One ornament I did a couple years ago for co-workers and friends was a snowman from a pack of gum. I used the white pack and wrap it in freezer paper either one or two times to hide writing. Use pom-poms for the ear muffs (I used the sparkly ones with the matching color of pipe cleaner) and put a pipe cleaner from ear to ear. (under pom-poms) Put 2 dots for eyes, paint a carrot nose and about 5 dots for the mouth. Use a scrap piece of material for the scarf. Tie it around the pack and glue the ends in position. Everyone seemed to love them and they were simple. Hope these instructions are helpful if anyone trys it! Lana

Well, we're on a really tight budget this year, so he got me a necklace that I bought in the summer (which was also part of my anniversary present- it's a very nice necklace), and I got him a really cool chess set of the Greek gods and goddesses, which he picked out. I also promised to relearn how to play chess. Last year I got him a cast iron fire pit, which can be used either as a campfire or a grill. The way to his heart is through the stomach, so that worked well.

Happy Christmas Eve! Maddie outdid herself (and her card brought tears to my eyes!). There is a corn stalk angel, a corn cob santa, a hand-painted gold glass ornament, a box of candy, and a lapel pin that is a palm tree with a martini glass under it (where did she get THAT idea?). You can see the pin if you look really hard on the branch on the right side of the angel's head and bottom of candy box. Thank you, dear Maddie! I'll always remember the first photo we all saw of you, highlighted in candlelight at a Christmas Eve service. Ooops, just looked and the silver tree ornament on the right side is mine. Thought I got all mine out of the picture range. Special thanks to Suzanne for walking us through the picture process! Milkdud, I am so happy you liked the ornament. I found it the week you were struggling with your food choices and just could not resist! DH and I will be alone tonight. We'll have a quiet dinner and then light the luminaries to match all our neighbors around the lake. We usually try to walk around in the stillness and just take in all the light. Silent Night, Holy Night....

When my kids were young they would get to pick out one ornament of their choice each year. I would sometimes gift them with an ornament that reflected their interests at the time. When DD moved out she already had a good start for her own tree. DS doesn't have room in their place to put up a tree so we keep his for him. They still go on our tree each year. DD and a I were just talking about this very subject the other day. She and I have a habit of keeping all our ornies in the boxes they came in marked with the date of purchase etc. This year we've decided to get rid of some or most of the boxes. Like DD commented, it's only a keepsake because Hallmark said so on the box. LOL I plan to first get rid of the generic boxes. Not ready to toss the Hallmarks yet. DD,aother anal friend of hers and I are still discussing how we will keep track of the ornies without the boxes. DD suggested taking a pic of each one to be stored in an ornie case. LOL That's hundreds of pics in my case. We also like knowing that an ornie is missing when there is a leftover box. That way we know to look on the tree. How do the rest of you who have LOTS of ornaments store them? We have no basements here so they all have to stay in the attic crawl space above the garage.