Christmas is coming and the goose is gettin' ....

nervous, I think.. because our pocket books haven't gotten any fatter.   Still, there are plenty of things we can do.  True, not whipping out that credit card and heading to the big stores isn't going to help Big Business and the Economy.

But we can still have a nice holiday without spending money we don't have, or money we need for other things.


1)  Buy less new stuff, but shop locally (and among small businesses over chains).   When you shop locally, the taxes paid go into your local economy - and you are supporting small businesses around you.

Many places have a local shopping day after Thanksgiving - even if you think you can't do all your holiday shopping locally and want to take advantage of discounts and coupons the chain stores will be offering, set aside a day and a dollar amount or percent to commit to your local shops - and have fun shopping locally!

2) Shop early (it's not too late - start now!) and take advantage of coupons and discounts.  I have some in here.. you just need to do a tag search for coupons -- you can get 15% off on bookplates until Dec 10th with one!   

3) Something old, something new -- along with that low budget but nice new gift from a local merchant, how about a quality "used" item?

  Goodwill and other second hand stores make good places to shop.  Why not?  Make sure used puzzles have all the pieces, but Goodwill has things that aren't used, too.   Be a second hand store yourself - what do you have that you can re-gift?   I have a cam corder I never use and a second camera, too - both are going to be re-gifted to family members, along with new gifts.

4) Make what you can.  It is true, home made gifts are appreciated.  What?  You aren't a creative type?  Hey, there are all kinds of gifts you can make that require little creativity or even effort.  How about a framed photo of a picture you took?  An inexpensive mug with a dry cocoa mix for hot chocolate and a peppermint stick candy stirrer?  The library has lots of magazines with ideas - the internet is filled - do a search...

Here's a place to start...

http://www.craftbits.com/misc-crafts

Packaging isn't really boring...

When I started out, the bookplates came in a hard plastic wrap - it's how we at Antioch Publishing always packaged our bookplates.  Hard clear plastic that you could see through to examine the bookplates. It kept them from being damaged or getting dirty as they hung on displays in stores.

Of course, they weren't environmentally correct.  I'm surprised we weren't ahead of the crowd on eco-packaging given the founder, Ernest Morgan's, beliefs but he was long gone.  Not ..gone.. just retired.  In any case, last year I got rid of the plastic packaging and replaced it with  my own version.  Plain brown paper, twine, a label I designed on the back and a bookplate on the front.

So far no complaints and in fact some compliments from you all.  The downside is time as the bookplates are wrapped by hand, the old fashioned way.   Nope, I don't have the luxury of employing someone to package so these are done by hand with each order by yours truly.  I try to do it with patience and tenderness - but it does take a long time.

Hope you all like the look.    (and by the way, if you dig around in here, you'll find the 15% off coupon good til December 10th)....