Its Christmas Time Articles in September, 2010

Archive for September, 2010

Latest Christmas Decorations Auctions

Thursday, September 30th, 2010 at 7:41 am

Hey, check out these auctions:
Two Vintage poinsetta clip on Christmas ornaments/ decorations

US $4.99 (0 Bid)
End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 8:05:12 PST
Buy It Now for only: US $8.99
Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Cool, arent they?

Technorati Tags: Auctions, christmas, Decorations, Latest

Is it okay to travel from madison to schaumburg tomorrow around 9? (considering the weather…)?

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 at 4:59 am

Comments (2)

madison area has a winter storm warning until 6 tomorrow morning, and my mom was planning on taking me and three of my friends to woodfield for a christmas shopping trip we've been planning on for FOREVER around 9. If we arrive on the highway around 9:30, will it be too dangerous to make the trip? the freezing rain was supposed to stop around at 9 a.m., but would the interstate still be absolutely horrible?

Not a good idea.
I would wait until tomorrow noon at least, check the weather - traffic reports on AM780, to see if roads are clear and salted.
The mall is open until 10 pm I think.

When would be a good time to start mailing Christmas Cards?

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 at 4:59 am

Comments (4)

I want to mail some friends christmas cards and want them to get to their houses close to christmas (21st, 22nd, 23rd, even earlier if it need be)

when would be a good idea good idea to start mailing?

even Mr. T has FOOOs to send letters to!
thanks to everyone in advanced .

you need to start probably around the 15th so thatyou give thee cards plenty of time to get to their destinations, not to early not to late

Hope i helped

goodwill charity christmas card catalogue?

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 at 4:59 am

Comments (1)

Sorry, I only could find this:

Charities That offer holiday Cards

http://www.cardsthatgive.org/index.html

http://www.cardsthatgive.org/charities.html

http://www.cardsthatgive.org/gallery.html

Christmas Shopping on a Budget

Monday, September 27th, 2010 at 10:27 am

Leave your comment

Image via Wikipedia

Though the general public enjoy the tradition of giving at Yuletide time, it's also a fact that Xmas shopping could be a serious finance burden for most.

This is particularly true for people that have a massive family or a giant circle of buddies who frequently exchange Christmas gifts. Xmas shopping can also be a monetary problem for those that feel forced to buy pricey gifts for everybody on their list.

But there are strategies to address the money burden which frequently results from Yuletide shopping. One of the techniques to address this money problem is to set a budget previously. An alternate way to cope with the money stress of Xmas shopping is to buy across the year instead of all at the same time. This text will debate the significance of setting a budget for Yuletide shopping as well as how Xmas shopping can become less financially taxing by spreading out the Xmas shopping across the year. People who have issues over the sum of money they'll be spending on their Xmas shopping should think about setting a budget for their Xmas shopping before they start their shopping endeavour.

So as to kick off the process of setting a budget for Xmas shopping, it is really important to first create a listing of all of the folk you mean to buy Xmas presents for this vacation season. This list ought to include all the close acquaintances and family members you sometimes purchase gifts for as well as any work mates or workers you usually purchase gifts for, your mail carrier or your children's teachers. You can also want to budget for gifts given to toy drives organised by charitable associations if you usually contribute during these events. When you've your list of present receivers there are a number of ways to go about creating a budget. Maybe the best way is to choose how much you intend to spend on Xmas shopping and divide this amount by the quantity of present receivers on your list.

This will end up in a budget in which you intend to spend the same amount of cash on Yuletide gifts for each person on your Yuletide list. This kind of budget system might be appropriate if you're planning on buying similar gifts for everybody on your Xmas list but it might not work out well if you would like to purchase something truly special for a couple of your nearest buddies or kin. Another strategy for building a Xmas shopping budget is to establish what amount of money you wish to spend and then divide the individuals into different classes. Some of the classes you might like to include are best friends and relations, colleagues, friends and gifts which are bought for folks you don't know. After you have all the members of your list specified you can decide the share of your total budget you'd like to spend on each class.

For example you could come to a decision to spend half of your total budget on close pals and relations, 25 percent of your total budget on colleagues, 15% of your total budget on buddies and the leftover ten percent on Xmas gifts for charity drives. Then you may use these numbers to pinpoint the total quantity of cash you may spend on each class and divide that number by the total of folks in each class to work out a dollar value for every person on your Yuletide list. A final method for creating a budget for your Yuletide shopping is to begin by determining how much you intend to spend on some of the most vital folks on your present receiver list. This will very probably include your nearest relations. When you set buck amounts for your closest family, it is time to split up the leftover amount in your Xmas shopping budget. This may either be done randomly by dividing the leftover amount in your budget by the amount of people left on your list or you can continue to go thru your list choosing an amount for everybody till you realize your budget. At this time if there are still folk remaining on your list you'll have to either reevaluate the dollar amounts you have just selected or consider junking some individuals from your list.

Technorati Tags: Christmas Shopping

Shopping with my Brother to find Christmas Gifts for the Men in my Life

Friday, September 24th, 2010 at 5:40 am

Comments (1)

Image via Wikipedia

Family traditions are an important part of who we are. If we have had positive experiences in our families we tend to want to re-create these experiences with our children. If we have had poor experiences we want to establish something else. Usually most of these traditions are associated with holidays. For those people that have had great holidays with their families it is hard for them to understand why holidays can be painful times for others that have not. So much emphasis is put on holiday cheer and good tidings that it is a difficult time of the year for people that are depressed or that do not have families to share the holidays with.
I grew up with great holiday memories; my husband did not. His father was an alcoholic that often drank too much during the family gatherings. He was a mean drunk so my husband’s memories of Christmas’ growing up include fights between his parents and embarrassment over his father’s behavior. All of this came out during the first few years that we were married. I wanted to help my husband develop joyful memories of holidays. I wanted to do this not only with gifts but also through the decorations we did and the foods we made. Christmas gifts for men are always more difficult for me to come up with than for women. With women there are so many accessories that can be purchased that men do not seem to use. I decided that I would call my brother and ask him to go shopping with me so I could have his help in picking out Christmas gifts for men. He has similar interests to my husband and they are the same age.

It was a great day to go shopping. The snow was falling in big lazy flakes and the temperature was not too cold. My brother and I each took half a day off of work so we met for lunch to plan our shopping trip. As we were talking I realized that he had some great ideas for Christmas gifts for men. He said that unlike women, men like getting practical and useful things as gifts. I told him that I wanted to get some stocking stuffers for the stocking I had hung up for my husband by our fireplace. Filled stockings were a favorite part of Christmas giving in our family, but my husband never experienced this. My brother suggested giving gas cards, certificates from the coffee house, and tokens from the newsstand. I had not though of these as Christmas gifts for men, but he said it was great to not have to use cash for these things; they were real treats for him. I enjoyed my day with my brother and I am sure my husband will love the gifts I bought him.

Technorati Tags: christmas gifts for men, christmas gifts ideas

Scream Masks LED Lights; Halloween Lights; Christmas Lights; Christmas decoration yard lights

Monday, September 20th, 2010 at 7:42 am

Comments (1)

Inspired by famous Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's painting the Scream, this scream masks similar features such as twisted faces, eyes, noses and mouths, creating a depressing and intense atmosphere. What's even better is that it has not only one scream face, but two.
18X16, Creative LED Rope Light decor art. Cool to touch when lit, flexible, and easy installation. UL listed for outdoor and indoor use
Average rated lamp life of LED used in the rope lighting is 100,000 hours, Unique and eye-catching product, Premium UV Protected Rope Light
Commercial Grade PVC LED Rope Light is secured to anti-rusting white steel frames. The set is designed for low maintenance operation; LED lamp life is approximately 30 times longer than bulbs used in regular rope light set
The end users will realize the benefits of a product that has an extremely low failure rate, saving a significant amount in operating expenses over the lifespan of the product

Product Description
ORANGE TREE TRADE; the Largest Collection of LED Rope Lights in USA; Commercial Grade LED Rope Light. 18X16, Exclusive LED Lights creates a beautiful glow effect when hang outside your house. With bright LEDs, it glows romantically, emitting special and rich light. It is a good combination to show in the snowing Christmas season, making great attractive look in day or night. It is made of PVC clear rope, long-lasting LEDs that consume much less electricity than regu... More >>

Scream Masks LED Lights; Halloween Lights; Christmas Lights; Christmas decoration yard lights

Technorati Tags: christmas, Decoration, Halloween, lights, Masks, Scream, yard

Christmas Gift for all Ages

Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 12:20 pm

Leave your comment

Image via Wikipedia

Christmas is the season of love and giving. Often than not, it is always associated with gifts under the tree and candies inside the stockings. This is the season for the kids. Most kids are very anxious when the calendar hits the month of December. Is it just the kids? I should say everybody is excited about Christmas.

When the month of December comes, most stores and shops will start decorating their establishments with Christmas colors, green, red, and gold. Shopping is inevitable during this season. Make down prices and “sale” is everywhere. Do you have any Christmas gift ideas as early as now? Here I will give you some ideas what gifts to give during the Christmas season.

It would be special to give a gift which is specifically thought and bought for a particular person. For example, a PSP for your boy would be so special for him or an expensive make up set for your wife would give you a kiss because those gifts are bought specially for a specific one.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you are going to buy one gift which everyone would enjoy? This gift is for all ages.

The Gift

Yuletide season is the best time to take a long vacation with the family. Children are off school and parents have holiday away from work. Why not use this time to bond with the entire family or visit relatives in other regions? Surprise your family with an out of the country trip during the season. Your kids would surely love seeing new scenery, meeting new people and spending time with the rest of the family. This is especially very exciting for those who haven’t travelled abroad. It would be a lifelong memory of experiences for kids and other family members if you will treat them out as your holiday gift.

This out of the country trip as Christmas gifts will not only be enjoyed buy the kids but with the grown ups as well. It’s recommended to go to warmer or tropical countries where even if it is Christmas time, the beaches are still warm to dip in.

There are a lot of travel agencies offering travel packages for a specific number of people. So why not start browsing for travel packages that would fit your budget? It would surely make the season very special by giving them a special gift they will surely remember.

Technorati Tags: gifts fort everyone

Latest Christmas Decorations Auctions

Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 7:39 am

Leave your comment

Hey, check out these auctions:
Two Vintage poinsetta clip on Christmas ornaments/ decorations

US $4.99 (0 Bid)
End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 8:05:12 PST
Buy It Now for only: US $8.99
Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Cool, arent they?

Technorati Tags: Auctions, christmas, Decorations, Latest

Create A Christmas Card With PowerPoint

Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 6:41 am

Leave your comment

Christmas is here and there is cheerful atmosphere everywhere. Some of you may have been setting about cards of Christmas greetings for friends and family afar. Fed up with commercial Christmas paper and flash cards flooded over the Internet and in traditional stores? Look for a refreshing alternative to the stale Xmas card routine? You can try to DIY a multimedia greeting card with MS PowerPoint. The sturdy authoring tool can not only help you create compelling presentations, but inspire you to make a special Christmas card that will surprise your recipient.

As to creation of a Christmas multimedia card, PowerPoint enables you to personalize its colors and design, include your own music and videos and photos of your family or friend, compose a matching message for the recipient, and get fun in showing your computer genius.

Another advantage of PowerPoint Christmas card is that you can reuse your work by saving it as a template. The Christmas card template you’ve created can be used a million of times to base up new holiday cards.

In this article, I will show you an example of the procedure of Christmas card slideshow using PowerPoint 2003 and 2010. Later, you can take it as reference to your own Christmas card production.

How to create a Christmas card with PowerPoint?

Seven simple steps will guarantee you a Christmas card slideshow and template.

Step 1: Set up slide layout of your Christmas card

a. Create a new PowerPoint presentation for the Christmas card and rename it as you wish. On the File menu, click Page Setup to adjust the page size. Change the Width and Height to 7.5, and click OK. b. On the Format menu, click Slide Layout, and choose the Blank layout from the Content Layouts list. c. On the Slide Show menu, click Slide Transition. In the Slide Transition pane, click a transition. In the Advance slide section, click the Automatically after box. Change the delay time to 00:03, and close the Slide Transition pane.

Note: In PowerPoint 2010, click the Design ribbon to reach the Page Setup option. Under Home, click the dropdown list icon (the black del) of New Slide to choose the slide layout as Blank. Go directly to the Transition ribbon to choose a transition for your Christmas card. In the Timing grid, check the box before Automatically after. Adjust the time to 00:03:00.

Step 2: Create the Christmas card cover with clip art or related background picture

On the Insert menu, point to Picture, and click Clip Art. In the Clip Art task pane, in the Search text box, type a subject like: Christmas.

Click Search. Double-click any Christmas image. The image appears on the blank slide. If you fail to find a right clip art image, you can import another picture from your local drive. On the Format menu, click Picture. In the Format Picture dialog box, select the Size tab, change Height to 5, and click OK. Drag the image to center the tree on the slide.

Note: In PowerPoint 2010, shift to the Insert ribbon, in the Images tab, click Clip Art or Picture to repeat the above procedures.

Step 3: Insert a new slide for the Christmas card

On the Insert menu, click New Slide. On the Format menu, click Slide Layout, and choose the Blank layout from the Content Layouts list.

On the Slide Show menu, point to Slide Transition. In the Slide Transition pane, click a transition.

Note: In PowerPoint 2010, go to Home -> Slides -> New Slide to add another blank theme. Repeat the Transition settings in Step 1.

Step 4: Add in a movie/video to enhance your Christmas card

Click Insert -> Movies and Sounds -> Movie from File to input a video from your local computer. The movie appears on the blank slide.

On the Format menu, click Picture. In the Format Picture dialog box, select the Size tab, change Height to 2.5, and click OK. Position the movie on the slide.

Note: In PowerPoint 2010, select Insert -> Media -> Video -> Video from File to choose a video that you want to use for the Christmas card. If you use a 2007 version, click here to see How to insert a video into PowerPoint 2007?

Step 5: Type in your text message for the Christmas card

On the Insert menu, click Text Box. Click and drag the text box to below the movie. In the text box, type your Christmas greeting, for example: Merry Christmas to Bill Clinton! Drag the text box by the resize handles to resize the greeting. Center and format the text.

Repeat the Insert procedure above to draw a sub text box below the first. This time, type some individual messages like: Wish you a warm and joy filled Christmas and a promising New Year! Drag the text box to resize the message. Format the text.

Note: In PowerPoint 2010, follow Insert -> Text -> Text Box to draw a Horizontal or Vertical text box where you can enter your Christmas greetings for the recipient.

Step 6: Add in Mood Music for your Christmas card

Go to Insert -> Insert Movies and Sounds -> Sound from File to select a song or sound track for the Christmas card. Select to play the sound automatically across the greeting card. The sound icon, a speaker, appears on the slide. Adjust the sound icon to minimum.

Note: In PowerPoint 2010, it goes this way: click Insert -> Media -> Audio -> Audio from File.

Step 7: Save the Christmas card as a template for reuse

On the File menu, click Save As. On the Save as type drop-down list at the bottom of the Save As dialog box, select Design Template (*.pot).

Note: In PowerPoint 2010, select File -> Save As and save it as PowerPoint Template (*.potx).

Step 8: Send the Christmas multimedia card to your family or friend

Now a peppy PowerPoint Christmas card is done, you can zip it and email to friends and family.

Note: If the recipient of the Christmas card has an older version of PowerPoint, some of the card’s features, such as animation, will be lost. Also, if he/she uses a different OS like Mac, or even does not have PowerPoint installed, he/she will not be able to view the Christmas card.

To avoid that problem and make a smoother distribution of your Christmas card, you can convert it from PowerPoint to video using conversion apps like Moyea PPT to Video Converter. Then, you can get web-friendly video Christmas card in a few minutes. Upload it to YouTube, Facebook, and send the embed code to your family and friend in distance.

Paula Cheung, technical writer and blogger for PowerPoint E-learning Center, dvd-ppt-slideshow.com

Technorati Tags: card, christmas, Create, PowerPoint