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2008/11/23
I Love You to Pieces
Open this gift of a loving memory,
When you find you’re missing me.
This gift comes with extra kisses,
Please remember I love you to pieces
A photo puzzle is a great way for grandparents and grandchildren to stay in touch! It can also be a wonderful, unique holiday gift…or for any other occasion, too. I know you must have digital photos of your grandchildren, yourself, or a scenic view from a memorable outing. Using your own photograph, a unique photo puzzle gift can be made for you and your family to enjoy. Even if you aren’t tech savvy, digital photos are easy to upload – just follow the easy directions.
Don’t have digital photos? No problem. You can scan them onto a CD and mail them to jigsaw2order.com.
Read further for creative gift ideas…

How can you resist these photo puzzle gift ideas? A picture puzzle is definitely worth a thousand “I love you”…

A photo puzzle can be made from any image or artwork such as a photo, painting, sketch or children’s drawing. Seeing your own creation made into a photo jigsaw, makes puzzle making even more fun.
Photo Puzzle Gift Suggestions:
- Take a family photo and send a photo puzzle to distant grandparents.
- Turn your family Christmas photo into a jigsaw puzzle to be enjoyed for many years to come.
- Know someone who is about to propose? Suggest he do it with a jigsaw puzzle!
- A photo puzzle is a great way to announce an engagement or a new baby to those special people in your life.
- Make a collage puzzle with many photos celebrating each of your grandchild’s birthdays.
- Upload or mail pictures of all your grandchildren to be made into a photo collage puzzle.
- Create a picture puzzle of your child with Santa and give it to grandparents on Christmas.
- Grandparents, give a photo puzzle to your grandchildren to keep you with them.
- Order picture puzzles from any of your favorite pictures as gifts…but remember to keep one for yourself!
- HINT: Grandparents would love to have a photo puzzle of their grandchildren…(hope my family reads this!)
The difficult part? Deciding which pictures to use for those very special photo puzzle gifts!
Order a Personalized Photo Jigsaw Puzzle
2008/11/21
| Welcome Christmas is a fun Dr. Seuss poem for Christmas Day. Print copies for your family members. Try to read this Christmas Dr. Seuss poem together without getting toungue tied! I think everyone will be laughing so hard, you won’t be able to get through this Dr. Seuss poem on Christmas Day! Don’t forget to read the poem in your Dr. Seuss pajamas! WHO knows? This could become a new family tradition to Welcome Christmas! |
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by Dr. Seuss and Albert Hague
Fah who foraze!
Dah who doraze!
Welcome Christmas,
come this way!
Fah who foraze!
Dah who doraze!
Welcome Christmas,
Christmas Day!
Welcome, welcome!
Fah who rahmus!
Welcome, welcome!
Dah who dahmus
Christmas Day,
Is in our grasp,
So long as we,
Have hands to clasp!
Fah who foraze!
Dah who doraze!
Welcome Christmas!
Bring your cheer.
Fah who foraze!
Dah who doraze!
Welcome all who’s,
Far and near
Fah who foraze!
Dah who doraze!
Welcome, Christmas!
Fah who rahmus!
Welcome, Christmas!
Dah who dahmus
Christmas Day,
Will always be
Just as long,
As we have we
Welcome all who’s,
Far and near.
What tradition does your family follow to welcome Christmas?
I’d like to hear from you so we can share Christmas traditions from around the world.
Tell us about your tradition in the comment box below.
2008/11/20
Last year, the buzz going around was that Santa needed to go on a diet. When we think of Santa, we think big, cuddly, and jolly. Santa wouldn’t be Santa if he were thin, but we do want him to be healthy so he can continue to spread his acts of kindness around the world. Healthy can be yummy.
I’ve been told by someone who knows that Santa’s favorite healthy cookies are chocolate chip cookies. It is possible to bake healthy chocolate chip cookies for Santa when you replace white flour with whole wheat and oat flours, egg with egg whites, milk chocolate chips with dark chocolate, limit the sugar, and use fat free milk. Whole wheat cookies can often taste like sawdust. Not these. These whole wheat cookies get their rich taste from the Ghirardelli chocolate chips.
For this healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe, the result is a batch of healthy cookies that are full of flavor. Dark Ghirardelli chocolate chips (60% cacao) are recommended because they’re richer-tasting and bigger chips, so you get more chocolate taste with fewer chips.
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup I Can’t Believe Its Butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 egg whites
1/4 cup nonfat milk
5 oz. Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (or your favorite bittersweet chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together flours, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter substitute and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg whites, then the milk. Stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes or until browned around the edges.
Makes 36 cookies.
Leave these cookies for Santa and I’ll bet you might get an extra special gift this Christmas!
source: heart-healthy-cooking.suite101.com (The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter and 1 egg – I tweaked it to make even healthier cookies for Santa ~ compare butter and I Can’t Believe It’s Butter)

2008/11/19
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How do I get a personalized letter from Santa sent to my child? You have two options: you can do it all yourself, or you can order a personalized Santa Letter from a reputable company. |
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Do It Yourself Personalized Letters from Santa Claus
Nana’s Corner had its first visitors on December 5, 2007. There were just 5 visitors…one was from Santa Claus. No, not one of Santa’s elves. Nana’s Corner’s visitor was from Santa Claus, Indiana. The town contains almost a dozen year-round Santa statues. The Santa Claus post office postmarks about 500,000 holiday cards and another half-million Santa letters each Christmas — it’s where the US Postal Service really sends letters addressed to Mr. Claus (Santa’s zip is 47579, in case your kids ask). (roadsideamerica.com)
Help your child write a letter to Santa Claus as soon as Thanksgiving is over and Santa appears in the Macy’s Day Parade where he begins to visit boys and girls around the world finding out whose been naughty or nice.
The letter to Santa Claus can be a simple letter that your child can write. Children absolutely love to write a letter to Santa, but they occasionally need a little parental guidance to pull it off.
- Help your child include his accomplishments over the past year and a special Christmas presents wish list into the letter to Santa. Many children enjoy getting more creative by drawing or cutting out pictures that represent the gifts they want. My granddaughter, Kaitlin, cuts out the toys from Christmas toy catalogs and glues them to her letter so Santa will know exactly which toys to bring.
- Once your child’s Santa letter is finished, simply mail it to the North Pole by December 15. Mail it to the following Santa Claus address: Santa Claus, 1 Candy Cane Lane, North Pole 00001. Don’t bother using a return address, you wouldn’t want it to return as ‘undeliverable’ for any reason.
- By helping your child write the letter to Santa Claus, you can see what toys and other gifts are on the list which will help you shop and also anticipate how Santa will respond.
- Next, write a personalized letter from Santa Claus and send it in the mail in response to your child’s letter to Santa. Create a personalized letter from Santa by directly mentioning your child’s name and certain information about your child. This will make for a much more believable Santa letter.
- Be sure to make these letters from Santa different for each child in your family. The child will have no doubt that Santa Claus is coming to town after receiving a personalized letter from Santa! To make the Letter to Santa believable, print the Santa letter on authentic looking letterhead, as this will help to reinforce the believability. Many different styles of paper can be found at your local office supply store but be sure to hide the paper so your child doesn’t accidentally discover what you’ve been up to!
- You can add to the fun by getting your letter from Santa postmarked at the North Pole. Simply send your Santa letter inside another sealed, stamped envelope to: North Pole Christmas Cancellation, Postmaster, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-9999. (It needs to arrive by December 15th.)
Create Your Own Letter from Santa Package
Many parents add a certificate for being on Santa’s “Nice List” along with the Santa Letter. This is great for boosting your child’s self-esteem. Another great item to include with the Santa letter is a Santa Claus coloring sheet. Combining the personalized Santa letter, the “nice” certificate, and the Santa Claus coloring sheet is a sure fire method for keeping your child believing.
After your child has written and mailed his list to Santa, you may have to be sneaky about creating the Letter from Santa, the Nice List, and the certificate. They need to be realistic looking…remember to not use your usual handwriting or your child will realize it didn’t come from Santa, it came from you!
If you know how to be creative with the computer, you can print them out. Just be sure not to leave the paper or copies around where curious children may find them. Remember to have everything mailed to the North Pole so it can be sent back to your child.
Save Time and Order a Letter from Santa Package
Since the holidays can be very hectic, you can order the Christmas Letter package from a reputable company that specializes in sending Santa Letters to children. PackageFromSanta.com has three packages to choose from. The letter looks authentic. It’s really worth it to see the excitement in your child’s face when she hold a letter from Santa Claus! Let PackageFromSanta take care of everything for you so you’ll have more time to spend on planning other ways to make the Christmas holiday special for your family.
2008/11/16
| Our 7 year old granddaughter has posted her Christmas wish list online. Online wish lists are great for grandparents, far or near. It makes Christmas shopping for grandchildren so much easier. I won’t have to drive around, fight the crowds, and end up not finding what I’m looking for! No gas or time wasted. I’ll have plenty of time to shop online and have the items sent by the store…probably for free…which means no standing in line at the post office, UPS, FedEx or DHL. |
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Here’s what one 7 year old Christmas wish list looks like…
Disney Fairies: Tinkerbell for Nintendo DS
Disney High School Musical 3: Senior Year for Nintendo DS
Bratz: Girlz Really Rock! for Nintendo DS
Imagine Babysitters for Nintendo DS
Imagine: Fashion Designer for Nintendo DS
Barbie Horse Adventures: Riding Camp for Nintendo DS
iCarly: Season 1, Vol. 1
SORRY! Sliders
iCarly Microphone
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody: Sweet Suite Victory DVD
Fur Real Friends Tumbles My Roll Over Pup Beagle
In My Pocket Cuddly Cribs – Bassinet With Puppies
In My Pocket Jungle Friends – Green
Bratz Kidz Snap-On Concert Cloe 7″ Doll
Bratz Kidz Snap-On Concert Yasmin 7″ Doll
MGA Chou Chou My First Tooth
Chou Chou Fashion Pack Doll Clothes, Pink Shirt, Checkered Green and Pink Skirt, and Green Pants
i-Dog Soft Speaker Blue
Hannah Montana Guitar Video Game
Disney Hannah Montana Dance Mat with DVD, Headset and Wig
Ouija Board: Glow-in-the-Dark
Pavilion Chess Teacher Set In Tin
Tini Puppini Plush Puppy Tisha
Tini Puppini Carrier and Bed
Tini Puppini Accessories
Well, as you can see…the difficult part will be to choose which toys to buy from the 7 year old Christmas wish list! Anyone have suggestions to help us narrow the 7 year old wish list down to just a few toys for Christmas?
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