Supplies Needed for 6 Gift bags:

• Cute paper gift bags (I bought the Snowman bags above for .25 each at Kroger)
• Small plastic bags for your goodies
• Cute ribbon for the bag ties
• 1 pack of Christmas Oreos (Each pack contains 30 cookies which equals 5 cookies per child)
• 6 candy cane shaped containers filled with Christmas M & Ms (I think they were about a $1 each)
• 2 packs of Fruit Roll Ups (Each pack contain 10 roll ups which equals 3 per child with 2 left over)
• 2 packages of assorted colored Goldfish
• 1 pack of Candy Canes (Pack contains 18 canes which equals 3 per child)
• 1 pack of Christmas sugar cookies shaped like Christmas Trees from the bakery at Kroger (Pack contains 12 cookies which equals 2 cookies per child)

All you have to do is divide everything up and put the cookies, Goldfish and Oreos into the small plastic bags and tie with a ribbon to secure.  I finished this little project in under an hour.

My husband is wonderful and I have mentioned before that he makes mixed CDs (not actually mixed tapes) for me for holidays and random occasions. I love these CDs so much.  Isn’t a mixed CD such a thoughful gift?  I decided to share this mixed CD because I think that you can tell a lot about a person by the music they enjoy.

This is a list of songs from the CD he made for me for Christmas 2009.

Christmas 2009 Mix

Side Note:  Ben said, “I hope you don’t mind that I bookended this CD with the Beach Boys.”  I never mind that.

1. Beach Boys- “Surfer Girl”
2. The Hold Steady- “Multitude of Casualties”
3. Julian Casablancas- “Out of the Blue”
4. Gaslight Anthem- “High Lonesome”
5. Still Stanley- “Semi-Sublime” (This is a band from Jackson, MS)
6. Drive-By Truckers- “Self Destructive Zones”
7. Ben Kweller- “Wasted and Ready”
8. Pains of Being Pure at Heart- “Come Saturday”
9. The Ramones- “My Brain is Hangin Upside Down” (Live) (Ben is always trying to get me to love The Ramones, which I don’t hate.)
10. Son Volt- “Tear Stained Eye”
11. Belle and Sebastian- “Like Dylan in the Movies”
12. Yeasayer- “Tightrope”
13. Jay Reatard- “Nightmares” (RIP Jay, Ben was so sad that he died.)
14. Japandroids- “The Boys are Leaving Town”
15. Uncle Tupelo- “Sin City” (Flying Burrito Bros Cover) (I love this song a lot.)
16. Pine Hill Haints- “You Will Never See Morning”
17. Vampire Weekend- “Horchata” (This is from their new CD, Contra, which was not out at the time he made this CD.)
18. Benji Hughes- “I Went With Some Friends to See The Flaming Lips”
19. Beach Boys- “You’re So Good to Me”

1.  Gift tags from scrap paper

These tags were super easy.

I made the blue ones from the inside of those envelopes that come with bills, I used a rubber stamp on the green one and both the green patterned one and the red pattered one I made from scraps of Martha Stewart craft paper from Wal-Mart.  The lace looking tag was made using a Martha Stewart lace punch.

2.  Ugly Christmas Ornaments

I really wanted these to be cute but ...

I made these at Dandy Doodles, which is one of those paint your own pottery places.  The heart ornament is our “first Christmas as a married couple” ornament.  June tried to eat hers.

3.  Fun Wrapping Paper

I enjoy wrapping presents.  I use too much tape sometimes.  I reuse ribbons and bows if they are pretty.

Engineering Plans (old plans from our recycle bin at work)

Maps I found at Dirt Cheap and leftover ribbon from my wedding

4.  Christmas Cookies

My niece Cadence loved these!

5. Ben’s Journal

I love having a journal so I thought Ben might like one too.

Sorry this looks yellow.

I added a 2010 calendar.

Don't judge me.

You and Me by Rosie Music on Etsy

This is my favorite present from my husband this year.

1.  Re-claimed Sterling Silver Earrings by Figs and Ginger

Made from re-claimed sterling silver

2. Zak Designs Mixing Bowls

Made from 100 recycled materials

3.  Eggling

Just crack the egg and add water

4.  Large Recycled Paper Mat

Made by the Woman's Multipurpose Coop. in the Philippines which is a fair trade organization that helps artisans support there families by selling homemade goods for a fair wage.

5.  Zhena’s Gypsy Stackable Tea Variety Pack

Certified Fair Trade and Organic

6.  Rock Star Detox Body Scrub

Made from all natural ingredients

7.  Baggu (I gave these to my bridesmaids as part of their bridesmaid’s gift!)

This cute reusable shopping bag folds up to fit in your purse but can hold up to 50 lbs.

8.  Upcycled Black Argyle Wool Stocking by mrow on Etsy

Upcycled from wool sweaters

9.  WaterGeeks Filtered Water Bottle

Stainless Steel and BPA Free (Image from WaterGeeks via Treehugger)

10.  Recycled Wool Fingerless Gloves from Mountain Girl Clothing on Etsy

Made from recycled wool sweaters

I try to be green when possible and I am always interested in any new way to make my home more energy efficient.  If you are like me, you probably know that LED lights are more green but do you know why?  LED (light-emitting diode) Christmas lights use up to 90% less energy than standard Christmas lights depending on bulb size, only emit a small amount of heat and can last up to 20 years.  Since they barely give off heat they are a lot safer to use on Christmas Trees and just in case you have little ones, LED lights are cool to the touch!