269 - 288 Fun Things to Do for the Holidays!
269 - Write love letters to your friends and families. You can write on special holiday paper, or decorate your own. This might be their favorite present of all!
270 – If you’re a kid, it’s always fun to get your photograph taken with Santa, but you could surprise someone with a picture of yourself with Santa as your grown-up self! Since my birthday is Christmas Eve, I have told my children since they were teen-agers that if they gave me a photo of them with Santa, that would be the best birthday present ever, so I have a wonderful collection of my kids with Santa from babyhood on way into their thirties. This year, I surprised myself by hopping onto Santa's knee and having a friend take a picture -- a wonderful birthday present to me!
271 – Give coupon books for chores you are willing to do or talents you are willing to share.
273 – Get a carload of people together and drive around and see the holiday lights. Some papers publish a list of the best lights, so you can plan a route in advance.
274 - Have a Christmas Caroling party and sing around your neighborhood. You can even have each person pick someone they would like to surprise, and carpool to various locations. Assisted Living places always welcome cheerful Carolers, and the happy responses can make anyone’s holiday season get brighter!
275 - Give the gift of an adventure! This could be hiking some trails, going to a local brewery, attending a program at an art museum, taking a class together – just think about what that person enjoys and do a little research about what is available in your area.
276 – Make your holiday cards. You can go all out, and make very expensive and fancy creations that will be amazing to send out, but you can also make lovely expressions of joy and peace with simple materials very effectively, too. Or even a combination of both!
277 – Keep your eye out for tickets to events and then check around to make sure your recipient would likely be available. Here’s the best part, you might be the one to accompany your friend or family member on this adventure! This doesn’t have to be a high dollar event either – I recently got tickets to one of the best concerts I have ever attended (Alex Bevan) for $10.00!
278 – Give a magazine subscription. If you are low on money, or need a last minute gift, this is perfect. You can gift wrap the current issue of the magazine, with a note that a subscription is coming. Then, after the first of the year, you can, send in that subscription card when you have some more funds.
279 – A gift certificate for a manicure and/or a pedicure is always a fun gift to give.
280 – A full body massage gift certificate is a really thoughtful and much appreciated gift. After the holidays, everybody needs a massage! For economy, you can get gift certificate at local massage schools.
281 – Create your own luminaries to line your front walk. Just use brown lunch bags, put in a little sand or kitty litter, and a candle. Or you can use plastic milk jugs, cut out the front part on the other side of the handle, put in the sand or kitty litter and you are ready to go. We have whole neighborhoods that do this, and it is fabulous!
282 – Bake cookies with children! If you don’t have any of your own, borrow some, or see if you can invite yourself over when the cookie baking action happens. What is more fun than watching a child decorate a cut-out cookie? Getting to eat it, after they joyfully offer you their magnificent creation!
283 – Make your own gift tags. These are easy and fun to make, with cardstock, stamps, markers – whatever supplies you might have around the house.
284 – Write in a journal during the holiday season. Even if you usually are not prone to writing in a journal, this is a great time to do some spontaneous writing, and capture your gift ideas, memories, and whatever else pops into your mind. Next year, this might be a wonderful reference for you.
285 – Write a holiday letter to your friends to let them know what has been happening during the past year. I love to get these letters for the updates, and fun of having more than just a card. Bless the holiday letter writers!
286 – Adopt a family that may not have a Christmas without you. You might even make it a family project.
287 – Pick a special charity and donate your time and/or money. Some charities get a lot of attention during the holidays, and there are others who need us, too.
288 - Eliminate a tradition! If you have been celebrating the holidays for many, many years, you may have developed so many traditions that every year they make your head spin! This might be the year to eliminate a complicated tradition and slow down the pace of your holidays! Or you might do it one more time, take lots of photographs, and put it to rest. You might even replace it with a more simple holiday activity that can be different each year.
289 – Take time during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season to have some quiet time, to relax, and enjoy what you believe the season to really be about. For me, outside of the obvious things that we all celebrate, it is a season of love and expressions of joy and caring. I love the decorations, carols, lights, and all the happy activities. Spending too much money, getting frazzled, feeling way too busy – those are things I am not too fond of during the holiday season. So I try to slow down whenever I can, and give a lot of thought to how I spend my time and money. I am always on the lookout for ways to make the holidays special that are a reflection “Happy Holidays” and not “Hectic Holidays”.
Please add your ideas by clicking on “comments” below. We can help each other have the best holiday season ever!
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