Holiday Gift Ideas & Traditions Blog

Halloween has become the second most popular yard decoration season of the year (behind the Christmas holiday). So make your house the scariest or most inviting house in the neighborhood this holiday season with these fun yard decoration tips. The kids will love stopping by your fun or scary home on Halloween night for some tricks, treats or little Halloween gifts. So go all out no matter what theme you choose!

Fake tombstones. Turn your front yard or flower bed into an eerie graveyard with tombstones. If you don’t have a flower bed, it is a good idea to mound up a pile of dirt in the yard if you have enough room. You can either ‘buy’ fake tombstones constructed from wood or vinyl online or at a local party supply shop or if you are creative, make your own. Just buy some plywood or styrofoam, cut it in the shape of classic or fancy cross tombstones, add a stake to the bottom (so they can be pushed in the ground) and paint them with gray paint. You can add scary names like Rob DeGrave or Miss N. Cranium using black paint or make up some funny epitaphs for each tombstone.

Half-buried monsters. When you want to give the kids a bit of a scare, put some half-buried monsters along the edge of the driveway or walkway. You can buy creatures like skeletons or Frankenstein at party shops. Usually they come as a set with a head (that can sometimes be lit with batteries), 2 hands and 2 feet. Each body part has a stake to hold it in the ground so just put them in place and then use some of those fallen tree leaves to cover around the edges of the body parts. This will hide the stakes and create a scary feel as though the monsters are rising from the ground.

Fog machine. Adding fog can create the eerie and scary feeling that goes right along with Halloween. Just buy one of these machines online, but remember you’ll need access to electricity wherever you are planning to create a layer of fog. Most machines come with the glycol ‘fog fluid’. What a great addition to your front porch or graveyard.

Motion activated decorations. Decorations such as ghosts, witches and monsters can be innocently sitting or hanging around your porch and yard, but an electronic eye or sound activated technology make them come ‘alive’ as people approach or talk. Many of these decorations will light up, shake or even shriek when activated. What a great way to give the neighborhood kids a little scare!

Lighting. When you just want to dress up your house for Halloween without all the scary antics, you can use some festive Halloween lights to give your house a beautiful glow. From strings of pumpkins or skeletons to orange rope lighting, the possibilities for Halloween lighting are endless. You can also buy ‘can’ lights at your local Home Improvement store to uplight hanging ghosts, fake cobwebs or spiders that you have strategically placed on your porch.

Love! We all need that warm, fuzzy, feeling we call love. Love is a strong positive emotion of regard and affection, and love makes the world go around. This wonderful emotion makes us feel wanted and appreciated. We have love for our family and children and the love for each is different and unique to each individual. This love is unchanging no matter what situation occurs or what these individuals do. This type of love is truly unconditional love - a love that will not leave us no matter what and a love that would make us jump off of cliffs for. The love we feel for these individuals is different than the “shaking in the knees, heart fluttering” kind of love we may feel towards someone we are dating. Oh, the awesome feeling of first love and infatuation is one you will never forget! This type of love is romantic, intimate and sexual and this same type of love is felt between an engaged or married couple. Yet this love can change and grow or it can change and deteriorate over time. It can be the most beautiful feeling and it can be the most heartbreaking. It’s this romantic, intimate and sexual love between two individuals that must be worked at each and every day in order for it to endure the years. So what can one do to keep the romance in your life alive? Here are some tips that will help to keep the love alive:

1) Do little things in the course of a day such as leave notes, send gifts or gift baskets, bring home flowers or call just to say you love each other.

2) Make a date with each other. Schedule regular dates without the kids, if possible, and make time for each other.

3) Show affection by holding hands, cuddle, and kiss. This will keep your partner happy and also sets a positive, healthy example for your children.

4) Show your appreciation for each other every day.

5) Keep the communication lines open and truly listen to your partner.

6) Always give 100%.

The most romantic day is nearing - Valentine’s Day! It is a day to celebrate love and romance, and the bonds you have created with your loved one. As the day of love nears, plan to make it an unforgettable day and spark the love and romance in your life.

1) Make your own Valentine’s Day card, write a poem or a sincere love letter.

2) Book the honeymoon suite of a hotel and plan a night of romance.

3) Plan a romantic getaway.

4) Prepare a candlelight dinner and a night of dancing.

5) Watch a movie that has special meaning to both of you, such as the movie you saw on your first date.

6) Propose all over again.

There are many ways that you can be romantic, but the most important is to say “I love you” on a frequent basis. Those three words go a long way. So what does love have to do with it? Love has everything to do with your relationships and your life. Without love, our existence would be dark and dreary.

Doesn’t it feel wonderful to be loved?

Can you believe that “2100″ is just around the corner? How fast the years go by!

New Year’s Day is one of the oldest and most widely celebrated holidays in the world. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the first day of spring. The beginning of spring was a very logical time to start a new year. The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days and each day had its own particular schedule of celebration.

The Romans continued to observe the New Year in early March but their calendar was continually changed by various emperors. Soon the calendar became out of synchronization with the sun. In 153 BC, the Roman senate declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year in order to set the calendar right. However, the calendar continued to be tampered with until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established the Julian calendar. Once again, January 1 was established as the New Year. January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was always shown as having two heads. He looked back to the last year and forward to the new one.Today, the majority of people begin the celebrations on the night before New Year’s Day. Many people hold parties and festivities which last well into the night and early morning hours of New Year’s Day. It is tradition to greet the New Year at midnight and celebrate the first minutes of the year accompanied by family and friends. Horns are blown at midnight, people hug and kiss to begin the New Year and drink a toast to the year ahead.

The time of new beginnings and a New Year for most people begin with making New Year’s resolutions, which is a way of wishing away the past in exchange for hopes and changes of the future. Many of us look over our lives and ourselves and resolve to make changes. Some of us will succeed, some of us will fail, and some of us will never move beyond the planning stage.

Some of the top New Year’s resolutions are:

• Lose weight.
• Exercise.
• Spend more time with family and friends.
• Quit a bad habit.
• Enjoy life to the fullest.
• Manage finances better.
• Eat healthier

In a matter of a few weeks another year will be coming to a close. For some people it is a blessing and for others it is a sad occasion. However, a new year and new beginnings are upon us. Let us resolve to make ourselves the best we can be and let’s leave Father Time in the past!

Celebrate new beginnings and the New Year by sending holiday gift baskets to friends and family. We have gifts for any reason and season! In the New Year ahead, you can be assured that we have something for everyone on your gift-giving list and any occasion such as birthdays, new baby, wedding and anniversary, and special holidays.

Each year on the third Sunday of June, families and individuals in the United States and Canada celebrate the special man in their lives - their fathers!  These strong, masculine, hard-working individuals who have had a big part of our upbringing need a special day too. The question is, “When did this wonderful holiday begin?”The strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington.  Mrs. Dodd had a very high opinion and respect for her father.  Her father, William Smart, a veteran of the Civil War, raised six children without their mother after his wife died young while giving birth to their sixth child.  His selflessness and devotion to her and her siblings was unwavering.

With appreciation and high regard for her father and after listening to a sermon on Mother’s Day, in 1909 Mrs. Dodd approached her minister and others in Spokane to request a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5.  This date was her father’s birthday and Sonora wanted a special day to remember her father. June 5th was too soon for the minister to prepare the service so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th.

Spokane first celebrated its first Father’s Day on June 19, 1910.  From that time on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.

In early celebrations, people wore flowers as a traditional way of celebrating Father’s Day.  Mrs. Dodd chose the red rose to honor a father still living, while a white flower honored a deceased dad.

Soon, states and organizations began lobbying Congress to declare the special day an annual Father’s Day.  President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea in 1916, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event.  Quoting President Coolidge, the event was to “establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measures of their obligations.”

Since then, Father’s Day is held on the third Sunday in June throughout the USA and Canada, and fathers are recognized and honored by their families on this special day.  President Lyndon Johnson, in 1966, put the official stamp on a celebration that had already been going on for almost half a century and signed a proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day.

Everyone has a father and some of you may be fathers.  In other situations, some are single moms who are both “mother and father” to a child. In any case, fathers impact children’s lives in more ways than we will ever know.

Little boys like to imitate their fathers or, as they say, “walk with Daddy’s big shoes on.”  Little girls look up to their fathers for approval and it is said that the love the love a father shows his daughter reflects the type of man she will marry.

June 19th, 2005 is Father’s Day and a special day to celebrate your special Dad.  How will you show your appreciation and love to the wonderful man in your life?  Cook a special dinner for him with all of his favorite dishes, bring him to his favorite restaurant, or be creative and make him a special gift.

If the miles separate you from your father this special day, send a greeting card, flowers, or a gift basket that is perfectly suited to him!

Give your dad a hug and show him your love this Father’s Day!

When you throw the big Halloween costume bash this year, make the food as fun as the party with these ideas. Your friends will think you are oh so ingenious.

- Scary Halloween Molds. Many party supply stores carry molds such as brains and hands that can be used to enhance the scary theme of the party.  For instance, you can fill the hand molds with red punch, freeze them and float them in the punch bowl to keep the punch cold at the party. It is better to have the actual party punch not be red so that the bloody looking hands are noticeable. Another common shape is a brain mold. Put a few drops of red food coloring in the bottom of the mold to create red veins and then put in flesh colored Jello like Peach. Let it set up in the refrigerator and flip it onto a serving plate for an eerie, shaky party brain. At adult parties, you could make the brain like Jello shooters where you add vodka or rum to the Jello instead of water when mixing it up.

- Apple cheese ball. Since October is apple season, an apple-shaped cheese ball would be a nice addition to any Halloween party. Buy some shredded mild or sharp cheddar and mix in just enough flavored or plain cream cheese to allow you to form a ball shape. Form the cheese into an apple shape that is slightly larger on top and smaller on the bottom, wrap it in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least a few hours to firm up.  Just before the party starts, roll the ball of cheese in red paprika so that it is completely covered. To make the apple look a bit more realistic, stick in a cinnamon stick to form the stem and a few bay leaves on the top of the cheese ball. Place it in the middle of a serving platter and surround it with gourmet crackers for a great appetizer at your big Halloween bash.

- Spider web cupcakes.  When you are looking for a quick, easy and festive dessert, these cupcakes are the answer. Buy a chocolate, apple spice or pumpkin cake mix and make 24 cupcakes using Halloween themed cupcake liners (you can buy these at the grocery store too). Frost the cupcakes with a tub of fluffy white or cream cheese frosting. Then, either use a tube of black decorating gel or a tub of white frosting that you color with black food coloring to make the webs on top of the cupcakes. If you make your own black icing, put it in a plastic sealable storage bag, cut off a tiny angled corner of the bag bottom, and squeeze the frosting out to decorate. Basically, you put a dot of black icing in the center of the cupcake and then draw concentric circles around it. Then, take a toothpick and drag it from the center of the cupcake to the edge (like you are cutting a piece of pie). If you do this 6 or 8 times around the cupcake, you will form what looks like spider webs. You can optionally add a plastic black spider to the top of each cupcake.  

Your imagination is the only limit on creating fun and scary Halloween party food. Just poke around online for some other great Halloween recipes and you’ll be all set to throw the best Halloween party your friends have ever attended. And if you are going to a party, remember to bring the host and hostess a little Halloween thank you gift for inviting you to their party.

We all remember giving Mom one of our great creations or painted masterpieces when we were a kid, but now that we are all grown up, we should give Mom a Mother’s Day gift that she can truly cherish. Instead of the same old Mother’s Day flower bouquet, send Mom something unique and different this year. Here are some gift ideas that will make finding the perfect gift a bit easier. No matter what you choose, make sure that you allot enough time for any online gift to be delivered prior to Mother’s Day or buy something locally so you can deliver it yourself.

- Garden Plant. The Mother’s Day holiday falls in the spring just when plants are starting to grow and bloom in the garden. So if Mom is a gardening expert or just a want-to-be green thumb, a garden plant such as a hydrangea or blooming azalea would be an excellent gift choice. Shopping and checking with your local nursery will help insure that the plant you choose will be hardy in your area. Perennials are a great option because they will come back year after year. To make your gift extra special, include a lovely card and offer to plant it for her.

- Mother’s Day Cookie or Candy Bouquet. Send Mom something that is as sweet as she is this Mother’s Day. Visit a local gift shop or shop online at one of the many bakery and gift stores that will now ship directly to her door. The most popular Mother’s Day cookie bouquets incorporate iced sugar cookies in various flower, heart and butterfly shapes. If Mom has a sweet tooth for candy, a chocolate gift basket would be an excellent choice.

- Housework or Home Improvement Coupons. Mother’s Day doesn’t have to be expensive and some of the best gifts are the giving of your time and elbow grease. Like most of us, Mom is probably always on the go so a little help with Spring cleaning tasks, painting a room or cleaning out the garage would be greatly appreciated. Just use your computer to make up ‘coupons’ for the tasks that you want to assist with. Of course if you are short on time too, you could give gift certificates to a housecleaning service like Merry Maids or a window washing service.

- Mother’s Day Gift Basket. Gift baskets are a great place to incorporate Mom’s hobbies. Whether she is a bookworm, a gardener or a food junkie, you can make or buy a Mother’s Day gift basket to suit her tastes. For instance if she loves gardening, how about getting a watering can and filling it with gardening essentials such as gloves, tools, seed packets and perhaps some ice tea to cool her off after a long day in the garden. If you decide to make your own, just wrap your gift basket in a big gift bag or cellophane and top it off with a big bow and card for a stunning presentation.

- An escorted shopping spree. This is a great dual purpose gift - Mom gets to spend time with you and she gets some new fashionable clothes or gadgets out of the deal. Picking out clothes together can be a great way to bond with Mom and give her some advice on the latest fashion trends. She’ll proudly wear her gift the next time she is out with friends or family.

In the United States and many other countries throughout the world, the bunny has become the major non-religious symbol of the Easter holiday. Jumping along with his Easter basket full of brightly colored eggs, chocolate and candy, the Easter bunny makes girls and boys across America jump for joy. Unfortunately, the joy over the bunny has been literally destroyed in the land down under. So there is a movement in Australian society to replace the Easter bunny with the Easter bilby.

Back in 1859, a hunter with one of his great ideas released twenty four exotic rabbits in Australia. Keeping in mind that the rabbit is not native to Australia, one can understand why the population of rabbits has literally exploded causing vegetation and food shortages for indigenous Australian species. Australia had no natural rabbit predators and the rabbit’s infamous ability to breed caused the rabbit population to exceed millions within just 10 years. Despite numerous attempts to get the rabbit population under control, the rabbits continue to cause an estimated $600 million (AU) in damages to vegetation every year (which also results in significant problems with soil erosion). Understandably, the Australians are fed up with the rabbit and they don’t exactly view it as a warm, fuzzy and fun creature like most Americans do. In fact in most parts of Australia, rabbits cannot legally be owned as pets.

Thus back in the 1970’s, the concept of the ‘Easter Bilby’ instead of the ‘Easter Bunny’ was born. The bilby is a native Australian marsupial that is a member of the bandicoot family. It is about the same size as a traditional bunny and has soft grey fur with a black and white tail. Most notably, the bilby has very long ears and a long snout-like nose. However, recently, the bilby was named an endangered species because only about 600 of them now exist in the wild. So as the bilby’s population has decreased, their popularity has increased and the ‘Easter Bilby’ movement has picked up steam amongst many Aussies. Just like the traditional American Easter Bunny, the Aussie version known as the Easter Bilby totes around baskets full of chocolate, candy, eggs and more that he delivers to the children of Australia on Easter morning each year. From stuffed plush bilbies to chocolate-shaped bilby treats to bilby greeting cards, the Easter Bilby is a phenomenon with traction in Australia. So if you happen to be on holiday in Australia on Easter Sunday, remember not to mention the Easter Bunny!

Adult Halloween parties are a great way to entertain your neighbors and friends. Create fun and festive party invitations and recommend that everyone attending the party dress up for the Halloween costume contest. Make the night memorable by have special Halloween themed foods and decorating your house and yard for the big party. An added benefit is that the Halloween trick or treaters can enjoy the outdoor decorations too. Here are some great decorating ideas that will create a festive atmosphere.

- Fake cobwebs. Fine-threaded fake cobwebs offer a great way to add some inexpensive ambience to your Halloween celebration. You can purchase bags of these loosely bound cotton filament style webs at party supply stores or online. Tape or tack one end of the cotton web down while you pull the rest of the cotton out to form a thin web. The thinner you can get the webs without breaking, the more realistic they look. Add them to corners for basement Halloween parties and on the porch or around doors to welcome guests as they enter your home. Add some black plastic spiders to make them scary and use ‘can’ lights to uplight the webbing to make it more noticeable. - Reusable Jack-O-Lanterns. Spend a little extra money and time this year to achieve gorgeous, realistic looking jack-o-lanterns that can be used for years to come. Many craft stores now sell hollow pumpkins that are made from lightweight foam. Just buy a few of these pumpkins as well as a pumpkin carving kit to create the best looking jack-o-lanterns on the block. Follow the carving kit instructions to construct intricate Halloween designs. Remember that because these re-usable pumpkins are foam, do not burn candles inside them because they are flammable. Instead opt for lighting them with glow sticks or small battery powered flashlights.- Bloody handprints. Available online or in party supply stores, these re-usable red plastic decorations are meant to be used on windows and mirrors to make it look like spattered blood.  Designs range from bloody looking handprints and footprints to red blood drops and splotches. Create a dramatic ‘bloody’ massacre to welcome guests to your scary Halloween party.

Having a difficult time thinking of the perfect Father’s Day Gift? We all know that Dads and men in general, for that matter, are infamously difficult to buy gifts for. So this year, stop the neck tie trend and give Dad a gift he can really use and enjoy - electronics, power tools or a hobby related item.

What man doesn’t love electronics? Considering the rate at which technology evolves these days, it is likely that Dad doesn’t have the latest and greatest techno gadget. Visit your local Best Buy, go online to Amazon.com or buy Consumer Reports magazine to get a good overview of the most popular electronic items that are on the market today.  One idea to consider is a digital camera. Prices on cameras have decreased significantly in the last few years. You can now get a 7 pixel camera for under $200 with all the gee-wiz gadgets you can imagine including movement auto-face focus, zero time delay,  and red-eye edit capabilities right on the camera. Dad will love capturing family moments, taking pictures of the kids or photographing his latest carpentry creation. One of the most popular electronic picks is a Universal Remote. Logitech has a computer programmable remote that can control all those electronic gadgets in the cabinet such as the DVR, DVD player, CD player, HD television, stereo receiver and more. You can get a great version of the Universal Logitech remote control at Wal-mart for around $100. More expensive options are also available at places like Best Buy. It is easy to program using downloadable data via a computer, and can perform multiple functions with the push of one button. If your coffee table is covered with five remotes, it may turn out that you’ll love this gift for Dad as much as he will. Finally, for an inexpensive gadget option, consider a computer flash drive. These portable data devices are about the size of a small lighter and hold ridiculous amounts of data. When Dad wants to take data from his computer to the office or to another computer in the house, this small device will make the job infinitely easier.

Do you have one of those Dads that spend more time in the garage tinkering than in the house? Well wander out to his garage or tool shed and take a look around. Even if Dad has tons of tools, he probably doesn’t have the latest gadget or maybe he needs one of his old tools replaced. Some newer items to consider are laser levels or specialty pliers. If you simply don’t know what Dad needs or if you are running short on time, just get him a gift card to his favorite home improvement store like Menards or Home Depot. When he gets to pick out his gift, you can be 100% sure that he’ll like it!

Lastly, consider Dad’s hobbies for gift inspiration. Does he like golfing, drinking beer, watching NASCAR or something else? Giving a gift that is in line with one of his hobbies will likely be a hit. If Dad is a big sports fanatic, consider giving him tickets to a local basketball, football or baseball game. Make this gift even better by offering to take him to the game yourself so that you can spend some quality time together. If Dad is a golfer, you could take him golfing, give him a golf improvement book or a new golf club. Fishermen are easy to buy for because new lures and gadgets are coming out every year. Finally if Dad mostly likes to sit around watching TV and drinking beer, give him a food or beverage gift. Many online gift basket companies such as Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets sell gourmet food baskets, cookie bouquets, beer gift baskets, grilling gifts and other gifts themed for Father’s Day. Just do a quick search on the web to find a suitable gourmet gift.

No matter what you end up buying Dad this year, he’ll love that you took the time to pick out something tailored to his needs. Now get up and get shopping!