Mondays with Martha: How to Spend Less This Christmas

It's just about that time. We're expecting our first polar vortex this week. The trees are bare, silhouetted skeletons against a grey sky. The red cups have made their appearance at that coffee place, what's it called again? Thanksgiving isn't here yet, but it's late this year, and if you look at the calendar you will see there are only two weekends between Thanksgiving vacation and Christmas vacation. All of which can only mean one thing: it's time to make some plans for how you're going to make this the best Christmas ever. Or, well, a good enough Christmas that you all have happy memories afterwards.

Every year I scrimp and save and say to myself, well, we don't have a lot of money this year, but next year we'll have more to spend on Christmas. And then every year we somehow seem to have less discretionary income. This year it is due to a Disney vacation and a move that cost more than we hoped and a kitchen remodel that cost a lot more than we hoped. So, how can we have all the most important parts of Christmas for less?

1) Make a list of what's really important. Ask the kids what traditions they can't live without. Figure out what makes you the most excited about the season. And then make three lists: The must-dos, the want-to-dos, and the do-withouts. Grandma's Kringle on Christmas morning makes the must-do list. So does looking at Christmas displays in fun stores with my mom. Seeing zoo lights with friends is another must-do. (Notice that those things are all basically free.) Driving around to look at ridiculous light displays set to music is on the want-to-dos. It's fun and basically free (other than the hot chocolate to make the drive even more fun), but if we don't get to it no one will have a conniption. The pictures at the mall in matching dresses is a do-without. It just makes everyone grumpy and really is quite expensive. Also not making the cut are the picture calendars. I just saved myself $200 and two days.

2) Plan ahead for your gift shopping. Ideally by this point in the year I'd be halfway done with my Christmas shopping. But this is the real world, and we are in chaos after a move and a remodel, so I have barely started. Making lists so I can shop sales and not overspend my budget is essential. Avoid those impulse buys!

3) Don't forget resale. Some items you want to buy new, of course, but especially when it comes to toys for young children, used is usually just as good as new, and a lot less expensive. Put a call out on Facebook for what you're looking for; maybe another mom has one she can sell you! Used books are also a great "extra" gift for people.

4) Think of experiences, not more "stuff." This probably works better with older children than younger children, but if you're thinking of paying for lessons or a special class, make it a gift rather than just one more thing your kids feel entitled to. Or have them open a CD (which seems more satisfying than a download, but maybe I'm just old-fashioned) with tickets to a concert. Family vacations can also be turned into gifts--money you were already going to spend that can help you spend less on other things.

5) Think of things you can make. Pinterest is your friend. There are some great ideas out there for games and toys and home decor you can make. My best Christmas as a child was the year my mom made all kinds of items for our Barbie dolls. She didn't spend much at all, but we were thrilled to pieces. Home-made granola, breads, and apple butter make wonderful gifts. Get the kids involved in making something for the grandparents and you kill two birds with one stone: making happy memories and crossing another item off your gift-giving list.

6) While you're getting crafty, think about whether you can make a little extra money at a craft sale or by taking a part-time job. I'm hoping to sell a little jewelry this season to have a little more spending money. And if none of it sells I can turn it into gifts for all the ladies in my life.

7) Think about family gifts--games or puzzles or memberships. It is much  more satisfying and saves you  money to buy a $40 game for your favorite nieces and nephews than to buy each one an individual gift that they probably won't like that much anyway. Puzzling families might like a puzzle they can put together during Christmas vacation.

8) Don't forget the dollar store and the dollar spot at Target. Sure, those things won't last forever. But they will bring a smile to a child's face.

9) Turn necessities into gifts. You can't only give socks and underwear, but you certainly can include them in a stocking. Or if there's an upcoming vacation, give a suitcase or sleeping bag. These are things you have to buy anyway, but turning them into a gift means you can spend less money over all.

10) Focus on what's truly important. Your children are better served by you making fun memories, not memories of mom stressed and dad griping about how much you overspent. Fewer presents teaches them to concentrate on giving more than receiving, to be content and grateful for what they have. And it helps them not be over-stimulated on the holiday itself. It also frees you up to focus on the together times you love the most, the feasting and game-playing and movie-watching that are the stuff of happy childhoods and cherished memories.

There you have it--my best ideas for saving a little money this Christmas. What are your favorite money-saving tips when it comes to the holidays?

Advent Chaos

Advent is kind of a funny season. We try to pack so many things in--concerts and caroling and parties and baking and gift-giving. And then we complain about it being too commercial, too irreverent, too busy to stop and reflect as we think we should. Some people react to that by cutting out all the activity and focusing on Christ instead. This advent has seemed unusually off for us, as we've watched our dear friend endure chemo while she tries to also "make Christmas" for her small children.

But I think it's that tension between chaos and calm that best exemplifies Advent. After all, while we wait for a baby to be born or adopted we fill that time with activity--planning, getting a room and bed ready...the chaos of preparing room in our lives for another life. Mary herself traveled and visited and frantically looked for a place to have her baby. The birth of our Lord was anything but calm and serene--surrounded by dirt and animals and poverty and rough shepherds.

So this advent it feels appropriate to embrace the bustle. Yes, it's important to make time for contemplation. We need to prepare our hearts for the coming of our Savior. But I think it's also okay for everything to feel a bit chaotic. Maybe even sad at times. And definitely too busy. The mixture of pain and joy and activity that seems to be an integral part of this season is the true meaning of the Incarnation, after all--Jesus coming to be with us in all our sorrows and all our rejoicing. Peace on Earth and Good Will toward Men.

And so, today, I'm not going to feel guilty about the buzz around me. I'm going to work and bake and spend time with friends and plan parties for my children and their friends and live with the mess around me--a messy house and a messy world. I'm going to laugh and maybe even cry. I'm going to squeeze moments of contemplation out of the constant chaos around me, and I'm going to be content with all of that instead of wishing things could slow down. That is how I'm going to celebrate Advent this year.

Peppermint Cookies

On the spur of the moment, I decided to spend the day doing some Christmas baking to share with friends. It was so fun. An acquaintance recently gave me a recipe I had asked for a while back, so I added it to the list  for the day. And oh my goodness, it's now going in the notebook of "things I make every year"! So good...

Peppermint Cookies

1 c. butter (softened)
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar (divided)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/3 c. flour
1 c. rolled oats
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. crushed candy canes (divided)

Preheat oven to 325 F.
In large bowl with electric mixer, cream butter and 1 c. powdered sugar. Add vanilla. In another bowl stir together flour, oats, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture and blend thoroughly. Add 1/4 c. crushed peppermint and mix well.

Roll dough into 3/4 inch balls and roll in 1/4 c. powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart and flatten with a fork in criss-cross pattern. Sprinkle with peppermint candy. Bake 18-20 min.

A Birthday Cake for a King

I know many people who make a birthday cake for Jesus on or around Christmas. While I've always liked the idea, I've never done it because I prefer cookies to cake, and there are always plenty of those around. But this year I'm going to make one. Keri has a wonderful tradition I'm going to adopt for our family.

Each year she sets out a jar, and anytime someone in the family does something kind for someone else, a birthday candle goes into the jar. When Christmas Eve arrives, the birthday candles in the jar are put on Jesus' birthday cake.

The girls were delighted last night because when I came home from the store with the birthday candles and introduced the idea, they had just cleaned their room without being asked and I told them that definitely counted as doing something kind for Mom. Instant success!

Christmas Joy

Apparently the Christmas rush is starting to get to me, because I have missed a few days of posting lately. It's easy to let that happen in December. I keep finding myself tempted to get stressed out about all the seasonal activities added onto our already overloaded schedule. And yet I love Christmas, and I want to do it all. It's not that I feel guilty if I don't get to enjoy my favorite holiday traditions: going to the singalong Messiah, driving around looking at lights and drinking hot chocolate, finishing up all my homemade Christmas gifts for friends and family, having the girls' friends over to decorate cookies, baking with the kids, making Christmas ornaments. . . . I feel deprived if I don't get to do all those things.

This article discusses the possibility of enjoying Christmas the secular holiday and having a separate "Jesus Day" rather than trying to mix the two. I think in the end that probably just looks like enjoying both the gift-giving and more secular aspects of Christmas and the Advent meditation rather than pushing the secular stuff away. In other words, I think that's what I do. I love Christmas movies and Frank Sinatra singing "White Christmas." I love the mall decorations and buying a new ornament each year. But I don't let that overshadow Advent readings, nativity sets, and church services. I like the idea that even people who deny the existence of God unknowingly get in on the celebration of Jesus' birth. As the Creator, he certainly deserves a big to-do over his birthday.

As Christmas approaches, I find the to-do list getting longer and my patience getting shorter. And yet the one gift I want to give my children this Christmas (and every day) is a cheerful mother. And so I'm going to remind myself when my time and temper are getting short to take a breath and give them the kind of Christmas I want them to be able to look back on with happy memories. Not so packed full of activities that we're all left breathless, but full of fun. Full of music and baking and quiet moments reading about Jesus' birth around the tree. Full of traditions and warmth and laughter. Full of friends and family. And most of all, full of Jesus.

Christmas Crafties

Tis the season when I start buying craft supplies for projects I'll never get to. Somehow the Christmas spirit just brings out the crafty urge in me. So, for those of you who have the same urge, here is a post all about cute Christmas crafties.

Here is my favorite homemade ornament. It's easy, cute, good for little people, and uses materials you already have.

To make this little sheep you start with a manilla folder. Cut it into a sheep shape and paint the head and feet black. Then wrap the whole thing in sheep-colored yarn (white or grey or maybe black). Tie a little red ribbon around his neck and add a bell if you want to be fancy.

For those of you with babies or toddlers, here are two handprint ornaments I've done.

The top one is made of craft foam. If you can get the child to spread their thumb apart from the rest of their fingers when you do their handprint, you can cut it into a mitten shape. The bottom one is made of wood. I'm not sure where you can get those now--they didn't have them at Joann's when I was there this week.

And here's my old standby of the last few years.

These are at Joann's right now for 50 cents each. It's fun to see the progression of coloring skills as the child gets older, and I love having each year's school pictures on the tree.

What are your favorite homemade ornaments? Share them in the comments section!

Christmas Sadness, Christmas Gladness

It's time to begin Christmas decorating and festivities, but my heart is heavy and I don't feel very celebratory. News of a family in crisis, a tragic plane crash, unemployment, and miscarriage have filled my e-mail inbox this week. I ache for these dear people. How can I get in the holiday spirit when there is so much wrong in the world? How can I celebrate with my children when so many people are brokenhearted and hopeless?

But then I remember the two messages the angels gave at Christmas. First, the angel told both Mary and the shepherds, "fear not!" Don't be afraid of the glory of the angels. Don't be afraid of the task before you. Don't be afraid of the future, or of what might happen. Don't be afraid of the sorrows of this fallen world. The Prince of Peace is here.

And then the angels told the shepherds that Christmas holds "Good news of great joy for all people." And what good news it is! All of the bad news in this world pales in comparison to the great joy of the incarnation. Christmas isn't just for people who are happy and want to celebrate. It is perhaps even more for those who sorrow.

This babe in the manger is also the Savior, the one who redeems even the worst tragedy and comforts us in our sorrow. He is the one who wept at the grave of Lazarus and promises us that all things will work for the good of those who love him. He is the one who came to save us for eternity and holds all of our tears in a bottle while we're waiting for that eternal perfection.

So maybe it's appropriate that my thoughts are filled with heavy burdens during Advent. Perhaps I need to be reminded of why Jesus came. If the world were perfect and happy like a Christmas-card picture all the time, we wouldn't need a Savior. But life is messy, and we are sinners in desperate need of a Savior.

And so our loving God broke into our fallen world to bring us peace. He became a helpless, impoverished baby so that he could save shepherds and kings and everyone in between. He came for the husband trapped in pain and sin and for his abandoned wife. He came for the mother who's lost her child and for the man who's lost his livelihood and identity. He came for the bereaved and heavy laden. He came for the people who are full of happiness and wonder this season and for those who are hopelessly sad. He came for you and for me, in all our joys and sorrows.

And even better than that, he's coming again to make all things right again. Hallelujah! Come, Lord Jesus.

Mondays with Martha: Planning for Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at least, in the stores it is! I loved how many people posted Nordstrom's notice about not getting out the Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving. I think most people are on the same page about that, but somehow the stores still try to push it on us early.


I do like to plan ahead for Christmas, even though we don't pull out the decorations or Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. Mostly I like to find ways to enjoy the season and avoid stress. So, here is what I do to plan ahead. Maybe there's something here for you to try this year.

1) Shop early. I like to get my shopping done before Thanksgiving. That way when December rolls around I can focus on the parties, baking, and traditions without stressing about shopping on top of that. There are usually a few straggler gifts that I end up buying the week before Christmas, but the more I get done early, the happier I am.

2) Pick a limited number of cookies to bake. Last year I let each child choose one recipe to bake with mom, and then we spread that out over a few days so we could really enjoy the process and enjoy each type of cookie without suger overload.

3) Let the kids decorate. I used to get out all the decorations, and then for a few years I only got out about half, and then last year I got out all the boxes and let the kids go to town. It worked out great. No one was complaining about "where's the such-and-such" because they were able to get out the decorations that were important to them, and I didn't have to do much of the work.

4) Put your traditions on the calendar. Some years I figured "oh, well, sometime this month we'll drive around and look at lights," and then it didn't happen. Last year I planned ahead and got things on the calendar, and we were able to fit in everything we wanted to do.

5) Make sure you have nativity sets the kids can play with. We have a little people one, a playmobil one, and several wooden ones--and the kids play with all of them at the same time. I'm pretty sure they aren't sticking to the story, since they have multiple Marys and Josephs, but they are on some level engaging with the true meaning of Christmas.

6) Think about what you could bake ahead in November or early December. Some coffee cakes and quick breads freeze well, and cookie dough can be frozen. I like to partially cook the apples for pies on the stove and then freeze them. Buy a bottom crust, throw in the apples, add a crumb topping and you have a wonderful French apple pie with very little work. For that matter, freezing some meals ahead of time would help in December too! That way you don't have to cook dinner and do cookies on the same day.

7) Find ways to simplify extended family gift-giving. I personally love to give gifts, so skipping extended family gifts altogether doesn't appeal to me. But I do like to simplify. Possibilities include: giving a family gift (game, gift card, etc.), choosing one category of gift and giving the same thing to everyone (Christmas item, kitchen gadget, food item, etc.), giving charity gifts in their name, or doing a name exchange with a theme. Last year and this year we're following some friends' example and exchanging names and then getting that person a book or movie that we ourselves have read/seen this past year that we think they would enjoy. It's fun, challenging, and you have limited options to choose from.

8) Plan ahead for what type of advent tradition you want to do that will focus your thoughts on the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe you want to try something new this year--a Jesse tree or one of these books. I try to buy a new Christmas picture book each year. But our favorite is still this one:


It has beautiful door illustrations for each day of December, and you open each door and read one verse from the Christmas story. By the end of the month you're reading the whole story each night as you open each door. Our kids love it!

So there you have my ideas to help make December more sane. With all the time you'll have left over, you can make these slippers from Martha.
The picture just screams "easy project! Nothing could go wrong here!" to me.
















How about you? What do you do to plan ahead for Christmas?