Enjoying The Holidays

• Give the gift of family memories. Digitize old family slides and prints and create a photo book. Or simply put treasured family photos on a disc and enclose with a picture frame so the recipient can choose their favourite to frame. Transfer family movies from film and VHS to a CD. Have fun making your own CD cover. Or, pick a favourite family movie and edit it online to include title, credits and background music. Transfer it to a CD with a custom-made cover.
• Make holiday baking easier. Bake in stages when possible. Do the prep work one day and bake another day. For example, when making cookies, make a few batches of dough at once and freeze them for baking and decorating later. Tape a sticky note with the baking instructions and oven temperature to the wrapped dough to save rummaging through recipe files later. Organize a cookie exchange with a few friends to add variety to your cookie platters.
• Add holiday flair to simple cooking. Make ordinary dinner biscuits, cheese pieces for cheese trays and pastry cut-outs for pies festive by using cookie cutters to create holiday shapes.
• Shop online. If you have family in distant places, online shopping is a convenient timesaver. Most big box stores offer online shopping and shipping at reasonable rates. Many offer gift wrapping as well.
• Make a list and check it twice. You will save time and money by making a gift list – and sticking to it. Without a list you will waste time trudging through shopping malls, make impulse purchases and spend more money than you had intended. And, you will miss the satisfaction of crossing items off your to-do list!
• Enjoy holiday scents. If you are enjoying a fire on a cold, winter evening, toss in a few pine cones, evergreen boughs or cinnamon sticks to create seasonal scents.
• Give back. Consider making charitable donations as a gift to your loved ones. Donate a cow to a family in need, give the gift of education, schooling, clean water and more. UNICEF, World Vision, the Leprosy Mission and most other charitable organizations make it easy to give to charity in the name of someone on your gift list. Closer to home, take time out of your busy schedule to visit a shut-in, spend time with the elderly and include people who are on their own in your holiday get-togethers.
• Keep it simple. Remember the reason for the season and set aside some time for family during the busy season. It could be a day outdoors cutting your own tree, an afternoon of skating and hot chocolate down at Harbourfront or City Hall, attending a special holiday event or church service together, tickets to a holiday theatre or dance production or an evening of holiday music, or just a drive in the country.
• Sit back and enjoy. Give yourself a deadline and try and stick to it. When your deadline date arrives, stop shopping, baking and decorating and sit back and enjoy the season.

Courtesy: Homeservice Club