Welcome!

Have you been looking for ways to downsize your family's Christmas gift expectations to meet your holiday budget? Maybe you feel that your children are suffering from entitlement issues and you want them to focus more on the true meaning of Christmas. Some families are desperately looking to simplify in a down economy. In this quick-read book, Michele will introduce you to:

the single easiest way to cut back on your Christmas budget.
providing a meaningful holiday that children will actually remember .
ways to make the true meaning of Christmas more significant to your family.
reduce the focus on the commercialism of Christmas.
creative ideas for memorable gifts.
other people who are utilizing this in their own homes.
offer traditions that children will introduce to their own families as they grow older.
Traditions that will strengthen the bond between generations.

Michele

CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO IDEA #12

December 5, 2013 1:11 am | No Comments

We have all seen the motivational posters that display a photo, one main word in larger print with an explanation to motivate underneath the one word. I used this as a border for our family Christmas photo this year.

CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO IDEA # 11 – REMEMBER YOUR PET

December 4, 2013 5:18 am | No Comments

Pets can truly be part of the family so don’t leave them out of the Christmas card photo. Cards with these photos are truly keepers. This is my sister and her new white poodle she gave herself for Christmas and introduced to everyone through her Christmas card. Pets deserve the limelight too!

GIFTS TO USE IDEA #1

December 2, 2013 1:34 am | No Comments

I will be posting gifts to use for all ages. This is what I did one year for all of my grown families. I gave them a 72 hour emergency kit. I know that newlyweds and young families have so many different ways for the income to go. I thought I would bring them some peace of mind by giving them a 72 hour kit which gives them food for 3 days in a waterproof backpack and some other items that they would need in a disaster. I gave them lists to encourage them to not just stop with this

CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO IDEA #10

December 1, 2013 3:57 pm | No Comments

Those who choose to put pictures on Christmas cards will typically use the most professional photo they can find or will have one taken professionally specifically for the annual card. Why not do something different and give your family and friends a sneak peek into what your everyday life consists of? This is a photo of my parents several years ago. It is a treasure because my dad was usually sitting in his “Lazy Boy” when I came to visit. For many years that chair seemed empty each visit. Now my mom sits there and the grief is less and

CHRISTMAS BUDGET

November 30, 2013 4:27 pm | No Comments

It’s the day after Black Friday and a few days before Cyber Monday. Have you already blown your budget? Did you write your budget down on paper? This is the first year that I designed a budget tracker that I will use, record purchases and modify for next year. Once I see what I want to spend next year, I will divide that by 12 and put that into my family budget so that all through the year I am putting money away in a safe account for holiday purchases. It comes every year without fail so I am going

CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO IDEA #9

November 29, 2013 6:40 pm | No Comments

There are events during the year in which you may take professional photos and they make the best cards of all. This was my favorite picture of my family at my daughter’s wedding. I wanted to share this moment with my friends in a Christmas card so I just found a way to tie the two occasions together to put on the front of my Christmas card. This was one of my favorites!

CARVING OF THE THANKSGIVING TURKEY

November 27, 2013 4:50 am | No Comments

This is a fun tradition. I found a cute Turkey pattern and used different types of card stock to make the turkey colorful. I then glued the pieces together and attached with tacky glue to a brown paper bag with handles. I had a printable made which allows for each guest at Thanksgiving dinner to write what they are thankful for. (You could also start this on Nov 1st so each family member could write a blessing each day. Before you partake of the Thanksgiving feast, you can pass the bag around each person can chose a slip of paper

CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO IDEA #8 – USING LYRICS

November 27, 2013 4:31 am | No Comments

This photo portrays an old fashioned Christmas complete with a black and white childhood photo matched with lyrics from a familiar Christmas tune. This card was designed for my sister who is a widow and wanted to send out a personal but fun card to her family and friends. We designed this card using the SendOutCard system which can be found by CLICKING HERE. This site does all the printing, stuffing, stamping and mailing for just $1.04 per card and that includes postage. Try it today!

THANKSGIVING PLACE CARDS

November 26, 2013 5:01 am | No Comments

My kids loved the personal touch to our Thanksgiving table. I just made my own pattern. Which if you want to quickly email me at: info@threeperfectchristmasgifts.com before Thanksgiving, I would be happy to send my ‘rough draft’ to you. Anything you can add to your decor or meal can create a memory and a tradition that they will not forget.

CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO IDEA #7 – USE FAMILY HUMOR

November 25, 2013 6:21 pm | No Comments

This idea was never actually used because somehow it gave the impression that my son-in-law and daughter did not have a great marriage which is no where near close to the truth. You may want to take that into consideration. However, when designing this card they had a new dog and no children at that time. My son-in-law spent a great deal of time with his dog and so we created this idea to introduce their friends and family to their new puppy and to make it fun. Using family humor and including details that help others know more about