Swap Till You Drop

Good Wednesday morning!

I have one more picture from the weekend in the Gallery today. Tomorrow, I'll have pics from different places and activities, but I wanted to share just one more.

CHRISTMAS CARD COUNT - Are you ready for this? I have 72 cards! I only need THREE MORE CARDS! Do you feel the excitement in the air? Is it just me, or is this one of the MOST EXCITING THINGS TO EVER HAPPEN... TO ME? I cannot wait until the mail lady comes today. It's going to be a very long morning. And to the family who has sent me four anonymous Christmas cards, I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. You and yours truly know how to make someone's Christmas merry! Keep up the good work!

I hope tomorrow I will be able to share the news I met my goal. I hope I can sleep tonight!

CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY IN DECEMBER - This is it, guys. There are 24 (mostly inexpensive or free) ideas for each and every day in December. If you have any others to share, feel free. Ideas are ALWAYS welcome on A Simple Life.

DAY 17

23. Plan a luncheon or breakfast with a group of friends. And here is a little Christmas twist. Don't exchange gifts. Make it a truly simple, relaxing, stress-free time of visiting and catching up. Most women do not need one more present to wrap, or one more ornament to buy, or one more cookie to bake. And guess what... that's okay. Give the gift of time and spend it with some of the people you love most this holiday season. Enjoy.

24. As I receive Christmas cards from some of my oldest friends who now live all over the United States, I call them the day their card arrives in the mail. It only takes a few minutes, and it is a fun time to catch up. Don't be someone who says, "I need to call them one day." Be someone who says, "Hi, ___________! I just got your Christmas card and I wanted to say Merry Christmas in person. How is everyone doing?" It is so much fun, and because I wait until the mail lady brings the mail, I never know who I'll be calling that day! (Today I called some friends in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Tomorrow, it might be Huntington Beach, California. You just never know!)

Wednesday Wisdom - I wanted to share three quotes about Christmas today... all of them focus on Jesus and the real reason Christmas should be celebrated each and every year.

"Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide-open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart." George Matthew Adams.

"The giving of gifts is not something man invented. God started the giving spree when he gave a gift beyond words, the unspeakable gift of His Son." Robert Flatt.

"This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ." Frank McKibben.

Swap Till You Drop

I read this in the January 2010 Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and I thought it would be a great thing to plan each year (AFTER Christmas) with a few friends.

The idea is to invite some friends over and have them bring a certain number of items to swap. Lay everything out in your dining room, living room, and/or den, allow browsing time and then take turns choosing one new item for each item you brought. The only rule is everything up for swap is clean and in good condition.

1. Invite guests and let them know how many items they can bring. Five guests, each with ten items in tow, is a good size for a swap meet. The invitation is a large cardboard tag dressed up with decorative paper and a print-out of the party details.

2. Tag each item as it arrives. Have a stash of tags ready and invite the guests to write a description and a "selling point" for each item. The tags are cut from cardboard, hole-punched at the top, and topped with an adhesive mailing label with the information written there.

3. Set up a "claim system" by giving each guest a set of clothespins monogrammed with stick-on letters. (My clothespins would have a letter "B" on the top of them.) To claim an item, clip a pin to its tag. If multiple people want the same item, put all the clothespins in a hat and draw a winner. (Much like Dirty Santa!)

4. Box up the leftovers at the end of the party (recruit guests to help), and donate them to a local charity or shelter.

5. Have coffee, soft drinks and a cake or cookies ready to serve after the swap meet so you can have some time to visit.

This sounds like a lot of fun, and an easy way to get rid of something (albeit nice) you no longer use or need. The thing I like best about this tradition is you do not HAVE to claim ten items. You might only want one or two things from the swap meet, so you end up getting rid of some clutter without having to replace everything.

Also, the set up and the planning would be much easier (and a lot more fun) than a yard sale. Even though you wouldn't have money to show for your efforts at the end of the day, you might have a few new items to show for your work... and some sweet fellowship with your friends.

I'm thinking about trying this in February!

A Christmas Prayer

Loving Father, help us remember
the birth of Jesus, that we may
share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds
and the wisdom of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open
the door of love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift
and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing
which Christ brings, and teach us to
be merry with clean hearts.

May the Christmas morning
make us happy to be Thy children,
and the Christmas evening bring us
to our beds with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven,
for Jesus' sake. Amen.

This prayer written by Robert Louis Stevenson was enclosed in one of my Christmas cards, and I thought it was a perfect prayer to share this season.

Have a lovely Wednesday. Tomorrow it will be Christmas Eve, but I still have a date to share and some wonderful Blog Linkage for you to read.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and ALMOST FINISHED WITH HER SHOPPING Belinda