Funny Christmas cards

I bought these Christmas cards.

They are hilarious.

You’re welcome.

Paper Source: Happy F*ing Holidays 4bar Letterpress Holiday Cards

Egg Press letterpress Christmas cards

Sometime in the past few days I became obsessed with getting letterpress cards for Christmas. Problem is, they are a little pricey. One of the companies that stood out in my web travels was Egg Press, based in Portland, Oregon.

Their designs all seem to be simple, sweet and often whimsical. Check out this cute little monkey, candy, holly and the “sweetest holiday wishes” greeting. Just perfect.

Welcome, Fall

It’s that time of year again, when the air turns cooler and you can often find the first of this year’s Christmas merchandise near the Halloween candy, something people get quite up in arms about! (As always, I say vote with your dollars, and either don’t buy the stuff or don’t shop in that store if it offends you.)

Nonetheless, there are a few things that are maybe worth thinking about early.

• First, if you need to travel over the holidays, you can start looking into flights and hotels (if necessary).
• If you’re like me and have several impossible-to-buy-for people on your gift list, put time on your side, and start jotting down ideas early.
• Order anything custom or personalized early, then you won’t be stressed out as late December draws near.
• Take the tedium out of writing Christmas cards and start early.

Crystal Christmas Tree Earrings

Around Christmas I was out shopping and saw a pair of tree earrings made of crystals just like these and immediately fell in love: they are festive but not gaudy. They were a little more than I wanted to spend on a Christmas bauble, though. I figured I’d look for them after the holiday on sale and could put them away for next year. (There’s always next year!)

Etsy to the rescue. I found several users selling earrings like these and many of them marked down. This particular pair of earrings from NewLifeDesigns were the most like what I envisioned, so I ordered them. They arrived just as I was packing away my decorations, so I placed them in one of the boxes (hopefully I’ll be surprised later). The earrings are lovely in person, and I had a great experience with the seller as well.

Homemade holiday gifts on LA Times

Here are some lovely ideas from the Los Angeles Times: 50 ways to make your holiday gifts homemade.

Not only are homemade gifts less expensive, they also capture the spirit of holiday giving in a way that purchased gifts simply can’t. And if you consider the ubiquitous traffic and holiday crowds, a leisurely morning spent baking breadsticks or whipping up a batch of homemade marshmallows seems positively Zen-like by comparison.

All of the gifts are food-related, from cookies to a winter soup starter. I love the idea of food as gifts, especially sweets.