Save Your Sanity - Holiday Online Shopping Is the Way to Go

I'll let you in on a secret: I rarely go to the mall after Thanksgiving. It's not that I don't love the decorations and Christmas festivities - it's just that I don't enjoy the parking hassles, frantic shoppers and overstimulated kids having meltdowns. I prefer to save (or savor) my sanity! Besides, I've found that overall, I can get just as many great deals shopping online as I can at the malls or big box stores. In recent years I've changed my shopping strategy to the following:

• I have my holiday budget pretty much defined by September - that includes decorations, gifts, holiday entertaining and food.
• Many of the stores have their seasonal items out starting in October, which means I'll head to the malls prior to November 15th to get an idea of what's new and what the current pricing of possible gift items is.
• And then... I savor my sanity by shopping online. The 2010 Holiday Season is bursting with unique gift ideas, heavy discounts on Christmas favorites like toys, electronics and clothing, and best of all... FREE SHIPPING. Watch for last minute deals and deep discounts on favorite sites like Overstock.com, WalMart and AMAZON.

Here are just a few of the sanity-saving deals I've found online this week:

Holiday Toy Deals - save 70% and more at AMAZON  including Curious George for $5.99
( I may have snagged one or two...)

Puritan's Pride - Buy one get one free or Buy TWO get THREE free. Yes, they are best known for their vitamins, but they also have this deal on items like essential oils as well as bath and body products.

Walmart's Selection of more than 400 DVDs on sale for $5 plus free shipping
add a couple of DVDs, popcorn and movie candy to a large basket, tie with a bow and you've got a fabulous gift for under $20!

Williams-Sonoma - free shipping on more than 500 Holiday favorites. Includes their yummy peppermint bark cookies and the essential oils hand care set - two of my favorites under $25.

Pottery Barn - Check out these charming Green Patina Planters in three sizes, on sale $9.99-19.99

Cooking SOS - Holiday Help is Here

Have a quick question about cooking a turkey or ham? Need ideas for what to do with the leftovers? When it comes to meals from Thanksgiving to Christmas, I say get all the resources you can! Here's a great list of websites, articles and toll free consumer help lines that can be especially valuable for the Holiday Season:

• Butterball Turkey Talk-Line: (800) BUTTERBALL  or website
• Foster Farms Help Line: (800) 255-7227 or website
• Crisco Pie Hotline (877) 367-7438 or website
• Fleischmann’s Yeast Baker’s Help Line: (800) 777-4959 or website
• Nestle's Toll House Baking Information Line: (800) 637-8537 or website
• U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline: (888) 674-6854 or website

Recycle and Reuse This Holiday Season

Make it a point to recycle and reuse this Holiday Season. It's good for the environment, easy on the wallet, and encourages lots of participation from the family. Need a few ideas to get started? Check out some of these:

Save this year's Holiday greeting cards to reuse next year. An easy and frugal way to reuse: Cut off the front cover and use next year as a Holiday postcard. Simple draw a line down the middle of the back of the card to separate the areas for address and message. You'll save on postage too!

With Holiday cooking comes lots of opportunity to recycle and reuse food containers. Glass jars can be recycled and reused to make your own herb infused oils ( a great gift idea), and plastic milk containers can be used for crafts, storage and gardening, among other things.

Here's a tip for recycling/reusing wrapping paper:
Save the cardboard tubes from your wrapping paper this season, and use it to store the paper that is salvageable after the family has opened their gifts. Trim off torn areas, then roll the used paper onto the cardboard tubes to reduce wrinkles. It's easy to store, and saves you money on next year's Holiday Season.

There's Centerpieces...and Then There's CENTERPIECES

I recently wrote an article to share some of the inexpensive Holiday centerpiece ideas I've used over the years. Having budget-friendly options seems more important this year, when so many are scaling back on seasonal entertaining.  

Creating an inexpensive holiday centerpiece for your Thanksgiving or Christmas table can be easily achieved with a few items from your garden or pantry.  With a little creativity, you can create works of art for your holiday table, with little or no money spent. 


Now, having said that...I also want to showcase a cake designer on the East Coast that makes incredibly creative cakes for all types of gatherings, from birthdays to ... yep, you guessed it -- cakes that create a spectacular centerpiece for your Thanksgiving or Christmas table. Check out the Thanksgiving Cornucopia centerpiece cake from PinkCakeBox.com.

Whatever your Holiday budget - I hope you are inspired to create a beautiful centerpiece to share with family and friends.  It's all about the options isn't it? As a side note: I am REALLY thankful that PinkCakeBox doesn't offer shipping to the West Coast! ;)