WOW! These are the greatest ideas:) If you're going for inexpensive, I love TennesseeKathy's idea of wildflower seeds in the envelope. I've seen where you can print these out for free all over the internet:) I also love Superiorgirls idea of cinnamon ornaments,and as matter of fact I made some last night!!! This is a recipe I used years ago,and the ornaments really last,they don't rot or mildew in the heat and humidity here. I will give the recipe. I made 48 2" hearts and 2 3" stars,only the stars kinda came out like starfish:). They will smell nice for years! And they dried out overnight. A little hint....use more cinnamon to sprinkle if it's too sticky,the cornstarch makes them too white, and really knead the dough til it cools.You have to use it within 30 minutes. Now,what I always make at Christmas time is soup in a jar. All year I collect baskets at yard sales,and if I'm lucky to find wide mouth mason jars, I buy those,too,but they're cheap enough:) And like someone else mentioned, I buy the bakery bags at the dollar store,you get 8 bags for $1. I make something called I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas Soup mix I found on the internet,and make the rice bags like Sunshine mentioned:) Those are so great! I make a square one with 4 compartments,and I make a long rectangular one with 4 compartments. I use mine all the time! I found these on the internet for a get-well package. You could use leftover turkey at holiday time to make the soup,but I always add a can of chicken so all the ingredients are there. Recipe for this in the link. I print out the recipe on nice paper,and attach with raffia. Cut out a nice circle of fabric if you want for the jar lid. If I make the rice buddy, I use the same fabric for the jar. NON-EDIBLE!!! Cinnamon Applsesauce Ornaments 3/4 cup applesauce 1 packet unflavored gelatin 1 jar cinnamon(1.9oz) I buy the cinnamon at the dollar store at 2/$1 and its over 2oz in a jar,so I use half a jar,then use more to sprinkle on when I roll them out. 1/4 cup cornstarch 3 tablespoons ground cloves Combine applesauce and gelatin in small saucepan and let stand for 3 minutes. heat over medium heat constantly stirring just til simmering. combine cinnamon,cornstarch and cloves in separate bowl. Stir in applesauce mixture. Turn onto counter and knead a f ew turns. Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. use within 30 minutes. Roll dough between sheets of plastic wrap to a scant 1/4" thickness. Cut ornaments using 2 inch cookie cutters. Use a straw to cut holes for hanging. dry on wire rack overnight. Reroll scraps and repeat cutting. These are great! Also THESE ARE NON-EDIBLE!! and here's the link for the soup mix,everyone loves this soup! we add fresh celery and carrots,and everyone starts asking before Christmas if we're making it again! Crispix Puppy Chow 12 oz. box Crispix cereal 1/2 cup butter 1 cup peanut butter 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar In medium microwave-safe bowl, combine butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips and microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once during cooking, until mixture is melted and smooth. Place the cereal in another large bowl and pour the melted mixture over the cereal. Stir until the cereal is thoroughly coated. Pour the powdered sugar into a large plastic food bag. Pour the coated cereal into the powdered sugar and shake until it is well covered with the sugar. Pour the cereal onto wax paper to cool and dry. Store in tightly covered containers at room temperature This recipe is fast and easy and everyone loves it. I add a little more roasted peanuts. Put them in a nice little bakery bag and it's a great gift! Something else I make is a milk bath sachet. I found where to print up beautiful envelopes and I bought a stack of vellum paper at a yard sale to print them on for a dime:) I'll probably never use all the paper I bought! I make soap to go with it and a candle. Here is the link! http://www.allfreecrafts.com/homemade-gifts/oatmeal-milk-bath.shtml Hope everyone finds these recipes and ideas helpful! Here is a link that might be useful: Christmas Soup in a jar

Hi Beth and everyone, Beth...thank you for your wishes. I too thought having my first-born go off to college 4+ hrs away was difficult but you are right...small potatoes compared to the long distance he has chosen to follow his career path. It is most important that he is happy wherever he may be. I have never seen the book but I am sure to be looking for it now. It sounds wonderful! Mickey is a most unusual blend. His mother was Chinese Sharpei and father Golden Retriever. Hard to believe, huh? He does have the wrinkly trait underneath all that fur and was the only black puppy in the litter so my daughter chose him! Julie...my daughter arrived home for Thanksgiving break tonight and she wants me to pass along her thank-you for thinking of her as well! She loves the angel and will be taking it with her when she goes back. :) To everyone...have a most wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!!! Blessings, Dee

Patricia- your story made my day! Sounds like something my father would do. I would love to wait on paint, but DH is insisting we do it before the new floor is in, which is happening well before the furniture is moved. *sigh* I guess he will learn about that part of decorating if we have to repaint because our color pick looks horrible with our furniture. anele- I was thinking about a creamy color I suppose, though I am so tired of living in a vanilla rental box. The biggest problem I'm running into with the couch is that many tones (even some non-neutrals) are making the couch appear yellow. So I'm still playing around with it. The other issue is that whatever color we pick for the living room will need to go down the hall (see my flooring x-post in this forum for a few pics) since there isn't a good place to transition the color. I will probably make yet another thread about paint after I take some good pictures tomorrow. holly-kay: I think I'm going to sneak the cow in and put her in the office with some fun, bright curtains! I think DH will let me get away with a little more in there :)

Zayda's store-bought bed got stinky really fast. It was like a large beanbag but had a soft cover and foam shredded filling (She's not a chewer). No matter how much I washed the zippered cover, I couldn't get that smell out and decided it was from the bed's filling. Also, stains from her body oil or chewing her dog bonys while she was laying on her bed, were no longer coming out of the cover. Threw the whole works out (I'm not one of those that would sell a stinky dog bed on Craigs. *smile* ) and started from scratch. Bought my Sunbrella 'seconds' fabric off Ebay for $4.96 a yard/$5 shipping. Bought twin-size egg crate, barely used, off Craigs. Went to see it first...no smell at all and it was advertised as "used twice, almost new". But just in case (one never knows when it comes to Craigs) I put the egg crate on our patio table, poured a half a cup of sanitizing soap on the crate, sprayed lightly with the hose. Used a push broom to scrub and make a good amount of suds. Rinsed, did a good ring-out of excess water, let dry hanging over the fence. Cut the crate in half and stacked them on top of each other. Measured. Sewed up three sides of Sunbrella and added Velcro to the fourth side. Slid both pieces of egg crate into the 'pillowcase' of Sunbrella. I put the crate sides together so that Zayda didn't lay on lumps. :) Under $20 and I got a great bed that Zayda loves. It's the color I wanted for the room where we keep her bed (Terracotta!) and the Sunbrella doesn't seem to soak up any of Zayda's wet doggy scent when she insists on going outside and playing in the rain. The most I've done in the past year and a half is open the Velcro, pull out the crates, washed them the same way and washed the Sunbrella along side of the crates...dried them all on the fence. I did this more for myself, not because the doggy bed smelled...I just wanted everything in the room freshened when Spring came last year. I'm thinking of making a second one soon to keep in daughter's room but this time I'll make the pillow case a little more formal with boxed sides. For my money, this is the best doggy bed we've ever used, with all the dogs we've had over the years.... I swear by the Sunbrella fabric for Doggy beds.