Aren’t they charming? Wouldn’t they look just perfect on a teacher’s desk or a neighbor’s doorstep?  How about this one…

I bought a tub of those peppermint dipped pretzel sticks at Target so this little gift took me about 3 minutes to put together.  You can’t see it very well, but that top circle says “Minty Christmas to you”, the bottom circle says “from the Eckersley’s”.  Isn’t that sweet?

Want to hear the great news?  If you purchase these sets in my Etsy shop I’ll swap out my last name for yours and email the file directly to you. From there you can print it one time or one hundred times – it’s yours to use forever.  For under six bucks you get the look of a custom designed gift without all the custom-designed effort.  You gotta love that!

Of course it wouldn’t be Christmas here on MeckMom without a free printable or two.  So I’ve decided to offer four sets of these cool printables to my loyal readers.  Keep in mind, the free printables include some circles that say “from the Eckersley’s” but there are dozens more on the printable to work with so feel free to pitch the Eckersley dots.

There is one little catch.  I’m stepping into unfamiliar territory this time by asking you for something in return – a little shout-out to your friends on your favorite social network.  I know, I know.  It’s shameless self-promotion on my part, but increased visability really helps me gain readership…soooo, if it’ not too much trouble…here are the links to the free downloads.

Just click the ‘Pay with a Tweet or Facebook’ button of the printable you want to download.  If you’re already logged in to Facebook or Twitter, it should just take a click or two.  If not, you’ll be prompted to login first (it’s secure, I promise no one will spam you or your Wall).

*UPDATE:  I’m ditching the buttons for now and adding the standard file downloads (for those of you having trouble with the system).  Merry Christmas, everybody!

Merry “Kiss”mas Printable (Red/Aqua)

Download: Merry Kissmas Printable (Red/Aqua)

Merry “Kiss”mas (Red/Pink)

Download: Merry Kissmas Printable (Red/Pink)

Merry “Kiss”mas (Blue/Purple)

Download: Merry Kissmas Printable (Blue/Purple)

Minty Christmas Printable (Green/Blue)

Download: Minty Kissmas Printable (Green/Blue)

Thanks again for downloading and sharing my site with your friends and family.  I hope you have tons of fun with the printables!  Just thought I’d pass it on.

POST UPDATE: I just added some new Christmas printables today and thought they should be included in the roundup.  Here’s the link…

Merry Kissmas – Free Christmas Printables (2010)

An easy advent calendar (with free printable) (2006)

Christmas Game Plan (with lots of free printables) (2006)

Santa Sacks (still a personal favorite of mine ) (2006)

Quick and Easy Santa Letters (with free printable) (2008)

Wrapping tips that make life easier (2008)

Holiday How-To (a three-part series chock full of fabulous organizing tips) (2009)

To-die-for Cinnamon Roasted Pecans – still a family favorite (2009)

Pass-along plate tradition (with free printable) (2009)

More fun, free Christmas printables to come tomorrow so don’t forget to check back!  Just thought I’d pass it on.

They’re baked just like regular graham crackers but they’ve got a sweet hint of ginger which makes them taste and look more like the real thing.  In my book, they’re the perfect building tool for all the trains, houses, and x-wing fighters my kids love to make.  All I need is couple boxes of these babies, a few tubs of white icing and a stash of sticky candy and I’m good to go.  No mixing, baking, or sharing required.

Speaking of gingerbread houses, check out this cool collection I stumbled upon last night.

I never thought to use gum as siding – so clever.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

Ingredients

2 lbs. pecan halves (almonds are really good too, I usually do a mixture of the two)
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 egg whites (use 3 egg whites if your eggs are small)
2 tbs. water

Directions

In a small bowl blend the sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a large bowl whip the egg whites and water until it’s nice and fluffy.  It should look something like this…

Fold the pecans into the egg mixture.  Toss them gently until they’re evenly coated.

Slowly add in the sugar mixture.  Toss them with a rubber spatula until they’re evenly coated (it doesn’t have to be perfect, just relatively even).  It should look something like this…

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.  Lightly grease a large baking sheet and spread the pecans on the sheet.

Place the sheet in the middle rack of your oven.  Bake pecans for 15 minutes and then stir the pecans around with a spatula.  Repeat the process every 15 minutes until the pecans are no longer wet and they smell totally delicious (about an hour overall).

If you’re like me, you’ll end up eating a big handful before they get a chance to cool.  Once they do cool, you’ll want to store what’s left of them in a ziploc bag or other airtight container.  If you plan to use them within a week or two you can just keep them in the pantry.  If you’re planning to use them later in the month, just toss the bag into the freezer.  They should stay fresh for about 6 months (although I’ve never had a batch hang around that long).

Trust me, even if you’re not a big fan of nuts, you’ll want to give this recipe a try.  It’s easy, inexpensive and downright delicious.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

The original plate is long gone but the idea has stuck with me over the years.  Now that we’re in a new neighborhood, I’ve decided it’s time to kick off this tradition once again.  Luckily, I wrote down the poem a few years ago and it’s been safely crumpled up at the bottom of a Christmas container ever since. Here’s the poem…

This traveling plate of Christmas cheer
We give to you, our neighbor, dear.
We send warm wishes and affection
With this holiday confection…
May days be wonderful and bright,
May peace surround your home at night.
Then when you’ve filled this plate once more,
Leave it at another neighbor’s door.

**I neglected to write down the author’s name (I’m not even sure an author was listed on the plate).  If you happen to know where this little message originated, I hope you’ll let me know.  I’d love to give credit where credit is due.

As much as I liked the plate idea, I’ve decided to make a few changes to help keep things simple.  To begin with, I typed out the poem so we could attach it to virtually any type of container.  My kids like to be sneaky when we drop off our treats, so I’ve found it’s easier to work with a tin tote rather than a plate.  Tins are more durable (making them much more kid-friendly), the food is protected by the strong container (so it can easily hang out on a doorstep for a few hours), and I don’t have to worry about adding any fancy wrapping (because I’m kind of lazy about stuff like that).  I found this small, round Christmas tin at WalMart for $2 this afternoon.  While I was there I also grabbed a thin roll of red ribbon and a pack of Christmas scrapbook paper to use as a background for my poem.  I printed the file on white cardstock (you can find the free file below), mounted it on green scrapbook paper and then attached it to the tote with the red ribbon (if you have a home laminator, you may want to add some durability by sealing your poem before attaching it).

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  ”Hey, Maria, those cookies look dramatically similar to the sugar cookies I see in the bakery of my grocery store.  Did you make those?”  To which I would confidently reply, “Nope.”  Don’t get me wrong, I love home-made goodies as much as the next gal, I just think a clean kitchen is well worth the $2.50 I spent on those cute little polka-dot gems.  Remember, I’m not trying to wow my neighbors with this tradition (they don’t even know it’s me dropping them off), I’m just trying to spread some Christmas cheer in my neighborhood without adding any stress to my holiday.  Thanks to the cheap supplies at WalMart and the free printable files below, you can do it too.

Whether you fill your pass-along tote with a host of home-made treasures or a stash of store-bought sweets, starting this easy and inexpensive tradition is a great way for your family to share the love in your neighborhood this Christmas.  I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine has.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

I wasn’t sure which type of container you guys would be using for your pass-along package so I included 4 options in the free printable (tote, plate, box, or bowl) as well as two color schemes (red/green or blue/green).  Hopefully, one of those options will work for you.  Have fun!

Speed Up the Small Stuff

Look in anyone’s gift wrap supply and you’ll probably find dozens of adhesive-backed bows.  Why?  Because it’s faster to adorn a package with one of these than it is to create a homemade version.  We value our time and when we find great shortcuts like the bows, we stock up.  Do yourself a favor this season and search for shortcuts like those listed below to help streamline your holiday workload.

Buy in Bulk: Coaches, teachers, neighbors and coworkers often add to our holiday shopping lists.  It can be daunting to find the perfect gift for each of these individuals.  Simplify the gift buying process by purchasing dozens of “the little black dress” of presents: something universally appreciated, relatively inexpensive and easy to accessorize.  Examples include candles, cocoa mugs, hand warmers and ornaments.  Like their fashion counterpart, these gifts work well on their own or can be enhanced with extras like teacher-supply store gift cards, restaurant certificates or holiday goodies.

Wrap It Up: Most stores offer a dizzying array of gift wrap.  Save time and energy by restricting yourself to a few color schemes with mix and match accessories.  Keep tabs on wrapped gifts by designating one color scheme for each group on your list, such as immediate family, extended family and non-family.

Call for Reinforcements: Hiring help during the holidays doesn’t have to blow your budget.  In fact, the help you need could be right around the corner.  Chances are the teenager you hire to watch your kids on Friday nights would gladly accept the same rate on Saturday afternoon to iron linens, wrap gifts or help you prepare your house for guests.  Likewise, the student you pay to cut your lawn in the summer would be grateful for a little off-season income by hanging your outdoor lights or moving furniture for your party.

*Don’t stop here, there are more great tips in the other two steps…

Holiday How-To: Part 1

Holiday How-To: Part 2

This post is an excerpt from an article published by Organize Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007, Volume 03, pg 68-73, written by Maria Eckersley, photos by Poul Ober, styling by Kendra Smoot.

Go Digital

This is a tough one for a lot of us.  We associate the holidays with a certain nostalgia and instinctively bristle at the idea of using a computer in our preparations.  However, much the way buying frozen rolls at the grocery store allows more time for perfecting the turkey, using the computer to simplify trivial tasks can free time for what’s really important.

Tackle Your To Do’s: Decorate the house.  Purchase gifts.  Send cards.  Make travel plans.  To keep track of the little details without scribbling lists all over the house, take advantage of the ultimate free website for list lovers: gubb.net (I now like evernote.com because it has an accompanying iPhone app).  As user-friendly as it is functional, this site allows you to create, update and share dozens of customized, printable lists.  With Gubb.net you can check lists on the go via e-mail or text messaging.

E-mail Holiday Cards: If during the family meeting you chose “create handmade holiday cards” as your favorite tradition, then by all means whip out your cardstock and enjoy. However, if your goal is to simply keep in touch and send a greeting, try an email version.  Free programs such as Windows Movie Maker (pre-installed on most PCs or available for free download here) offer easy tools for creating a video or photo slideshow that can be emailed or burned onto a disc.  If you prefer the traditional postal method, use your computer to manage your mailing list.  Save data entry time by sending a mass email (or facebook request) to your friends and family requesting their addresses.  As the responses come in, use your copy and paste tools to add the addresses to your list.

Use Online Postage and Pickup: Few things are more frustrating than waiting in line at the post office.  At the website usps.com you can order free mailing supplies to be delivered right to your door, print postage on your home printer and schedule a free pickup.

*Don’t stop here, there are more great tips in the other two steps…

Holiday How-To: Part 1

Holiday How-To: Part 3

This post is an excerpt from an article published by Organize Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007, Volume 03, pg 68-73, written by Maria Eckersley, photos by Poul Ober, styling by Kendra Smoot.

The holidays are a time of warmth and tradition.  Family come together, neighborhoods glow, and homes bustle with preparations.  We all know this special magic doesn’t happen on its own.  In fact, many of us find ourselves trying to fulfill ever-increasing expectations with very limited resources.  So how do you savor the spirit of the season while cutting back on the stress?  Believe it or not, it doesn’t have to mean starting your shopping in July.  Regardless of where you are in your preparations, these strategies can help you save time and money – and provide you with holiday peace of mind.

Step 1: Get It Together

Halloween comes and goes, and seemingly overnight the stores transform into holiday-centric spending traps.  Confroted with a surge of shrink-wrapped cheer, we often reach for our wallets.  The same temptations hit our calendars.  Holiday parties, school events and religious activities get scheduled and before we know it, our entire season is booked.  This year, take control!

Establish a Game Plan: Most parents wouldn’t dream of going on a family vacation without a rough itinerary and basic budget.  Yet during the most hectic and costly time of year, we tend to jump in without a road map.  Essential to your holiday plan is a detailed family calendar, a comprehensive gift list and an itemized budget.  [You can find free MeckMom printables for each of these here].

Schedule a Preseason Family Meeting: Make sure your family is in the loop by sharing information about the basic holiday budget as well as your overall goals for the season.  Give each family member a chance to request his or her favorite traditions.  If making a gingerbread house is important to your 5-year-old, schedule it on your calendar.  If ice skating is your 12-year-old’s favorite activity, find time for it.  If no one votes for attending the company party or the school’s holiday shop, drop those events from the calendar.

Do an Inventory: Before you wander through the toy aisles, look through your kids’ toy collections.  Take stock of what they need, and purge what they can do without.  If you have time, make an inventory of your holiday decorations and note gaps you need to fill before you hit the craft store.  If you’re in a rush, at least force yourself to open and quickly look through every box.  Actually seeing how much you already have will help prevent you from overspending.

*Don’t stop here, there are more great tips in the next two steps…

Holiday How-To: Part 2

Holiday How-To: Part 3

This post is an excerpt from an article published by Organize Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007, Volume 03, pg 68-73, written by Maria Eckersley, photos by Poul Ober, styling by Kendra Smoot.

Tip 1.  Get Rid of the Extras

Toy packaging is ridiculous these days – wires everywhere, screwed-in battery compartments, impossible-to-cut plastic packaging – it’s a huge pain.  Rather than mess with these tedious problems on Christmas morning, I remove them all before I wrap.  I open all the toys, remove the wires, insert batteries, get rid of excess packaging and make everything as ready for play as possible.  Generally I like to use the same boxes, so I use sticky tack or loops of tape to keep the toys in place.  However, if that’s not possible, I just ditch the original packaging and put the toys in a gift box.  It saves me tons of time and trouble on Christmas morning.

Tip 2: Make Your Own Gift Tags

When you’ve got four kids to buy for, it can get tough to keep things even.  It’s hard to remember what you’ve wrapped and how many presents you’ve purchased for each.  To help me keep things organized, I make my own gift tags.  First, I check my gift planner and figure out how many tags I’ll need for each child.  Then, I print out a sheet of gift tags on address labels and store them with my wrapping supplies.  The sheet makes it easy to see how many gifts I’ve wrapped for each person in the family.  It also helps me make sure that all the kids have the same number of gifts.  I do mine on the computer (you can find the free file download below), but you could use this same technique with traditional store-bought sheets of tags as well.  Just fill in all the tags and staple the sheets together before you start wrapping.

Tip 3: Use Hairbands on Your Papers and Ribbons

Tired of trying to keep your wrapping supplies from unwinding?  I’ve found that the best tool for keeping wrapping paper and ribbon under control is an inexpensive hairband.  I slip one of these cloth elastic hairbands (don’t use rubber or plastic – they tear the paper) around every tube of wrapping paper and every spool of ribbon before I add them to my wrapping organizer.  When you’re using the paper, slip the hair band around your wrist.  When your finished, just slide it back down onto the roll.

There you have it.  Three simple and inexpensive strategies for happier wrapping.  Good luck!  Just thought I’d pass it on.

When it comes to Christmas, most professional organizers recommend setting up a wrapping station – some little corner of your house that can be devoted to ribbons, bows, and everything that comes with them.  I have two basic problems with this plan.  First, I don’t really have a corner of my house that can be devoted to wrapping stuff.  Secondly, if I did, it would have to be under lock and key so my kids wouldn’t be able to unwind the colorful spools of ribbon and mess with the much-too-tempting rolls of scotch tape.

So, since creating a lockable wrapping station was out, I opted for a more portable option.  I found this organizer a few years ago at Bed, Bath & Beyond for around $20.  I love it for lots of reasons.  For starters, it has loads of pockets.  In addition to the obvious spots for wrapping paper and bows, it also has dedicated spots for tape, scissors, gift tags, gift bags, and tissue paper.  I also love it for its portability.   When my wrapping-paper-loving kids are around, I can hide it under the couch, tuck it under my bed, or hang it in a closet.  Then, when bedtime hits and the coast is clear, I can pull it out and wrap at the kitchen table, on my bed, or on the living room floor in front of the TV.

If your budget has a little wiggle room, I recommend getting two of these handy caddies.  Buy one for your Christmas wrapping supplies and another to house all your non-Christmas stuff.  That way you can stock up on clearance wrapping supplies at the end of season and store the whole organizer with your Christmas stuff.  Come next year, you’ll be ready to roll…literally.

If you can’t find this at your local Bed & Bath store, you can also find it online at sites like Organize.com.  Just thought I’d pass it on.