the gift made, and now you have to decorate the house, provide a wonderful meal, cookies, and wrap and ship presents. Oh, wait, now every chairty in america is tugging on your heartstrings, making you feel horribly guilty and terrible about yourself since you cant even quite provide a good Christmas(good by media standards, anyway) for your family, let alone stuff for anyone else. And then "everyone" (which is ussually comprised of writers from their comfy homes where their holdiay is secure) tells you to remember that the holidays arent about giving they are about family, blah blah blah, and yet, they dont tend to give up their fab holiday.
rant ends
Anyway, I do intend to sign up on the holiday fairy swap here on mdc, but from my end, I want to really do the holiday well without feeling guilty, burntout, overextended, or like I didnt do "enough"
Anyone want to join me? We can post our successes, how we made gifts from dryer lint and wrapped them in a pumpkin shell dried in such a way that it was beautfiful enough to make Martha Stewart cry red and green tears!! We can hold each other accountable when we want to break down adn blow the rent money ona last minute trip to Goodwill and Toysrus. We can support each other when we are feeling poor bc of what others are doing. We can post reactions of recipients of our gifts.
Anyone up for it?