On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

For the next remaining 10 days I will be posting a Christmas carol, a Christmas tip to overcome stress of the next two weeks, and a cheap or free spur of the moment gift.

The Carol:

 "Blue Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. Its tale of unrequited love during the holidays and is a longstanding staple of Christmas music, especially in the country genre. Did you know that the version Elvis recorded is actually missing a verse? The song was first recorded by Doye O'Dell in 1948, and was popularized the following year in three separate recordings: one by country artist Ernest Tubb, which is the version that Elvis then re-recorded.

The Tip:

If there is time, schedule a day or part of a day to do something un-materialistic. For instance, volunteering at a shelter or soup kitchen, or help your children go through their toy box to make room for gifts they will receive this year and then donate those old, unloved toys. Call your local fire department or police department who hand out stuffed animals to children they come in contact on their rescue calls, I'm sure they'd appreciate those 'friends' your child no longer plays with. Battered women's shelters would be another great place to call and see if they need a toy donation.

I understand this tip doesn't help on saving any time on your own schedule, and maybe it's not in the cards for you to do this year. But if you're starting to feel the holiday time blues, knowing that you helped someone out who is in a tougher spot than yourself can boost those feel good feelings. And who doesn't need a boost from time to time?

The Gift:

Photo courtesy of Homemade Gifts Made Easy

What better way to boost your feel good feelings then by adding good scents around the house? And what better gift to give others than the same feel good booster? Again, I have a do it yourself gift courtesy of Homemade Gifts Made Easy, I'm beginning to love this site and have a feeling that 99% of the gifts I give next year will be those you see posted here.

When I first saw this, I almost passed on it because I thought, oh this would be to difficult but the directions look to be the easiest one so far. You can find the directions 'here' and have a look around the site as well. I will say the remaining gifts I link in this series will come from this site, but I'll barely scratch the surface on all the ideas available.

Until tomorrow, Merry Christmas!