Make a Ginger Bread House

Nothing lights up a child's eyes like the sight of a gingerbread house at Christmas. They love to help make them, too. Making gingerbread houses are fun and messy, but they are one of the best decorations in the house. You can put one together quickly, or you can take you're time and have a gingerbread castle masterpiece. Get a bunch of different candies, and make this edible, delightful project this holiday season.

1. Make a pattern for your house with cardboard. You can make the house look any way you want, but a standard house has two walls with peaks, two flat side walls and two roof pieces. Your chimney will be one piece shorter than the other, and the two side pieces will be angled. You will only need one pattern piece per different wall or chimney.

2. Roll out your dough on a piece of wax paper covered with a dusting of flour. Dust the top with flour, and roll out to 1/4 inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut out all the pieces you need to make your house. You can cut out for a door and window or use decoration to form them later. Place them on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees. Take your smaller pieces out in about 6 or 7 minutes and the larger ones at 10 to 11 minutes. When the edges start to darken, they are done. Place your pieces on a wire rack, and let them cool. The pieces need to be completely cooled off and hard, you may want to wait until the following day to put them together.

3. Cover a tray with foil and start to build your house. Put icing on the tray where you are going to put your house. It doesn't have to be just at the bottom of the pieces--put it all over so the pieces will stick in it. Fill a pastry bag with white icing. If you don't have a pastry bag, use a plastic sandwich bag and cut the corner off at an angle. Squeeze the icing onto one side of a wall, and stand it up in the icing on the tray. Put the next wall in the icing on the first wall, and work your way around, gluing all the wall together with the icing. Now put the icing on the top of the walls, and put on half of your roof. Put icing on the peak of the roof, and put on the other half. Go over your joints again with icing, making sure they will stay together. Put your chimney together with icing, and stick on the roof.

4. Cut rounded-edge crackers in half, put icing on the backs, and place them on the roof for shingles, starting at the bottom of the roof. Press down lightly so you don't cave in the roof. Put more icing at the top where the flat edges join. Use your icing to put on the candies and decorate. A common gingerbread house has gum drops around the edges of the roof and icing around the doors and windows. You can use candy canes to highlight your door or run a bead of small candies around it. Try to get some icing to hang off the corner of the roof to look like ice. Be creative and have fun with it.

5. Crush Oreo cookies until they are really small pieces. Mix the crushed cookies in with the chocolate icing, and place around the outside of the house. Use the white icing to make snow drifts against one side of the house. Put some Christmas tree lolly pops in the yard by cutting their sticks down and sticking them in the yard mixture. Create a gum drop walkway up to your house. When you are finished with all the decoration, let the house sit and dry. Don't leave it in your kitchen, because the heat and humidity from cooking will make it take longer to dry.

Wrap Gifts Creatively

Though the gift is the important part of any occasion, don't be tempted just to throw it in a bag with a name on it. Try to be creative and give them a package that will make them smile before they even know what is inside.

1. Use baubles and gadgets. For baby gifts, little pacifiers and baby spoons are adorable tied on with ribbon. For adults, you can tie earrings, tie clips, or funny little gadgets to the gift. At Christmas, you can tie ornaments and holly to the gift for a festive look.

2. Try a different box. Use a photo box or hat box as a gift container. These will give you room to play around with stuffing and ribbons to surround your gift.

3. Use something new to wrap the gift. Try cloth, brown paper, newspaper, or pictures printed on plain paper. Beginning with a fun back ground, you can spruce the package up with ribbon or glitter.

4. Create with your kids. A child's birthday party can be just as fun for the ones giving presents, as the one receiving them. Play around with different papers, glitters, glues and rhinestones. Your child will be proud to give a gift that they helped wrap and decorate.

5. Try money. For college and high school kids, the best bet may be money. Even if you are giving them socks and underwear, out of necessity, if you tie a twenty dollar bill to the outside of the package, they will be more than happy to accept the gift.

6. Wrap gifts together. If you can wrap different boxes separately, and then stack them and tie them with ribbon in a nice tiered shape, it is perfect for a wedding or holiday gift.

Christmas Lights Hazard Safety

Christmas lights are a holiday tradition for many Americans, but they can be hazardous if not used and maintained properly. Taking simple steps can reduce the likelihood of accidents and injuries associated with Christmas lights.

Selecting Lights

When shopping for Christmas lights, look for labels indicating that the lights have been tested by an independent testing laboratory such as UL or ETL/ITSNA.

Inspecting Lights

Inspect light strands for signs of poor condition such as broken or frayed wires and broken sockets. Discard damaged sets rather than trying to repair them. Broken lights can cause fires or electrocution.

Bubble Lights

The Consumer Product Safety Council (CPSC) warns against using "bubble lights" around children because they could accidentally break the bulbs open and release the toxic liquid inside, or sustain cuts from the broken glass.

Extension Cords
The U.S. Fire Administration recommends connecting no more than three light strands together unless directions specifically state that it is safe to add more.

Holiday Window Display Ideas

For most store owners, attractive window displays that capture customers attention are essential for holiday sales success. A creative window draws the eye and urges customers to step inside the shop. Not only shops but homes and offices also dress up the front windows for added flair during the holiday season. Use your creativity and step out of the box to come up with a successful window display that makes your window stand out.

Religious Display

Select a religious theme for the window display in accordance to the items you sell and your customer base. Depict the religious scene that celebrates the birth of Christ. Use props positioned appropriately so that the scene tells the story on its own. If your customers include Jews or African-Americans, include a note of their religious holidays that fall near Christmas. Include a dreidel to impress Jews, or string black, green and red lights or crepe paper near the sides of the windows to celebrate the African American holiday of Kwanzaa.

Traditional Display

Celebrate your holiday window in a traditional scene that depicts Santa Claus, his sleigh, reindeer, elves making toys and the spirit of gift giving. Add a comical note to the display with a scene of Santa or a reindeer fanning himself on a beach chair if you live in Miami to capture attention. Alternatively, consider a scene with dangling snowflakes from the ceiling and eager children watching the first snowfall if it snows in your area. The idea is to use your imagination and make passersby think.

Modern Display

Create a generic snow scene that is not limited to Christmas but extends from November to January, such as a winter wonderland. Use lots of props such as mannequins, snow, sledges, gifts, a Christmas tree and a snowman to depict the scene you have in mind. A generic display is a great option for store or homeowners who don't want to change the entire display once the season is over. Simple touches such as replacing the Christmas colored scarf from the snowman with a less holiday-oriented one and removing gifts from the sled prolong the display well into the beginning of the following year.

Decorative Accents

Whatever your theme, incorporate items in your window display that symbolize the holiday season such as lengths of twinkling lights suspended from the ceiling; tufts of snow or snowflakes suspended with fishing line; potted poinsettia plants, wreaths or garlands; candelabras with tall green, red or white candles; paper reindeer; candy canes; Christmas trees and other decorative accents. These items liven up the display, fill up empty space, add color wherever needed and enhance interest at varying eye levels.

Tips to Have a Dollar Christmas Party

Growing up my mother's family always had a Dollar Christmas Celebration with her family. Everyone received $1.00 gifts. This was BEFORE $1.00 stores! We had to be creative! We would plan all year to get ideas. We would give all the men things like De-icers, tools, etc. Women would get ornaments, craft projects. Everyone would be remembered, and no one spent very much!


1. Start early. Inform relatives or invitees that only $1.00 gifts will be allowed. Communication is the key! Promoting this party with enthusiasm will pay off in an exciting party. The fun is getting excited over all the fun and creative gifts that can be found!

2. Start scouring Dollar stores for the best deals. Some Discount Stores have things marked down to $1.00. Target has their Dollar bins. Check Dollar Tree, Dollar General etc.

3. If one starts early enough, there are hundreds of crafts or food items a family can make together.

4. Decide on one gift for all men, one gift for women and one gift for children.

Christmas Card Crafts for Kids

There are many great ideas you can explore in order to help kids create their own Christmas cards, drawing from a variety of different types of craft materials. Developing personalized Christmas cards for classmates, family or a teacher can be a wonderful craft project for children to delve into on a snowy day in preparation for the Christmas holiday. You will need to buy the materials you'll need from a craft store or a retail chain that carries these types of supplies such as Walmart.

Use Paint

Consider making use of a graphics program like Paint, which normally comes with Microsoft Windows, to create a design for your card. By using a program like Paint to create a card, it can have the added benefit of getting children interested in using the computer. This program is truly user friendly, and kids can use it to create Christmas design by utilizing the tools in the toolbar. Once the child creates a design, you can print out the image on card stock. Now, the child can add various materials to the card, like glitter or cotton balls for snow or Santa's beard. She can then sign a personalized message to complete her Christmas card.

Giant Christmas Card

Creating a giant Christmas card that various children in a family (or a classroom) work on can make for a wonderful Christmas card project, especially as a surprise for a teacher or even a mother or grandmother. If you choose to pursue this type of design, it can help to section off areas for each child to work on before you begin. Or, you may want to assign certain elements of the design to each child; for example, one child might be responsible for designing the border on the card. Another can create the snow, reindeer, etc. This can help to prevent disagreements from popping up.

Homemade Cards

Another approach that kids can take to create Christmas cards is to use construction paper and various craft materials to make a homemade, handcrafted card that the recipient will cherish. Children love working with their hands, and they particularly enjoy creating crafts with a parent or with other kids. You can purchase an array of different types of craft materials either from a craft store or a retailer that sells these products. It is usually a good idea to buy various types of items from cotton balls, glitter and glue to crayons, markers and paint. Remember to select materials that are non-toxic and that are easy to clean up after you complete your Christmas card creation project.

Find Cheap Christmas Gift Ideas

When you're trying to plan a frugal Christmas, finding cheap Christmas gift ideas is very important. Luckily, with a little advance planning, it's possible to have a great Christmas without going into debt.

1. Give handmade gifts. Knitted hats, crocheted blankets, beaded bracelets, personalized scrapbooks, or handmade candles make very special Christmas gifts. If you enjoy spending time in the kitchen, a plate of cookies and a collection of your favorite recipes is a good idea to consider as well.

2. Offer up a service, such as free housecleaning, lawn mowing, or car washing. This is an especially good idea for senior citizens, who really don't need anymore knick knacks to dust. Just keep in mind that you need to follow through with your promise to make this a good gift.

3. Encourage creativity by giving children crayons, markers, stickers, coloring books, and sketch pads purchased from your local dollar store. These items can also be purchased very cheaply during the "back to school" sales in July and August if you remember to plan ahead.

4. Consider giving a "secondhand rose." Although it's commonly believed that all Christmas gifts must be purchased brand new, gently used items can be excellent presents. For example, used bookstores are a great source of Christmas presents for avid readers. Stores that sell used DVDs and video games can also be good resources for the teens on your holiday shopping list.

5. Buy "joint" gifts. For example, instead of buying separate presents for your brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew, you could buy a family board game for all of them to enjoy together.

6. Look for experiences to share. If you normally exchange gifts with all of your friends, see if they would be willing to go to a play together or check out a new restaurant in lieu of the gift exchange. In addition to saving money, you'll have fewer people to shop for and fun memories to share!