I wish you the happiest of holidays

 Well Christmas is almost here and it feels as though the time has flown by. I've been spending my time creating last-minute gifts and stocking up on the Christmas cookie dough for the freezer. Next week I will have a marathon of baking and decorating for all the Christmas tins. As usual, I think I want to make too many different recipes and I end up with more than I need. It is fun though.

This time of year I'm always reminded about how much more we do have in this part of the world and how lucky we are. My only real complaint about Christmas is that it proves that we consume way too much and produce way too much garbage. We are very lucky to have such problems.

This time last year I wrote about a couple charities that I donated to and I'm happy to tell you that I was able to make a second Kiva loan and help support another entrepreneur. I hope to keep rolling my loan paybacks into new loans to help more people. For this year I've decided to donate to Charity:Water and support projects that give the most basic necessity of life. I live in an area that has some of the cleanest and most readily available water in the world. Again, I know that I am lucky and I want to help make clean water a reality for others.

Next week I'm going to take a little break and spend it quietly with my family. I hope that you enjoy the rest of the  Christmas season  and I will be back before the year ends. Happy Holidays!

A creative way to give money as a gift for a child

Last weekend my youngest was invited to a birthday party. This was kind of special because it was the first party she was invited to without her big sister. As part of the information on the invite, we were asked NOT to buy the birthday girl a gift but rather give her a "twoonie" and another "twoonie" towards a charity of her choosing. What? No toy-of-the-minute to wrap? How do you give a twoonie as a gift?

I loved the idea of this birthday girl getting to pick out her own special toy with the money she would get from everyone. I especially loved the idea of this little girl looking forward to donating money to a charity special to her. It's a fantastic gift idea that goes a long way and is appreciated so much more than most gifts.

I still wanted her money gift to be special so we used it to make a little stick puppet. I folded a five dollar bill into an origami shirt and then I added paper accordion legs and arms. I printed off a small photo of my daughter and cut a long neck tab that I used to insert into the shirt collar. Finished off with paper hands and shoes, we secured the collaged body onto a chopstick. My daughter thought she looked hilarious as a bouncy legged puppet.

Now how is that for a fun and personable, inexpensive and meaningful gift?

Why giving is the best gift

I really love this time of year for several reasons and not all of them involve eating way too many treats. I love this time of year because it gives me the perfect excuse to indulge in my favorite things. I love to bake, so everyone gets cookies and candies that are too rich for the rest of the year. I love to create with my hands, so everyone gets some sort of craft I've been dying to try out. I love to take pictures of my kids, so everyone (family mostly)get calendars or photo ornaments of my girls. But what I think makes this holiday so appealing for people is the permission to spend money on gifts and show our affection to our loved ones. Unfortunately  I do think the "obligation gifts" that have no real meaning to the recipient or the giver has left many people with the sense that Christmas is just about keeping the economy going by buying next year's garbage. "It looked good on T.V." "Mommy, I want that!". "Maybe my aunt could use a SlapChop".

Last year I did a post about different ways in gift giving and I still think those are great ways to create some meaning for the season. This year I'm putting my money where my mouth is and giving to a couple of organizations that can help make a difference in someone  else's life. I truly believe that there's no better way to feel a sense of abundance than giving to others. I've chosen to buy a Literacy Package through World Vision and provide a small loan through Kiva which does micro-financing. Although I've given a small amount to each, I know that the amounts will have a greater impact within those countries in need.
And for any of you who are a bit skeptical about your money being used up mostly by administration costs of the charity, Will and Jada Smith claim 100% of your donation will be used to fund clean drinking water through Charity:Water. The gift of clean drinking water would always be appreciated.

Are there any charities that you give to regularly during Christmas? Do you believe giving should be part of your entire year? Would love to hear your thoughts.