Homemade Holidays Bonus Project: Gingerbread house ornaments

Christmas gifts from the children are those that come most from the heart.

Granted, perhaps not as much "from the heart" as my husband's cousin's son was a few years ago. Inspired by a diamond commercial, he insisted his father let him buy his mom diamonds because mom was the woman he loved most. It's hard to argue with an eight year old's logic.

For those with a little tighter of a budget - and for those who desperately need an activity for kids this Thanksgiving weekend, consider letting them make homemade presents. Cookie tins or ornaments are two easy solutions that can keep your kids out of trouble and make them feel the holidy spirit.

I found these cute gingerbread cards online at Kaboose.com and decided it might be fun to adapt to homemade ornaments. The "recipe" for the cards state that they are for ages 3 and older, though that may depend on your child's ability. It does require parental help.

Here's what I did:

1. Downloaded the template and cut out the house part only out of cardboard that was included in a bag from a scrapbook store to keep papers from bending.
2. Let my 3 year old go wild! First step: Painted "frosting" with leftover acryclic paint from a long-ago project.
3. Glued on buttons and slide mounts, long-ago acquired and unused for scrapbooking projects.
4. I punched holes and inserted eyelets in the top of each ornament so the holes wouldn't rip.
5. Threaded each ornament.

Total out-of-pocket expenditures: $0. (Not including the eventual replacement of the tablecloth, which suffered a few holes from my Silent Setter.)

The great thing is, the project allowed me to use up scrapbook supplies that I hadn't used in years but was hesitant to just throw out.

A bonus: My 3 year old was happily occupied for an hour and a half! And she's eager to share her creations with everyone she knows.

Small gifts have great impact

Driving downtown last Friday from a meeting, I noticed the Catholic cathedral. Remembering an article I'd read about some kind of pilgrimage there, I stopped inside and looked around.

I saw nothing that met the description, but instead saw a man, dressed head to toe in black, sitting quietly three rows from the back.

As I walked by, he asked me for the time. I paused, pulled out my work pager and told him it was 2:30. Then I sat down for a moment to pray.

A few minutes later, his shoulders slumped and he laid his head on his arms, putting his weight on the chair in front of him. I walked over and asked if he needed anything.

"I was thinking if there was a phone," he said. "I'd like to call my sister."

I asked the nearby janitor, who says no, and then my phone rings. I'd completely forgotten my cell phone. So I handed the man the phone and asked that it just be short, as I needed to return to work.

He called his sister and arranged for lunch. As he hands the phone back to me, he said, "I lost my job last month. I've never been homeless before."

I swallow, get my composure and listen. His sister's family is facing foreclosure; he's hoping to stay at the local shelter. Yet he's strangely optimistic and talks about his hope for the new administration and for a program he learned about in Texas.

We talk some more, and I realize I need to get back to work. I rifle through my purse to find my keys and pull out a granola bar - my one I keep on hand for diabetic emergencies. It's horrible, but it's all I have. I hand it to him.

"But I can't take your lunch," he replied. I explain that lunch was provided for me that day, and he relaxes and accepts the bar.

I notice a second homeless man is hovering, and I cringe. I apologize; I have nothing more.

But the first gentleman - the one I've been speaking with - doesn't miss a beat. Here he is, homeless, jobless, gladly anticipating that meal of macaroni and cheese at his sister's. And what does he do? He offers to share that little 100-calorie granola bar.

So many of us are worried these days. We don't know when our job will disappear - or perhaps it already had. But, regardless of where we stand in life, we have something to offer another in need.

So this Thanksgiving, I could tell you how thankful I am for family and friends, for a roof over my head, for my job (even on the most frustrating of weeks).

But really, I'm thankful most for the nameless man who reminded me that each of us has something to give in this world.

Happy Thanksgiving.

December APLS Carnival is here

I'm happy to be hosting this month's APLS Carnival topic.

Why do we think green? What’s our motivation?For many of us, the answer is simple: To maintain this world for future generations.

It’s a lesson told to us generations ago, but did we listen as well as we should have?

“Children are our greatest natural resource,” President Herbert Hoover (and Lisa Simpson) once said.

President Theodore Roosevelt told Congress more than 100 years ago:

….there must be the look ahead, there must be a realization of the fact that to waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.

What inspires you to help the next generation? How do you help preserve our greatest resource? What have tomorrow’s leaders – yes, those cute tikes or tenacious teenagers – taught you about what’s meaningful in this world? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

To participate in December’s APLS Carnival, please submit your posts to aplscarnival (at) gmail (dot) com by December 10. (However, if you need to reach me with other questions, please e-mail goinggreenmama (at) gmail (dot) com.)

The carnival will be published at Going Green Mama on December 15.

Thanks for participating! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Being green while saving green on Black Friday

Each Thanksgiving, while the bird is roasting, the women in our family rip apart the newspaper, scouring ads for promised deals for the next day. Our list is written by time of day, in the hopes of scoring the deal. Then, Friday morning, we join hundreds - OK, thousands - of bargain hunters. For us, it's about the camaraderie - and the hunt. (And for the record, we're usually done by the time the men wake up!)

If you, like our family, are on the hunt for deals this weekend, there are a few ways to make this ritual just a little bit greener. Even if you're not ready to give up this holiday tradition, a little common sense and courtesy can actually make a difference in overall consumption of our precious resources.

Make a realistic plan. Unless there's something you desperately need, hold off on the excess and camping out for hours outside of an electronics store or whoever has the 4 a.m. sale. The best case scenario is you'll freeze your buns and get that laptop your kid wants for college.

The worse case? You waste gas and electricity, trying to stay warm in the car, waste time and precious sleep, and come away empty handed (or with something not on your list, just to justify your time!).

Along the same lines, does driving across town to shop at a particular store really save you that much? If not, reconsider that stop on your schedule.

Park and walk. It's a concept, I know. You'd be amazed by the number of people who circle the mall lots like vultures, searching for a close parking spot. It's wasteful, and it's better to burn off yesterday's feast and park in the far ends of a lot and hike in.

Watch your excess. Sure, it's tempting to stock up on sales, but think twice. Not only does carrying lots of bags set you up to be mugged or your car broken into, but you also may be buying things you simply don't need.

Seek out local vendors. While they may not have the splashy ads the chain stores do, local stores may have sales, offer unique gift items and may have great parking. Plus, you have the added benefit of helping the local economy, and, depending on the store, purchasing locally produced or sustainable items.

Watch your plastic. Seek out gift items with as little packaging as possible.

Buy practical. It may not seem as much fun, but it's no less appreciated in a tough economy. Besides, how many lotion gift baskets can a girl need?

Shop online. It doesn't offer the same ambience as being with a thousand of your closest friends in the mall, but many retailers extend the same pricing on their Web sites. Shipping is already done for you, so you save an extra trip to the post office. It's convenient, and if you do miss the holiday magic, throw on a Christmas CD and sip a cup of cocoa.

Homemade Holidays: Spa baskets

Those easy-to-buy spa baskets at the local pampering store are cheap, but they don't offer much when you're trying to stay within a shopping budget. Plus, there's a lot of packaging involved - from the clear plastic that envelopes the entire basket and contents to the individual bottles and tons of shredded packaging inside.

Instead of running to the Body Shop or Bath & Body Works this holiday season, make a few spa baskets of your own. Create and bottle a few handmade items, and you can create a custom basket for your friend (or you!) in no time.

Here are some recipes to get you started:

For the bath:

• Colored bath salts
• English lavender bath
• Homemade bath bombs
• Homemade bath salts
• Milk and oatmeal bath bag
• Scented bath salts

Other items:

• Bathtub finger paints
• Christmas chunk soap
• Cocoa butter body lotion
• Green tea and lemongrass soap
• Homemade body lotion
• Rosewater and glycerin hand lotion
• Shaving soap
• Whipped body butter
• Lavender and mint soap
• Lavender and rose hand cream

Not enough? Check out Natural Beauty for All Seasons for other ideas.